The Cleanup

What is it like to live in a city without power?

On the first day or two, the most unnerving thing is the darkness. We're so used to the ever present street lights, the low level illumination of businesses closed for the night and the warm glow from restaurants and bars, that it comes as quite a shock to drive the streets in complete darkness. Objects (often misplaced hurricane debris) loom up out of the gloom as you approach, flood waters reflect your car headlights back at you, and intersections become hazards as people negotiate through them without the guidance of the usual lights.

After this initial period, as we become accustomed to the darkness and no longer reach out for the light switch as we enter the room, as the headlamp or flashlight becomes a familiar companion by the bedside, other senses start to take over. Perhaps the most surprising (and yet predictable) is the smell...

With no airconditioning, waste disposal systems or hot water, families quickly remove household waste from their homes and start to pile it on the curb alongside the tree debris. Additonal waste lies scattered along the streets where it was deposited by the hurricane winds. With temperatures initially in the 90s, the city starts to smell 'ripe' and people wrinkle their noses as they step outside.

Thankfully by Monday the city services have moved into action - garbage collection and tree debris collection are slowly moving through the streets but it will clearly be another week or so before they cover every neighborhood. Local day laborers, normally found waiting for construction work have now found new employment as tree fellers and repairmen. The few houses with serious damage remain abandoned though as workers tackle the more manageable problems first. Locals continue to wander the streets pausing outside these houses to take photos to share with their friends. One yard bears the sign "free firewood, must collect" - ironic in a city now awash with chopped trees.

On Tuesday, as the awaited cool front comes through and temperatures drop, more people are spending time outside. Houston starts to feel like an altogether different and friendlier city, with neighbors chatting in the street and helping each other clear the yards. It makes you wonder what it could be like if air conditioning and TV didn't keep us enclosed in our homes most of the year.

Long lines form at the few gas stations and grocery stores with power, evoking a sense of wartime rationing. Ice and refrigerated goods are still hard to come by, though as the week wears on more and more stores are getting back to business. With many accepting only cash payment though, lines begin to form at the few available ATMs also.

As power now starts to return to parts of the city while others wait anxiously, rumors spread that some areas may have to wait up to a month for reconnection. While initially everyone was muddling through together, the city now seems divided into the 'haves' and 'havenots' - those that can return to normality and observe the cleanup from afar, and those who are still managing day to day on the genorosity of friends and relatives.

With offices now reopening, the prospect looms for many of returning to work without power - and managing the demands of daily life without the home comforts we are all accustomed to.