Hurricane Ike

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Hurrican Ike
Yes, we had a hurricane hit us in Cincinnati. It was a Level 1 hurricane and blasted through here on Sunday, September 14th. It started as a really pretty mild day with lots of sunshine. Starting at about noon, it began to get a bit breezy. By 2pm it was really gusting outside and the havoc began. Our power went out at 2:26 pm and didn't come back until until about 8:50 pm on Monday night.The damage in all of Cincinnati was fairly extensive. We were lucky and only had a few loose shingles and some branches in our yard. As we don't really have any trees around our house, we all went outside to watch the wind. We made the kids wear sunglasses to protect their eyes. It was a bit scary so we all headed back inside. Patrick walked by himself to Hunt Road and said it was super scary there with all of the trees and he ran back home to safety.Athena was out of school on both Monday and Tuesday. Carter's school didn't get power back until Monday afternoon on September 22nd. He thought that he wouldn't have to go school anymore.Here's excerpts from the local newspaper:A massive blackout kept Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky in a stranglehold Monday, closing schools and sparking long lines for gasoline, ice and rations.Trees continued to topple over on Monday, forcing many to lose power again. That kept firefighters on the move and dimmed any chance to save food in the freezer for the 78 percent of the 800,000 Duke Energy customers who were still in the dark Monday night.Since Sunday’s storm, more than one million customers have gone without power at some point, according to Duke Energy’s Web site this morning.More than 525,000 remain without power this morning – mostly in Hamilton County, where 270, 232 customers are in the dark. Also without power: 90,109 customers in Butler County, 50,775 in Clermont County and 40,823 in Warren County.In Northern Kentucky, more than 63,000 people are still without power in Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties.It could be next Sunday when all the power - lost when fierce winds swept through the area last Sunday - is restored, Duke officials said.The unexpected day off from school and work Monday will turn into second day off today for many. Cincinnati Public Schools officials said more than half of their schools are without food and a third of them were damaged. Lakota schools also closed, as did many others.