Twister Visit

by Brother Stavros

On Friday evening into early Saturday morning, May 4 and 5, the outgoing warm front that brought temperatures into the 80s clashed against a storm front sweeping up from the southwest with a 40-degree temperature drop. The whole Northeast was under a tornado watch. Washington County, where we live, was a red zone on the weather maps. A small tornado did develop overnight, and the Cambridge firefighter I spoke to said it appeared over Hospital Hill, had the decency to avoid Main Street, and chose Spring Street to head east. At Route 313, which goes northeast into Vermont, it sent a tree sideways, puncturing the white colonial house on the corner where Ash Grove Road leads due east to both the nuns’ monastery, then the monks’ monastery. We lost power about when we finished the dishes at 7 p.m.

Our only ill effect was a downed pine tree, which blocked half the width of the road over New Skete’s land. The sisters made it up for Matins, and the planned “Monk’s Mile” pack walk went on before noon. Our generator compensated for the power outage until just before lunch, then it overheated.

I was designated courier to drive down to the nuns’ to see what we should do about vespers and supper that evening. About two thirds of the way up our road, with the wind behind me, I rounded a slight bend and plowed through thick white smoke.  I pulled over, got out, and immediately sized up the cause. Our main power line had been taken down by a tree. National Grid, after repairing the damaged lines in town, had restored electricity, which promptly ignited the leaves and brush in the woods along the east side of road, and a fire was slowly spreading up and down in the cleared route of the power poles.

The heavy rain overnight had left the under layers of leaves damp, so the blaze was crawling along rather than raging, as in a previous fire in April some ten years ago, which had been a more serious threat. These flames still warranted a 911 call. The phones at home were not working, so I headed back down the road to Emmaus House, our guest facility about half a mile away. I raced in and looked around and could not find a phone.

Plan B was to continue down to the Hetkos’ house. They are neighbors, and Robin works as our IT person. Bless the Lord, Robin at the same moment was driving up the road, and I alerted her to the need for action. Reaching the fire, she got out and tried calling, but there was no cell connection. At the top of the road near the puppy kennel she was able to report the emergency. The first two hose trucks appeared within ten minutes; another pulled up soon afterward. Their only drawback was the need to wait for the power to be shut off so they could completely and safely wet down the whole area. So, for the next forty-five minutes they continued to direct their hoses at the outer edges of the spreading flames. A few other brothers drove down to eyeball the commotion. I took some photos and returned to dog chores.

Power was not restored until Sunday morning, since the crew understandably did not want to work in the tricky terrain in the growing dark. Matins and Divine Liturgy were celebrated by natural light and candle light, and a large candle was placed next to the music director’s music stand.

We are very grateful to the volunteer firefighters of the Cambridge Fire House and the power crew. The widespread damage county-wide kept them hopping that weekend, and their professionalism and skill was much appreciated.