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August 30, 2011

Disasters and Lasagnas

By Sarah

I gotta make this fast because I don't know for how long I'll have power. Living in Central Vermont, near  Ground Zero Irene, our lights have been turning on and off ever since winds started picking up early Sunday morning. Let's just say it adds a kind of urgency to one's writing.

Brandon Now, I know a lot of you live in Florida or out in the Great Plains of the Midwest where tornadoes touch down with alarming regularity and "Cat #1" storms are for amateurs. So forgive me, please, for acting like my nervous Aunt Betty who used to scream at every firework on the Fourth of July. We're just not used to watching our streets turn into rivers up here or our roads crumble like children's sand castles at high tide. All we can say is jeezum crow!

Snow, yes. We do snow well. Ice is never pleasant but we can handle that, too. A blizzard? Geesh, we're pros. Because we take that kind of weather seriously. We know from experience what it means when 8-12 inches of white stuff is blowing in overnight. It means load up the wood stove and hunker down. We know better not to run out in our skivvies just to see what it's like outside. Or to get on the roads because we're bored. But rain and wind? Not so much. Our attitude up here is - how bad could a little unfrozen water be?

That is, until Irene.

Which might explain why my daughter's boss at Woodbury Mountain Toys rolled her eyes when I insisted Anna stay home during the 35 mph winds and the rain that dumped up to 11 " in 24 hours.  Or why on our blessed local radio WDEV, to which I was glued during the storm, boneheads would call in to complain that they went out for a ride and "couldn't go no place" 'cause every place they go had either a log or a cave in or, shoot, a wall of rushing water.

"My girlfriend was getting kind of pissed," one caller said. "So I had to go home."

Yup. That's Vermont.

 Oh, crap. The lights are flickering again....Gotta shut down the computer and wait for the electric cooperative road crew to finish resting up..... TO BE CONTINUED!

 Okay, I'm back. Heard about Michele Bachmann's statement and figured it had to be hyperbole, no? I mean, what are WE being punished for - gay marriage? I'm sure that's why God has isolated at least ten Vermont towns and when I mean isolated, I mean not even the National Guard can get to them by land. 

A lot of people up here are looking at this latest disaster metaphorically. Vermont towns used to be Bratt self sufficient. You had your crops, your cows, your town hall and school. If you had to go someplace else, well, I suppose you could cross the small bridge, but really why would you? The only way Vermont became a tourist destination was because of the Communists. Like the Red Menace.

President Eisenhower, while fearing the military industrial complex, also realized that this part of New England would be impossible for the army to cross in a hurry should the Russians come marching in. So, he connected us to the real world through the I-91 and I-89 interstates. Until the late 50s, early 60s, you really couldn't get here from there because the towns were bridged by winding two lane roads that took for-ev-er.

Now those roads are underwater and the covered bridges have fallen. It's the end of an era, no doubt, and probably the end of what was already a touch-and-go agricultural season. Everyone at the farmer's market on Saturday was saying things like, "get the last of the blueberries before the hurricane" and wondering how their apples would survive in the winds.

Someone on my Facebook page griped that the Midwest gets this kind of treatment all the time and no one makes a fuss. Maybe that's true. But this is the biggest disaster to hit my state in over 100 years and I think it's acceptable to bring in some attention.

Now, here's my favorite video of the whole thing. Wait for the punchline because that's a quintessential Vermonter speaking. Enough excitement. Time to check on the lasagne.

Also:

 

Thank God it wasn't worse!

 

Sarah

 

 

 

 

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Comments

Stay inside, stay safe. I still have *very* clear memories of Ike... that was a lonnnnng two weeks.

And how about the fools who were on the beach, swimming and trying to surf!! People underestimate water danger all the time.

I grew up in hurricanes and thought they were great fun. Saturday night, when the first tornado warning hit, I gave my own imitation of your nervous Aunt Betty.

Blizzards? No biggie here. But I must say, I am still spooked about the earthquake we had here last week. The house swaying and creaking and the pictures vibrating on the walls, and my bookshelves groaning.............that's just against the laws of nature! I have new respect for you Californians. Here, I am still dreaming about earthquakes. It's very weird.

I could hardly blame the New Yorkers for racing out of their buildings when the earth quivered there last week. They know about disasters there---it's a collective nightmare.

Best of luck with the roads and flooding, Sarah. The news footage looks very scary!

