Anchorage, Alaska had a huge windstorm on Tuesday, September 4th. Bobcat and I live on the east side of Anchorage and were without power until Friday night. We made it just fine -- though it was in the 40's at night. Thankfully, we have 2 fireplaces/woodstoves. We stayed warm and enjoyed cooking out on the grill until the power came back on.
Alaskans don't call 911 unless it is a "real" emergency. Power outages aren't an emergency. Earthquakes are not an emergency. They are just part of life.
Our local newspaper is publishing thank yous from locals to their neighbors for helping out and I thought I'd share them with you.
Windstorm Samaritans earn kudos
Readers say thanks to those who helped.
Anchorage Daily News / adn.com
Published: September 9th, 2012 06:25 AM
We asked readers to tell us about friends, neighbors or strangers who went out of their way to help during or after the big windstorm that hit Anchorage and the Mat-Su on Tuesday.
Here are some of their thank-you notes:
Thank you to Bob, an employee at a local gym, for the free shower!
-- Deb Prince
***
I woke up on the second day with no power, craving coffee. My neighbor, Jerry Linkovich, across the street had power with Chugach Electric but I was on (ML&P). I knew he wasn't awake yet so I carried my coffee pot across the street in my pajamas and robe. I set it on his driveway and plugged it into his outside outlet. In a few minutes I had a fresh pot of coffee to put in my thermos. Thanks, Jerry!
-- Jeri Beall
***
When I came home after working a 12-hour night shift, I found one of my large trees in front of my house had been uprooted and had fallen partially onto the street.
My neighbor Kathy was already out with her chain saw and had the part on the street cut back and was removing branches. When asked what she was doing her response was "just being neighborly"!
She went way above being "neighborly." She finished cutting up the tree that day and pulled the brush to the side of my house so wind wouldn't blow it all over. Kathy, you'll never know how much I appreciate you for doing that as I was scheduled to work that night and needed to sleep. Thanks again for "just being neighborly"!
-- Willie J. Johnson
***
I live in East Anchorage, one of the hardest-hit areas. The morning after the storm, I could see my backyard filled with tree limbs. I went out the front door to check my house and car. Both were fine, but there were huge tree limbs, mostly cottonwood, just piled up in my driveway, blocking my car. Some of the severed limbs were themselves as big as small trees. I realized I would probably have to hire someone to clear the debris, because I was just out of the hospital and recuperating from 2 major surgeries. I deided that I could at least pick up some of the smaller branches.
As I was starting about this task, a blue pickup truck with the license plate "AKGURL" pulled up. Out came a middle-aged man, and a young lady and young gentleman. "We'll get it; we'll get it" they said, and in a little more than 5 minutes they had cleared the limbs away so I would be able to drive out. I thanked them profusely, but didn't even get their names. They piled back into their truck after saying they were glad to help me out. So, I would publicly thank the crew of the AKGURL truck. I truly felt they were heaven-sent.
-- Marie Ward
***
My fiancé is with the Chugiak Fire Department. Him and his crew were out all night till after 5 a.m. clearing downed trees in the Chugiak Birchwood area, and marking off ones that were tied up with electrical cables. Ian Murphy -- you rock!
-- Misty Wright
***
We have been without power since Tuesday night. I posted sort of joking about it on Facebook. An ex-colleague, Marty Lemon, sent me a message saying he would be happy to loan me a generator. He and his wife came over late Friday night with the generator, fuel and extension cords and helped us set it up. I am very grateful to know such kind and generous people!
-- Diane Blakey
***
We live near the airport on Connors Trail Circle. We want to give a big thanks to our longtime neighbors and friends, Butch and Kay Hautanen, for storing our frozen fish in their generator-fired freezer. Our power was out for about 72 hours and if it were not for their willingness to help, our fish would have spoiled.
-- Steve and Weslei Horn
***
We have been without power since Tuesday at 10 p.m. It is now Saturday, 1:30 p.m. Our home is on the lower Hillside a block north of the zoo. Thank God for our incredible neighbor, Steve Flowers. He is truly a good Samaritan.
Knowing our power was off, he came driving up our driveway with a small trailer housing a 3,000-watt generator that he had rebuilt, a 5-gallon can of gasoline and a quart of oil to get us started.
He hooked it up for us and we have been able to have heat from the furnace and water pumped from the well, critical as we have a 29-year-old horse and a 22-year-old pony stabled here at our home. Not only did he provide help for us, but two other neighbors as well, providing them with generators.
He is one of the kindest, most generous men I have ever known.
