Halloween Storm 2011

Tuesday morning, still no power. Saturday night, as heavy, wet snow fell, we heard a loud pop and then the lights went out. Given the weather forecast we were prepared, although it was still unexpected and more widespread then one could predict.

The oak trees were hardest hit by the heavy snow. They were still carrying all their leaves, this combined with the wet snow was too much even for healthy branches. Many, many roads in southeastern New Hampshire are lined with beautiful oak trees, although it was only a branch here or there that fell. The damage doesn't look that bad, and yet our utility company (PSNH) said it experienced the worst damage to its infrastructure in 140 years.

We have a generator that can run the whole house, a feature that we've used nearly three times a year as these major storms occur more frequently. We fire up the generator for a few hours in the morning and again in the evening for meals and showers and to warm the house and cool the fridge. One neighbor has run his generator continuously since Saturday night. Waking during the night we hear the loud drone of that generator. Another neighbor with three kids seems content with just a wood stove.

Halloween was canceled or postponed -- so lots of tricks and we have to eat all the treats.