[AAAAA]

We've been having tornados in the area. Early Wed. I was watching the early news and funnel clouds had been spotted in a nearby area. I lost signal and turned the TV off.

I was sitting here about to respond to a thread when I heard what I thought was hail. Suddenly the electronics in the house started acting up, so I started turning surge protectors off, and headed down to the basement to take cover.

My husband and kids were already down there when I got there, I said there's a tornado coming, he said "we've got bigger problems than that, I've turned off the control panel and we still have electricity coming into the house (he's an electrician).

My nerves were shot of course so I went to the bathroom, while I was in there I decided to clean up the flood of water from the storm that came in from the window and realized that the 30 foot tree that once stood outside that window was gone and it had taken down the power lines with it.

I let hubby in on this new development and he called our power service. They were overwhelmed of course because the storm was taking trees down everywhere plus they had not quite recovered from the tornado slightly north of us two days before. There was a lot of electrical jargon going on, but what it boiled down to was the control panel and all of the breakers were off but all of our electronics were humming and popping. The humming in our house sounded like an electrical plant, it was deafening.

When he got off the phone with the power company he decided to take a look outside to see the extent of the damage. I did not think this was a good idea, the line was still live and he'd already gotten zapped from the control panel. It was raining like hell outside, and this was all an accident waiting to happen (rain turned out to be 7 inches in less than 30 minutes). We sat at the kitchen table for a while to wait for the power company to come. Eventually he wasn't staying in so I went out with him. When we got outside we discovered smoke billowing from that corner of the house.

We called 911 and the fire department was here within seconds, literally! They were able to put the fire out, checked the building and we were allowed to go back in. The Fire department reported the fact there was a live line down, still partically connected to the house, strung across the road. Since there were also massive trees down everywhere blocking the road, this was one of the only routes for emergency vehicles.

Several hours later, my husband said "hey, the street light went on". A few minutes later the twins came up and said "we smell that smell again (if you've ever smelled wires burning you know it's a distinctive smell)". Out we go again to check, and again the house was smoking. The power company had restored power WITHOUT disconnecting our line! The fire department came back, put out the fire in the electric box again and demanded that the power company disconnect the wire.

Don't get me wrong, I'm so happy that we were all able to evacuate the house. Dogs and kids are all untouched, but I just can't believe that the power company would do something SO CARELESS. Even before the fire department called them, my husband called and told them there was a live wire hanging across one of the only open roads in the area! It was dark and raining and they just left it there! It took several calls from the fire department before the power company decided to take care of the problem. We discovered later that Emergency services had called several times because they themselves were taking this route as their detour route and oddly enough felt unsafe driving past a live hanging wire with a ladder truck.

The local contractor was AMAZING! He had someone at our house and our portion of the power and wiring, box, etc had all been repaired by noon. The power company (understandably, as they had 60 trucks in the immediate area working non-stop) took 10 hours to reconnect us. When their guys looked at the wire that had been damaged, they said "good luck with your electronics." NOT a good sign!

So for all of you that have read this book to the end, I have a tip for you. All surge protectors are NOT created equal. The expensive ones ($50 - $80) did protect the things plugged into them. I was sure my new plasma and DVR were going to be fried as they were popping like popcorn, but they were perfectly fine. Surger protector is fried, but electronics good. The $10.99 ones, well those surge protectors are fine, but the electronics they were plugged into them are all gone.

So now I wait, the furnace and AC are gone as are the stove, dishwasher and dryer. Even the plain old fans (ones with remotes) gone.

[aliyahleah14]

hayy im new ndd jus joined.. although im learning things that i need too change

Sorry this happened, AAAAA.

[lynn P.]

((((AAAAA and Family)))) - wow how very frightening and lucky at the same time. I'm so happy you're all safe, but sorry your possessions got ruined. Thank God your husband noticed the fire before it got worse and I can't believe it happened a second time.

The weather people always say to unplug electric devices, when there's a storm but I rarely listen. I think most people think it won't happen to them I guess. I'm happy you're all safe.

[AAAAA]

Thanks so much. Next week is full of repair people making estimates on ruined stuff. I forgot to mention that our DSL is ruined. Apparently since the neutral line was destroyed by the tree, electricity attempts to use whatever it can to "ground", the easiest thing to it was our phone line. It is burnt back up to their main junction box a block away.

We are testing a wifi service through a cell phone carrier. It is MUCH slower, they want a two-year contract and we have to buy the router. I don't know what we are going to do. Just so much going on at once.

