Winter Storm Leaves Us in the Dark

Here is the headline in the Boston Globe today -- Ice storm paralyzes parts of New England -- Close to a million without power! Unfortunately, we were one of the people without power. There were about 2,000 homes affected here in Westborough. The good news is our power is back on as of 4:00 pm yesterday. That was a huge relief. We have two pets (Spiny the Bearded Dragon and Coco the Hedgehog) who need heat to survive. Thank G-d we had hand warmers to put under a towel to keep them warm while we waited for power to be restored.

At about 2:20 am early Friday morning, I was woken by all of our hard-wired smoke detectors going off at once when we lost power. I got up and turned on my watch alarm so I wouldn’t miss my morning run or be late to work. I could hear the heavy rains beating down on the roof. I never suspected how bad it really was in Worcester County.

My alarm went off at 5:00 am and I got up to get dressed for my run. The rain was still coming down in buckets and it was pretty windy. Our power was still out. The temperature was 34 when I jumped in the car to head over to the YMCA to run on the treadmill. The roads were wet but fine. A few trees had lost some limbs. But, the center of Westborough and most of the town was lit up normally. So, I suspected we would have power early in the day.

When I got home, I found out school had been cancelled due to one of the grade schools being without power. I took a shower and headed to the office. Still totally unaware of how bad things were around the county. It wasn’t until I got to the office and perused the news on the internet that I got a full picture of what was going on. Here is a brief description of the storm in today’s Globe from the Boston Globe writers David Abel and John R. Ellement:

Nearly a million homes and businesses in New England are facing a weekend without electricity after a rare combination of low pressure, moist air, and cold, powerful winds produced a punishing ice storm that swept through the region yesterday, felling countless power lines and trees and closing hundreds of roads.

The storm, which has caused tens of millions of dollars in damage across the region, led Governor Deval Patrick to declare a state of emergency, allowing him to mobilize 500 members of the National Guard to help clear roads and provide support. Patrick, who estimated the cost to the state at about $7 million, said he would seek a presidential disaster declaration to make federal money available for recovery efforts.

"I don't think anyone is expecting the power will be back in large numbers for a few days," Patrick said in a telephone interview last night. "I think it could be longer than Monday for certain parts of the Commonwealth. We'll know more after a lot of the debris is cleared in the next few days."

No deaths or serious injuries were reported, but the storm left utility companies grappling with unprecedented power outages.

I am hopeful that power will be restored quickly to all of the homes affected here in New England. It is getting down in the teens at night and even with fireplaces and fleece blankets it is too cold to be without heat. I know the power companies in the states affected are working overtime to fix the problem. I am thankful that we already have power.

Here are my training totals for this week:

Dec. 7 – 9.00 miles (1:20:50, 8:59 pace)

Dec. 8 – 6.00 miles (53:41, 8:57 pace)

Dec. 9 – 3.00 miles (24:03, 8:01 pace) – Speed work
Dec. 11 – 6.00 miles (52:55, 8:49 pace) – Tempo Run
Dec. 12 – 6.00 miles (53:15, 8:53 pace)

Dec. 13 – 6.20 miles (54:23, 8:46 pace)

Total Miles: 36.20 miles

YTD Miles: 969.28 miles