-- Jane and Greg Tibbetts
***
Thanks to Flossie Davenport for bringing her chain saw to town all the way from Palmer to save us some time with our downed red willow tree in the backyard. Couldn't have asked for a better friend! Love you, Floss.
-- Beverly
***
During our 60 hours of the power outage, my neighbors went above and beyond to help me out while my husband was at training out of state.
The first morning, I went over to their house to see how things went for them and they offered me coffee made with their percolator. The second morning without power my neighbors brought me coffee at 6 a.m.
That day other neighbors were offering a generator for my freezer. I was so grateful to have thoughtful neighbors. It was clear that I needed to buy my own generator. While at Sportsman's Warehouse, they helped me choose which one to get, also taught me how to use it. My sincere appreciation to my neighbors, shout out to Ruthann, Dicky and Terry.
-- Roxana Kashatok
***
I want to thank my neighbor Denver Patterson and all his friends for clearing the street of the tree that had blocked it. They braved the storm to get the road cleared; they were out there until 3 a.m. getting it done. We are talking a young man in his early 20s and his buddies who are all between the ages of 16 and 18.
The next day be was out helping several other neighbors clearing trees off their trailers too. Once he went around to help them all out, he worked on the damage done to his trailer. So my husband and I went out and helped him for another four hours cleaning up. He is a true sweetheart!
-- <3 Sharae
***
I had just gone to Costco and I had three bags full of meats, cheeses and perishables. My friend from work took everything home to her freezer so it wouldn't be wasted. Another friend let me charge my phone, offered hot water. Lots of generous people around here!
-- Nena Robb
***
I'm not sure who it was but someone cut up the two trees that fell in our yard from the empty lot next door. They were careful to not make the broken fence worse. They also stacked all of the wood. It might have been Enstar or another group but it was a great surprise to come home to.
-- Sus Wilson Nesbitt
***
My wonderful neighbors Richard and Gayle Cederburg, and their son. Their son borrowed a generator and brought it over to the Cederburgs' home, and knocked on my door saying I was welcome to connect my freezer to it too. There is nothing like good neighbors!
-- Roberta Sanders
***
My cousins Daniel and Rodney who live in my neighborhood went out of their way to help me (I had no heat) even when they were stuck without electric and heat. I wish I could have thrown them an extension cord.
-- Carol Hull
***
Our neighbor loaned us a spare generator so that we could keep our freezer running!
-- Marcy Fandrich Adkins
***
I wanted to thank former Assembly member Mike Gutierrez. He came over to my house and cut up four big cottonwoods (50-plus feet) that had gone through my backyard as well as two of my neighbors' yards. Then he went so far as to stack all the wood neatly up for us so the pieces weren't all laying all over the yard so my dogs could use the yard. It was a very kind gesture, and to see that done for me after a long day at work, I was ecstatic. From now on Mike G will be known to me as Magic Mike!
-- Jacob Polzin
***
I was loading up the car ready to drive up to Chugiak to save the fish in my freezer. My neighbor who just picked up a generator gave me almost his entire deep freezer to store the fish. Then his wife and kids gave me tons of candles. Sadly I'm still using the candles and the generator is still running (Friday).
--Kristin Spack
***
I had my hands full of two kids freaking out about the exploding transformers. But all of us neighbors watched out for each other.
-- Susan Ellinger Clark
***
My coworker said her daughter's neighbor ran an extension cord across the street for her so she could plug in her freezer! One side of the street had power and the other didn't.
-- Jessica Borenin
***
Group of three or four walk back and forth on the street with flashlights checking on neighbors.
-- Hânh Liên
***
My friends Marty Lemon and Debra Perala came to my assistance Wednesday afternoon to help me remove a tree from my roof. It was not an easy task, especially halfway into the effort that we spent working in the pouring rain and wind.
They are also storing frozen food for a friend. Last night they took a generator and set it up for some other friends of ours with two little kids that have been without power for over three days now.
-- Pamela Pope
***
Thank you to the board and neighbors in the Kempton Hills Homeowners Association for donating your time, skills and heavy equipment towards collecting all the fallen trees from the neighborhood. It's great to know that we can come together as a community and help take care of each other!
-- Joel Swanson
***
As always, neighbors united here to make sure all were well! Very fortunate to have the BEST of friends, and neighbors. To me that's what makes Anchorage unique.
-- Tom Bargelski
Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2012/09/08/261703...n-without.html
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at my feet
Wowie!! The second one was jaw-dropping! 
Originally Posted by sana
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