Diary from the Edge
Saturday, October 29:
Major freak pre-Halloween snowstorm strikes the Northeast. Erwins lose power within the first few hours of the storm (after stocking up on both perishable and non-perishable food at the grocery store, naturally).
Erwin daughter gets stuck on a NJ Transit train on her way into NYC to see Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter!) in How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying. She misses the play as train is backed up to station. Spends frantic hour trapped in train station calling her mother and wondering how to get back to campus. Mom feels frantic and powerless (literally), but daughter convinces Erwin aunt to brave the snow, pick her up, and deliver her safely back to campus.
All is well. Until night falls, and CT Erwins huddle in candlelit family room listening to the trees break and fall under the weight of the heavy, wet snow and pray that no trees fall on the house.
Sunday, October 30:
Thank goodness, no trees on house. But a tree fell across the driveway, blocking us in. And many more have fallen across our street, meaning we're not going anywhere. Still no power. Erwins whine about missing Patriots-Steelers game, but hey, good thing we thought to buy wine. Neighbors with chainsaws attack fallen trees in street and successfully clear the road (yay neighbors!). Husband feels inspired to tackle the tree in driveway, and wins (but loses his power to move his body freely and without pain).
Trees that blocked street, cut out of road and restacked in neighbor's yard.
Monday October 31:
Huh. It's pretty cold in a house without power or heat. Erwins leave to seek out hotel room. Find most roads blocked by trees but manage to get out of town. Drive 45 minutes before finding a hotel with power that allows dogs. It happens to be across the street from the apartments Sherri grew up in. Who says you can't go home again? You can… but do you want to? (It's a bad area).
NJ daughter reports that her campus has been evacuated (tree danger, no power) and she is staying with a friend. Schools are cancelled throughout New England. Most will remain closed for the entire week.
The challenge: drive under fallen trees and dangling power lines to make it to a warm hotel outside of town.
This road is not curved- note yellow median line to far left.
Tuesday November 1:
Still no power. House is cold. Husband still has to go to work (they have power!). Sherri decides to shovel off deck to check on hot tub (no longer hot, but not frozen, no damage). And she cleans out two refrigerators and freezers stocked with food. All of it must go. Attempts to find closer hotel fall flat. Back to the Holyoke Inn.
Wednesday November 2:
Husband manages to buy one of few generators left for sale in the state of CT. But needs help figuring out how to hook it up, so back to hotel for one more night.
Thursday November 3:
Stepdad Bob saves the day! Sherri's mom, sister, and stepdad come to the house to hook up the generator. Mom is shocked- shocked!- at the state of the roads in CT. But Erwins are happy with Bob's success in hooking up the generator. Light! Heat! Heaven! Good news, the daughter gets to move back to her dorm and go to classes on Friday.
Five days post-storm, and roads still look like this!
Friday November 4:
Erwins enjoy a day and night at home with generator-driven heat and power, even though there's no internet, cable.
Saturday November 5:
Still no power. Stepdad Bob returns with his brother, Electrician Ed, to fix the generator for future ease of use, in case this happens again, and discover septic leakage in basement. Erwins call in a clean-up crew and end up in another hotel for the night. The CT hotel has internet! Sherri gets to work on this blog in case she doesn't see the internet again for awhile.
Sunday November 6:
Erwins check out the house, looking good. The clean-up crew did a fantastic job. The house is habitable, thanks to generator and clean-up. But… they decide to stay at hotel for the TV. Are you ready for some football? (Rrg, football, bad idea. Jets win against Steelers and Pats lose to Giants.)
As of November 6, over a week after the storm, over 50 % of CT is still without power at home (including Erwins) and many roads are still blocked by trees. Ten deaths are reported post-storm. The Governor gives a second talk making everyone feel so much better to know there's a website with updates. (Did I mention how many people don't have power?). 
Monday November 7:
Good news! Erwins have power. And lo and behold, the internet/cable/phone all came back, too. It's amazing.
At least, now I know that I can probably handle the zombie apocalypse, if not the actual zombies. Still plenty of peanut butter, crackers, and water in the house, some Halloween chocolate that never got handed out, and a few bottles of wine. Awesome! My thanks to the Manchester CT Marriott Residence Inn for the Wi-Fi that enabled this blog post.
Have you lived through a natural disaster? Longest you've been without power? Would you prefer to be stuck without power in the cold, or hot weather?
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