Tag Archives: big wind

We’ve had a little too much excitement here lately.  Saturday of last week, we had a big straight line wind blow through.  The grandkids and I were taking a rest after our yard chores when I heard a huge noise outside and noticed that the power had gone out.  An eighty foot tree had crashed down, of course, right on the transformer, taking out the power to the whole neighborhood, plus pulling all the lines down from the house.  What a mess!

I quickly called the Rural Electric Coop while my son jumped in to cut up the tree.  Later, after the REC arrived and began putting things back to rights, he finished cutting the tree into logs, and then using our old tractor, pushed them out of the way for future use as firewood. Limbs are still getting shaken down with each wind.

The unfortunate part is that although the REC got the rest of the neighbors back online, the line from the transformer to the house is the responsibility of the homeowner, so one needs an electrician for that.  No electricity for us until the next morning.  Reading by oil lamp, just like Abe Lincoln. 

Of course, our local electrician was out here first thing so we got connected back to civilization quickly.  Unfortunately, no internet for several more days.  I’ve been having withdrawal.  And a very slow cell phone connection remains.  Well, so much for living the pioneer life in a 140 year old house.

Anyway, this happened when Hurricane Ike rolled through many years ago.  A big wind knocked down several trees that time, and the electricity was out for nearly a week. Much less of an inconvenience this time. Be prepared for (nearly) anything with life in the country.