So, I'm *working* away on my Mac, and I hear this distinctive dripping noise behind me. I instinctively examined the electrical panel which happens to be in my room. To my horror, this was the source of the dripping sound. Water was dripping from the bottom of the panel.
I run upstairs to my father, the electrician, and I say, "Dad, we have a big problem." He comes downstairs, and sees the problem. He seemed quite alarmed, no doubt. It turns out that the builders "inadvertenetly" tore the service cable off the side of the house and ripped it, so water from the storm was just streaming in.
My dad told us that he was cutting the power, and with a loud "chkk", the house went black. Pitch black, and I panicked for a moment because the flashlight my dad had quickly ran out of batteries, and he couldn't see what he was doing in the live panel. My mom got the candles and what not. My dad got a new flashlight and proceeded to dry all the circuit breakers, bus, and the two live phase cables. (They cannot be turned off.)
Then, me and him went outside and he used duct seal and duct tape to patch up the tear and reattach the live service cable to the siding.
He then proceeded to slice a slit in the very bottom of the cable to drain all the water out. (There was a lot.)
When he got back in the house he suited up for a huge explosion in case the phase cables arced and caused a huge explosion. He told everyone to get out of the room and close the door. This was pretty scary, and we were all prepared for the worst.
That's pretty much the end of it. He reinstalled all of the breakers, threw the main switch on, and the house clicked, hummed, and whirred back to life. Right now I'm on my iBook, waiting until the panel completely dries to plug my mini back in. It's a very happy ending to a potentially deadly story.
I run upstairs to my father, the electrician, and I say, "Dad, we have a big problem." He comes downstairs, and sees the problem. He seemed quite alarmed, no doubt. It turns out that the builders "inadvertenetly" tore the service cable off the side of the house and ripped it, so water from the storm was just streaming in.
My dad told us that he was cutting the power, and with a loud "chkk", the house went black. Pitch black, and I panicked for a moment because the flashlight my dad had quickly ran out of batteries, and he couldn't see what he was doing in the live panel. My mom got the candles and what not. My dad got a new flashlight and proceeded to dry all the circuit breakers, bus, and the two live phase cables. (They cannot be turned off.)
Then, me and him went outside and he used duct seal and duct tape to patch up the tear and reattach the live service cable to the siding.
He then proceeded to slice a slit in the very bottom of the cable to drain all the water out. (There was a lot.)
When he got back in the house he suited up for a huge explosion in case the phase cables arced and caused a huge explosion. He told everyone to get out of the room and close the door. This was pretty scary, and we were all prepared for the worst.
That's pretty much the end of it. He reinstalled all of the breakers, threw the main switch on, and the house clicked, hummed, and whirred back to life. Right now I'm on my iBook, waiting until the panel completely dries to plug my mini back in. It's a very happy ending to a potentially deadly story.
