Sudden Storms
Saturday July 22, 2006 - The story really begins with the heat wave that
blanketed much of the country earlier this week. The St. Louis Metro
area was locked down under a hot, humid lid of air that became hotter, more stifling and more polluted as the week wore on. The electric power
grid was strained even before the storms.
The first storm hit my neighborhood around 7pm Wednesday night. Sammy, my weather predicting Shih-tsu, insisted on crawling into his crate around 6:30pm. I went to bed early as well. The storm did not seem that serious inside my well-built house. The big tree in the front yard shed a few twigs and some leaves. Thursday morning, driving into the office in Fairview Heights, IL I could see
branches down and every other traffic light was not functioning. The radio recited a litany of storm damage: part of the roof of the airport blown off, widespread power blackouts, buildings collapsed and the Cardinals baseball game
delayed. I arrived at the office at my usual time to find the power out in our building. No phones, computers, lights or air conditioning and the forecast for Thursday July 20 was that it would be the hottest day of the year with temperatures reaching a life-threatening range.
My coworkers and I would have preferred to go home. We bitched and moaned about making the long trek into St Louis, made doubly difficult and dangerous by the condition of the bridges across the Mississippi. The Poplar Street Bridge which carries three interstates has been partially closed by construction and was obstructed by a tractor-trailer accident. The Eads Bridge which carries the
MetroLink trains had been shut because of the collapse of the Switzer Building, a decrepit brick structure beside the Laclede Landing/Arch stop. Only the narrow and nasty King Bridge continued to link downtown St. Louis with the Illinois hinterlands.
But management asked us to go. The Lackland Hills office in suburban St. Louis has an emergency generator; it had power and was already taking our calls. And despite all the bitching and moaning, most of my coworkers braved the bridges (reopened by 9am) and debris-strewn roads to go in and help our travelers. We had to use other people's desks, chairs and computers, arranged to their
convenience and not to ours. We didn't have our "stuff" - the printouts, notes, manuals or phone rolodex files that have the details of serving our special accounts. The fumes and the noise of the generator made us a little sick. We weren't as productive. Yet we answered the phones with bright cheerful voices
and did the best we could. Management bought in lunch. With great relief, power was restored to Fairview Heights by the middle of Thursday afternoon.
Business as usual tomorrow. Hooray!
Friday morning found us happily working at a relaxed pace. Someone checked a doppler radar website and said that new storms were on the way. The storm broke with a burst of rain and wind around 11:25am. Power went down and the computers died. Power staggered up again a few minutes later, and I had just started to reboot when it crashed again. We were herded out of our glass-walled office into the atrium. That building is not well-designed for a tornado zone and there is limited space to shelter away from all the glass. The storm didn't last long,
but the power didn't come back.
It was my normal lunchtime. Management had planned a "Festa Day" and had nacho fixings in the break room. Because of our staggered lunch schedules, I never see more than a few of my coworkers at lunch. This was almost like a party. People were chattering in the dark, loaning flashlights and cell phones, pointing out the location of the chips and the soda. After we had eaten, we drifted around, waiting for power. At least this storm had cooled things down.
I had to leave at 1:30pm to go to the doctor's. None of the traffic lights were working and big trees were down. Sullivan Road between Lincoln Trail and Frank Scott was bumper to bumper because of the lack of traffic lights. Once I crossed North Belt, everything was working. I was 15 minutes late at the doctor's, but they had other people running still later. When I went to my usual Walgreens to file my prescription, they told me the wait would be 45 minutes rather than 20--they were helping other drugstores in their chain who had
lost power. Pharmacists from other stores were running in and taking out
loaded baskets of prescriptions.
When I got back home, I could tell that my house had lost power since the clock on the stove was blinking but that the power outage had been brief since the kitchen radio still had its alarm setting. Sammy was worried but fine. This morning my dentist's office called and cancelled my appointment. Because of the power outage, all water from the tap must be boiled. St. Clair County, where
I live, is part of the disaster area.
If you are reading this, take a moment to give thanks for the blessing of power and the miracle of light. Consider also the importance of civilization, which requires heroic effort to keep going. I am fortunate to be only lightly touched by a local disaster. Compared to some of the other disasters in Indonesia, North Korea, Israel, Lebanon, Iraq and China, St. Louis is a better
place to be.
blanketed much of the country earlier this week. The St. Louis Metro
area was locked down under a hot, humid lid of air that became hotter, more stifling and more polluted as the week wore on. The electric power
grid was strained even before the storms.
