Thank You

Mom and Dad finally have their power and heat back on.  This storm has tested us all.  Are we prepared for an emergency?  In most cases the answer is NO.  At least we had flashlights, batteries, a battery operated radio and salt.  You really realize just how unprepared you are for an emergency of this magnitude when it goes on for longer than 24, 48, 72 and in some cases it's still going on for some folks.  You realize just how much our lives need electricity.  Not just to power our appliances but also to power our cordless phones and recharge some batteries.  You start to feel very isolated when there is no way of getting news.  The TV is out, your phone is out and so is the radio.  You feel trapped.

I am so grateful for all of the power workers who gave up their Christmas to restore power to our city.  Who are still working in the extreme cold and snow to continue to try to restore power.  To those who were there to help moved damaged tree limbs away and cut other limbs so that they wouldn't continue to fall.  To all of the front line emergency service workers and all of the warming center workers I want to say thank you.  Without you, many residents of our city would not have survived this disaster.  I also want to say a big thank you to those who traveled from the US and other provinces to help us out.  We here in Toronto really appreciate everything you did.  Thank you just doesn't seem to cover how thankful we all are.

The city is slowly coming back to life.  Today people will be able to start to buy food again since everything in the fridge and freezer will have to be thrown out.  The grocery stores will have to restock as well, since their power was out too.  There were no backup generators that can last as long as our power was out.  Let's hope that this never happens ever again!  Let's be prepared!

Thank you