Who Ordered the Apocalypse?

Wow. I mean... Wow.

How many of you experienced that storm last night? How many of you are still dealing with the aftermath? According to the local news feed, nearly 800,000 people are without power in Virginia. As you can see from this blog post, I'm not one of them.

In case you hadn't heard or weren't in this part of the country yesterday evening, there was a pretty severe wind storm that cut a path through the mid-Atlantic last night. It kind of came from out of nowhere too.

I can only speak for myself, which really isn't saying much. As I mentioned above, I'm one of the lucky ones.

Around 8:00 last night, I decided to make a quick run to the grocery store. I was away from my apartment for about 15 minutes. While I was out, I saw clear skies and a bright sun. Roughly half an hour after I returned to my room, the wind began to howl.

I couldn't believe how loud it was. I remember asking myself if they were calling for storms. I mean, it wouldn't be a surprise, as hot as it was yesterday. It isn't really a shock when storms pop up at the end of hot, humid days. But this wasn't like a regular thunder storm. This was a wall of hurricane force wind that cut through the state.

Apparently, this storm had been tracked hours earlier over the Ohio River Valley. Maybe, if I paid any attention to the news, I'd have known that it was a possibility that we would see this same storm. But since I don't pay attention to the news, I was pretty surprised to see thick trees bending to the ground.

The power flickered and then failed. Without A/C the room began to heat up. Without a fan to stir the air, the room became stuffy. The wind continued to blow, tearing down trees and power lines all over the commonwealth.

I wasn't tired enough to go to sleep. For that matter, it was way too warm to comfortably close my eyes to even try. But there weren't a lot of options. Sitting alone in the dark while drenched in sweat was just about it.

Time passed until, finally, the power returned. The air conditioner kicked on and the fan circulated that cool air. It felt wonderful.

I knew I was lucky. I knew that there would be thousands out there who weren't so lucky. The only inconveniences I felt were a few hours of stifling heat and a lack of cable and internet.

According to a representative of Appalachian Power, this is the worst outage they've ever experienced due to weather. Over 200,000 customers are without power tonight and crews will likely be working throughout the next week to get their power back on.

It's difficult to be without something that we so often take for granted. It's especially difficult when we're faced with record breaking temperatures. My prayers go out for those who are still experiencing discomfort due to the storm. Prayers also go out for those who have lost loved ones in this catastrophe.