this entry was last updated on 09.27.2004 @ 6:43 PM EDT

Glory, glory hallelujah — we have power once again! It came on just a short while ago...

I took the baby out for a drive around noon because it was in the mid-80s here (inside the house) and the sun wasn't even blazing at full-force yet. We were both broiling. So I drove across town to Wal Mart and we walked around just enjoying their AC for awhile. After that I went to grab a quick (non-canned) lunch and just kept driving around town so the wee one could take his nap in luxury of the car's AC. Street lights were out and blown down all over our immediate area. Police were directing all traffic by whistle. And most stores in our neighborhood were operating on generators, taking cash only.

Channel 10 reported at 4:30 p.m. Monday afternoon that 103,622 residents of our county are still without power (48% of the population). Half the power companies in our area are saying 1-3 weeks to get power restored, but our co-op won't even make estimates for power restoration at this time. (How lucky are we?!) And they're saying that over 70% of the residents in Seki's county are still in the dark. We've left messages but still haven't been able to get through to them.

The photos at left (click for larger pop-ups) were snapped during my drive this afternoon. I didn't take a lot, because quite frankly there are only so many downed trees you can photograph before it becomes "yep, there's another snapped tree — whoopee" in your mind. If that's still not enough for you though, here are a couple of more photographs (photo 1, photo 2). The first is a neighborhood near ours just about to get their power restored. The second is the line I waited in at Checkers for lunch today. (The lines on each drive-thru side were that long, and I was about half-way through the line on my side.) You faced that kind of wait at every fast-food place that had power today.

I also shot a couple of quick .avi videos of the storm yesterday just to give you an idea of the big fun we had (video 1, video 2).

Last but certainly not least, I want to thank Michele once again for manning the "emergency blogcast system" while I was out of commission!

Our previous Hurricane Jeanne entries can be found here (our damage estimate wrap-up), here, here and here.

Ivan entries are archived here, and Charley and Frances entries are archived here.

Also a quick note that the -Thon will launch, as scheduled, this Friday, October 1st! Let's get back to life...back to reality...shall we?

UPDATE 1 (5:37 p.m. EDT): Almost forgot to mention, I received a miracle in the mail today. Aren't you jealous?

UPDATE 2 (6:43 p.m. EDT): Just spoke with Mr. Seki — they have power once again, but no Internet connection (dialup or cable). They made it through the storm just fine. Dan's car was hit by a tree and the windshield was smashed out. Someone is coming out to look at that tomorrow. The big tree at Stacy's parents' house fell and smashed their neighbor's lanai. But other than random debris, everyone is ok and unharmed. If you need anything regarding Sekimori Design (or just need to get in touch with Dan and / or Stacy), please contact me until further notice and I will pass the word along. Thanks!