Wednesday, October 24, 2007
What was I doing 2-years ago today? I was feeding my generator gas, a routine I would have to follow for 10 1/2 days.
On 10/24/2005 Hurricane Wilma blew threw Palm Beach County. Even though I had ridden out Hurricanes Francis and Jeanne, Wilma was much more ferocious. Several urban hurricane myths got debunked that day. 1) Although Wilma came over Florida from the Gulf of Mexico, traveling west to east, it actually gained more strength over land rather than lose it. 2) The back side of the hurricane was much worse than the front side. I can still hear the wind howling.
When it was all over, I went outside with Maddie and got to work clearing out the debris. For the next few days I spent hours in gas lines as no one warned me how much gas a generator used. It was my first time using a generator. I was lucky enough to print out my book Shadow Lines and then spent many nervous hours traveling on roads with no lights to get to a post office running on a generator. I drovedrive miles to get to a grocery store that had a generator. It wasn't until this summer that the last blue-tarped roof disappeared in my area.
So here's hoping to a hurricane-free season. Wilma was enough to last me a lifetime of trials and tribulations. Carol
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2 comments:
Ah, yes, Wilma. It was when I learned that you can have a wet floor in a sixth floor condo -- the rain came in through the walls! They didn't get electricity back at my office for more than two weeks.
It's finally starting to feel like fall in Connectcut -- we'll see how trading off hurricanes for ice storms goes!
Toni,
I'm hoping all the forecast tracks on Noel are right, and she just skirts our coast. But as it is, I'm going to bring in any potential projectiles tonight. Sigh, Carol
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