Thirty-six hours with out power...the irony of course is that I purchased the AC with the purpose of cooling our house for yesterday, the predicted hottest day of the year, but then our electricity blew out at 10:30pm the night before, thereby leaving us without any cooling device for the hottest day of the year (heat index around 100+). No ceiling fans, no standing fans, no AC...My town was declared to be in an emergency situation.
When I saw that our neighbors all had lights around 1:00am, and we still didn't I figured we were in trouble, especially since I heard a few trees snap in the storm. I didn't take a picture, but our long drive was blocked off by several 12" - 14" branches blocking the entire drive. One half of the branches were suspended in the air by 3 electrical wires. Once I saw this I knew we were in real BIG trouble and in for a long wait for the return of power.
Then, my one neighbor, the only other one without power, came down and cut up the trees. I guess he decided to gamble that the wires and therefore the trees weren't hot. They weren't, and he is still alive. So thanks to him, we were able to leave our premises and go to my school which was declared a cooling station and begin working on my classes and classroom for next school year. For the night, We slept in the basement of my brother's house. When we were arriving home this morning to take Mim to her swim lessons at 8:30am, the WPS crew (one of 40 circulating through the city) was here to restore power. I was so thankful!!
We didn't lose any of our food in the freezers, so again I am thankful. Overall it ended up well for us, but our city was hit hard. The only loss (death) we (our family) had was one of my fav hens, Charlotte, to the heat. Here are some articles for our city.
STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAU) – Estimates are still coming in for damages from last night's storm in Stevens Point and Portage County.
Nearly every other yard in Stevens Point suffered tree damage from straight line winds in Tuesday night's storm, the mayor said this morning. Mayor Andrew Halverson has declared a state of emergency.
As of 7:30pm emergency officials estimate about 3,800 customers in the Stevens Point area remain without power and are not sure when power will be fully restored. Two cooling shelters are open until 8:00 p.m. tonight, one at SPASH and the other at Ben Franklin Junior High.
Assessment teams are out looking at damage to homes and businesses in the area. Most of the damage reported was minor but seven homes did sustain major damage. In addition, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point sustained about $150,000 in structural damage.
All roads in the city are now open, according to Wisconsin Emergency Management. Halverson had lifted a travel ban earlier but discouraged any unnecessary travel because of street flooding and traffic signals that didn't work. There are also downed trees and downed power lines all over the city and emergency workers are asking residents and onlookers to stay away.
The mayor's office also says the city's wells are back online, water pressure has stabilized and that there are no safety concerns with the city's water.
Trees also fell in Junction City. Plover got around two inches of rain in just 50 minutes. And Wausau set a record rainfall for the date with 1.57 inches.
Wausau's emergency sirens went off around 8:30 last night but city officials aren't sure why. There was NOT a tornado in the area, although a severe thunderstorm was passing through at the time. A funnel cloud was spotted near Veefkind in Clark County, as winds in the region hit 60 miles-per-hour last night. Abbotsford had three-and-a-half inches of rain and roads near Colby had up to 10 inches of water.
A home in the town of Texas suffered damage from a lightning strike. Their yard was also tore up after lightning struck a tree and traveled to the home through a telephone wire.
and another
INTEGRYS ENRGY GRP : Wisconsin Public Service Restoring Power to Stevens Point Following Last Night's Storm
For Release: 07/20/2011
Wisconsin Public Service Restoring Power to Stevens Point Following Last Night's Storm
Stevens Point, WI - The storms that went through central Wisconsin late last night and early this morning appear to have hit the Stevens Point area the hardest. Wisconsin Public Service reports that as many as 19,000 customers were initially without power immediately following the storms that included lightning, heavy rains and high winds resulting in fallen trees, branches and downed power lines.
As of 8:00 AM, 17,000 WPS customers in the Stevens Point area are without power. Available WPS crews worked through the night as additional crews were sent to the area early this morning.
More than 30 two-person crews are working in the Stevens Point area restoring electric service. WPS estimates that most power should be restored by later this evening. WPS is working with Portage County emergency officials to ensure a safe and orderly restoration effort.
Flooding is also a concern in some areas so WPS is bringing in special equipment to work safely in those high water areas.
WPS urges everyone to keep "safety" as their number one priority as residents are waking up to find a lot of damage, downed trees, branches and debris in their yards. If anyone is in imminent danger they should call law enforcement at 9-1-1. To report power outages, contact WPS at 800-450-7240.
Residents are urged to stay away from any situations that may be unsafe or where power lines may be tangled in downed branches of fallen trees. The power lines may still be energized!
and the last one
Conditions were just right for Tuesday night's storm, according to the National Weather Service in Green Bay.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Tom Helman said temperatures in the 90s and dew point in the 70s created an unstable air mass that led to the destructive storm.
Winds that blew into the area at about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday brought 70 to 75 mph straight-line winds that dug up trees and blew down branches throughout Stevens Point.
Helman said it's fairly common for storms to hit a concentrated area. Storms often gain and lose intensity as they move, so one area can have high winds and rain while a few miles away weather can be much less severe.
Helman said with the storm's passing, humidity levels should drop throughout the Stevens Point area.
A National Weather Service representative was in Stevens Point on Wednesday to assess storm damage.
He told Portage County Emergency Management Director Sandra Curtis that the reason so many trees uprooted was that the soil was saturated by rain from the past two weeks.
Curtis said the county's outdoor warning sirens weren't activated because they only go off during a tornado warning, not a severe thunderstorm warning. She said the county would have to "re-educate" the public if they were to start using them for thunderstorms, too.
Less than 40 homes were affected by the storm, with 25 receiving minor damage and 11 with major damage -- meaning two walls and the roof were substantially damaged.
"We're not seeing big numbers," Curtis said. She said that most of the people whose homes were damaged were insured.
Tuesday's storm flooded the Church Street and Michigan Avenue railroad underpasses. The loss of power Tuesday shut down the pumps that normally would drain the underpasses, so city crews had to pump water out of the underpasses before they could restart
the garden from the angle of tomatoes
the solar lights we placed outside in the garden to help deter the deer
another angle of the garden
tonight Kiki played a mean game of basketball with the girls after we ate a hearty supper
3 against 1
Mim playing keep away
attempting to block
look at the joy on the faces of Ve and Tuki
all out defense
summer squash casserole in the crock pot from today
6 pints of blueberry jam
4 loaves of blueberry bread
chocolate summer squash cake with frosting that we ate after basketball
cake right after removing from the oven
