Hurricane Dorian

Lockeport, Nova Scotia, Saturday, Sept 7, 2019, 8AM

I woke up in the middle of the night listening for the heavy rain and wind. It was supposed to arrive by 3 AM.  But I didn't hear either rain or wind.

Now, as I write, it's raining hard and blowing hard.  So far the forest surrounding my house is holding up.  No trees have fallen yet. As far as I can see. They are bending with the wind.  A lesson.

I think I'm ready as the storm grows.  I filled my bathtub yesterday.  All my devices are fully charged:  My hot spot smartphone with which I connect with the Internet.  My computer, and my other phone for calling and texting.

Here in rural Nova Scotia, the power goes out pretty much every summer I'm here.  I figure the odds are it will go off in this storm.  Then it could be days before it comes back - worst case.

I charged up my Kindle.  I'll be able to access the Internet with my computer for about 8 hours if the power goes out.  But my Kindle will last longer and I've got some good books I'm reading on it so I can occupy myself even if I lose the Internet.

I have a quarter tank of gas in my car.  When I went to fill up yesterday I was too late.  All the fuel was taken.  Last night I called the corner store and they told me a truck was on the way but they didn't know when it would arrive.

I decided this morning it would be foolish to drive there even if they have gas.  A tree down on the road, even if it didn't hit me, could leave me stranded.  Best to hunker down.

The water from the bathtub is for the toilet and for washing.  I drink bottled water.  I have enough to last me a couple of days. That should be enough.

I have enough food to last.  They say you should have 3 days worth.  If the power goes out I won't be cooking but I have 3/4 loaf of bread, plenty of apples and oranges, an onion, mushrooms, some broccoli, blueberries, beets, carrots, bananas.  All the good stuff.  Fruits and veggies. No worries there

You think of things you should have done.  I should have filled up my gas tank and got more bottled water.  Still, I should have enough to survive.  And the quarter tank I have will get me to the gas station when they have gas again.

I underestimated this storm.  It was supposed to be a tropical storm showing in red on the Environment Canada website with the Hurricane warning showing just in orange meaning just a warning.  However, I see the orange indicator has changed to red.  So it's now a hurricane for sure. And I can see it in the increasing gusts of wind.

Whoops, the light just flickered.

The gusts cause the rain to lash against the windows.  I cleaned my gutters a couple of days ago so I can thoroughly enjoy the much-needed rain which has left some wells dry here and the grass a bit parched.

This is a great place to watch the storm.  From my glassed-in porch.  With windows facing the forest and the sea.  



I'll be watching to see how far up my back yard the storm surge brings the sea.  I don't think it will reach the house.

Right now it's low tide but sure doesn't look like it.  The tide is coming in now so the surge will bring it up the path to my back yard as the tide comes in and the storm's force increases. Maybe farther than I expect.

It's cozy here. I've got my electric heater on to heat the porch while the power lasts.

A delightful way to spend the day watching the trees swaying in the wind with the storm building.

And a little scary too.

Uh oh.  The light goes off as the power goes out.

I make a cold lunch.  Read my Kindle.  It's a captivating spy novel. And then I take a nap.

When I wake up the power is still off.  It could be off for days. No telling.  And it's getting chilly here. 

No power means no running water.  In rural Nova Scotia, the water comes from your well and it's supplied by an electric pump.  No electric means no running water.

I hear a thump.  Look out the window and see one of my storm windows from the second floor on the ground outside. Ripped off in the wind.

I look out the front windows and see a branch from the big maple tree in front of my house is scraping on my roof.  And then I notice one of my big Spruce trees has blown over.  It stood by the road.  Fortunately, it fell down into my yard not onto the road.

It's now late in the afternoon.  The fun is over.  I've had enough excitement.  I keep listening for signs of the wind dying down.  But it isn't. 

I turn on my computer and my smartphone which I'm using as a hotspot to access the Internet  At first, for a few minutes, I think I've lost the Internet.  But no.  I check the weather report.  Now there are three red bar warnings.  Rainfall, Storm Surge, and Hurricane.  This was supposed to be over at 3 PM.  It was supposed to head up the coast to Halifax.  Not so.  It's now close to 6 PM and still going strong. In fact, getting worse.

I read the weather report which says -

"Winds will continue to increase and will become severe by evening. Wind gusts up to 150 km/h are likely, especially along coastal areas.

Flooding is also possible along parts of the coast due to storm surge and rough pounding surf this evening.

These winds will topple many trees leading to downed utility lines and extended service outages."

It's going to get worse before it gets better.  It may be a long night.

A little after typing this the sun comes out.  And although it's blowing harder that cheers me up.

