The little tree on the left that was
pushed to the ground is a cedar tree. It was the only other
tree that we lost.
In the afternoon, after having inspected our neighbors' damages
(the Svinis's lost 14 trees, the Ackermans none) we tried to figure
out how to cook dinner. We still had water, gas in with it hot
water for showers :-) and the telephone.
I could not get the built-in gas lighter mechanism in our wood fire place
to work, but Uve showed me how his worked.
We had to go into our crawl space and switch the shutoff valve
on the feeder gas line. To my surprise there was very
little water on the ground of the crawl space.
We drove to a supermarket (next to Western
Wake Medical Center) we had heard had electricity.
On Lake Pine Road we had to turn around because a powerline
was on the ground across the road. This is the line
which supplies our power.
On Cary Parkway we could see Carolina Power and Light crews work
on the downed power lines. The traffic
light at the intersection to Kildaire Farm Road was out
but police regulated the intersection. Everyone was heading
to Harris Teeter's. It was a zoo, with long lines at
the checkout counters (45 minute wait).
We bought some juice, milk, and
muffins, but there was no ice left.
Hoang cooked steaks which we ate with delight on our
enclosed porch by candlelight.
We listed to the TV news that were being simulcast on radio.
Bay Nguyen, Hoang's father, called us by telephone.
The temperature was around 75F (24C) and we could sleep comfortably
with our windows open as no aircondition compressors were
running outside. The people on the road behind us
got power back and we could see their lights twinkle.
Saturday, September 7, 1996
For breakfast we had hot coffee and a newspaper.
Here the picture record ends, as we were unable to download from
our digital Epson camera to the laptop (battery exhausted---before Hurricanes
always plug in your laptop).
Cleanup began immediately with people dragging tree branches to
the curb of the street. In the evening we were invited by the
Ackermans for a communal cook-out on their deck. Rebecca Andrews
boiled all here shrimp before they would go bad, and the dinner
was great. The Andrews's had gone through Hurricane Hugo in Charlotte
and conjectured that the electricity would be out for a while.
We went to Harris Teeter again and this time got ice (6 bags).
We stuffed all ice into our freezer to preserve our meats.
A brief rain shower had cooled the air for the night.
Sunday, September 8, 1996
Tom Dennison came over with his daughter Laura and Bill Ackerman
to remove the crown of our fallen oak. Tom owns a chain saw
and we worked all morning. Hoang also served ice-cold drinks.
Swing set after Sunday's cleanup.
In the afternoon we felled two uprooted trees in the Andrews's
front yard and had another cook-out on the Dennisons' deck.
We contributed all our steaks before they would spoil.
The air temperature was in the high 80s (32C) and we
sweated a lot until a thunderstorm cooled things down.
Work crews had removed the fallen trees on Lake Pine, but
no electricity.
Monday, September 9, 1996
NCSU cancelled classes. Hoang came with Erich to his office
to recharge the laptop and iron some cloths. There was an
email message from Susan Rodger
that they were fine. A cook-out was
planned again at the Ackermans, but when I called them at 4pm
we heard that electricity was back. With Markus Hitz we therefore
went on a sight-seeing tour to Fletcher Park and the Hayes Barton
neighborhood where we had lived before.
Fletcher Park's great oak trees on the ground.
Fallen branches with Markus.
Uprooted and on the house.
Vance Street, Raleigh.
Holt Street, Raleigh.
Williamson Street, Raleigh.
Saturday, September 28, 1996
The debris piled up on the curb in front of our
house is removed by the feds.
Kettlebridge Drive, Cary.