The power came back on at 03.11, the phone pinging and various lights coming on woke me up. It's been off for 18 hours. I doubt I'll get back to sleep. It's been a downright bloody nuisance having no lights, heat or power - how people cope when their power is off for days and days I just don't know. The house feels freezing, like it does when heating has been off for ages, the cold seems to seep into the walls and takes ages to warm up again.
I got up because I thought I'd have to start on a mammoth cooking session, cooking things that had defrosted. Well, I've just checked the freezers and amazingly most things are still frozen, more or less, there's only a few things that have partially defrosted and I will throw out, just to be on the safe side. Things like 2 turkey and veg pies I made from Christmas leftovers, a few homemade and then frozen ready meals such as a couple of risottos, pasta bakes with meat in them, and some fish. I'd rather throw them out than run the risk of getting food poisoning. There's bacon, milk, yogurts and soft cheeses in the fridge I'm going to chuck out too.....I've checked official advice and it says they're no longer safe after 4 hours without power. I'll photograph everything, add it up and see whether it's worth claiming on the house contents insurance.
Other than that, we've escaped relatively unscathed.....unlike our neighbours whose shed roof blew off, and falling tiles off their roof narrowly missed their car. Plants in pots and various bits and pieces have been blown all round the garden, we have a few odds and ends of things now in our garden which belong to neighbours (having been blown in), and a couple of things are missing from our garden which have obviously been blown elsewhere. Never mind, it's all over now (hopefully).
Oh, one annoying thing is that our broadband, never particularly reliable at the best of times, is currently in and out like a fiddler's elbow, no doubt as a result of the power outage. Hopefully it'll get back to what passes for normal out here in the sticks (at a speed of less than 1 mbps, no fibre round here!) soon.
That's a very long time without power. I'm so glad it's back on again. Such a shame about the wasted food though. :-(
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Glad you've got the power back, but what a shame about the food. We barely got the storm here. Heavy rain and wind at times, but it never really got going. Let's hope that's the last storm for this year. xx
ReplyDeleteGosh, that's a long time without power. The wind was very strong. We have a couple of tiles off our roof. Your neighbours were lucky theirs missed the car. There are fences down all around our estate. Hope you warm up today. Shame about the wasted food. Did Betty mind all the noise?
ReplyDeleteHope you feeling a bit warmer now and what a blow about all that food - with the rising prices it is the last thing you need to be throwing food away. We have come off lightly here in West Yorkshire - not sure about our cottage/caravan in Scotland but n one has rung us to say there is any damage...yet! Take care x
ReplyDeleteThat's a very long time to have no power. The worst thing, I think, is to have no heating at this time of year. A great shame about the spoilt food, Sooze, I hope you can make a claim for the loss although these days the insurance excess often makes it unworthwhile. We escaped the worst of the wind but it's bucketing down at the moment and still very cold.
ReplyDeleteStay safe x
It takes a long time for a house to warm up properly again doesn't it, it's a shame about the food but it's best to go with your gut instinct about what is safe and what isn't.
ReplyDeleteWe don't realise how many electric things we have until they all start pinging into life after a power cut do we. I nearly always forget to reset the timers on the central heating and the cooker, there's so many things with their own clocks these days!!
I'd be safe too and throw. A colleague was just woefully sick this week from food poisoning, suspected from party dips left out too long at a Superbowl gathering. She ate a lot she said because she's vegetarian and other food options had meat.
ReplyDeleteWow, 18 hours without power. Brrr. I am glad that you did not have to have a major cooking session.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Unfortunately after 24 hours with no electric the boiler didn't come back when the electric did - so I'm still cold
ReplyDeleteOh Sue, I didn't realise yours was off too....hope you can get the boiler sorted double quick. In the meantime, all I can offer is a virtual hug! xx
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