Six Thousand Without Power

last week in our county alone. I was at work when the storms went through. The building I work in is  sturdy, but when the winds hit their peak the outside doors were being blown open and slammed shut. By the time I was ready to go home, the worst was over. A block from the college a huge old tree had been uprooted and was blocking the sidewalk and leaning against a fence. I got to my lane and a tree was leaning over the road into the power lines. See pic. Needless to say, no one on my road had power.
I woke up in the middle of the night to the dog barking and flashing strobe lights. I immediately think, yay the power company's here to repair the lines. I look out the window, still seeing flashing lights, but they aren't coming from outside. I look out the other window, same thing. Since I'm barely awake and having problems keeping my eyes open I do this a couple of times before I realize its my computer warning me my battery is running low. sigh.
The next morning we stop by the power company to report the downed tree. After taking the information, the weary clerk tells me she worked thirteen hours the day before and was back in at eight o'clock. They called in help from surrounding counties. That afternoon we regained power.