The aftermath of the storm

This is what Environment Canada posted Monday around 5 pm for this region.

Environment Canada has issued a Serve Thunder Storm Warning for the ***** area. Boaters are urged to get off the water and seek shelter until after the storm passes.

Motorists are cautioned that driving will become difficult during these times.

It hit at 5:11 pm. Monday, about 5 minutes after I unplugged the computer. This is going to be known as the worst recorded storm in this district. It was intense, and it was over before 6 pm.

I still don’t know what some of the official terms Environment Canada are going to use when they finish correlating their data. I’ve had reliable accounts of 2 tornadoes here, and without any way to get information out yet in some areas, I don’t know if it’s true there were 7 that cut a swatch over several hundred kilometers in populated and unpopulated areas. North of us, over 1 thousand bolts of lightening hit on or near a  small city. There are states of emergency in several small towns near us.  Infrastructure was wiped out for over 180 thousand people. That meant power, phones, media, cell phones, travel. There were several minor injuries, and one death that we heard about of south.

We lost a piece of siding on the house, the guy down the street lost his roof. Houses a block away have huge trees that snapped like matchsticks. An airplane flipped over at the airport, cars flipped over on roads, some highways didn’t open until today. 
A family member two blocks away that manages a group of cottages, has a huge maple branch in his kitchen, several mature trees uprooted, one crushed cottage, every hydro line on the property down, vehicle damage, and he is only one of thousands coping with property damage. Boat houses and boats are just gone. People just began helping their neighbours, driving back routes, walking through, pulling out chain saws, while work crews began hauling trees off roads and left them there for now.

With no phones, no power, people just began helping each other. I heard two gas stations were open this morning, by early afternoon they were closed while they waited for more fuel. From what I understand, thousands of power lines are down, broadcast media operated on back up power and cell phones, their transmission towers, cell phone towers, non functional. The newspaper couldn’t publish. We heard people that hadn’t received damage showed up at city parks and began cleanup.

This storm extends past what we would call a severe thunderstorm cell. I’m lucky to have power, may people will be without phones or hydro for at least a few more days. We have to be careful, the region is conserving water while the pumping stations get back to capacity, weakened trees and branches that didn’t snap remain a hazard, and downed hydro lines remain a reality.

It was stunningly still after the storm passed, and fortunately the weather has been average as cleanup began.

It’s a bit like camping in your own home, your first thought is for friends and family, but with no or intermittent communication, just getting an everyone is okay was a huge weight off.  Our diet has been interesting. You can keep food fresh for about 26-48 hours if you don’t open the fridge, so you eat a wonderful mish mash of what you have. I missed coffee and tea the most.

Now that our area is up, we know ice and essentials have been trucked in for those that will have to manage for a few more days.

I didn’t miss the computer or phone, or even power - there were creative ways to let family and friends know we were okay. I’m tired, there has been a lot of clean up.  Attitude matters when routines are disrupted.  
People amazed me with their willingness to help others, extending courtesy on roads with no stoplights, directing others when debris blocked the way, checking on neighbours, sharing generators. Churches opened to provide food. Neighbours sat down and shared what they had with neighbours they hadn’t met yet. 
Strangers became friends.