The first storm hit my neighborhood around 7pm Wednesday night. Sammy, my weather predicting Shih-tsu, insisted on crawling into his crate around 6:30pm. I went to bed early as well. The storm did not seem that serious inside my well-built house. The big tree in the front yard shed a few twigs and some leaves. Thursday morning, driving into the office in Fairview Heights, IL I could see
branches down and every other traffic light was not functioning. The radio recited a litany of storm damage: part of the roof of the airport blown off, widespread power blackouts, buildings collapsed and the Cardinals baseball game
delayed. I arrived at the office at my usual time to find the power out in our building. No phones, computers, lights or air conditioning and the forecast for Thursday July 20 was that it would be the hottest day of the year with temperatures reaching a life-threatening range.
My coworkers and I would have preferred to go home. We bitched and moaned about making the long trek into St Louis, made doubly difficult and dangerous by the condition of the bridges across the Mississippi. The Poplar Street Bridge which carries three interstates has been partially closed by construction and was obstructed by a tractor-trailer accident. The Eads Bridge which carries the
MetroLink trains had been shut because of the collapse of the Switzer Building, a decrepit brick structure beside the Laclede Landing/Arch stop. Only the narrow and nasty King Bridge continued to link downtown St. Louis with the Illinois hinterlands.
But management asked us to go. The Lackland Hills office in suburban St. Louis has an emergency generator; it had power and was already taking our calls. And despite all the bitching and moaning, most of my coworkers braved the bridges (reopened by 9am) and debris-strewn roads to go in and help our travelers. We had to use other people's desks, chairs and computers, arranged to their
convenience and not to ours. We didn't have our "stuff" - the printouts, notes, manuals or phone rolodex files that have the details of serving our special accounts. The fumes and the noise of the generator made us a little sick. We weren't as productive. Yet we answered the phones with bright cheerful voices
and did the best we could. Management bought in lunch. With great relief, power was restored to Fairview Heights by the middle of Thursday afternoon.
Business as usual tomorrow. Hooray!
Friday morning found us happily working at a relaxed pace. Someone checked a doppler radar website and said that new storms were on the way. The storm broke with a burst of rain and wind around 11:25am. Power went down and the computers died. Power staggered up again a few minutes later, and I had just started to reboot when it crashed again. We were herded out of our glass-walled office into the atrium. That building is not well-designed for a tornado zone and there is limited space to shelter away from all the glass. The storm didn't last long,
but the power didn't come back.
It was my normal lunchtime. Management had planned a "Festa Day" and had nacho fixings in the break room. Because of our staggered lunch schedules, I never see more than a few of my coworkers at lunch. This was almost like a party. People were chattering in the dark, loaning flashlights and cell phones, pointing out the location of the chips and the soda. After we had eaten, we drifted around, waiting for power. At least this storm had cooled things down.
I had to leave at 1:30pm to go to the doctor's. None of the traffic lights were working and big trees were down. Sullivan Road between Lincoln Trail and Frank Scott was bumper to bumper because of the lack of traffic lights. Once I crossed North Belt, everything was working. I was 15 minutes late at the doctor's, but they had other people running still later. When I went to my usual Walgreens to file my prescription, they told me the wait would be 45 minutes rather than 20--they were helping other drugstores in their chain who had
lost power. Pharmacists from other stores were running in and taking out
loaded baskets of prescriptions.
When I got back home, I could tell that my house had lost power since the clock on the stove was blinking but that the power outage had been brief since the kitchen radio still had its alarm setting. Sammy was worried but fine. This morning my dentist's office called and cancelled my appointment. Because of the power outage, all water from the tap must be boiled. St. Clair County, where
I live, is part of the disaster area.
If you are reading this, take a moment to give thanks for the blessing of power and the miracle of light. Consider also the importance of civilization, which requires heroic effort to keep going. I am fortunate to be only lightly touched by a local disaster. Compared to some of the other disasters in Indonesia, North Korea, Israel, Lebanon, Iraq and China, St. Louis is a better
place to be.
posted by Ellen Miz Ellen at 4:53 AM
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