Ike Blackout Continues
How often do you pass by a McDonald’s and it’s not lit up? In the photo above, the area points to a local McDonald’s. There is still no power to this part of the area, so it’s not lit up.
At one time, there were 690,000 homes and businesses without power. As I mentioned yesterday, that dropped to 650,000. I didn’t have to go to work today because we still didn’t have power at the office. The fire department was saying it would be optimistic to have power even on Wednesday. We did get power at the office; not sure when, but around 7:00 p.m. or earlier, so I’ll have to work tomorrow.
At any rate, most people spent most of the day cleaning up their yards. I think because so many businesses were without power, a lot of people didn’t have to work.
At one point, I think the number affected by the power outage dropped to under 600,000, but then it later went to 800,000. Apparently, something happened when they were fixing things that made it worse! According to the energy company’s website, over 1,000,000 homes and businesses were suffering from the power outage.
In my county, there were about 138,000 affected. That later dropped to 115,000 and we were among the 23,000 that had power restored. Later, the number went up to 179,000 and currently about 105,000 are still without power.
Some gas stations are still out of power, so you can’t get gas. Others have power, but have run out of gas. So, the ones that have power and gas have long lines.
Going through the local township, the outage areas are scattered about, as you might expect from a windstorm. We reportedly had category 1 hurricane strength winds, with some winds reaching 80 mph.
The missing street lights I mentioned yesterday have already been replaced, but they don’t have power. You can drive down a street and some intersections will have lights and others will not. In Ohio, when the lights are out, you’re supposed to treat it like a four-way stop. But, some people go flying through as if the lights were green for them! In some areas, especially at night, it’s hard to even see where the street lights are.
Some roads are still closed, due to power lines. One road was open, but the power lines (or maybe it was cable–hopefully, it was cable!) were wrapped with rope and tied to a rock on the ground.
Somewhere, and I don’t think it was in my area, a woman was killed by a flying branch. I haven’t heard any fatalities besides that as a direct result of the winds, though there could be more. I think I heard there were four deaths due to fires. One fire was believed to have been started by a candle, which was likely burning to provide light at night.
At the office, while we weren’t there today, there must have been a crew out fixing the roofs where shingles had been torn off. Some parts of the building were fixed already, and the rest had bundles of shingles up there ready for tomorrow.
Below you’ll see a photo of how this outage is scattered. There is a gas station that has power but, maybe, no gas. There were people at the station, but no one in line for gas, which is unusual and leads me to suspect they were out. But, the street lights at the intersection are still out. The gas station and the building across the street from it had power, but I couldn’t tell if the buildings on the other side had any power. You can also see a fire truck rushing off. I heard a lot of sirens throughout the day. Not sure what the situations were. Someone, perhaps more than one person, was burning leaves, which is illegal around here. Maybe that led to fires spreading or maybe there were other things going on too.
How often do you pass by a McDonald’s and it’s not lit up?
Not often, but I bet the Wal-Mart is lit up and shining in all its apathetic glory.
I think Wal-Mart had lights tonight, but I’m not sure if they were the main lights or auxiliary. They had power go out yesterday, and had to pretty much close because they can’t check people out without electricity.
Looks spooky, dcr.
I hope the lights get turned on soon, but I’m glad you are safe.
It does look spooky. Usually that’s a well-lit intersection. There were some darker intersections I didn’t show, and most I didn’t even both trying to take pictures of, because it would just be a black image.
Thank. We’re fortunate to have power here, and cable and Internet too, but just a few streets away, within walking distance even, the power is still out. And, the wealthy, gated community in our area may still be without power too. Driving by, I could see street lights on, but those might be solar-powered. I could only see a few homes, and they had no lights. So, I’m not real sure if they have power or not. Looking like maybe not, but can’t be sure. Some businesses around them have power; others don’t.
That does look spooky. Wind can certainly do a lot of damage whether there is a hurricane behind it or not. We need to remember that, I guess. I hope people are not without power for too long.
The good thing is that there isn’t any rain, so people won’t be suffering from any flooding in their homes from the power outage. And, temperatures aren’t too bad, so no heatstroke or freezing to death either. The main problem, aside from the cost of repairs for all the damage, will be the food. A tightly packed freezer will keep food safe for 48 hours, but only 24 hours if it’s not tightly packed. The refrigerated foods will keep for I think about the same amount of time. So, for some people, it’s been over 24 hours already. So, either there’s going to have to be a big feast, or a lot of food thrown away. And, for people with microwaves and electric stoves, they’re not going to be able to cook much, unless they have a grill.
We take a lot for granted on a day to day basis. I am looking at the light on above me …
Yes, we do.
So sad for you no McDonalds means no hairy breakfast burritos…. I bet you are in a panic.
That’s got to suck, Ike came right over Dallas and although I was prepared nothing happened. Oh the grass is greener from the rain but other than that we suffered not.
Glad to hear you a fairing okay though.
What state are you Dan? Where I live, all the power lines are below ground because after Katrina, there weren’t any left. My air conditioner was blown into the neighbor’s swimming pool and I suffered in the heat for 2 years (I couldn’t afford a new one). It was over 120 degrees inside my home!!!!!! All is well now. I hope they get your areas power on soon!