Janie texts to check up on me. I text her I've lost a tree.  The phone isn't working.  Just text intermittently.  You write a text and it says "pending".  Then if you're lucky it goes through in a few minutes. If not it says "failed" and you have to try again,''

As I check further in the front of my house I realize I've lost 5 trees.  And my driveway is now blocked.  These trees are all next to the road. Lined up in a row providing a privacy hedge.   One is resting on my house.  But appears to be doing so gently. Just the top of the tree.  Supported by a branch from my big apple tree.  Keeping it from causing damage to my roof.  I hope.  I'll see better in the daytime tomorrow.

It's growing dark now.  Mercifully the wind has died down.  The worst is over.

My largest trees, 2 sentinels, looking out over the sea have survived for another night, in all their majesty.  Under the watchful eye of bright shining Nova Scotian moon.

 

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Day 2. Sunday. The sun comes up. A beautiful day. I go outside to check on the damage.

I see the 5 trees that are down. On further inspection, it’s 8 to 10. All tall spruce trees by the road. They all fell onto my property. Not on the road. A good thing.

My driveway is blocked. I think I’ll have to stay calm. Not a good time for a heart attack or stroke without access or egress.

I text Willie. My neighbor from across the brook. He comes right over with a chain saw and cuts me a path through the limbs to the road. Later he brings Brian over. Brian will cut the trees up and Helen comes by and says she wants them for firewood and if Brian cuts them into 6 foot lengths her son or brother will come by to hall them away.

We discuss the plan to cut the trees at the base. If all goes well without the weight of the tree the base with all the roots will tip back into the hole it made when it fell over. Actually, it’s 6 trees that fell over together making one big gigantic hole.

On further inspection I see the tree I thought was resting on my roof is being supported by a limb from my maple tree keeping it a few inches off the roof.

It looks like the restoration plan is coming together really well.

In the afternoon I walk through the woods to the shore and all looks well. On my way back to the house I see Willie has come over to offer me a little butane stove so I can cook something and the chance to charge up my phone and computer at his house where he's running his gasoline generator for electricity.

What a great guy!

I cook some Campbell’s alphabet vegetable soup. Something I use to like as a kid. And a can of beef stew. All from the corner store.

Best of all, I brew a couple of cups of coffee. I really missed my coffee.

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Day 3. Monday. Power is still off.  So no running water.  I hear the fire hall is open. So I head over to see what’s happening.

On the way I see my 1/4 tank of gas is now just 1/8. I’m thinking I maybe should head back home but instead press on. I should have filled up before the storm. When I went to the gas station I was too late. long lines had already emptied the tanks. No telling when they’ll get refilled.  I'm thinking maybe the truck will get here earlier than I thought and I can fill up on the way to town and not run out.  Yea sure.

But just as I round the corner I see a huge truck is just pulling in. Can I be this lucky? Sure enough! I’m second in line and fill up. Now I have plenty of gas!.  Plus the ability to cook and make coffee. My sense of freedom and control is greatly increased.  And I now have a wonderfully enhanced quality of life.

The fire hall is almost empty when I arrive. Just one other guy there. The Internet isn't working.  But I can plug in and type offline. 

My smartphone cellular hot spot for Internet access is working only intermittently. I spend about 1/2 hour until I get a brief signal. Just a minute or two.   Long enough to access my blog draft which is online and copy it so I can work on it offline which I'm doing now.

Afterward, I decide to drive around town. This is Lockeport, Nova Scotia. A country village with 500 souls. Yet it has a Town Market grocery store and a bank and a restaurant and some years has two restaurants. It use to have a hardware store which the locals called “Next Tuesday” since what you wanted they never seemed to have but would order for you and have next Tuesday. 

In the 1800's Lockeport was a thriving shipbuilding centre.  And merchants owned fleets of fishing vessels and sent ships laden with dried salted fish to the West Indies from where they returned filled with sugar, molasses, spices, tea and rum. 

One day I was walking past the Locke home with a friend and the last descendant of the family invited us in and we had a house tour. Just the first floor. This is one of my favorite houses. I copied the colors green, yellow and red when I painted my house.

I go into the town market. It’s dark inside Peter says he’s lost his meat. He doesn’t have a generator. I buy a couple of cans of food to heat up. I haven’t eaten food out of a can since I don’t know when. Or any red meat. But this is a special occasion. Last night I had a beef stew. Tonite pork and beans. Yum.

As I circle around the town’s outskirts the road is blocked by a fallen tree. It will be a while until Nova Scotia’s road crews get to this one on this barely traveled road.

Then I drive to a lookout over the town's Crescent Beach, a long white beach. Usually just a handful of people on it like today. I like to go jogging here on nice days. There’s more seaweed on the beach than usual. This beach is famous for once being on the Canadian 50 dollar bill.

On my way home I pass the corner store again. There is still a long line of cars waiting to fill up. Tim is still pumping gas. This is self serve, but Tim, the owner, is pumping to move the line along as fast as he can. It’s several hours since I filled up. He must be getting tired.

