We remain at the
mercy of Mother Nature,
not always prepared.
Mother Nature has been giving Ontario a difficult time once again. As if the flooding we went through in July wasn't enough for this year, she brought us more water this past weekend, only this time in the form of an ice storm. The resulting fallen branches and downed power lines have been wreaking havoc around the city ever since, although approximately 90 percent of the more than 200,000 homes that were initially without power have now had full service restored.
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Willow trees across the street lost a lot
of branches, especially the one at the back of this photo. |
Six days later, about 30, 000 homes still don't have electricity and we are told it could be several more days for them, as many of them will require individual attention on a house by house basis. I am grateful that I am one of the lucky ones for whom power was restored after living about 20 hours without it from the middle of the night on Saturday to late Sunday evening. Even when the lights came back on for my building, I could still see a large area of darkness just across the road from where I live (the bright lights on the right of the photo are a plaza with a grocery store, bank, drug and liquor store, all of which were quite busy ever since their lights came back on. I suspect they were operating with emergency generators initially). Two days later, when I left to go to my mother's for Christmas, they still didn't have power but when I came back yesterday, their lights were on again.
For many, it was even more stressful as they worried about what would happen for Christmas, with gatherings and large feasts already planned and in many cases, groceries already purchased that might have already or would soon be spoiled. The various governmental authorities and utility companies have been working around the clock to resolve the various situations, with many individuals foregoing their own Christmas celebrations to work tirelessly for the benefit of others.
Still, a number of the images of the aftermath of the storm were quite beautiful, once again reminding me that as dangerous and potentially deadly as Mother Nature can be, she is also a force to be admired. Here are a few photos I took on the Monday around and about my office.
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| Chunks of ice that had slid off the roof above |
Haiku My Heart hosted by
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5 comments:
Gorgeous photos and haiku ~ sad though about the storm ~ be safe and warm ~ carol, xxx
Happy New Year to you ~ ^_^
I remember such storms not so long ago… waiting for power for a full week, others waited the entire month. Your photos are beautiful and would be wonderful to share with I Heart Macro Saturday evening if you want to join in. May you be safe and warm and may this New Year be filled with wonder and joy!
It is so hard to be without power when it is so cold! Hope everyone is warm by now. Your photos are lovely!
It has always amazed me how we think we can just go about life without any thought to anything bigger than us to change the course we thought we were headed for... Your haiku, images, and commentary are a good reminder of not only how powerful nature is, but how beautiful it can be... It is the opposite for us here, in California, we normally have half our rainfall by now, and instead we have been dry and cold, very cold, and our homes and sidewalks and plants are not geared for this kind of weather. So it is an act of surrender every day and gratitude for what is working. Thank you for this sharing and may these storms pass quickly for all of you, and may you be warm and safe into the new year.
dear cynthia,
even with your gorgeous icy photographs i feel my heart warm just to have you here sharing at haiku my heart. hopefully san miguel memories will keep you warm too!
much love to you and be safe canada!
xoxox
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