# Catch any of that storm last night? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 30, 2012, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804 "2012-06-30T13:38:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804/21 "2012-06-30T23:14:46Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I’m not sure where you are in Ohio, but from what I have seen I suspect its the topography of the Ohio River Valley that breaks up the weather, especially with snow in the winter. I’m in Wooster. We are in the Ohio River watershed, but I think it’s a stretch to consider us to be in the Ohio River Valley. I’m glad to know it happens somewhere else, though. ---
**Author:** ![Nightsong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightsong/32/3083_2.png) [@Nightsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightsong)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804/22 "2012-06-30T23:17:05Z")
NoVa here - just got power back on (about 6:50 PMish, EDT) after having it off since about 11:00 PM last night. Considering Dominion was originally saying 2-3 days, I’ll take it! I’d rather have to figure out what to do with the three bags of ice I bought than figure out where the hell I’m going to find more. * * * \<\< Life is full of challenge and frustration, but sooner or later you’ll find a hairstyle you like. \>\> ---
**Author:** ![QuarkChild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c5a1d2/32.png) [@QuarkChild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuarkChild)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804/23 "2012-06-30T23:28:20Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > I’m in Wooster. We are in the Ohio River watershed, but I think it’s a stretch to consider us to be in the Ohio River Valley. I’m glad to know it happens somewhere else, though. Holy crap, I used to live in Wooster! Didn’t think there were other Dopers there… ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804/24 "2012-06-30T23:38:12Z")
it hit philly at 2am ish. lots of wild lightening, i considered joining the cat under the bed. the electricity stayed on thankfully. it has been clouding over and clearing up all day. i’m hoping to get the abode under 75f tonight. so far it is hovering around 80-79 with the ac on. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804/25 "2012-07-01T00:58:50Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I had stopped in College Park, Maryland on the way home from work. I could have gone straight home and thus would have avoided the storm, but, no, I decided to pick up a copy of _The Washington City Paper_, which I always pick up because it has things like _The Straight Dope_ in it. Just as I start to drive off from there, the storm hits. My car is slammed with winds and tree branches. I get to see an electric line being ripped down, which produces tremendous sparks. I found myself a place in a parking lot to sit in my car and waited out the storm. Wendell - glad to hear that you got through the storm okay. It made a lot of noise around us at about 10:30 last night (Columbia, Maryland), but didn’t knock out our power. However, when I was out today on the roads there were a lot of roads blocked by trees and branches, and a lot of traffic lights not working. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804/26 "2012-07-01T02:19:21Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > PS- Tip to drivers: When the signal is out: STOP! Don’t go barreling through (as I saw several cars do at several intersections). When the signal at an intersection goes out it defaults to a 4-way stop. One at a time. Be safe. Yeah, it was a total clusterfuck out there today. The police were out at the major intersections, but there were still plenty of lights out at other pretty big intersections with no police direction. Treating them as 4-way stops is fine when you’re only dealing with 1 lane, but when you have 2 or more lanes in the same direction, there are 16 total lanes and you have cars showing up at different times, so it quickly devolves into chaos, especially when there are also left-turn lanes involved. I was trying to take routes that always either stayed straight through big intersections and/or tried to only make right turns. I was very happy to get off the road. ---
**Author:** ![computergeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@computergeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/computergeek)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804/27 "2012-07-01T02:52:36Z")
I live in Maryland and it appears at least parts of the state got hit pretty hard. I was indoors when the storm hit in my area and I just watched it pour for a little while. I didn’t lose power, but some of the local businesses did (I’m not sure about any residential areas). I went out for some ice cream and groceries today and didn’t realize that there was a power situation and missed out on Baskin and Robbins ice cream at the B&R store and some chicken salad at the local grocery store because they lost power and their generator (definitely the latter store and possibly the former) thus losing their frozen and refrigerated food. Plus, some of the traffic lights were out. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804/28 "2012-07-01T03:49:54Z")
We got lucky and didn’t lose power in downtown Silver Spring: it seems like every other neighborhood is out. The same thing happened during Irene. I actually feel like the wind during this storm was about as bad as that was, though obviously for a much shorter duration. The very first gust before the rain started was absolutely insane. And I’ve never seen so much lightning. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804/29 "2012-07-01T06:01:00Z")
In Falls Church, the storm was 30 minutes of continuous lightning. Half a tree down in the back yard, but minimal damage. No power anywhere from here to Annandale. Found only one working gas station. Sleeping in the basement tonight. We went to Tysons mall this afternoon for the A/C, and it was crazy busy. The only way we could park was to pick up a hobbling old man who was leaving and drive him to his car. Technically, it was a good deed, but it felt like a kidnapping: “give us your spot and we’ll let you go.” Inside, there were people scattered all over the floor, charging their cell phones from the outlets the cleaning people use. We left as the bathrooms were starting to fail; insufficient power to the pumps. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804/30 "2012-07-01T06:25:53Z")
