We’re
not in Kansas anymore is what I’m titling my drive home last night. It began simply enough…for the first few
miles…but then things quickly got out of hand.
Mother Nature decided to kick up a blustery windstorm that reeked major
havoc.
Clinging
to my steering wheel with both hands as my car was pushed this way and that by
sudden gusts of wind, I dodged whatever debris I could manage, though a lot of
it ended up colliding with me as it whirl winded all around and came flying out
nowhere.
Freeway
signs where ripped free of their posts and looked like accordianed pieces of
paper that slid and flew their way across the freeway. Giant tree branches also danced their way
across the road or lay in wait for unsuspecting motorists to collide with
them. There were also any and all
assortments of larger household items: trashcans, mop buckets and moving boxes
amongst them. I even drove over an
interior house door that I couldn’t see until it was too late. Where the heck it came from…I haven’t a clue.
Then
there were the tree issues. Now, I’m
accustomed to major tree limbs being sheered off in severe wind advisories and
have even seen the aftermath of entire trees uprooted as I’ve driven along
roadways. At times I’ve wondered what it
would be like to witness an actual grand tree topple over and hoped that if I
did, nothing would be under it.
Last
night, I got to see what it looks like when a giant pine tree crashes to the
ground. This one was massive! So much so, that although it was beside the
freeway, its height ended up blocking the entire
freeway. And then…there was the
unfortunate pick-up truck that had the misfortune of being under it when the tree fell.
Thankfully, the driver ended up being okay. Not quite sure how, seeing as his vehicle was
demolished!
I
later heard that right near the freeway exchange where that tree fell, there
were five more fallen trees that closed down another freeway! I’ve lived in southern California my entire
life. Have endured some nasty
windstorms. But never have I seen or
driven through anything like what I experienced last night.
At
one point, I thought about pulling to the side of the road. But then I decided that to do so made me more
of a sitting duck for flying objects to collide with my car. I decided to keep going at a drastically
reduced speed, figuring that while moving, I could try to dodge debris that flew into my path.
And
let’s not forget the spectacular light show I got to watch as transformer after
transformer exploded into brilliant flashes of blinding blue light. In a three-city area, I counted no less than
fifteen of those shows in between dodging things hurling towards my car and
trying my darnedest not to be pushed into other vehicles.
This
morning, everything’s a mess. Downed
trees and power outages are the norm.
Damage to personal property runs high, and our son’s school even called
every student to inform him or her that school was still on for today. Several nearby cities have been declared
states of emergency.
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