Monday, February 22, 2021

Powerless: a diary of the blackout in Oregon

Friday
The freezing rain started thursday night and continued into friday evening

I took some macro pictures and scraped the layer of ice off of my car so I could make a quick run to the pharmacy

We lost power at 530pm on Friday night, just as dinner was being prepared

We ate cold left overs instead

The power company fixed some of the power and said our apartment would be fixed the next day

We read books and tried to play guitar by candlelight 

Saturday
A heavy ice storm hit saturday morning damaging many trees, power lines, buildings, cars, and more

The world looked like an ice sculpture

I resisted the urge to take photos and helped to clear branches and a tree from the road instead

Glad we always have at least one hand saw around
We collected ice that fell from the trees and bagged it to keep the fridge and freezer cold

We also drove a short loop to see damage and charge phones

Dinner was cold leftovers again

Vegetarian sloppy joes are pretty good cold

We read books and I played solitaire by candlelight and flashlight

Outside the air was thick with haze and smoke as people with woodstoves burned wet wood

Sunday
The next day tens of thousands of people lost power, even more than saturday, as the ice melted and more trees fell

We heard transformers blow like several gunshots

It was valentine's day

We got snacks at the store, and a bottle of champagne 

On the drive we saw the power company making their way down the neighborhood, block by block

Much progress was made, several street lights came online, less four way stops to worry about

We went on a walk to stay warm

The apartment temp was as cold as outside by now and we were wearing several layers of clothing

A family member with power ordered us pizza and we were extremely grateful for the hot food and good pizza

If they need help with damage repairs I hope they know we are there for them

We listened to music and drank champagne while playing rummikub

Monday
Monday morning got warmer, which was good for morale and health but bad for our food

The food started to go bad in the fridge, the freezer still had some good items and we started to eat them

My parents very kindly let us take showers at their place and lent us a cook stove

We were so grateful, hopfully we can help them with their roof damage if they need it 

We shopped for a lantern or some sort of light, more food and searched for wifi, then grabbed burgers as it was getting dark

We heard power might be out for the whole week

I am grateful for water and candles as well as gas in the car and family

I hope my sister is doing okay as I just heard she lost power and water a couple days after we did

Maybe the power will be on tomorrow

Tuesday
The day was a blur

We hoped for power, but after we heard that our powerline was restored the power company marked our complex as having power

It did not have power and so a neighbor called management who thought it was only our building and we called the power company who said it was the entire complex

This prompted my parents to call the power company and they found that they were marked as having power restored when in fact the whole street was without power

We read books most of the day

Then we cooked chili by camp stove on the balcony

The temperature got colder again tonight, I could feel it

I fell asleep reading my book by lantern light

Wednesday
This morning I woke a few times to trucks and chainsaws

The tree service and landscapers came back to do more work

Brian thought he heard someone talking about power outside, asking when it will be on and they said they can't really say but could get to it today after fixing a downed powerline nearby

We went for another walk

I noticed that one of the apartments has a daily letter board with short odd messages throughout the blackout, I don't always understand them but they amuse me

I found out my sister had her power turned on earlier today and my parents power came on tonight

We went to my parents house to get warm, heat up food, go online and watch movies

Their cable is spotty but the internet works so I caught up on the week's news and emails and the warmth felt good

Hopefully the power will be on tomorrow, and hopefully management can help

We called them to tell them about the loud crack we heard when the power went out which might have been one of the power boxes on property and how long the outage has been

The street sweepers were sweeping up the road gravel at 10pm, a clean road is one step closer to normal I suppose

Thursday

And Ode To The Trees After A Storm

Stumpy winter tree , grown straight and tall as an overgrown coat hanger
Windswept trees reaching for the eastern sky catching precarious branches within their grasp
Trees laying down where once they stood
Fragile trees blown apart under duress
Cut up circles of trees 
Sawn off branches in neat piles
Tall proud mountain trees unafraid of the weather
Come spring buds will blossom, leaves will grow, but the memory of ice will remain

Cold today again and rainy, snow-like rain that hits the car windshield like a melted flake, but no snow thank goodness 

Called the management for an update, nothing new

Went for a charging drive and got warm too

Called power company to see if they had all the info about what happened just in case later on and they said nothing much new, just that we were in a hard hit area and there had been 400 calls from our complex, which makes sense

We are still the only large place without power in our immediate area as far as we can tell, with the exception of a house here and there

Got more chili and snacks at the store

We read, ate dinner, and waited for a package that never came

I was chilled during the night, probably need to move around more

Friday
Slept late, still no package which is our weekly food delivery

The bread, peanut butter, dried fruit and seeds are great to have for breakfast, sometimes I have avocado instead, but I'm out of them now

I stretched really good and got the blood flowing again, no more chill

I wonder how people stretch on a snowy mountain climb if they get chilled, in all that gear and in tiny tents? 

I'm really starting to feel it today on day 7

I miss warmth and hot water

Glad I live in a temperate climate though

I think the temperature has stayed between 34 and 50, mostly in the low 40s.

We hiked the croisan scenic trail as far as we could and there were less downed trees than I imagined, except a patch of beautiful old maples or oaks which are now gone

We passed a two person crew who cleared much of the fallen limbs

Found a nearby neighborhood with no electricity, so we aren't the only ones without power back in this area

It is a neighborhood known for its tall trees and many of the oaks came down or lost limbs

Came home and read

Went to parents again to heat up soup, take showers, and do a little laundry

We got to watch some tv, which was nice

Apartment parkinglot was half empty last, so people are finding other places to sleep

Saturday
Another day

Temperature rose to about 48

Was able to get public wifi on a street corner nearby

Got our food delivery, which included as much nonpareshables as they had available

Read most of the day until there was a flash of light from the light bulbs for a second in the bedroom where we were reading by windowlight

It was 5pm, hopefully this is a good sign

For dinner we got fancy and combined chili and italian soup

As dinner was cooking outside, the electricity came back on for good

I was way too excited, but it had been 8 days with no electricity or heat, except for the car and the couple visits to family

I feel for others who are in a poorer situation, I am very aware this could have been much much worse

As of this post, there are still ~27,500 homes without power in Oregon