Storm of the Century

We had the worst storms I can ever remember yesterday across Michigan. Approximately a quarter million people lost power and many of them won't see it restored until Saturday. Houses had their roofs blown off. In many area there were hailstones the size of golf balls, and one area reported ones the size of cue balls! There was major flooding, winds of 70 miles per hour, washed out roads and intersections, and roads with trees blown down across them. Power lines were down in many areas and there were reports of transformers exploding. Major highways had traffic backed up for miles. Lightning strikes were reported in many areas. One lake had reports that the winds were so severe that some docks and boats were blown off the lake onto the shore. From about 2:30 in the afternoon until bedtime at midnight, storms rolled through the area, with periods of intense activity,

Of course at the height of the most severe period of this, around 5PM, I had to pickup Danielle who was at a friends house! It was a nightmarish, surreal journey! With the wipers running at maximum I could barely see a few feet in front of me. The journey to drop here off around noon took 3 minutes, this trip took about 15. Water on one of the streets had risen above the curb level, and the winds were whipping the rain and debris all over the place. It was quite exhilarating being out in the storm and d enjoyed it as well, particularly the founts of water the car was throwing as we drove on the water filled streets.

There was one part where the water was at least a foot deep and we drove very slowly through that so as not to risk kicking up water into the engine and stalling out; that would have been ugly, I would have been afraid the car might not be visible enough until someone was almost upon it.

Last Sunday we awoke to no power for a few hours, though the weather had been fine. With all the people without power and all the severe weather we were fortunate not to lose it yesterday.