Sunday: We lost power at around 6:20 Sunday morning and shortly thereafter, the sound of our neighbors' tree falling drove us right out of bed. We had yogurt and fruit for breakfast and spent the day reading, playing board games and napping. The winds and rain cleared out about mid-afternoon and we walked around the neighborhood, checking out the damage. Although there are many, many trees down, we didn't see any property damage - at least nothing that rendered a home uninhabitable. Lee cooked fried eggs and chicken on the grill and we had shrimp that was in the freezer. After dinner, we drove around the area and were again stunned by the number of trees down and roads that were completely blocked. Click here for a good article (and video) regarding the tree damage in Middletown.
Monday: 24 hours without power. The girls shared a banana and graham crackers for breakfast, while I had peanut butter and fluff and Lee had a banana and yogurt that stayed cold in our freezer. The Y has power, so Lee worked first thing and then headed there with the girls and I headed to work. As of 11 am, CL&P didn't have an estimate for power restoration for our town, but given the damage, that's not surprising. I showered at my gym and Lee and the girls showered at the Y in the afternoon. The biggest thing on my mind right now is laundry - we are starting to run low on some items of clothing, which means that a trip to the laundromat is probably in our future. For dinner, we had the last bag of frozen shrimp and garlic bread cooked on the grill. While Lee worked on Monday night, I spent time talking to neighbors and reading by flashlight. We fell asleep on Monday night to the sound of generators in our neighborhood.
As of Monday morning, the grey areas represented 80-100% of customers without power.
Tuesday: We entered our 48th hour without power early this morning but we are still going strong. Kindergarten open house was cancelled today, which was very disappointing for Emily. 42% of Middletown remains without power, although we know that some larger areas have been brought back on line. On a high note, we ordered out for dinner and I was able to do a load of laundry at our friends' Brian and Ninette's house. The Connecticut River is bracing for the flood waters from Vermont and at lunch, it was as high as I've ever seen it in Hartford.
Flood waters in Middletown. Photo courtesy of Claire Michalewicz of the Middletown Press.
Wednesday: This morning, we entered our 72nd consecutive hour without power. Our town is slowly but surely getting its power back - only 28% of households are without power as of mid-morning. Unfortunately, CL&P has no estimate for our neighborhood at this point, which means that they don't plan to have a crew working on it today. The good news is that they are projecting that all customers - statewide - will have power by September 7th, so there is an end in sight. This morning, Elizabeth told me that the worst thing about no electricity is that she doesn't get to have her morning bagel. And I will admit to missing my morning coffee. Other than that, we are finding our lack of power to be a minor inconvenience. After watching footage of the flooding in Vermont and New Jersey, we know that we have nothing to complain about. The Connecticut River crested in Middletown this morning at 15.7 feet above flood level - the worst flooding since 1987. It was amazing to drive by it this morning.
Photo courtesy of Catherine Avalone of the Middletown Press.
