Monday, July 2, 2012

Thunderstorm Update

Seems last night's thunderstorm was part of a pack that hit the rest of southwestern Virginia before Gate City saw a cloud, according to Saturday's e-mail from Congressman Morgan Griffith. (The press release arrived looking like a real letterhead; unfortunately the formatting seemed incompatible with Blogspot's.)

"Griffith Statement on Storm Damage and Cooling Centers:



Saturday, June 30, 2012 - Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) released the following statement today after a violent storm passed through the Ninth District last night:

“Last night, parts of the Ninth District experienced significant damage due to a violent storm. My thoughts and prayers are with those affected. Fortunately, at this time, there have been no reports of fatalities or serious injuries in our region. I pray that this news does not change.

“As emergency crews and power companies work to assess the damage and restore services, I remain ready to assist in whatever way possible. I’ve received reports that tens of thousands across Southwest Virginia remain without power today amid nearly 100-degree heat. I would like to caution everyone in today's high temperatures. Please be mindful of the effects of the heat, especially on children, the elderly, and pets. Several localities have opened cooling shelters for those without power. Below you will find contact information for emergency managers.”

Emergency Management Information:
• Alleghany County 540-863-6600
• Bland County 276-688-3953
• Bristol 276-645-7400
• Buchanan County 276-935-6511
• Carroll County 276-730-3012
• Christiansburg 540-382-6128
• Covington 540-965-6336
• Craig County 540-864-5010
• Dickenson County 276-926-1676
• Floyd County 540-745-9313
• Galax 276-236-8101
• Giles County 540-921-2525
• Grayson County 276-773-2322
• Henry County 276-634-4660
• Lee County 276-346-7791
• Martinsville 276-403-5283
• Montgomery County 540-394-2146
• Norton 276-679-1160
• Patrick County 276-694-4940 276-694-6094
• Pulaski County 540-980-7716
• Radford 540-731-3617
• Roanoke County 540-777-8701
• Russell County 276-889-8247
• Salem 540-375-3080
• Scott County 276-386-6521
• Smyth County 276-783-3381
• Tazewell County 276-988-0491
• Washington County 276-525-1330
• Wise County 276-328-7110
• Wythe County 276-223-6033
"

There's the official word. If you're reading this, your computer must be working, so part of your house is probably livable. So check on your elders already.

At the Cat Sanctuary, the temperature in my home office, which doesn't have air conditioning, reached 98 degrees on Sunday afternoon. I had to shut down the computer and go outside, where it was a relatively bearable 93 degrees in the shade. And I remembered Tom Sawyer. How did people survive heat waves before air conditioning was invented? They soaked their heads in cold water--a stream, a pump, a bucket--and repeated as necessary. This will prevent heat-related symptoms for an hour or more indoors, half an hour or more outdoors.

Long ago, my wonderful once-in-a-lifetime cat Magic, the real founder of the Cat Sanctuary, discovered that this also works for cats. I'd been squirting water at cats to discourage them from going where I didn't want them to go. During one heat wave Magic decided she liked the cooling effect, and after that, whenever the weather was warm, she and her foster kittens would hang around the garden hose and solicit more cool showers.

The current residents of the Cat Sanctuary have not discovered cool showers yet, but they have access to that deep, earth-temperature part of the cellar, and to a stream of cold water. If your pets don't have comparable assets, you may need to teach them about cool showers. Retrievers are born with a taste for cold water. Most of our furry friends aren't, and will hate being wet at first, but if they were uncomfortably warm in their fur coats they'll appreciate cooling down.

1 comment:

  1. Aaack. "Cleaning" the formatting in Word didn't fix it either...now it looks as if the Congressman released the storm! Apologies.

    Pasting the document into Word will display the full text of the press release. I'm not sure yet what pasting it into WordPad, or printing it, will do. Or how to fix it.

    ReplyDelete