Nearly 24″ of snow fell in less than 24 hours in the earliest lake effect snowstorm on record. For this area, it was the sixth highest amount of snow to fall in a 24 hour period. A state of emergency was declared. Airport, thruway both closed. Local travel bans. Everything else was closed too. At least 400,000 or more in the metro area (75,000 in the city) are without power… and no expectations of immediate restoration. Power company and local officials have estimated that it’ll be Wednesday or Thursday before service is restored to many. No unnecessary water use in the city because of concerns about sewer backups. County pumping stations no longer function and folks in the ‘burbs are told to boil water for drinking and cooking. Sadly, 50% of the tree stock in the city was affected.
Despite the tree limb resting on my power line, I still have juice. (Though the line got really s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d out!) So, the day was pretty much spent in front of the TV, watching the madness. We learned that some spent as many as 15 hours stuck on the Thruway last night. Eventually, the airport and thruway were reopened and clean up plans are underway.
It’s been windy, and raining on and off all day and the snow has started to melt. There are flood warnings now… We’ve already started to deal with this as my basement walls have a few cracks that leak when there’s heavy rain. Water is traveling across the floor in a few locations and we’re periodically wringing out towels while the dehumidifier and fan are going full blast.
Some friends who’ve been without power for nearly a day came for dinner. They were glad for a warm house and hot food. After our dinner feast we spent a pleasant evening hanging out and playing Jeopardy on the Playstation. They left their little parakeets here where it’s warm, but had to go home to be with their dog and cat.
All in all, we’ve been quite lucky to be mostly unaffected. We’re grateful!