On August 5th a big storm blew through Alexandria and wreaked havoc, knocking down hundreds of trees and utility poles. Our neighbor's tree in the backyard broke in half, crashed into our chimney and punched a hole in the roof, and then flipped over and took out all the power lines in the front yard. Another branch crushed our backyard fence and then the transformer in front of our house blew up three times, very loudly.
Nancy and Katie were home at the time and huddled on the couch with Rusty until things calmed down. Then Nancy opened the front door and saw nothing but live power lines and big branches blocking the way out. A quick call to 911 brought the Alexandria Fire Department and got Nancy, Katie, and Rusty out of the house safely. I rushed home from work to find the refugees sitting outside our house. We found a nearby hotel to stay the night. While driving through Alexandria, we were shocked at how much damage we saw. Every street had at least one big old tree or utility pole that had fallen, sometimes on a car or house. One street had a big transformer laying in the middle of it. It was unbelievable. I've never seen damage like that anywhere.
The next day a roofing company came out to put a temporary patch on the hole in our roof. Then we drove out the Sue and John's farm to spend the weekend. We stayed in touch with our neighbors via text messages and phone calls. By Sunday our neighbor Matt had cleared the path of debris so we could get back in the house. Dominion Power came out on Monday to restore our power. They had brought in extra crews from around the state to help restore power to Alexandria. When the young guys first looked at our electric meter, they laughed and said we were out of luck. Our meter was 60 years old and was the original one with the house. The guys had no idea how to hook it up. Luckily, a crew of older electric guys came and figured out how to do it. We were very impressed with Dominion's response. They worked 16 hour shifts to quickly restore power to Alexandria.
The next few days was a parade of contractors and insurance adjusters. Tomorrow our chimney is getting fixed and soon our roof will be repaired. The tree hit the roof so hard that it cracked two of the rafters. After that, we'll get our backyard fence replaced but that's a low priority now.
Nancy and I were very impressed with Katie. During the storm, she was very brave, stayed composed, and listened to Nancy. She said she was a little scared but that's totally understandable. When I came home to pick them up, one of the first things she said to me was, "Can we stay in a hotel tonight!" She later asked us to find a hotel with a beach.
Nancy and I were also thankful for modern technology during the storm. Our mobile phones allowed us to keep in touch with each other and our neighbors. They also let us take lots of photos right away for our scrapbook and insurance adjuster. And without it, Nancy would not have been able to call for help after the storm.
Things are starting to return to normal now. It's times like this that make us glad we have such great neighbors. Everyone in the entire neighborhood was so helpful and together we all pitched together to fix things quickly. We just hope we can enjoy their company next time under better circumstances! And a big thanks to Sue and John for running the best homeless shelter ever.
This year we've experienced the biggest blizzard, an earthquake (that we missed), and the worst thunderstorm. I hope a volcano isn't next.
Here are some pictures.
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