A Wedding Crasher Named Sandy, or Don't Believe the Frankenhype

As you know from my last past, I'm currently in Pennsylvania. Or perhaps I only mentioned that I was flying without mentioning my destination, in which case this could be the first time you knew where I was going. Either way, I'm in Pennsylvania until Thursday.

On Friday, shortly after my arrival, I began hearing about Frankenstorm: Hurricane Sandy joining forces with another large front, coming off water and over land in the mid-Atlantic.
On Saturday my sister got married. The wedding was great. I managed to not cry until my other sister gave a toast at the reception. That being said, I'm no wedding writer. Moving along.

Saturday evening after the wedding I headed back to my mom's house, obviously exhausted. Sunday we did a bit of preparation, acquiring supplies and such. Fortunately my mom keeps her house, and doubly so her kitchen, quite well stocked, so disaster preparation is a minimal task. This meant that we could spend time resting up from the wedding. Monday I spent some time on tasks like filling buckets and pots with water, just in case the power went out and we were unable to draw water. My mom and I found a few extra candles in a box of stuff, certain to be useful later.
And then the storm came.

Wind. Heavy rain. It was all there, but not yet to the extent we were expecting. However, for early in the storm, this was bad. If this is only a foreshadow, we are in trouble.

Prior to the storm, this
tree was full of leaves.

The ditch in front of the house was beginning to clog, so I used a hoe to dig a pile of leaves out of it, along with a few rocks and the occasional stick (the originating causes of the damming effect). Trees had been full of leaves only a few hours ago. Now the leaves are gone, though in some cases they are still attached to branches, which are themselves grounded.

After getting leaves unjammed several places, I noticed a bush in the ditch. It looked dead, but had formerly been growing in the side of the ditch where roots kept hold. It was blocking leaves and creating a dam, with water backed up about 8 inches deep behind it. I went back to the house to confirm with my mom that the bush was dead, then headed back to the bush with the two-handed pruning shears.

I jump into the ditch, quite glad to be wearing boots to keep my feet dry. I cut away at the bush, throwing the scraps into the yard. I fall, using the remainder of the bush to catch myself and not end up face down in a puddle of filthy water. With each passing car I jump out of the ditch, just in case*. It falls under this new thing I was trying: safety first. I finally get the dead bush out, followed by most of the leaves. Those I don't remove are still dislodged by their lack of support and float away.

As I am getting out of the ditch, a far more complicated task than normal given this weather, a gust of wind nearly knocks me over. A leaf hits my face, instantly leaving it numb. When I arrive inside, I ask my mom the question she always hates to hear: "Am I bleeding?" Fortunately, this time the answer is no.

Hours later the power outage begins. I spend my time mostly reading Freakenomics by candlelight and eating salt water taffy left over from the wedding reception. Quite pleasingly, the power comes on after about two hours, not the several days we'd been told to anticipate.

The heaviest part of the storm was over by about 10 PM, only hours after the meteorologists had anticipated the peak period to begin. Today I once again cleaned leaves and rocks out of the ditch, as well as picking up broken limbs and the pieces of the aforementioned bush. Flooding throughout the area was minimal, and most people here have regained power. I've slept through bigger storms than this. I understand the storm was much worse other places, but here in central Pennsylvania, Frankenstorm was a whole lot of Frankenhype.

*There was a car accident across the street Sunday evening. No one was injured as far as I know, which was no small miracle as it was a car overturned, then hit by a truck. At least twice we've had cars in our ditch. There have been others. This area has a much higher-than-average rate of car accidents. Conditions were also bad. I was not being irrational.

As you know from my last past, I'm currently in Pennsylvania. Or perhaps I only mentioned that I was flying without mentioning my destination, in which case this could be the first time you knew where I was going. Either way, I'm in Pennsylvania until Thursday.

On Friday, shortly after my arrival, I began hearing about Frankenstorm: Hurricane Sandy joining forces with another large front, coming off water and over land in the mid-Atlantic.
On Saturday my sister got married. The wedding was great. I managed to not cry until my other sister gave a toast at the reception. That being said, I'm no wedding writer. Moving along.

Saturday evening after the wedding I headed back to my mom's house, obviously exhausted. Sunday we did a bit of preparation, acquiring supplies and such. Fortunately my mom keeps her house, and doubly so her kitchen, quite well stocked, so disaster preparation is a minimal task. This meant that we could spend time resting up from the wedding. Monday I spent some time on tasks like filling buckets and pots with water, just in case the power went out and we were unable to draw water. My mom and I found a few extra candles in a box of stuff, certain to be useful later.
And then the storm came.

Wind. Heavy rain. It was all there, but not yet to the extent we were expecting. However, for early in the storm, this was bad. If this is only a foreshadow, we are in trouble.

Prior to the storm, this
tree was full of leaves.

The ditch in front of the house was beginning to clog, so I used a hoe to dig a pile of leaves out of it, along with a few rocks and the occasional stick (the originating causes of the damming effect). Trees had been full of leaves only a few hours ago. Now the leaves are gone, though in some cases they are still attached to branches, which are themselves grounded.

After getting leaves unjammed several places, I noticed a bush in the ditch. It looked dead, but had formerly been growing in the side of the ditch where roots kept hold. It was blocking leaves and creating a dam, with water backed up about 8 inches deep behind it. I went back to the house to confirm with my mom that the bush was dead, then headed back to the bush with the two-handed pruning shears.

I jump into the ditch, quite glad to be wearing boots to keep my feet dry. I cut away at the bush, throwing the scraps into the yard. I fall, using the remainder of the bush to catch myself and not end up face down in a puddle of filthy water. With each passing car I jump out of the ditch, just in case*. It falls under this new thing I was trying: safety first. I finally get the dead bush out, followed by most of the leaves. Those I don't remove are still dislodged by their lack of support and float away.

As I am getting out of the ditch, a far more complicated task than normal given this weather, a gust of wind nearly knocks me over. A leaf hits my face, instantly leaving it numb. When I arrive inside, I ask my mom the question she always hates to hear: "Am I bleeding?" Fortunately, this time the answer is no.

Hours later the power outage begins. I spend my time mostly reading Freakenomics by candlelight and eating salt water taffy left over from the wedding reception. Quite pleasingly, the power comes on after about two hours, not the several days we'd been told to anticipate.

The heaviest part of the storm was over by about 10 PM, only hours after the meteorologists had anticipated the peak period to begin. Today I once again cleaned leaves and rocks out of the ditch, as well as picking up broken limbs and the pieces of the aforementioned bush. Flooding throughout the area was minimal, and most people here have regained power. I've slept through bigger storms than this. I understand the storm was much worse other places, but here in central Pennsylvania, Frankenstorm was a whole lot of Frankenhype.

*There was a car accident across the street Sunday evening. No one was injured as far as I know, which was no small miracle as it was a car overturned, then hit by a truck. At least twice we've had cars in our ditch. There have been others. This area has a much higher-than-average rate of car accidents. Conditions were also bad. I was not being irrational.

A Wedding Crasher Named Sandy, or Don't Believe the Frankenhype