I knew it was a bad storm. I knew that there were power black outs, high winds and lots of rain. But I didn't realise exactly how wide-spread it was until I went to drop the 9 year old off at school this morning on my way to work.
My first clue that it was worse than usual was news that my friends who live only a couple of minutes down the road still had no power. Then, driving out of my street, it looked like a war zone had hit. Trees were downed like dominoes. Traffic was bumper-to-bumper. And when I turned into the street that my daughter's school is on, I found the road completely barricaded and SES workers directing people to turn around due to downed power lines and a tree across the road. So the school was closed and my daughter spent the day at grandma's.
There have been so many stories from all around the northside:* My friend works at one of the worst-hit suburbs and said that it looked like a cyclone had hit.
* A woman at work had a tree smash across her roof.
* My brother and another friend of ours both had water come into their houses. Nothing serious but enough to be scary.
* Many schools were closed and roads were blocked.
* Our local shopping centre was shut as was the petrol station due to lack of power.
* Many people have been without power and telephone all day today.
Thanks to all of those who posted news and wishes on my previous post. Thankfully, we are all safe and naturally, now have plenty of stories to tell. I hope you are all feeling dry tonight!
