As is true with each of you in this part of the country Im sure, this time 25 years ago is one we wont soon forget. Though many of the normal events of a quarter of a century ago have waned - and left - from my memory, I remember the days following the arrival of Hugo with great sharpness of mind. As 22 year old Ritch slept the night away, Joe, 15 year old Angie and I walked from window to window, trying to see out into the vast darkness. The outside light, of course, was gone with the loss of the power. We could see nothing but could hear trees snapping all around us. Of course, we were extremely apprehensive as to when one of those trees would snap right onto our house, killing us in the process. The only humor about the night was when we decided to lie down and Angie crawled into the bed between us. Never in a zillion years would she have even remotely considered doing this in the real world. When the first glint of daylight finally appeared, we were eagerly looking out the window to see the destruction all around us. There were trees down everywhere. Pretty soon, the sound of chain saws was all around as people lucky enough to own one started trying to clear a small path through the destruction. I will never forget the sick feeling when we walked outside amid the fallen trees. After checking with family members elsewhere to make sure they were okay, I knew that I must get to work as quickly as possible. So I got ready by candlelight and set out to try to get to work. About the same time that Im typing this, Joe and I were trying to make our way to the Duke Power office on White Street. It took us and hour and a half to make the 5 mile trip. I cried all the way. I was the first one to arrive, and when I opened the back door, water came rushing out to greet me. District Manager Jack Barrier came up about that time, and it was decided that any office employees who made it would go to the Operations Center (the current site of Covenant Baptist Church) to work. So Joe took me on up there. Again, I was one of the first to arrive other than those who had worked all night. In those days, the call center in Charlotte was not open, and each office handled their own calls. So those of us who made it in worked by flash light taking calls. As one can imagine, this was an overwhelming chore. And so it began. For weeks, I worked at the Operation Center taking calls. As you can imagine, after a few days customers began to become quite irate. Those of us taking those irate calls did so hoping that the customer would take it out on us but not the linemen who were responsible for getting their power back on. During the weeks that followed, the goodness of people of our community shined through! Once they got power, churches fed the linemen - individuals and organizations brought food to the operation center - and restaurants fed us for free. I was overwhelmed at how the community came together at a time when the need was greatest. I will never forget when convoys of power trucks would come rolling up from all over our great nation. Each time a new one came rolling in, a feeling of gratitude would take over my entire body. Its difficult to describe the warm fuzzy feeling that overtook me when those wonderful guys came through those doors to see what they needed to do. I had to often fight back the urge to hug each one of them. The daughter of one of my dear friends was supposed to get married on one of those Saturdays. They planned to go on with the wedding regardless of whether the power was restored, so preparations were made in the event that they needed to do so. That was the only time I tried to influence the power getting turned on at any particular location, but I did make an appeal in that particular incident. At the 11th hour, the power was restored and the wedding did go on. Im sure this is just one persons recollection of that eventful period of our lives. Im sure each of you has your own story. But as I said at the beginning, the memories of that night and the weeks to follow will remain with me for a long, long time. Im so thankful that Lancaster suffered no fatalities that night but know that other areas were not so fortunate. My thoughts go out to the loved ones of those who died that fateful night, and my prayer is that there will never be another Hugo.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 13:38:41 +0000
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