It's one of those ironies in life that this post follows the previous one I wrote mere two weeks ago lamenting about spring like whether in the middle of the winter. Yes, I've definitely learned my lesson! During this past weekend we've experienced a nation wide power outage due to sleet that caused a number of trees to fall disrupting power supply. The trees have also wreaked havoc on many of the roads and railways. As ice rain and snow continued to fall many people were completely cut off.
I spent part of Saturday without running water and electricity and let me tell you it's no fun to have less than half a litre of drinking water and a single (scented) candle which reads Happy Christmas. Yet another one of those ironies that when I will look back on this weekend someday it will no doubt make me laugh very hard. But on Saturday? Not so funny :-(
Water returned the next day and so did electricity, before it was cut again. The power shortage lasted for 18 hours, the longest power shortage in Slovenia in decades and something I've never experienced before.
The whole town went dark after five, there were no traffic lights, no street lamps, nothing. Just little flickering of candle lights from the windows across the street. Yet remarkably people stayed calm.
I consider myself extremely lucky: after the water returned I had access to both hot and cold water, due to the fact that our apartment building is well insulated the temperature in my flat never went below 21 C and I had access to the Internet via my smart phone. And thanks to Mr. C being extra prudent I had ample supplies of batteries, emergency lights and a car phone charger.
Sure it was annoying sitting in my car for an hour doing nothing, but at least I was able to chat with people, stay connected and informed about the situation around the country.
Things are slowly returning to normal. The fire brigade, police, winter service personnel and civil protection services are working around the clock to clear up the debris and restore power. Despite the fact that whining and complaining about all the things that are wrong in our country is our nation's favourite past time people are really taking notice of the women and men providing these services (some of them are volunteering) and are gratefull and humbled by it.
I for one am grateful for my wonderful neighbours who've been kind and generous as well as the support I've received from my friends and family who've phoned to check up on me.
Rufus and I are looking forward to a relaxing evening at home. We've been arned to stay indoors seince the ice covered trees will continue to break and fall so going for a long walk in the forest or park isn't really an option.
18 hours is a very long time to be without power. Glad to hear that things are returning to normal. We are experiencing an unusually cold winter which is resulting in fuel shortages. My husband won't allow me to turn the heat higher than 55 degrees fahrenheit (12 degrees celsius). Brrrr. Luckily, I have an electric blanket to snuggle under. I guess things could be a lot worse.
ReplyDelete12 degrees is cold :-( An electric blanket is a great idea! I sometimes fill up a hot water bottle on specially cold night and it works wonders.
DeleteHi Ana,
ReplyDeleteJust yesterday, my husband asked if you have reported about your weather. So at least he knew that your having bad weather.
Having gone through similar conditions in the past ( not this winter ), I know what´s it like to be in the dark without electricity. Our house cooled totally during the 23 hours, brrr.
Luckily your apartment stayed warm, and you had some access to the outer world, but still - not wishing similar conditions for anyone.
Stay inside in the warm as long as needed.
A pat for Rufus too!
Mette, no it's definitely not something I'd wish for anyone. Some people are still without power or running water as I write this but things will get back to normal tomorrow or Thursday at the latest.
DeleteMy mum briefly lost power too and her house coolded down too. Luckily she has a large ceramic stove so she lit a fire and was able to keep warm.
Hi Ana, What an experience! I am glad things have returned to normalcy. I once experienced this and I tell you afterwards I wanted to get rid of everything electric. I could not believe how much I relied on electricity. Stay warm. xx
ReplyDeleteAll I could think was how many battery operated gizmos we have to keep us entertained. The funniest part about this whole experience was talking to my neighbours. While most of them said they spend this time in relative comfort they all complained of boredom: no TV, no PC = nothing to do.
DeleteFrom snowdrops to heavy snow - what a difference!
ReplyDeleteIt's seems like life time apart!
DeleteI still haven't been able to go for a walk because the trees continue to fall and could prove fatal for everyone around.
Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear you had to go through all of that but glad you have electricity and water again. The photos you took are gorgeous and scary too. I don't think the weight of the ice is very good for the branches.
ReplyDeleteWe finally got rain! It happened Sat, the day I came down with the worst flu I've had in over a decade. Today is the first day without fever. I feel pretty weak, but it's great to be improving. It's hard to stare at all of the undone housework but I know better :).
Sadly, 18 hr power outages are not uncommon in our neighborhood. Martin and I have been through two that lasted longer. It's the trees. They knock out power lines and it seems to take forever for the city to deal with it.
Oh, Susan I hope you're feeling better! Flus can be frustrating and surprisingly debilitating :-( Drink plenty of fluids and vitamin C is your friend :-)
DeleteIt came as quite a surprise to read how long power outages can last in your part of the world. We get very few of them and most of them don't last longer than 2 hours. Our suppliers have a team of workers who do regular maintenance and can deal with knocked out power lines immediately. This time however due to the enormous extent of the damage it will take up to two weeks to connect the more distant villages.