dear finn,
last year the day before thanksgiving, the wethermen forcasted that 'the storm of the century' would be sweeping through utah. everyone got prepared for this storm, cancelled previously made plans and stayed in for the night. we know that they stayed in, because we decided to go out that night! turns out it wasn't the storm of the century...just any old utah winter storm. anyhow, yesterday a storm blew through the wasatch front and we only had a few hours notice that it was going to be a bad one. just as we were getting ready for bed, dad got a call from nanny goat, telling us to secure our patio furniture and flip our trampoleen, because a terrible wind storm was headed our way. after confirming this story on the 10 o'clock news, we did as we were told, just in case these winds were as bad as they were supposed to be. we didn't know it at the time, but this storm turned out to be the storm of the century!
dad and i stayed up late watching a movie and talking last night, and at one o'clock a.m. we said, "so much for the wind storm," because it was calm as could be outside! well, we ate those words not more than an hour later, when winds like i've never seen blew through bountiful and all of davis county. we didn't get much sleep...the winds were so loud i don't know how anyone could. not to mention, we were both so worried about our fence blowing over (like part of it did last april, a few days after we brought you home). i was worried that our neighbors trees might fall on our house, but dad said not to worry about that because "that won't happen." we both kept getting out of bed to check on the fence, and to our utter relief it didn't blow over.
we woke up this morning to no power. it wasn't that big of a deal, but led to a pretty boring and chilly day inside. after getting out of bed we surveyed the damage. we were so blessed that nothing happend to our house. just a small part of the siding came off on the side of the house, and our garbages blew over (since they were out on the street bc thursday is garbage day). actually, everyone's garbages blew over, i'm not sure we even have our original garbage can! throughout the day i checked my phone for updates online and on facebook, and i was totally shocked at some of the pictures being posted. huge 70 foot trees had been uprooted and blown over. shingles were blown off roofs, fences had fallen over and were in pieces. there was garbage and tree branches and who knows what lining streets and neighborhoods. oh man, it was bad. supposedly the wind in davis county had reached 100 mph at one point...that is almost hurricane grade winds. semi trucks had been knocked over on the freeway, restaurant signs (like the huge mcdonalds and in-n-out burger ones) had fallen apart. this was by far the worst storm of any type i have ever witnessed.
as soon as the wind calmed down at our house i thought it would be safe to go take a drive. i was curious to see centerville and farmington, because it had been reported they got the worst of the storm. while driving on the freeway i counted 10 over-turned semi trucks. ten! it was still really windy, so after i got to farmington i turned around and we headed in the other direction. the mayor of centerville declared "a state of emergency," as the damage there was extensive. we were one of thousands of homes whose power was out, and rocky mountain power had no way of knowing how long it would take to restore power.
later in the day i decided we needed to get out of our house, which was becoming increasingly colder, and go do something, so we went to trolley square and just walked around pretty much. we brought duke and claus, because i was still unsure if the wind had left any small opening in our fence for the dogs to escape out of. just before leaving trolley square i decided it would be best to go up to park city and hang out with grandma cindy. dad was going to come with us, but he was just on his way home from work and needed a change of clothes. so i told him that we'd run home and get him some clean clothes (since he was still way down in sandy) and then meet him so we could drive up to park city together.
as i was getting off our freeway exit, i realized that the stop lights were working! this meant power had been restored! i was on the phone with dad at the time, and i just remember being so happy, hoping and praying the power was on at our house! when we drove up and i saw lights on in our house, relief and gratitude filled every fiber of my being. i had never realized until today how much we depend on electricity, especially heat. you can do next to nothing without it. we spent the rest of the night cooking and watching tv, with a greater appreciation for some of the things that we so often take for granted. i am so thankful that we were watched over and protected during this storm, and that nothing too terrible happened to us or any of the people we love.
love you dear boy. i hope we don't have to experience another storm like this for a looooong time!
love,
mom
