I had the day off on Tuesday, so I was just sitting down to lunch when I heard the rumble. The entire thing lasted 30 seconds, but the rumble lasted for at least 10. When I was in Peru in 2009, we had two earthquakes, so my immediate reaction was, "Huh, this feels like that. No way." So I sat and tried to think logically what it could be. "Well, the laundry room is right below us, but that couldn't be it. They aren't doing construction, so that's not it." Pause "Oh wait, now the walls are shaking."
It was at this point that I determined that there is no logical reasoning in my brain during emergency situations. My adrenaline takes over and that's that, which makes me a lousy candidate for any EMS job potentials. I did a quick analysis and determined that I'd rather be outside instead of under a table, and hey, my building wasn't collapsing at the moment, so I sprinted for the door. The door to the building is about 10 feet away, so it wasn't hard to get there. It was only then, when I was the very first person outside, I realized that 1) I was clutching the tofu that I was about to eat for lunch (how classy...) and 2) my response probably could have been dumbed down about 10x and things would have been fine.
When I was in Peru, I woke up to the earthquake. Once again, I thought it wasn't possible, but I realized that everything was shaking. I could make out the walls in the dark, which looked like waves, starting at the bottom and rippling up to the top. I'm not the happiest or most caring person in the world when woken up, so I thought "Eh, it's an earthquake, it will be over soon." And it ended and I went back to sleep. The walls didn't look like that here (Peruvian building codes are slightly different), but I could still see the entire building and surrounding building shaking, which gets your heart racing. Another difference is that I had zero ability to calm myself down, and I'm pretty sure that has to do with one reason and one reason only: in Peru, I only had to watch out for myself (and apparently, when I'm sleeping I really don't care what happens to me). But now, I have Steven. I could not stop thinking about him. I knew that he's smart and strong and was fine, but I just wanted to hear his voice or get an email or something saying that everything was okay (I'm sure all married women can relate). Two hours later, he was at our door, and then finally I could breath again.
Californians hear/feel a 5.8 earthquake and continue on their merry way. DCers feel a 5.8 earthquake and freak, not just because they aren't used to it, but for a different reason. I challenge you to think of it this way: the earthquake started as a rumble for 10 seconds, and then everything started shaking. Almost 10 years ago exactly, a similar situation happened in the Pentagon. They heard a rumble getting closer and closer, and heard a huge crash as everything started shaking there and in the surrounding area. I think if you or I worked in the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 and still worked there today, we would be justified in our over-reaction.
Regardless, here is some political satire for your enjoyment:
I started questioning where exactly I had moved to once I found out that there was a hurricane that was most definitely going to hit us this weekend. Steven peaced out to Rhode Island to visit friends, so I had to hunker down by myself. It should be known that I absolutely hate being alone at night, so I was more afraid of that then this stinking hurricane. Honestly, I was pretty apathetic. Two months ago, our power went out for a night unexpectedly, and we didn't have flashlights or a lighter to light the two candles that we actually have. Apparently, that didn't phase us because we still don't have flashlights or a lighter. I tried to go to Target on Friday to get flashlights, but since they were sold out because the entire metro area was all hyped up about it, I gave up and went home.
Maybe it's because I'm from Pennsylvania and 1) we get a crap-ton of rain every spring (let's revisit the 24 days in April that it rained constantly, shall we?), and 2) the power goes out periodically. For snow storms, for thunderstorms, for no reason at all, the power just goes out. And it always comes back on. It was predicted that Irene would be full-force around 2 am, so I figured that I would go to sleep, the power would go out, and then it would be back on by 9 pm or so when it gets dark. And if all else fails, I'd just go to Ian and Brenda's. Probably not the best plan ever, but it turned out in my favor this time.
All in all, Arlington was only hit mildly. A couple of trees down and power outages, nothing huge. But the further east and south you moved, the worse it was. In Annapolis, the place was flooded by 9 pm. Alexandria was flooded then as well. About 20 miles south, there is still 3-4 feet of water on the roads. Asbury Park was pummeled, as well as the Outer Banks. Here, it just rained and was windy from 1 pm Saturday until about 9 am on Sunday. Nothing terrible.
I can't help but think of the pioneers who went before us who didn't have the media or technology to know that a hurricane was coming their way. "Huh, it looks like its going to rain..." And then it's a hurricane. But if they could do it, we can too, and probably a million times better.
At least we know.
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