So Hurricane Irene blew through last night around 1 AM, I guess.
It wasn't nearly as bad as the media hoped it would be.
Still, in somewhat unexpected fashion, the power stayed off in Calvert County. SMECO usually has a good track record down there compared to the PEPCO sufferers in P.G. and Montgomery Counties nearby.
I think this outage may be the longest one I can remember in the 31 years I've lived in Calvert County. After 14.5 hours without power, running water, or Internet, I was starting to lose my shit so I hit the road.
I drove from Calvert County up to 301 to Bowie and Crofton and then up to College Park and Riverdale.
Power is out all over the place and -- surprise, surprise -- I didn't see one single PEPCO or SMECO crew or truck during my nearly 2-hour drive.
I did see some guys in this McDonald's in Riverdale eating lunch. I think they were a state road crew and not an electrical crew.
I didn't see too much damage either apart from a neighbor's tree in their front yard. It looks like that tree in The Natural (1984) that got hit by lightning and gave Redford the wood to make his "Wonderboy" baseball bat.
On the radio, I heard some caller from Germantown saying that PEPCO told him that some power would not be restored until September 4th (!).
Seriously, what century is this? Why are our only options lines on poles or lines buried in the yard? Where's the solar and wind power that other countries use?
Beyond a few limbs, I don't see any major damage so far.
D.C./Maryland/Virginia: get your shit together. Invest in some infrastructure before the next weather event cripples this place.
We survived 9/11, didn't we? I think we can handle a hurricane off the Atlantic coast!
Chick-Fil-A is usually closed on Sundays but they really boarded this one up good. Don't want the waffle fries to blow away!
