TOD:
In September 1999, I was staying at the Omega Institute when, towards the end of the week, the remains of Hurricane Floyd came through. On Wednesday night, the storm was just approaching but there was a heavy rain. The workshop I was attending, a theatre/dance/poetry hybrid, held an open-to-all night time session that culminated in a clothing-optional outdoors dance in the rain. A good time was had by all.
But the weather got progressively worse the following day. The camp lost electricity and the dining hall was shut down. There was an impromptu gathering at the cafe, where we were treated to free pizza and melting ice cream and a sing-a-long concert by that week's visiting songstress (whose name escapes me.) A good time was being had by all until they announced that, because of safety regulations, we needed to leave the cafe and return to our cabins.
I have no idea what they were thinking as far as "safety" was concerned--the wind and rain were so bad that I was lucky I found my cabin. And once inside, I didn't feel much safer--the walls and roof creeked with every blast of wind. I seriously considered sleeping in the bathtub in the bathroom, but I was also afraid of lightning hitting the plumbing (there was lots of lightning and thunder, too!) somehow, I eventually fell asleep.
The following morning, there was still no electricity and no running water in my cabin. The dining hall had only cold cereal and fruit salad (but they somehow had hot coffee). Trees and limbs were down all over the campus. The final workshop session was cut short. A few of us found a place to take an ice cold shower at the spa. When we got to the Rhinecliff train station, we found that there was no Amtrak service. But at the Greyhound bus terminal in Kingston, I got to meet Ralph Waite ( from THE WALTONS).
The end.
