Open notice schedulers.....many shoppers are without power and it might be kindness to double check a shopper for a missed shop instead of presuming they flaked on you. Even power for a cell phone charge is hard. We will be without until at least Wednesday. Many stores are also affected and closed.
If you have power you tend to forget the summer issues of storms and forest fires.

CANADAMOMMY Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Open notice schedulers.....many shoppers are
> without power and it might be kindness to double
> check a shopper for a missed shop instead of
> presuming they flaked on you. Even power for a
> cell phone charge is hard. We will be without
> until at least Wednesday. Many stores are also
> affected and closed.
> If you have power you tend to forget the summer
> issues of storms and forest fires.

what state do you live in?

No power to millions of people and businesses in VA, DC, MD. 100+ temps with little night time relief. No AC. No fresh food in the few grocery stores that are open using generator power. Freezer and refrigerators in stores are bare. Banks not open; ATMs not working.

In MD suburb of DC, 500 of 800 controlled intersections without working signal lights. Estimated time for repairs: 7 days.

walesmaven Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> No power to millions of people and businesses in
> VA, DC, MD. 100+ temps with little night time
> relief. No AC. No fresh food in the few grocery
> stores that are open using generator power.
> Freezer and refrigerators in stores are bare.
> Banks not open; ATMs not working.
>
> In MD suburb of DC, 500 of 800 controlled
> intersections without working signal lights.
> Estimated time for repairs: 7 days.

This sounds horrible! My prayers are with everyone to get their power back on, supermarkets back open and traffic lights working.

Mid-atlantic is a complete mess from these "surprise" storms. Winds gusted to above hurricane force and near 100mph. It was a very rare type of storm called a derecho. Which basically means violent windstorm.

Most people had little notice since it happend at night. Over a dozen people died from it, many asleep when trees fell on their homes etc

Ohio also, but south of me. Possibly more on the way tomorrow and the following days. Big Mess. So sorry for all of you.

MD, DC, VA Monday morning update, 60 hours post storm:
Several major roads stillclosed due to downed trees and power lines, or fire department equipment. As the power is restored to various area, the lines are catching fire, thus shutting down the area again and blocking streets with fire equipment.

Most outside repair crews not expected to arrive before tomorrow. No hotel rooms available well out into Pennsylvania. (More than 90 minutes drive) and no fuel can be pumped yet at most gas stations. The local power companies now say that they expect "most customers" will have power by 11:00 PM, Friday July 6. No one is being told that their area will have power before that, as far as I can tell. I have intermittant power and iffy Internet. Traffic lights on all nearby main roads still out at most intersections.

Local, state and federal government employees encouraged to take unscheduled leave or "telecommute" (Hard to do without power or Internet.) The best news so far is that temps will drop to around 95 today, but no drop in humidity. Day camps and summer school, and university classes all closed in 3 state area around DC.

Midwest now saying power MAYBE on Friday.
So schedulers PLEASE call your shopper before you think they flaked.
And schedulers if you do not get an answer cell phone power is hard to get in many areas too.

Even many post offices are closed today.

A friend of mine had a tree fall through his roof. He said no power and could be Friday before they do get power.....

No gas....people are getting antsy and angry on the roads..

No TV, computer, no electricity....no nothing....Just like living in the 1800's....

i have a tiny grill on the 3rd floor balcony of my condo. i just realized last week that a bird somehow turned it into a nest with baby birds inside. the terrible winds blew it all over the place, severely damaging the nest. four baby birds were strewn about on top of each other, exposed to the winds and the rains, as the top of the grill was ripped open by the weather.

they were born within the grill, and had never even seen sunlight yet. i'm not certain if their little wings or legs are broken or not. they were all still helplessly chirping when i found them newly exposed to the sunlight for the first time in their lives. i'm hoping that they'll survive the week. they may or may not die. my neighbor slightly fixed the nest, but we have to wait and see what happens. i hope that they don't die within my grill on the balcony.

Tuesday update from MD, DC, and VA area:
My power went on and then off again last night. It was on long enough to actually cook some food and lower the indoor temp a bit. Now have power again at the house. This morning only 200 of 800 controlled intersections in my county are without working traffic lights. BUT, all of those are within about 2 miles of my house. At the moment I seem to live on an island that currently has power, in a sea of unpowered homes.

Glory halleluha; a nearby grocery store is open, back on full power, and fully stocked. A branch of my bank finally opened yesterday, so I could deposit checks to cover early month bills. The FF joint across the road from the bank had a line of cars waiting to get to the drive thru that stretched about 5 blocks down the main road. Mandatory water restrictions have been lifted as water treatment plants are back on line. Libraries and other places with public Internet access are still closed.

I am getting phone calls to/from schedulers saying not to worry, shop dates will be rescheduled later. Meanwhile, local utility now backtracking; instead of restoring power to 90% of residents by late Friday night, they now predict that this will stretch into next week.

Oh wow, I remember in 2008 Hurricane Ike hit us hard. I was without power for 5 days and others out for longer. Texas Shoppers Network actually deactivated me because I didn't get my shops done. I thought that wasn't fair since their home office is in the same city where I live but oh well.

We actually have as much, or more, damage as from our last hurricaine adventure here.

walesmaven Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> MD, DC, VA Monday morning update, 60 hours post
> storm:
> Several major roads stillclosed due to downed
> trees and power lines, or fire department
> equipment. As the power is restored to various
> area, the lines are catching fire, thus shutting
> down the area again and blocking streets with fire
> equipment.
>
> Most outside repair crews not expected to arrive
> before tomorrow. No hotel rooms available well out
> into Pennsylvania. (More than 90 minutes drive)
> and no fuel can be pumped yet at most gas
> stations. The local power companies now say that
> they expect "most customers" will have power by
> 11:00 PM, Friday July 6. No one is being told
> that their area will have power before that, as
> far as I can tell. I have intermittant power and
> iffy Internet. Traffic lights on all nearby main
> roads still out at most intersections.
>
> Local, state and federal government employees
> encouraged to take unscheduled leave or
> "telecommute" (Hard to do without power or
> Internet.) The best news so far is that temps will
> drop to around 95 today, but no drop in humidity.
> Day camps and summer school, and university
> classes all closed in 3 state area around DC.

Welcome to the club.

6 years ago we had a hurricane that left us without electricity for 3 WEEKS ! The thing I missed the most was a hot bath. Finally went to another town where friend let me use her jacuzzi tub for a nice hot bubble bath. They had trouble getting me to come out of that bathroom