Earthquakes and Hurricanes...What's Next

Given the fact that here in Maryland, we experienced not only an earthquake but also a hurricane in the span of just a few days, I can't help but wonder what is next?  Two years ago, we had three separate snowstorms dumping more than two feet of snow, each time...I feel like this past week is telling us to get ready for another crazy winter.  Who knows? 

Hurricane Irene was really not bad where we are, just a little bit west of I-95...really, it was just a lot of wind and rain, but it wasn't much different from other big storms we've had.  The big difference is that we are STILL without  power...yes, you heard that correctly.  We lost power around 11:30PM Saturday night, and here we are, Wednesday, and there's no sign that power will be restored anytime soon.

I can say that with a great deal of confidence because I know what my yard looks like...our neighbor neglected to remove several massive, dead trees, and the hurricane brought them down.  One tree fell against the power lines running through our backyard, shredding the lines and bringing them down, then toppling against one of our trees, narrowly missing crashing into Monkey's room!  This tree also ripped down the wires and box bringing power to our house.

Saturday night, the fun began with a knock at our front door around 10PM...the power company wanted to let us know that a line was arcing in our backyard, and it was not safe to go outside.  This person then sat in front of our house until the power blew...because of the aforementioned tree. 

Another massive tree fell parallel to our fence, half in the tree owner's yard and half in the other neighbor's yard, damaging their fence and bringing down at least 3 of their trees.  Luckily, we don't have any clean up from this tree. 

And in case you didn't know, when someone else's tree falls in your yard, you are responsible for the damage and clean-up.  It appears that the neighbor's tree leaning against our tree will be removed by the power company because it's tangled in the power lines, so we hope we are escaping responsibility there. 

I know the power goes out frequently during storms in our area, and I know a healthy tree can be brought down by high winds...but these trees were a hazard, and the neighbor knew it.  I think he was waiting for the Rapture to bring them down (and I'm not even being sarcastic about this...).  Several months ago, he even told us he knew they were a problem, and that he was going to be having them taken down.

There's one remaining dead tree still standing.  I asked him about it, letting him know my concern for future storms...he said he'd get to it eventually...then he proceeded to tell me there's another storm brewing...

We've learned our lesson about passivity...we are having an arborist come in to evaluate the health of this dead, standing tree.  We're going to send registered letters to him, our insurance, and the utility company noting our concern over his negligence.  We hope to force him to have this last tree removed before it crashes into a house or hurts someone!

In the meantime, my fridge is sparkling clean...and empty.  Neighbors are storing some of our frozen food, and lots of other food is either in a cooler or in the trash, unfortunately.  We don't have a generator (not yet, at least...we will before the next storm!), but we do have hot water. 

It's amazing to see how long it takes for the power company to recognize that downed lines are a priority.  I know they prioritize based on need and volume, but when they finally came out yesterday, just to take a look, they let us know the lines could be live still, and that they were very dangerous.  Since then , they've been sitting in our front yard...watching and waiting.  No tree removal or line repair yet...just a lot of watching and waiting.  No one cared about this enough to watch or wait Sunday or Monday, but now, it's apparently important enough to have two employees sitting there, night AND day, since last night!

Anyway, we're doing well.  We're surviving without power, and we're sleeping downstairs in case the leaning tree does crash into the house.  Oh, and I never updated you on this....but I'm on BCP to go into an IVF cycle!  Tentative ER is slated for 9/30....do you like the nonchalance with with I announce this exciting news? ;)