As I compose this post, we have no power at our place for over 30 hours now. We moved to our parents' place for the interim; as they were one of the lucky ones not to lose power. Over 300,000 in Toronto are now without power, and Toronto Hydro is saying it could take over 72 hours before the situation goes back to normal.
The ice storm started Saturday evening and continued all night into Sunday morning. We lost power early Saturday evening. In the morning, when we went over to my parents, I took some pictures. It did look beautiful and surreal, but it was also deadly.
It took us over forty five minutes to dig out my sister's car, which was left on the driveway and had a layer of ice on top about half an inch thick.
As I write this, I know that it may take time (up to 72 hours!) but insha Allah, my life WILL return to normal once power is restored. However, there are some in the world who are not so fortunate. Only 15% of the people in Gaza have power or water at any one time, and refugees in Syria are dying in the cold due to lack of shelter and food.
We in the First World are truly blessed, and we should do something for others less fortunate, and always give thanks to Allah for our blessings.
The ice storm started Saturday evening and continued all night into Sunday morning. We lost power early Saturday evening. In the morning, when we went over to my parents, I took some pictures. It did look beautiful and surreal, but it was also deadly.
It looked like the scene from a post-apocalyptic movie. Trees and branches were broken and lying around, and cars were abandoned on the roads, completely encased in ice.
It was easy to tell which houses had power (and thus, heat); they were the ones without a thick coat of ice on the windows.
It took us over forty five minutes to dig out my sister's car, which was left on the driveway and had a layer of ice on top about half an inch thick.
After about half an hour's of scraping and warming up the car, we managed to open a door and roll down the window. The ice remained outside.
It reminded me of a Tom and Jerry cartoon when the temperature had suddenly plummeted, and everything froze in an instant. Kind of like some scenes out of Day After Tomorrow.
As I write this, I know that it may take time (up to 72 hours!) but insha Allah, my life WILL return to normal once power is restored. However, there are some in the world who are not so fortunate. Only 15% of the people in Gaza have power or water at any one time, and refugees in Syria are dying in the cold due to lack of shelter and food.
We in the First World are truly blessed, and we should do something for others less fortunate, and always give thanks to Allah for our blessings.
3 comments:
We lost power for only about half an hour and then it was back in and out for about another half hour and then back.
I'm glad you posted the reminder about Syria... at this time when others are celebrating Christmas with expensive gifts, big meals etc. it's a good reminder to all how fortunate we are living here and how important it is to donate to those in need who are really suffering - and not just this once, but throughout the year.
Wow, that is surreal. Hope you all emerge from it soon!
@Liya, wow you were lucky, and that power loss was probably deliberate - they must have been fixing something near your area and cut the power for safety.
@Azra, the storm has so far cost Toronto $100 million and counting in damages.
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