In November we had a giant storm called a bomb cyclone that came through the greater Seattle area (we live on the eastside). A bomb cyclone is a powerful storm that rapidly intensifies and causes a sudden drop in atmospheric pressure.
It was an experience like no other. So crazy that I journaled each day so I would remember it all! Here is the story.
TuesdayI see wind in the forecast. No big deal but unusual. I go to my moms group. People are talking about the storm. I guess it’s a thing. Someone mentions hunkering down at home as we likely will lose power. Another mentions school contacted her to pick up her child early to prepare for the storm. Seems a little crazy.
We get home. Feed my littles lunch. My big kids get out early for parent teacher conferences so we have about an hour before we have to pick them up. I look up Seattle weather storm. I pull up bomb cyclone news articles. It’s suddenly unnerving. We are surely going to lose power. Trees usually fall. This is maybe serious.
Brent is currently on a plane traveling across the country for a work trip. I can’t call him. I have no one to talk this out with. I call my mom.
We talk best case scenario, worst case scenario. Best case scenario - we lose power and there is debris in the yard. I should probably get a few things from the store, gather fire wood, make sure I can run the generator, and maybe put dinner in the oven early.
Worst case - a tree falls on our house. I can have the kids sleep with me in the living room on the first floor. I tear up just thinking about it.
I’m all frazzled. We drive to pick up the kids from the bus stop and head to the store. Safeway is packed. I grab water because everybody else is (Brent later reminds me we would still have water!). The children are crazy. The baby is crying because it’s nap time. My cart and children are in the way of other shoppers. I don’t even care. I am the only adult responsible for these children. I’m on a mission.
We get home and I send the kids off for nap and quiet time. I get our groceries in, gather wood, manage to start the generator thanks to a video tutorial Brent videoed for me, and pop some food in the oven.
I’m on edge. The storm is supposed to start around 2 pm. Nothing yet.
I talk to Brent and try not to alarm him as he deals with arriving in Florida and getting to where he needs to be. He calls back later to go over a few things with me. I can tell he’s concerned and feeling helpless he’s so far away.
We go about our evening. I gather air mattresses and blankets just in case. We set up a battery operated candle trail to the bathroom for the kids so they aren’t scared if the power goes out.
The kids get to bed and I wait. The lights have been flickering for hours now. I get distracted by fall fashion trends on the internet, call my mom, then head to bed. Then I doom scroll. I start seeing posts about surrounding neighborhoods and cities. I can’t stop searching for more information. I start seeing photos of trees falling on houses and I get more anxious. The fire department suggests sleeping on the first floor away from windows.
This is getting serious. So I decide at almost 10 pm I need to have the kids sleep with me downstairs in the living room just in case. I check outside. The wind is picking up. I hear trees making their cracking breaking sound out in the distance. As I’m getting everyone’s sleeping spot ready the power finally goes out. I have a mini freak out. I start audibly talking to myself. Giving myself a pep talk. “It’s okay. Get the beds together. You’re fine.” And repeat.
I catch myself getting emotional for a moment but I don’t let myself go there. I have to get these children safe. One by one I carry them down the stairs. I try to light a fire but it doesn’t take. I sacrifice warmth for not disrupting sleeping children. Brent texts to check if I’m awake to see how we’re doing. It’s the middle of the night for him on the east coast. I let him know of my anxiety and plans. But I think we are going to be okay. I get back into my bed spot on the couch. He calls back. The children are awake! It’s a party! Jumping on air mattresses! Oh dear. We finish our conversation, I take a child to the bathroom, refill a water bottle and they are all finally back asleep by midnight.
I have a hard time sleeping. I’m wired and not super comfortable on
the couch. I’m off and on asleep. It’s so cold I have to cover my face
with my blanket.
Wednesday
4 am - I wake up to scratching noises. Is someone playing with something? I’m awake now and barely slept. Maybe 4 hours? I catch up on weather news. 400k in our county without power. Might be days to get everyone back up and running. I am fully awake and stressed now.
5:30 am - school canceled text comes through
6 am - I finally realize the scratching is someone grinding their teeth. Yikes. Note to self, mention this to the dentist. I turn up the white noise running off our jump starter battery. Three year old wants to play. I get him to lay with me while we watch cars drive down our street from the window. Where are people going?
I consider barbecuing our frozen pizza on the grill for dinner. I find a recipe.
7:00 am - the three oldest are awake. We clean up sleepover. I’m grateful nothing big came down in our yard. We made it through the night. I’m exhausted but everyone is safe.
I’m wondering how long I should run the generator today to ration out a couple of days. I get the baby up out of my room at 8:00 and we get the generator going.
The kids watch PBS kids while I speed work through what I need to do while the generator is running. We have breakfast, charge all the white noise, charge my phone, warm up soup and water and put them in thermoses. I inventory our fridge. Take out non perishable fruit to have on the counter. No one is allowed to open the fridge while the generator is off! I get out pb&j stuff for lunch. I get myself dressed for the day and remind myself I still have to take care of myself.
10:00 time for baby girl’s nap and we shut off the generator.
I take the other kids outside. It’s so bright! Fresh air! A welcome surprise to our gloomy indoor morning. We check the mail and check in with our neighbor. They tell us everything is still dark in town. Stores aren’t open and lots of streets are closed.
