Hurricane Irene's clouds over Downtown Raleigh

While it was a very frightening experience huddling in the closet with my family, all of us were all safe and we didn’t personally suffer property damage. However, all of our neighbors in Downtown Raleigh were not as fortunate, as Downtown suffered a lot of destruction.

When we opened our door after the storm and smelled freshly-cut wood, we knew things could not be good around us.  Everything—houses, cars, signs—was plastered with tattered bits of leaves. (The last time I remember seeing this was when Hurricane Fran roared through Raleigh in 1996.)

Bit of leaves were stuck to everything in Downtown Raleigh near where the tornado hit.

There were trees on top of houses, power poles laying across roads, crumbled chimneys, the tops of trees sheared off, asphalt and sidewalks raised up where trees were uprooted.  Main arteries in and out of Downtown were completely blocked by trees and downed power lines.  The damage to Shaw University’s campus in Downtown Raleigh was so extensive that the rest of the spring semester had to be cancelled.

New Bern Avenue in Downtown Raleigh after the tornado.

Tornado damage in Raleigh City Cemetery.

After the storm ended, Downtown Raleigh residents left the safety of closets, bathtubs, and hallways and ventured outside. Neighbors were checking on neighbors and lending a hand before the rain even stopped coming down. Those who regained power quickly offered hot showers, cell phone charging, and freezer space to those who had to wait longer for power to be restored.  Community cleanup efforts have been ongoing.  Progress Energy seemed to put forth huge efforts to restore the power as quickly as possible. And the City of Raleigh has been doing a fantastic job of management in the wake of this emergency, from organizing volunteer efforts to planning for debris removal.

The route of this race was through the heart of my neighborhood, Historic Oakwood.  The amazing sound of 2,000 runners running by my house is a hard one to describe.  My shoes, however, did not join in that pounding noise on the street.  I admit to sitting in a chair on my front porch watching the runners go by and providing encouragement from my couch potato position. Of course I was cheering on the St. Patty’s runners.  My name is Callahan, after all.

That’s Life in Raleigh.

The view from my porch

Pot of gold at the end of the rainbow

]]> http://www.lifeinraleigh.com/2011/03/st-pattys-run-green-8k/feed/ 0 http://www.lifeinraleigh.com/2011/03/searching-for-signs-of-spring-in-downtown-raleigh/ http://www.lifeinraleigh.com/2011/03/searching-for-signs-of-spring-in-downtown-raleigh/#comments Thu, 03 Mar 2011 23:23:48 +0000 Richard http://www.lifeinraleigh.com/?p=689 Today seemed like a beautiful early spring day, so we decided to walk around Downtown Raleigh and look for signs that spring is headed our way. I’m really hoping warmer weather is right around the corner, and from the sights we saw I think we’re closing the book on another record-breaking winter here in N.C.

Signs of spring spotted during my stroll included blooming bulbs everywhere, flowering trees that seemed to be outdoing themselves, and even some over-achieving bushes and trees already sporting that fresh green sheen of new growth.  Plus there were people in flip-flops and so many of the restaurants had their outdoor tables and chairs at the ready.  And the surest sign of spring in Downtown Raleigh?  School field trips!!!

I think we’ve almost made it.

That’s Life in Raleigh.

Field trips are the surest sign of spring in Downtown Raleigh.

While I’m planning to spend as much time as possible outdoors enjoying this much-deserved break from winter, I’m not putting away my electric blanket yet.

There is hope ahead, though!!  By the weekend, our temperatures are forecast to be in the 60s again.  It would be really nice to be already done with winter around the first of January.  To be fair, I think we’ve done our time.

In the meantime, we’ll enjoy another day at home with the family. Movies, music, games, and a warm kitchen with heavenly smells. We need to finish our snowman, too, and take our sleds out on the hills of the cemetery.  There’s a lot to do before our normal temperatures arrive!

That’s Life in Raleigh.

My sign decorated for the holidays and topped with snow.

Never heard of a two-loafer storm??  Well, here in the South, when any amount of snowflakes are predicted, we stampede the grocery stores to buy loaves of bread and milk.  Why?  We just do.  Well, I actually didn’t mean “we;” I meant people around here do.  (We in the Callahan household are more likely to make a run for beer, chips, and movies.)  Now, you can’t actually blame us Southerners for trying to prepare by stocking our pantries, because when it does snow we’re pretty much trapped at home.  Our community doesn’t need to invest in lots of snow-removal equipment that would just become rusty from disuse year after year–normally.  Our citizens don’t need to invest in snow tires or chains that would rarely be used.  So we rush to the store, stock up on bread and milk, and stay home in wet, wintry weather.  We enjoy the slower pace, family time, and have all the makings for French toast.

The way this winter is going, I may soon be saying “Life just like in Canada,” or something along those lines.  Hope not.

That’s Life in Raleigh.(I think)

We just had another round of wintry precipitation yesterday.  Even though it didn’t stick this time, we still have traces of our previous rounds!  My neighbor’s snowman is still hanging around, even though he’s now just a lump.  I hope he’s gone soon.  Enough is enough.

That’s Life in Raleigh.

Remains of the Historic Oakwood snowman

Looks like we’re off to a good start if the goal is breaking last year’s coldest-winter-on-record mark.

That’s Life in brrr-Raleigh.

Historic Oakwood snowman

That’s Life in Raleigh.