So glad to hear you are surviving. You probably haven't seen much TV, but Vermont is FINALLY getting Irene coverage. No offense to NYC, but you would have thought that once Manhattan came through with little damage, the storm was over.

They keep showing VT's covered bridges collapsing, and for some reason, even though there were no people injured, those scenes break my heart.

My son Ty announced a couple of days ago: "Well, it must be true, because Michele Bachman said that Irene is a message from God." He was kidding, of course, but I am no God, or even a minor god of any kind, and I would really, really like to send her a message.

Actually, I think Bachmann was 100 percent correct. The earthquake and the hurricane were indeed messages from God to politicians in Washington--of which she is one herself.

The message: "STFU, Michele."

Sarah, only you would emerge from a hurricane to get me up to speed on Michele Bachmann's latest piece of wisdom -- while baking lasagne. Brava!

Thanks for providing perspective on Vermont's tragedy, Sarah. It is difficult to get that sort of "woman on the street" report when no one can get there to do it.

I've only been to Vermont once, on a long family vacation drive, and found it lovely. Here in Ohio we have already lost almost all of our own covered bridges, to various and sundry reasons, but they are such a heritage for your state, aren't they? The video footage is heartbreaking and shocking.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2011/08/29/von.vt.bridge.collapse.susan

Glad you and yours are safe, Sarah. And what the heck are those people doing roaming around in a storm. Half the deaths from a hurricane are AFTER the storm hits -- from electrocution by downed wires, flooding and over-exertion from the clean-up.

Sl glad you're all fine . . . the footage is really terrifying. Love the lasagna line. I was also amused by the story on TODAY about a wedding at a quaint little inn in Vermont (I don't think it was run by Bob Newhart, though)--the ceremony was ideal, then the rain started. Long story short . . . the bridge/road washed away and the entire wedding party and ALL the guests are stranded there for days . . . if the new couple survives this, I think they'll have a long, happy marriage!

Reports are floating in....One particularly macabre story - coffins are drifting down a branch of the White River after flooding uprooted a cemetery in Rochester, VT. (Quaint little town. One of those you can't get to from here.)

Also, 400 people are holed up in the Killington resort and Killington itself is cut off from the state of Vermont. Of course, you have to live here to know this, but once, when Killington got pissed off by the new school-funding tax structure that required "gold" towns with lots of tourism to pay more into the kitty, the town THREATENED TO MOVE TO NEW HAMPSHIRE. Don't ask.

Well, now they're relying on the state of Vermont to bail them out. (Oh, the puns.) Not like they could take the profitable mountain with them, anyway.

I had no idea that Michele Bachmann had come up with still another idiotic remark. I guess I should not be surprised! What on earth are her followers thinking!? I have gotten to the point that I refuse to read or listen to news coverage of her. I suppose I should rethink that, though. It seems that she's pulling all the village idiots out of the woodwork, and I want to know who they are. (I have a horrible feeling that I will discover that I know some of them. )

I was wondering how the people of Vermont were faring. Thanks for updating us, Sarah. I hope you escape with little or no damage. It's frightening to hear that there are parts of the state that rescuers can't get to. Imagine how awful it must be to live in one of those areas and not know if anyone is aware that you need help!

oh my gosh, Sarah, those photos you've added to your blog post!! That's staggering. Sooo glad you're safe and dryish. Thanks very much for going to the trouble of doing this post under tricky circumstances!

p.s. fyi, the video doesn't show up for me on my macbook or my ipad.

Glad you are safe, and wish I could join you for your delicious lasagna.
As for the self-appointed spokes(wo)men for God, I tend to distrust anyone who claims to have an absolute answer to the mysteries of life. I prefer to honor belief systems that make people kinder and more caring toward others.
From a storytelling friend: God bless us all, no exceptions.

Hmmm. It shows up on mine. I wonder what's wrong. Will send link to Holly....

Actually, I think Bachmann was 100 percent correct. The earthquake and the hurricane were indeed messages from God to politicians in Washington--of which she is one herself.

The message: "STFU, Michele."

I'll second that!

My mother grew up in northern Ohio. She worked for a while in South Carolina. There was a freak snow storm. That was when all those years of lake effect snow practice don't matter when there are no snow tires, rock salt, space heaters or snow shovels.

When I worked for a school district we got a new Superintendent from Virginia. Hurricane, no problem! He was in St. Louis about a month when a tornado removed Greenville (MO) high school. As tornadoes go, Greenville had a lot of warning, about ten minutes. Dr. "From VA" was used to one week warnings for storms that can remove buildings. He was freaked out about tornadoes for about a year after that.

