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The Storm Dec 10, 2003 Last Friday the weather forecast was for “temperatures around zero with fresh to strong winds”. For once the forecasters got it right. Around ten o’clock that night the house was shuddering under the blasts of wind coming from the north west. Sometime later we awoke to find the house in total darkness – we were in the middle of a power blackout. The next morning we were still without power and a quick check on the news reports on our only battery radio revealed the full extent of the damage. Over 100,000 households without power across Värmland and probably a further 10,000 without telephones either. We were lucky in that our phone was still connected, so we checked with our electricity supply company. Just a recorded message, confirming the damage, and an estimate of around twelve hours before power was restored. We had thought that we were prepared for winter when we had bought in our forty cubic metres plus of firewood. We also had a plentiful supply of candles. However, we had overlooked a couple of small factors. Our water supply comes from our own well, which has a small pump to draw the water from underground and provide pressure to the taps. Of course this is an electrical pump, so – no water supply. Our central heating is based on a wood fired boiler located in the basement of one of our many sheds. This in turn supplies hot water to accumulator tanks in the basement of the house itself, from where the heat is transferred to the radiators around the house. So despite our forethought in storing ample firewood, we had not thought of the obvious – what to do in the case of no electricity. Without electricity, the pump to circulate hot water from the boiler to the accumulator tanks would not function. Without electricity, the pump to circulate the heated water through the radiators in the house would not function. So we sat warming ourselves by candlelight and watched the outside temperature dropping to below zero and the inside temperature rapidly following suit. Salvation was at hand in the shapes of our in- laws, who arrived bearing gifts of a flask of coffee and a small camping stove. On this small but adequate equipment we were able to cook dinner for ourselves and the dogs and boil our diminishing supply of bottled water to make fresh coffee during the day. It was just before ten o’clock on Saturday evening before the power was restored, by which time the indoor temperature had fallen to a chilly fifteen degrees. However, we could now light the boiler and within an hour we could see the indoor temperature climbing back towards the more usual twenty plus degrees. My favourite newspaper, Nya Wermlands Tidningen, reported the next day that it had been the worst storm in Värmland for at least fifteen years. Not only were households without power for long periods of time, but also many millions of kronor worth of damage was caused to the forests supplying the local paper industries. “It looked as if someone had emptied a full matchbox over the whole of Värmland” one helicopter pilot graphically reported. Also badly affected were the local dairy farmers, who rely on electricity to supply water to their animals and to provide power for the milking machines. Local road and train traffic was also disrupted, with reports of between twenty five to thirty fallen trees along one two hundred metre stretch of road. By midday Sunday most households had their power and telephones restored, but as I write on Wednesday, there are reports of a few hundred households still without electricity. And the winter has only just begun… Hälsningar till nästa gång, ------------ About the author: Robin Alan Bell is an Englishman by birth, but migrated to Australia back in '72. Married and divorced there. Spent the last 3 years living by myself on a remote farm in rural New South Wales with no mains electricity, water etc. All power, heating was from natural resources (solar, wind, wood). "Met" a Swedish girl on the internet, came to Sweden for a holiday, loved the place (and the girl), moved to Sweden permanently Christmas 2001 and married the girl in Easter 2002. Living happily ever after... Email Robin Alan Bell: sosoft@ozemail.com.au Comment on this column in the forum. Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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