 Tree ripped from ground by wind on Sunday morning Well, we’re back. It has been an interesting few days. “Interesting” in the Chinese curse way. As everyone from the Gulf to the Great Lakes knows by now, H urricane Ike was a big mean storm that made a pretty good run for Canada.
From the early morning Sunday until mid morning, West Kentucky experienced sustained winds of 70 miles an hour. Hours of roaring wind, blowing and blowing and blowing. Oddly, there was no rain.
We watched the butterfly bush outside the living room window being worked out of the soil by the wind, literally being pulled up by its roots. The cat briefly went airborne. (He’s fine, by the way.) A funnel cloud formed in the south and our big old two story house rocked on its foundations when it passed by.
Power went off at seven Sunday morning and back on at the office Tuesday morning. Compared to what residents of the Gulf have to face, that’s a minor inconvenience. We learned some valuable lessons, ones we will probably forget in a week or so!
Ballard, Carlisle, Hickman, western McCracken and Graves Counties all felt Ike’s breath as he passed by. From what we’ve been told, the front that moved from the northwest, met Ike along the mid Mississippi. They had a brief tussle on top of us. Ike vanquished his weaker rival and moved on up the rivers. We hear he banged Owensboro around before moving on the big city of Louisville and points east.
We had time to think and talk. The distractions that keep us from focusing on things not mechanical were gone for awhile. Before we forget the experience, here’s what we learned.
First, our area was darn lucky. . Trees fell on houses and barns and farm equipment. But no one was killed and no one we know was hurt. (Editor's Note: The  Kentucky Homeland Security press release said 20 confirmed injuries in West Kentucky). Seeing some of the monster trees and how close a thing their falls were, that’s a miracle.
Second, cuss them as we do once a month when the bills roll in, when the lights go off, the power companies send out the hardest working people to get things back to normal faster than anyone predicted – or thought possible. Crews from KU descended on our streets. They are still working to get power restored to everyone. It has become a street by street battle for them. Trees and wires are twisted together; power poles snapped like toothpicks.
Third, there is no fun in being without electricity. The reality of being unable to flush the toilet (our well has an electric pump), to take a shower or to watch Morning Joe sets in fast! Food preparation on a small grill. Trying to read by flashlight. Ugh.
None of the local stores were open. No gasoline, the pumps are electric.
No television. No news. No newspapers. Rumors, best guesses and fears were all we heard. Most of them turned out to be wrong.
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