It Was a Bumpy Ride

It's been a wild weekend here. Friday, it was 104 degrees, and the lowest daytime temperature since then has been high 90s. Friday night, a weird storm called a derecho blew through with winds of up to 88 mph -- but not a drop of rain in my area. The aftermath has been catastrophic. The power is out in most of the city, and some areas won't get power back 'til sometime late this week. Cell phone service, and not just my network, was practically nonexistent Saturday. My phone was working okay yesterday, albeit not 100%, but Verizon was still out. My broadband has been so slow that it's not good for much but e-mail.

Trees, power lines, and signs are down all over the place. There were fires caused by trees and power lines falling through roofs. It's just a huge mess. I feel so blessed to live in a 6-block area which is one of the few parts of the city where there's still power. And power was looking iffy Friday night; it went off a dozen or so times and had me scrambling for flashlights. When it came back on for the last time, though, it stayed on.

Shelters have been set up for all the people trying to get through this sweltering heat with no electricity. Many of the few stores that have power are out of ice and most of the gas stations can't pump any gas. I took a drive downtown yesterday and there was only one working traffic light the whole way. Tree limbs and debris were everywhere, and I had to dodge the piles of debris protruding into the streets. And it's not just my city. This is said to be the worst damage Virginia has ever suffered, even through the worst hurricanes, and the governor has declared a state of emergency.

Assuming they have electricity, I have a job interview downtown late this afternoon. I'm feeling optimistic about it, so we'll see what happens.

Any of you who may live in areas affected by these storms, I hope you're okay and are keeping cool.

See here for info and photos of the storm's aftermath.