Families take lack of electricity in stride
PENN TWP — While Butler County families struggle with an extended electrical outage following Sunday evening's high winds, they are taking their challenges in stride.
"In a way, it takes you back to the way your great-grandparents lived," said Neil Reighard, whose Beacon Road home has not seen a blink of electricity since the first quarter of the Steelers game Sunday night. "Maybe it's good to have that humility."
Allegheny Power officials said Tuesday it may be Friday or Saturday before power is restored to its Penn Township customers.
Reighard and his wife, Jean, spent Tuesday bagging up all the food in their refrigerator/freezer. Reighard figures he will place about $330 to $400 worth of food in the garbage can after the task.
He also lost two large trees, which he cut into logs on Monday and Tuesday. His wife busily cleaned up the small branches and leaves with the help of a pair of work gloves and a wheelbarrow.
The couple has eaten every meal at restaurants since the storm knocked out their power. They have bought bottled water for drinking and are using a spring on Renfrew Road for water to flush toilets and water for their two dogs.
Coleman lanterns and oil lamps light their ranch home in the evenings.
"You endure it," said Reighard. "We're just thankful nobody got hurt."
Reighard's neighbor used a bulldozer to remove the stump from a tree that fell over, and Reighard reciprocated by cutting up some of the neighbor's fallen tree.
"It brings neighbors together to help each other," said Reighard. "It's in our nature to help."
The retiree does not fault the power company for the extended inconvenience.
"I'm sure they're doing their best," said Reighard. "I feel sorry for those guys, climbing around among the wires."
Another retiree making the best of a bad situation is William Mathews, who on Tuesday afternoon warmed soup and cooked kielbasa and hot dogs on his grill as a generator ran in the background at his Middlesex Township home. Mathews' electricity went off as the storm howled on Sunday night, then returned from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday.
Because Mathews had to repair his generator, he could not hook it up to his refrigerator, freezer and one light until Tuesday morning. Once his water tank ran dry, he imposed upon a friend in Bakerstown, Allegheny County, for water.
He and his wife have been washing up as best they can with Handi Wipes, and using the propane grill for meals.
"I cooked eggs and coffee on it this morning," said Mathews with a grin.
He said he and his wife have been taking their Robinson Crusoe-esque existence one day at a time since the outage.
"The biggest thing was getting her hair washed this morning," Mathews said of his wife. "I got some water and heated it up on the grill and helped her wash her hair. You just make out the best you can."
People with children are having to find creative ways to keep their modern homes running without electricity or water.Marcia Goehring, whose home on Royal Oak Road in Penn Township has not had electricity since Sunday night, is sharing a generator with her nearby in-laws to protect the food in her refrigerator and deep freezer. They dip buckets of water from their backyard pool to flush their toilets.The Goehrings have been making the 17-minute trek to her mother's home in Meridian for showers."It's awful," said a laughing Goehring. "I'm embarrassed mooching off of people. I had to take my hot rollers to work and plug them in to do my hair."The only damage on her property is the loss of a half-dead ornamental tree in a flower bed, which the Goehrings have been meaning to get rid of."Nature took care of it for us," said Goehring.The evenings find Goehring reading by battery-powered lamplight, and her husband and 6-year-old son in bed early. She said the family is lucky compared to those along the Gulf Coast of Texas."My mom keeps saying 'At least you have a house to go home to,'" said Goehring. "You just have to hang in there."Chelsea Merriman of Middlesex Township also is thankful the storm did not exact a worse human toll in Butler County, but admits she is running out of patience. Merriman is the mother of three children, ages 10, 8 and 16 months, and puts four neighborhood kids on the bus each morning.The family has been washing up with baby wipes since their power went out Sunday night."I told my husband tonight is the night to split into groups and find the nearest relatives and take a shower," said a weary Merriman on Tuesday.She must manage to keep milk cold to feed her children, as well as her morning charges, who eat breakfast at her house before the bus arrives."It's tough because I am running out of clean dishes," said Merriman. "I told the neighbor kids' mothers to make sure they go to the bathroom before they get here," she said.Merriman got a generator on Tuesday morning, and lights her home with candles at night. She cringes when her toddler makes a mess because there is no water to wipe up yogurt or pudding spilled down the front of a tiny shirt."It's the cleaning up," said Merriman. "That's the hard part."She said homework must be completed immediately after the children arrive home from school while it is still daylight. Dinners are cooked on the grill.While Merriman was discouraged to hear it could be the weekend before the power is restored, she waxes philosophic regarding her family's situation."It's an inconvenience, but think about those poor people in Texas going for weeks and weeks like this," said Merriman. "We're just doing it for a couple days."