Glad all of you east coasters are safe. I guess we all are used to the weather we see all the time.

Thanks for the remark about the updated images, Nancy. I'd have missed them. WOW. That's a bunch of water.

Just a year and a half ago the Nashville area had over 20 inches of rain in two days. A storm front--the kind that usually drifts over, deposits a couple inches of rain, and then goes elsewhere--just sat over the area. Friends who live at the top of a hill had water literally going through their house's lower level like a river. The Opryland Hotel, which is a massive structure, had feet of water in it and was closed for months.

Crazy things happening, not just in the US, but all over the world. It might not be Armageddon, but death by a thousand cuts, for sure.

Message from God to Michele Bachmann: "Michele, this is God, get back on your meds NOW."

Sarah,
I noticed that I don't have the video available to me, either. Could it be because I am tryng to access it from Kindle?

I am supposed to take Amtrak from New Haven CT to NJ on Thursday. As of this morning, service had been restored betwee NY and Boston, but not between NY and Philadelphia. Look like I could be spending my ENTIRE vacation at home! I am grateful to still have a home in which to spend it, after seeing what some people in my town and neighborhood are going through.

I think we could write a book called Message from God to Michele Bachmann (or Glenn Beck).

I was in upstate Vermont (Barton) for the weekend and after checking the weather forecasts all day I decided to drive home to southern NH late Saturday night instead of Sunday afternoon. After watching the news of all the flooding and road washouts was I glad I did. I drove home down I91 and would have been in the middle of the disaster if I had waited the extra day. My electrical power and cable came back on this morning after a 43 hour outage. No way am I going to whine when I see others are dealing with. I hope you and your family stay safe.

I've been on that part of 91 in a blizzard - when 91 was CLOSED! I know what it's like and it's not pretty. Winds whipping around, etc. They even closed part of the interstate near Bratt due to washouts. Yeah, wise move.

Sorry about the long delay in power. Sucks say?

There's nothing quite like being in the middle of a pine forest during a hurricane. A little wind. A little water. Flying trees. Pass the lasagne please.

I've been thinking of you. The video is painful to watch. That much water is frightening, and inexorable. The news (MSNBC) is full of news about Vermont, and the loss of businesses and homes. Michelle Bachman is on another planet. I hope things improve for you soon.

Sarah, thinking of you...ah.....

From a Tv point of view, it's a very difficult balance. This is the first big storm I've missed covering for many many years---(I had some dots removed from my face, and bandaids just don't look good on camera..) And I agree that watching the whole thing, wall-to-wall, seems sometimes terrifyting, and sometimes leaves you wondering--why don't they just go inside? This from someone who has done exactly the same thing, millions of times.

But since predicting the future is unknowable, is it better to warn than ignore?

xoxoo

We interrupt this programming for this bulletin:

And the winner of Carla Neggers' book from last week is: Mary Rickson!

Mary, haven't heard from you yet!

Email me via my website http://www.HankPhillipiRyan.com

and tell me your address!

COngratulations!

xoHank

Hank, Step and I still talk about your reports! And god, don't we miss them.

It was very strange to be here at home in the Florida Keys, unscathed by Irene, and watch the storm reports as the hurricane hit New Jersey where I lived for the first 44 of my life. I'm used to being in the cone and never get blase about "just" a Cat 1. I might not evacuate, but I'm not blase. I am so grateful that the storm lost power and wasn't a Cat 3 when it hit. The devastation all of you are facing breaks my heart.

Sarah, I marvel that you haven't deleted the comments from the crank on your FB entries. 'My state has worse than YOURS does, nyah, nyah . . . ' What excruciatingly bad manners, not to mention, absurdly untrue. I've been in a remarkable number of tornado paths, and through a few hurricanes, and none of my experience anywhere near compares with what you and your fellow Vermonters must be seeing and feeling as the waters take bridges and more. I've only seen a few covered bridges up close and personal, but I mourn for Vermont's loss of those historical icons, among many losses. Stay safe.

I was away from news coverage for most of the week, but I confess, as I glimpsed various reports of the storm's progress, I kept wishing that everyone along the entire coast had received education about flash flooding, and the post-storm dangers.

Yes, said crank can be trying at times, but we rise above....kind of like the water!

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