Lucky Thai Joint/Hurricane in Ohio

Elena Stevenson on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 3:47PM

Did you miss me? I haven’t been online the last couple of days, thanks to an Ohio hurricane. My whole life, Gulf of Mexico hurricanes have snaked up to the Ohio Valley, but left only torrential rains. This time, Hurricane Ike brought little rain, but wind gusts up to 77 miles per hour. Our power went out, and were it not for the lucky Thai joint, we’d have had no hot food.

The blackout started on Sunday afternoon, in the middle of my Facebook session. We kept thinking it would come back on. It didn’t. I left for work at my weekend waitressing job, and heard the radio announcer say, “Don’t go out unless you have to.” My restaurant’s shopping center was a ghost town. My manager met me at the door and told me to go home. The wind was whipping up something awful by then.

I called my husband. He wanted me to bring home some Wendy’s. I passed two—the power was out at both. The power was on at Burger King, but it would be “an hour for food…we’re waiting for the fryers to warm up.” I was on my way home when I saw it—neon lights at the Thai joint. Miracle of miracles, I had gift certificates to this place (earned by writing advertising for them a couple months ago).

The place was packed. I placed a to-go order for two pad thai, chicken satay, and spring rolls. The yoga studio next door had power, so I chatted with a sweaty yogi while I waited. “I just had to go to class tonight, despite the weather—it’s my first time since having a baby.” I love Thai food any time of the day or night, so I couldn’t help but laugh when some guy came in, took one look at the carryout menu, and left. It was the only restaurant open for miles! Come on. I know it’s the Midwest, but branch out a little.

I took my food home; we ate by the dim daylight. The yard was covered in debris. My husband, who’s a complete Flickr addict, kept stopping at the computer, forgetting that he couldn’t get online. I read The Week, my favorite news magazine, cover to cover. Meanwhile, we listened to the radio. Almost everyone in the Cincinnati area was without power, and the estimates for getting back on were up to a week.

The next morning, it took me hours to wake up without coffee. Almost all the traffic lights were out, and most every business was closed. At Starbucks, people were waiting to charge laptops, but all I wanted was my joe. I passed a second closed grocery store before finding a Meijer (similar to Wal-Mart). I dove into a pile of people to get one measly bag of ice, then rushed home to fill the cooler with a few dairy items. Later that day, Jeremy and I agreed we should go to his parents’ house. We were just packing up when the power came back on.

Hallelujah! We lost a lot of perishable food, but sustained no property damage. Compared to many other natural disasters this year, we’re very blessed. And thanks to the lucky Thai joint, we didn’t miss a single hot dinner. Hurricane in Ohio—it could have been worse.

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