I check in with Brent later. He figures out for me I have about 12 hours of the generator left and 6 hours in an extra gas tank. I decide we will try to go until it starts getting dark to run it again.
We continue to have a low key day. The kids play fairly well along with their usual bickering. We acknowledge the silver lining is having a nice day together.
Nap and quiet time. I can’t relax. I check in with friends. No one has internet so we all feel lost with what’s going on. We trade info on the outages and what stores and gas stations are open. I’m grateful for this sense of community. The first time I really feel connected with people after five years of living here. Another silver lining. It sort of reminds me of Covid. We are all strung out and stressed but going through it together.
I try to make it until 4:30 for the generator but it’s already so dark in the house. I cave and turn it on at 4:10.
Dinner time! I burn the pizza on the barbecue because I’m chatting with my neighbor who came over to charge her phone. The kids don’t love the burnt but I’m so stressed out the pepperoni and carbs hit the spot. Brent got us Crumbl cookies before the power went out. Everyone enjoys their sample plate of various flavors.
I get the house cleaned up and in order for the night while the kids watch a movie. I end the night with cuddles on the couch. So grateful I’m forced to slow down.
Kids are off to bed. Candles in place. Hoping white noise will make it through the night. I take a minute to fold laundry by Christmas tree lights and the fire dwindling down (I managed to keep the fire going all day. I’m so proud). I have a moment, listen to worship music, and let myself breathe out my pent up emotions. I turn the generator off and check on the babies one last time. I lay in bed and feel God’s presence. I imagine him wrapping his arms around me. I’m not alone. He’s here with me.
I meant to go to bed earlier but I’m still strung out. Running off of adrenaline. I tell myself I will rest and release when Brent gets home. He’ll be home Friday. The power might not come back on until Saturday. School is canceled for tomorrow. Mind please shut down. We have to do this again tomorrow.
Thursday
4 am - I wake up to Titus walking around upstairs. He tells me Adeline and Judah are gone. He can’t find them. I think he’s half asleep and confused with the hallway candles. Still gets my heart racing. Baby’s white noise is out. I switch her with a new one. Hopefully it will last a few more hours
5 am - can’t fall back asleep. Adeline comes out to tell me their white noise died. I switch theirs and hope they all fall back asleep.
It’s cold. I can’t fall back asleep. I’m getting some internet connection on my phone so I check news updates and email.
6 am - should probably get a fire going and get ready for the day. It’s so cold!!!
7:00 - Judah going potty, “daddy at Canada? Oh…Florida!” Glad they at least slept until 7.
Decide we are going to get out of the house today. Head out to get groceries and gas for the generator. Kids are packed with lunch and a show in case getting around takes a long time with closed roads.
A few roads are closed. Most drivers are cautious and courteous while a few are obnoxious. We get to Safeway and they only have a few lights on. Most of the store is dark. The kids go crazy running around a dark store. People are stocking what they can. All refrigerated and freezer is closed off. Everything is spoiled and employees are cleaning empty meat shelves. We see a guy wearing a head lamp! There is surprisingly a lot of people wearing masks? Feeling very apocalyptic.
We aren’t able to get much so we head out to Costco. Having to find our way with lots of streets closed and blocked off. The occasional crazy driver goes blazing through the barricades anyway.
We get in line for gas. It’s pretty packed but luckily isn’t too long of a wait.
I struggled to get one of the gas tanks open so a stranger in a cyber truck helps me out! He likes Brent’s giant race tanks! I get all our cans filled and into Costco to hopefully get some food we can cook for dinner.
They have full power and the place is packed. People
are pretty chatty with me. Everyone wants to talk about their storm
stories. It’s uplifting and good to socialize! We find hotdogs and pizza
to grill! Muffins and bagels for mornings. I’m still pretty stressed
but it was good for us all to get out of the house and for the kids to
be able to run around.
Another low key night at home. I’m anxious about another storm coming tonight or early morning. Not sure how cautious I need to be with sleeping arrangements.
10 pm - Brent catches a day early flight home! He’s landed in SeaTac. I decide to wait until he gets home to decide on storm watch. Nothing bad yet.
12 am - Brent is home. I wake up out of a deep sleep. A bit disoriented. We check on the kids, storm isn’t bad, decide they are ok in their rooms. We are both exhausted but happy and relieved to be reunited.
Friday
5am - awake and still in high alert. Check and switch out white noise. Check internet news since we can’t get much connection throughout the day.
6am - get the day going, catch up with Brent on the last few crazy days, fire going, generator started
Enjoying bagels and muffins from breakfast. Plenty of gas to keep the generator running all morning. Brent is home. Feels like a life of luxury!
We put the ornaments up on our Christmas tree, make hot chocolate, do crafts, and go for a walk. Such a nice family day.
2pm - we have power!
Power out:
10 pm Tuesday - 2 hours
Wednesday and Thursday - 48 hours
2 pm Friday - 14 hours
= 64 hours
My final thoughts:
When life forces us to slow down we get the opportunity to focus on the most important things of life. Secretly there were moments (with the great blessing of a generator and that everyone was safe) that I was sort of happy we were without power.
It was a wild few days. But also some pretty incredible moments with my family. We are so blessed to have not suffered through any sort of devastation as many others did. But instead, the inconvenience brought us closer together.
And now I can take a shower and do some laundry!
0 comments