Powerless Against the Storm's Fury

Michael Urban never imagined that his recent trip to Old Sturbridge Village would hit close to home a few days later.

“I remember thinking, That was a lot of work’’ to live without modern conveniences. “Now I've got a little bit of it myself.’’

About 10 a.m. yesterday, the family lost power at their Hillside Avenue home.

No TV, landline or lights. No refrigerator, and the food that was there “is toast,’’ he said.

And no Internet, except when he charges his computer with his car charger.

“I feel out of connection,’’ he said. “I drive around basically, so I can go on Facebook.’’

The first 24 hours were exciting, he said. The family, including his wife, Andrea, his son, Zachary, 3, and his daughter, Isabel, 6, slept together in the TV room last night. And they grilled outside today, having an impromptu barbecue.

But the excitement is wearing off. And there is the uncertainty of when school will resume.

Today should have been six-year-old Isabel’s first day of school at . School was cancelled today because of road conditions and the lack of power at North Grafton Elementary.

Urban said that anxiety and uncertainty felt by parents whose children were scheduled to start school today is one of the worst aftereffects of the power outages.

But they have learned things, he said. They now know , for example, to get things down before sundown, while there is natural light.

“We’ve been going to bed at 8:30, 9 o’clock,’’ he said.

And they are grateful that, unlike many others, they have not lost their hot water, which is fired by gas, not electricity.

“Being without electricity is not the end of the world,’’ he said. “But without hot water, we would have moved.’’

And they still may bunk with his in-laws, depending what happens. Andrea needs power to prepare notes and other paperwork at night for her job as a pediatrician for Holliston Pediatrics in Holliston and Milford.

So even with hot water, “we may move anyway,’’ he said.