WHAT ARE YOU DOING TODAY - WAYDT (PICS)
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Starting to decompress from the last 5 days…
The storm was epically bad and I’m glad it’s starting to return to some kind of normal. The power outage lasted for 4 days in below freezing temperatures and we managed to keep our house warm by feeding the fireplace every two-three hours. Our backup generator worked for 1.5 hours before shutting off, and I couldn’t get it restarted no matter what I tried.
Two different neighbours came to spend different nights in the spare bedroom so they could get warm. Their places got down to +3c during the duration of the storm and we were happy to be able to lend a hand. Our neighbours either use electricity or fuel systems for heating that require electricity to run the pumps and fan systems. When we built our home, we decided on a primary heat source (propane furnace) and a backup source (wood burning fireplace) for emergencies. I’m thankful that we added the backup….
My family and I spent two days cutting fallen trees off of our laneway so we could get out if necessary and my girls did a brilliant job of helping pull the brush off of the road into the surrounding woods. My neighbours are all in their late 60’s to 80’s and tried to help as much as they could, but we didn’t want to see them get hurt in the icy and freezing temperatures pulling brush or lifting heavy logs.
Now for a sad part: The area received a fair amount of snow in addition to the winds causing white out conditions as well of massive snowdrifts that were over 2 stories tall in some places. The road systems were all eventually closed in the area, as well as a major section of our main thoroughfare connecting Toronto to Montreal. In the local area it’s taken crews 4 days to clear the roads because of these drifts and vehicles caught in them. The police were using snowmobiles to rescue people if they could get to them, but sadly they have found 5 vehicles (unofficial) with the occupants deceased.
In the end my family and immediate neighbours all made out ok and we’ll always remember this Christmas in our own ways. My girls stepped up and I’m proud of how they handled it all…
In a month, we’re headed to the Caribbean for a 10 day vacation…I may just stay there
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Wow Dennis that is so intense. Sorry to hear about the deaths from the weather but it is very cool that your family and community pulled together to get through it. As weather worsens that will be the spirit necessary to get through tough times.
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??? bloody hell Denis!
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@goosehd , this is an incredible story, I'm glad you made it out OK, and as you said it's a Christmas that you'll all remember in your own ways. Upstate and Western NY have similar stories going on. I'm sure the Caribbean vacation is looking good. Stay safe.
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Thank you all for the well wishes. I’ve spent the last day catching up on the news and didn’t know the situation was that bad and widespread. Stories all across the U.S. and Canada of people stuck in cars, walking through snow and blizzard conditions to find shelter, and houses catching fire and burning down by people just trying to keep warm.
In the broad picture, we made it out very easy and my heart goes out to those less fortunate.
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So sorry brother–very happy that you made it through that mess, and sad for those who didn't.
