The Great Storm

Where were you when the Great Storm of 2006 hit?
I for one, was tucked in my apartment wondering curiously how the rest of the world happened to be fairing.
Thankfully, at the time I was not caught out shopping. I had just returned home from work with the crazy artist lady (that being another story in and of itself.) I had been checking email and surfing the web in my bunker-like apartment knowing rain was on its way. I just didn't know how much rain.
I really hadn't seen it coming; but the deep, burnt orange sky leant two thoughts to my head: "ooh, pretty," and "uh-oh, this'll be interesting..." Between time spent in Minnesota, Kansas, Wisconsin and St Louis I have a pretty good understanding as to what might classify as a "Wrath of God" type storm, and this one certainly had potential that afternoon.
At some point during the storm I got a call from my roommate who happened to be at the Card's game that night. He explained that they were doing their best under a part of the stands at the new stadium downtown. Of course, being a meteorologist at the airport, he was calling the weather as he saw it, and I tried filling him in as best I could from the net. This all thanks to Big Bend losing power in a similar storm a few years back, and the resulting strengthening of the powergrid in the area.
So I hunkered down and decided it was time to sit this one out. The intesity was truly something else. But it didn't truly become clear until the days to follow.
The next morning it became abundantly clear just how much damage had been done. I snuck out for a bit of a drive around the city while hearing reports on KSHE of power outages and downed trees.
It was truly amazing the level of destruction that had happened in that one night. And to think people would be without power for the next four days.
The following day I was headed to Nashville helping a friend move home from school. On our drive out we noticed something certianly odd about the whole situation. Amidst all the destruction, it was nigh impossible to get a drop of gas within fifty miles of the city. My friend's car finally came to rest in a Home Depot parking lot about thrity five miles out. With luck, it happened to be that exit where a gas station was opened. So with a brand new gas can from home depot we put five gallons in her car and headed on in hopes of finding another station along the road.
What seemed terribly odd about the whole experience was while most every house, business and gas station was sans electricity, at every exit along the interstate and in the city, without a doubt, every McDonalds, Burger King, and Dairy Queen was opened for business as usual. Something to be said about this "fast food nation" we live in. Now if only I could get a couple gallons of gas with that Big Mac. Of course that would be the greatest fear of any liberal in this country: McDonalds in the [non-frying type] oil industry.
An amazing storm to experience. It was truly something else.