My power went out temporarily, but they got it back on within the hour (thank god, because now that I have a/c I can’t sleep when it’s higher than 75 in my room). The storm really wasn’t bad around here at all, my guess is that a line further up the pipeline went down. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804/31 "2012-07-01T11:04:36Z")
My key is in the lockbox because we’re in the tail end of a remodel and the workers use it for access. In six months this is the first time I needed it–I never go in through the front door. We got the garage open from the inside when the storm calmed enough for me to feel safe leaving my car. ---
**Author:** ![Miabella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@Miabella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miabella)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804/32 "2012-07-01T11:32:05Z")
Still no power here in Burke VA. We were teased by the power coming on for one minute last night, but whatever they tried didn’t seem to take. ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804/33 "2012-07-01T12:42:12Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > My key is in the lockbox because we’re in the tail end of a remodel and the workers use it for access. In six months this is the first time I needed it–I never go in through the front door. We got the garage open from the inside when the storm calmed enough for me to feel safe leaving my car. I hear they have the technology to make more than one key. (Not written with snark in mind, just humor. Hope it comes across that way) ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804/34 "2012-07-01T13:35:05Z")
I live a couple of blocks from the OP and most of my neighbors are without power, it could be for days. We left on vacation Saturday morning, so we are letting our neighbors live in our house for the week. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804/35 "2012-07-01T14:22:08Z")
> [@Miabella](#): > > Still no power here in Burke VA. We were teased by the power coming on for one minute last night, but whatever they tried didn’t seem to take. Hey! I lived there three times…from 1974-1976 on Liberty Bell Court in a (what is now old) townhouse, from 1983-1986 in The Woods in Burke Centre (a duplex) and then again from 1988-1989 on Carter’s Oak Way in The Oaks in Burke Center. Went to West Springfield high school for my freshman year, moved away to Texas, and then went to Robinson High School for my senior year in 1987…was the largest graduating class in VA history at the time…it was something like 1,300 seniors. Tough year to be the new guy all over again. Wow…good times! Fairfax County in the heezy! Oh, and I worked at Pino’s Italian Restaurant as my first job, too. If you’ve ever been there, or if you go, say hi to Sam and Ray for me. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804/36 "2012-07-01T17:26:53Z")
Pepco has my estimated time for restoring power as 11pm on July 6th. Only an estimate, I know. But I got a hotel room for tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804/37 "2012-07-01T17:33:25Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Yeah, it was a total clusterfuck out there today. The police were out at the major intersections, but there were still plenty of lights out at other pretty big intersections with no police direction. > > Treating them as 4-way stops is fine when you’re only dealing with 1 lane, but when you have 2 or more lanes in the same direction, there are 16 total lanes and you have cars showing up at different times, so it quickly devolves into chaos, especially when there are also left-turn lanes involved. I was trying to take routes that always either stayed straight through big intersections and/or tried to only make right turns. I was very happy to get off the road. A lot of Rt. 29 had the cross-highway parts of the intersections blocked off with evidence tape, so crossing (and left hand turns) weren’t possible. In other spots, I saw that multi-lane effect you mention - a big mess. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804/38 "2012-07-01T17:45:32Z")
Without power from noon Friday until noon Sunday (today). Tree fell over our driveway, so I spent all of yesterday clearing it w/ chainsaw. We are on a well, so no power = no water. Neighbor down the street has a natural spring, so we went down there and filled 5 gallon buckets for toilets. ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804/39 "2012-07-01T18:37:43Z")
There are a whole lot of people in Ohio still without power. AEP, who provides power for a whole lot of us, has a [photo set on flickr](https://twitter.com/614magazine/status/219437186121076737) with estimated power restoration times. (The link is to a tweet that links to the AEP photo set). Looks like a whole lot of places are looking at several days, still. There are a few who might have to wait till NEXT Sunday. :eek: I’m really grateful the most I had to deal with was about 1/2 a day without internet. I was at the office when the storm came through. I’ve worked in the same building for over 20 years; this is the first time I’ve felt my chair shake because of a storm. Not pleasant at all. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804/40 "2012-07-01T20:42:38Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Pepco has my estimated time for restoring power as 11pm on July 6th. Only an estimate, I know. > > But I got a hotel room for tonight. That’s what it’s showing for everywhere. I can’t imagine it will really take that long for most addresses. I saw a bunch of utility trucks a short ways from my house. One was a Pepco truck, the others appeared to be from an outside company. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-any-of-that-storm-last-night/626804.md?page=3)