WOW! You were either being a night owl, or were up very early. I imagine it was the prior, since I don't like wind storms and I some times do not sleep well when one is occurring. We have learned to batten down the hatches and make sure everything outside is secured (like dog watering dishes, garbage cans, umbrellas). I've had three umbrellas either snapped in half or lifted off the ground, dragging a heavy base and a wrought iron patio table with it. One of those events happened on a bright, clear, sunny day with very little breeze stirring, so we must have had a wind sheer or something. My husband and I stepped out for about 1/2 hour and came home to find the patio umbrella in the electrical service to the house. One of the utility crews came and 'hot-sticked' it to get it down for us. Nope! Don't like high winds. They howl like the banshees. We also lose our power, so we invested in a small generator with enough oomph to run our refrigerator and our sump-pump. Those were our two main concerns. Now that I think about it, we are actually better equipped than I thought we were. We have gas wall heaters in the basement and the first-floor laundry room, so we could actually not have to run the furnace; and we have a portable propane grill and our large outdoor grill to heat water and cook on. I have several oil lanterns scattered throughout the house, and I have candles on hand. I still have an old Pyrex glass percolator that works just fine. We have a crank radio for emergencies; and I also try to keep a water supply on hand, too. My prayers are with you that everything turns out OK and you (and everyone affected) come through it just fine. Hugs, Mary -----Original Message----- From: padutch-life-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:padutch-life-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Don Churchfield Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 1:44 AM To: padutch-life@rootsweb.com Subject: [PD-LIFE] Another storm Once again we are having a severe wind storm again. I would estimate that we are having gusts of at least 60 miles per hour. No rain yet, but the possibility of about 1 to one and a half inches expected tonight. this storm is supposed to move out of the area tomorrow, but there is a worse one expected Thursday and Friday. Our power has gone off a couple times but has come right back on, so we are hoping it doesn't go out through the night. Don in AZ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PADUTCH-LIFE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message