Oh I have seen things, derecho from hell big as all Ohio slate black skies tinged with ugly green, forked lightning hail the size of jawbreakers bouncing off windows straight-line winds like bullet trains barrel through the towns rivers rampaging, swollen, spilling their banks and rising to the bridges. Downed trees criss-cross the streets blocking passage emergency vehicles on all corners turning traffic around into other impassible highways trucks stuck under viaducts flooded to their engines. Old man parks his car in the right hand lane so unsuspecting drivers don't tangle themselves in power lines, snapped, stretched across culvert to overflowing culvert. Store fronts blown out shards like glass confetti fall to the street. Whole trees uprooted as branches nose into houses. Basements filling with water now reaching the first floor. Roads washing away or littered with branches we can't get out of town double back backtrack out of town try another route but the tri-county area is completely devastated. Oh, there was finally an escape route and I thought we were clear, but no, no, the hotels have no power. I want to sleep and I will pull over to the side of the road and sleep in a field, fall away to sleep in the rain like a frozen gold miner, like hypothermia.
Random observation from Randy:
This is our Global Warming trip.
A storm cell hovers over the whole state of Ohio and wreaks havoc on everyone. We pulled into Cleveland's Thistledown Racino (get it- horse racing/casino?) to wager on a few races before heading downtown to Progressive Field for the Indians - Blue Jays game at 7:00.
Thistledown
Waiting for the all-clear.
I wagered one race and won 22 bucks. Not bad, right? Then all hell broke loose. The skies went spooky and weird winds whipped in from the west. Rain and hail.It finally cleared a bit and everyone was waiting for the next race to begin. But no. More "inclement" weather was on the way, and all live racing was cancelled. As we sat in the car wondering what direction to go, the more inclement weather hit. No way the Indians were going to play tonight. Head for the hills, toward Toledo. The rest is exactly as I described above. Here are some picturesof the Huron River in Monroeville,OH:
Here are a few pictures in the aftermath of the derecho in Bellvue, OH:
Sarah Furnace, PA
Oh yeah, Pittsburgh was flooding as we left this morning. Can't wait to see what happens in Detroit. And the Indians actually played their game, without a delay.
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