Blackout!!

Last friday ,(lucky it was not friday 13..!!)
we left our home with looks of rain approaching to do grocery shopping. When we reached the store ,it was with lots of thunder, lightening and sudden downpour... got wet getting in .. inside the store could hear thunder .. on their display tv saw the storm was passing over where we were..
On the drive back home in front of us almost all traffic lights stopped working.. had a big tree fall right across the road.. managed to escape all this reached home to see there was tree across our neighbours drive way.. it was still drizzling.
No power!!!!! we had used our garage door opener to lock the home.. so stuck outside..!went around tried all our doors.. OF course I had decided to lock it tight..!After 20 -30 mins of this and groaning.. i decided to go to the back and try windows.. then got Hubby to help in breaking IN OUR OWN HOME!!!!! and got the middle child over his shoulder and into the home..she opened the door from inside.!
Then had to clean up all the slush we managed to get in..the rain which managed to come inside a bedroom window..put the grocery stuff in powerless fridge/freezer and give instuctions NO OPENING!!!!!! then worry of food spoiling, basement flooding..
Thomas had got one of those winding torches..(wish he had decided to get generator too) we opened those up.. went to basement to see water was almost to the top of the sump pump.. since it was our first power cut after putting a sump pump.. started trying to empty it.. from the corner where those fellows decided to put it in.. in the heater room.. (the dingy,darkest,smallest part of any home).
they had a small opening in the tank and cement on top of the cover.. we could not open it!
so used the small opening put the small tumbler empied buckets of cold water.. back killing hands scratched and bleeding told Bijoy to try again..to get it open ..then we used screw drivers wet the cement areas dug the cover open..
then B did by himself emptying buckets.. from 10-12.30.. told him to leave and sleep..I dozed for a while.. he woke me up to ask me to help.. then i took over completely till 4.30 emptying every 15 mins .. each emptying took 10 mins.. of hard work.. doing this work made me realise .. how others do night duty.. 1 day i could not sit up..with out feeling selfpity/pain..?
Then was thinking of all those Electric co. fellows who had to try and get our powers back going..
4.30 could not do much more went upstairs to wake Hubby up.. he was out.. thought ok.. will do myself .. but i slept off till 5.20 woke up with a start and thinking of got to do extra mopping in that place.. went there to find water was full but.. not over flowing..
managed to get 2 buckets of water out and power came on>>>>>Hipeeeeeeee..!
Got kids to come back upstairs to sleep.. (they were scared to sleep alone..so they camped in basement..) it was 6 finally when i managed to hit bed.. 8 my youngest woke up poor thing came went back ..2/3 times then said mummy i am hungry..
Morning news saw the destruction the storm/tornado left in its wake.. roofless homes.. floods.. one gets humbled seeing all that and how much God has blessed us and how lucky we were.
Now its wednesday aches and pains there.. cough has come back.. Not much more.. Thank God for everyones prayers.
This is just an adventure /experience we guys have here.. our neighbours have had flooding previous years..some of them had generators going..
Maha /Arul sir maybe you can write about your basement flooding.

take care
ust