With the Internet down and no cell phone communication except with intermittent text messaging. I’ve largely lost communication with the outside world.

But I’ve had more communication with my friends and neighbors and the new acquaintances I’ve met here in a couple of days than in the couple of months I've been here this summer. 

Todd from across the road who told me about the tree falling on his roof as I inspected mine yesterday, Lester who rode by on his bike and told Willie and me about how the water brought by the heavy rains is cascading over the dam and down the brook past my property. (I’ve never seen it so powerful). Brian and Helen as we discussed the tree removal, Timothy and Mary as they made their circuit inspecting the damage and told of their old shed that got knocked down in the storm. A great conversation with Dawn about Canadian and American politics when I went to pick up my computer and phones charging up on her and Willie’s generator, and Jim who I met the first time at the fire hall who turns out to own one of my favorite houses overlooking the town, the beach and the sea. Well you get the idea. If I didn’t already know it, this is a special place with special people a real feeling of community strengthened by the storm.

No electric power yet or running water. But as Scarlett O’hara would say: “Tomorrow is another day!”

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Day 4.  Tuesday. Another beautiful day.  It's warming up.  Now 60 degrees.  It started out yesterday at 45 degrees.  Still no electricity (with which I heat my house).  So i'm glad it's warming up.  And I have Internet access.

With plenty of gas, I decide to drive to Shelburne the nearest town to Lockeport with a population of around 1700.  I check up on Jane.  She suffered tree damage but was relieved that the storm surge didn't engulf her property which is on Shelburne's harbour.  

On the drive I listen to an interview with the CEO of Nova Scotia Power.  They started off with 400,000 customers without power.  Now it's down to 90,000.  They are focused on the numbers. That's why Shelburne has power and smaller Lockeport doesn't yet.  It will be an even longer wait until they get around to restoring the power in more remote rural areas away from town like where my house is.




When return to my house, I see Brian has been here.   The good news is the big gaping hole has been filled.  The plan to have the base and roots of the 6 trees tip back into hole they made when they tipped over, worked.  Good to see!

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Day 5.  Wednesday. It's overcast and dreary.  Still no electric power.  

I decide to go back to Shelburne.  To my favorite coffee shop for lunch - The Beandock.

Then I stop at the supermarket to recharge my computer, phones and Kindle.  
Whilst there I run into Mary.  I tell her about my good fortune, thanks to Willie, that I have a little butane stove.  Fortunately, I replenished the butane cartridge at the corner store right after I got it.  She checks there and here in the supermarket and elsewhere and they are all sold out everywhere.  Mary tells me of freezing a block of ice before the storm to turn the fridge into an icebox.  Cool idea! 😃 I'll add that to my list of things to do before the next storm.

I decide to check the Nova Scotia Power outage map.  They have a nice map showing the status of outages throughout the province and forecasts of when power will be restored in each area.  What isn't so nice is what the forecast says.  They are predicting power in my area won't be restored until Friday 7 PM.   That means power will have been down here for 7 days.  

Oh well.  I tell myself it's "only" two more days. Hopefully.

And it could have been a lot worse.
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Day 6. Thursday. 8AM.

Still no power.  And this morning no Internet.  A dreary overcast day.

But, Brian and his brother Danny come back.  They do a great job bringing down the fallen trees and cutting them into lengths for Helen and her son and brother to haul away for firewood. 





It's tricky work. Using chain saws sometimes up on a ladder making sure the trees fall without damaging the house or the person with the chain saw on the ladder or the one down below. Or me taking pictures.  All goes well and it's looking like this somewhat daunting project is now well in hand.

.
I go down to the Beach Centre in Lockeport, where they now have power, to recharge my phones and computer.  My cellular connection to the Internet is working again.  I'll be able to watch the Democratic debate tonight.  They're having a national debate up here also tonight between the federal candidates, but the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, won't be participating in this one so I don't feel bad about missing it for the debate in the U.S.  

I return home around 6 PM.  As I drive into my driveway, I espy an extraordinary. sight.  A light on in my house!

Heart be still!  Hallelujah!

I have electric power.  I take a shower.  The power must have come on a while ago as there is plenty of warm water.  What a treat!

I make dinner turn on the electric heater in my sun porch and settle in to watch the Democratic debate.
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Day 7. Friday.

A bit chilly,  42 degrees. 

I run into Carmen while I'm walking over the bridge across my brook photoing the dam and the brook.  

He tells me some of the "old timers"  (in their 80's 😃) say this storm had the highest winds they've ever seen.  And the longest power outage.  And power is still out farther down the road from my house.  Lucky me. 

It's great to see the running water.  And have it.  This rain has given new life to the wells that had run dry. 





All and all, it's a glorious sunny day here in rural Nova Scotia. 

A time to be grateful.