I definately do want to express how grateful I am that things worked out so well. If we had not been home, or if the Fire Department had not been able to respond so quickly. I don't know what would have happened. I will never be able to verbalize how grateful I am to Emergency services. This is a small town, they are all volunteers that get paid some ridiculously nominal amount per call. They willingly give up their time to sit at the Fire Hall in case there is a need so they can respond in seconds. I do not know if this policy is unique here. My FIL has been the Fire Chief in hubby's home town for some 40 years and their station is not manned 24/7. It can take up to 5 minutes for the minimum amount of volunteers to arrive at the station before they can even depart for the fire. These men and women are amazing!

Thank goodness you are all ok ! It sounded scary reading it so I would imagine you was terrified at certain times ..... ...

Excellent service from the fire dept .

[AAAAA]

(((Tishie))) I didn't get much sleep that night. I've heard stories about electrical wires smoldering for hours before they finally break out in a blaze. The Fire Department said if there was going to be an issue, it would first show itself in the attic so we checked that every hour. I'm finding myself jumping at every crack, boom, and bang since. The weather still hasn't improved much. Since Wed. we've had two days of strong winds, rains and thunder storms.

The trees that came down were just so random. It wasn't as if they were diseased or dead. The neighbor across the street one house down lost three 50 ft trees. One completely crossed the road to block it off between, another toppled onto the neighbors truck, the third was four feet in diameter in the truck. It split into two very large trunks above the three story house line but still standing. It was more than a day before a tree service could come in and take it down.

When we evacuated the first time, Matthew was quite upset. I just kept telling him we all got out and there was nothing in that house that couldn't be replaced.

My annoyance with the power company was that if we had been sleeping when they restored power, who knows what would have happened. We definately had an angel looking out for us, but I've been edgy and nervous ever since.

[splitimage]

AAAAA,

So glad that you and family are ok. So glad that you discovered the fire when you did and that the fire department responded quickly. Big storms really scare me.

Good luck getting things fixed or replaced - I hope insurance doesn't give you too much trouble.

--splitimage

Hope you can get everything back to a semblance of normal soon.

[perpetuallysad]

I am so sorry for you guys. I hope everything is getting better.

[Hippie]

AAAAA, That sounds like one huge storm! Glad to hear you and your family are all okay and hope you can get some rest soon. It had to have been one freaky adrenaline provoking time.

[Sabrina]

A very frightening experience. I am glad you and your family are safe.

[AAAAA]

It's been a series of horrible storms, with more on the way. Furnace/AC guy was here today so that's all good now. But there was a mix up between our local Best Buy and the 800 geek sqaud and they got the paperwork at the same time they were supposed to be here so they'll be here tomorrow.

I do not have the time or money to keep running to the Laundrymat. It's been raining here every single day so I NEED a dryer. I've been hanging clothes up around the house and everything we put on is damp.

[Ygrec23]

Dear AAAA,

Like everyone else here, my sincere congratulations on escaping (so far) what could have been a real disaster. I wish my small town had the services yours does. We don't have tornadoes but we do have hurricanes. By the way, would you mind mentioning the brand name(s) of your successfull surge protectors?

Take care!

[greylove]

Wow, wow, and WOW! Thank heavens you're all safe, although I know you'll be shaking for awhile. When we moved to Minnesota from the Northeast, (for my husband's job) within three days a neighbor came flying over to grab me and my son, (who was a year and a half at the time) and rush us down into their basement. My husband was at work and the tornado sirens were going off. It was absolutely terrifying. Tornado fortunately didn't come near, and equally as fortunate for me, we're now back in the Northeast, where we only have to contend with hurricanes. Just for the record, I experienced a moderate earthquake while we were in California, again for my husband's job, and before we had our son. And we've never had to contend again with the furious thunderstorms that we had in Houston for three years......I guess the Coast Guard wanted us to try it all, before we settled down here permanently.......so thankful you're all safe.....greylove

[AAAAA]

APC Surge Arrest is the one that's handy. The ones that came with guarantees were the ones that actually worked. My son accidentally threw his away (insurance requires us to keep everything until we are given permission to dispose of and garbage is piling up around our ears!) but his was one we purchased from Dell with his computer.

We went threw a 7.2 earthquake while in Japan, but their construction is different, its built to shift so our damage was only knick knacks and things.

I don't know if it's because I'm older now, or that my anxieties are worse now than they were then, but I'm having trouble dealing with things now.

Just about an hour ago, the power blinked off again. There was a feeling of dread. I'm here by myself. Hubby and the boys are in Green Bay. They've about reached their limit of no TV or video games so he went to buy a TV and X-box while we wait for the insurance to come through. I hope they don't drag their heels.