In Neighborhoods Still Dark, Neighbors Lend Light

When my wife called me Friday night to say she was freaking out about the winds and freakish thunder and lightning pounding our Anneslie neighborhood, my first thought was: "C'mon, it's not like it's a hurricane."

What did I know? I was three hours north at an Atlantic City resort for a long-planned outing with three of my oldest friends. My wife was holding my terrified 4-year-old son in bed with her as our 8-year-old daughter was cowering with her girlfriends at a sleepover two blocks away.

Tell us in comments about helpful neighbors during blackout.

Still, I thought, when don't my kids cry about thunder and lightning?

But as I headed to try my luck at poker at around 11 p.m., the casino lights flickered twice, emergency beacons began flashing and an automated voice stated over and over: "An emergency has been declared in the building: please evacuate immediately."

I did as I was told and headed straight for the exit as hundreds of gamblers remaind perfectly calm—they just sat there with their best poker faces, figuring mother nature was bluffing. (This is why I'm not a good gambler.) 

Trains between New Jersey, Philadelphia and Baltimore were delayed throughout the weekend. When I finally arrived near 5 p.m. Sunday, I assumed I'd zip home in my car to relieve my wife, Denise, on the dark, hot domestic front. 

Trees and wires had different plans for my usual route. I drove north on Roland Avenue, stopping to snap a shot of a downed tree in the 5500 block. Then I turned right onto Lake Avenue only to find a large branch straddling a wire drapped over the road; the house at 607 W. Lake Ave. is in desperate need of a BGE crew that still hasn't come.  

Just east of Charles Avenue on Lake, a large tree that had taken down some wires had closed the road. I turned around, and decided to turn right on Gittings. It, too, was closed because of a fallen tree and wires—very low wires. 

Bellona. Same story. 

Neighbors with generators on Murdock Road have been helping to keep my family's refrigerated and frozen food from spoiling—and they're helping others to charge cell phones and other electronic devices. Other neighbors took the family to Padonia pool because Meadowbrook was closed.

Our basement is cool enough for all of us to sleep in. And Panera Bread is, yet again, calling to us for dinner. 

You can tell the heat has gotten to my wife and two kids. They're hungry and hot. Time for me to go. 

Remember, to report an outage, call 877-778-2222. If it's an emergency, call 800-685-0123. 

And if things get bad enough, don't forget to turn to those who can help the best: neighbors like ours, the Karwacki family.

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