Seattle and surroundings had quite a storm Thursday night with a gust going about 70 mph, double of that in the Rainier area. This left most of the area with no power and 700,000 victims. For some it came back by Friday but for most it was sometime on Sunday while many are still left out in the dark. This meant no light, no heat, no cooking for most and no hot water for many, with the temperatures dropping down below freezing by Saturday night. Puget Sound Energy had to call for backup, not only personals but also for machinery's as they scurried to move fallen trees and reestablish the power...which for some areas mean rebuilding poles and setting up new transformers.
Many houses were destroyed by fallen trees, fences took flight and some also caught fire because of candles or accidents with propane tanks. Services in the gas stations were interrupted, causing a wave of panic and even fist fights in some gas stations while waiting for hours for gas. The grocery stores that remained open on Friday with dim lights had to throw out all of their perishable goods and items such as fuel,
torchlights, candles and easy to make foods were soon out of stock.
It wasn't too bad for us though, even though we were mocked by the neighborhood across the street which got it's power back by Friday (for good reason though - there's a hospital couple of blocks away). We called up our buddies and met over at a kind friends house (with gas stoves) and cooked a hearty meal...us Bangladeshis managing to make a feast out of a disaster. Then we realized another friend, who's out of the country, had full blown power in their neighborhood. We took refuge there (keys left with another friend). The 15 of us had a wonderful weekend, cooking, eating, playing board games and watching movies.
Personally, it was a great way to spend time, especially on the Independence day of Bangladesh - December 16...what better way to be than with a bunch of Bangladeshis and do what we do best - cook, eat, chat and play.
(Don't mean to pour salt in the wounds of the less fortunate ones with property damages or who were stuck in hotels or office building or trying to keep warm in front of the fireplace)
Well that may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but Seattle and the rest of the northwest is a bit snow struck this winter. This is the fifth cycle of snow in the Puget Sound, where usually it stops at two. Looking out through the window every morning, seems more like looking past the wardrobe and Narnia greeting on the other side. Reality of course, is a little less magical, icy roads have turned even the shortest commute into a nightmare, with many accidents in the road and some in the homes too. On top of that, many neighborhoods have lost power again and schools and work places have lost control over any scheduling.
