I had planned, on Sunday, to take my moped (a sassy little Italian-made 1978 Motron Medalist) out for a ride and run errands, drink coffee, pay bills and shop for vintage or costume pieces. However when I awoke to strong winds rattling my new house, I figured it wouldn’t be very safe for me to venture out. Boy, was I right! The remnants of Hurricane Ike swept through Louisville late Sunday morning and brought with it sustained winds of 50 mph with gusts reaching 75 mph, the most intense and serious storm to affect the area in 30 years. Naturally when giant oak trees, strong as they are, grow and grow and never face winds of this nature, they are unable to handle the power and come tumbling down. I toured my neighborhood (where I could) and witnessed not only broken tress which had fallen onto power lines but also enormous, stately trees completely uprooted, as if a tornado had plucked it from the earth.
As of yesterday, over 300,000 people (including myself) are without electricity and the utility company here, LG&E, estimates that it may take ten to 14 days before service is restored in some areas. Thank goodness my friend in Old Louisville has power and I can stay there!
Here are some photos I took while exploring the damage on Sunday. I guess after growing up with a mother and stepfather in emergency medicine and response, surviving 9/11/01, making it through the the blackout of 2003 which knocked out power in most of the northeast and picking up the pieces after the fire, I’m sort of unphased by disaster and keep my cool. I am not sure if this is a good or a bad thing. Either way, I am fine and the trees in my house and yard didn’t suffer any damage. Thankfully!
An unlucky motorist and live wires down. Dangerous!
Utility pole snapped in half from 75mph winds
Uprooted tree in Central Park
Even fancy houses were not spared.
1 response so far ↓
Lazarus Poe // September 17, 2008 at 8:05 pm |
Yeah, I just went through the same thing in Northern Kentucky. I didn’t see much that was /that/ bad, but several trees in our neighborhood are completely gone, and our yard was a complete MESS! We got it all cleaned up, eventually.
It also got us out of two days of school.
I’m glad that you are safe after the massive storm. ;D