29 April 2011 Aftermath random thoughts, odds and ends

29 April 2011 Aftermath random thoughts, odds and ends

            There are signs east & west of us, big flashing light highway construction signs, reading: “Caution Disaster Area!”  That's for the drivers and sightseers who miss the meaning of the broken trees and the metal roofing crumpled up like used Kleenex.

            The Nolichuckey Volunteer Fire Department on TN 107, just 3 miles north of us has a parking lot absolutely filled with Police, Sheriff’s Department, State Troopers, Fire Departments from all around the region, power board trucks, cable trucks, phone trucks, and volunteer groups to feed the men and women who come with the trucks.

            We live on a dead end road that connects to a sort of circular path to TN 107.  Normally, the three-mile trip to 107 takes 5-7 minutes.  Yesterday morning the first trip around the circuit took 45 minutes.  The next took an hour.  Last night's trip to get more generator gasoline took 40.  This is due to broken power poles, broken trees, broken houses, wires, cables and other debris blocking the road.  Later it also is due to the power crews and other response teams.  Last night, sightseers were evident. 

            On the three-mile trip out, for the last two miles, there were no intact power poles.   The nearest major damage is about 0.2 miles plotted on a map. 

            We are creatures of routine.  Thursday is trash pick-up day.  When I took Loki out yesterday morning, found no visible damage from the front deck, I took the trash to the road.  After the first trip out, I realized that there would be no normal Thursday trash pickup. 

            These tornadoes, the second may have been the worst, I haven’t seen the reports yet, went up and down valley walls, crossed water,  crossed a major river, tracked up hill and down.  They demonstrated that all the old myths about some geographic feature turning them away or preventing them are not true.

            These were predicted two – three days before they happened.  The atmosphere was nearly perfect for such an outbreak.  It happened as predicted.  I watched the super cells slide up and by us until the 2305 storm took that ability.  Now, without power, without computers, and outside information, I have no more idea about what is coming up tomorrow than did people forecasting storms in the 1950s.  When the satellites, computers, and Doppler radar vanish, we're all reduced to looking at the sky and hoping.

            I'm reduced to feeding a generator and flipping switches to route power to refrigeration or pumping water.  Can't have both without compromising the generator.  Illumination is costly in terms of generator power.  Headlamps are much less costly.  The generator eats 25 liters of gasoline for 8 hours of power and noise.  In VietNam, one term for the CONUS was “land of the all-night generator.”   We don't run it all night here.  Too costly, too noisy, Can't leave it running without attention.  I listen for changes in sound to tell me about problems.  I'm tired of its noise and expense.  But it’s saving our perishable food and providing us with water.  I can live with the noise a bit longer.