Build your Ark before the storm
Image by Manfred Antranias Zimmer from Pixabay
We had a storm last week; the worst one I can remember. I had read the forecast and knew that it was about to rain a lot, but I did not notice the wind prediction. I was just expecting a very wet day. Monday came, it was mostly business as usual. However, as I was working, I heard a noise from outside. It was my little façade flagpole that snapped and was thrown to the ground by the wind. Shortly thereafter the power was cut. I realized that I need to go and get my son from kindergarten ASAP, because when darkness falls it could turn ugly. When I stepped outdoors a gust of wind threw my off my feet. The winds were approaching 30 m/s. I got in my car and drove off but I was quickly stopped by a fallen tree blocking the road. And I could see more fallen trees behind it. We were isolated.
We have had fallen trees before, and usually it’s not a big deal to open up the road again with just a proper bow saw. My wife came out and helped me. We got through the first tree and cleared it. Now darkness had fallen, and we had trouble seeing anything with our headlamps. That’s why I left the car on idle with the headlights on full power so we could see what we were doing. As we were working on the next tree, we heard the familiar noise of creaking wood. Another tree started to fall and it was falling directly towards our car. It came down with a bang, just a couple of meters in front of my car. I rushed and reversed it to safety. And when the car was safe and we were going back to work, another tree fell and blocked the road a bit further up ahead. We counted to about seven trees blocking the road and the bow saw just wasn’t an option even if you would have been a lumberjack called Arnold Schwarzenegger. One of the next trees to cut was a really big one and we needed outside help.
This is where you realize how important community is. Luckily we have great neighbors who can handle a chainsaw. Within minutes Sture arrived on his ATV and started clearing the road so we could go get our son. This was not a good place to be. Falling trees can be very dangerous if you are in the wrong place. But with the proper tools, the trees were quickly cut to pieces and all obstacles cleared. Meanwhile my wife’s father had gone and grabbed our son from kindergarten in our place. By the time he arrived, our road had just been opened for business again. An extended family is just as important as friendly neighbors. As the storm kept hammering us, the internet and phone connection died as well. The next challenge was to cook some food without electricity in pitch black darkness. It gets very dark in the countryside this time of year…
We got a fire going in our stove, fetched a skewer and a bunch of candles and torches and got to work. My wife made some dough and cut some sausages and put the skewer to good use. It’s interesting how much tastier everything is when the circumstances are a bit tough. The power failure was major, and I guessed that we might be powerless for a long time, as probably thousands of people were affected. The only thing I was really worried about was the freezers, which can survive 24 hours. But my past self had taken some precautions. I had a bunch of 1,5 liter plastic bottles with frozen water. We put two of those in the refrigerator, which helps keeping it cool. And you can drink it when it melts too, should you ever end up in a real emergency. We also have a stash of water bottle that’ll last for a couple of days. Matches, torches, food, water… all these are things that anyone should prepare in case of emergency. I even had a battery powered router so I could have gone back to work, had it been a minor power failure.
The thing that annoys me the most though, is the chainsaw. I have been thinking about buying one for a long time, because I knew that we would be isolated by fallen trees sometime, just not when. I’ll definitely grab one now, but the probability that I’m going to need it anytime soon is low, when considering that most of the trees that would come down soon, already had. But that’s not an excuse to not be prepared when the next storm comes. Because it will. And next time, maybe my neighbors need a helping hand from me?
Build your Ark when you can. It’s not just about supplies and tools. It’s also about relationships, and there are no quick fixes for those.