Six Days in the Dark

On Tuesday, April 29th, 2025, a major storm system rolled through the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania region and beyond, leaving widespread damage—and six powerless days for my family.

For nearly an entire week, our home was dependent on running on battery backups and generators. By Thursday night, I was already $1000+ in the hole (Final tally: roughly $2,600).

I feel like I’ve gone to great lengths to set my family up for the most possible success I can provide for them - for today and their future. We’ve done estate planning to set up a family trust and various directives - primarily to enforce our wishes in an untimely disaster where a trusted family must take over as guardians for our littles. Trusts aren’t just for rich people, folks. I save what little money I can into a UTMA/UGMA (Uniform Transfer to Minors/Uniform Gift to Minors) custodial account for each child through Acorns Early. We have passports for all. We aren’t rich, but we do get by.

I will say I did a lot to prepare for emergencies. I have Mountain House emergency food packs, a Jackery battery system and solar panels, go bags for the entire family, other emergency supplies, first aid kits, and more. I sized my backup power like one would size UPS solutions - providing enough power and then some for your needs.

Shortly after the 2024 presidential election - many people from all backgrounds were in a state of “what do we do when this all hits the fan?” And I surely was one of them. I am also one of those who have seen far too many movies not to think - this is fiction on my screen but could easily become reality. Just watch “Leave the World Behind.” I had been prepared when I had to leave my home for any reason or emergency with my family. As a black man in America fathering black children, you have to do everything within your power to be prepared for all possible scenarios.

But this week has shown me where I left a few holes.

Tuesday ( Day 0 )

Shortly after 5:00 PM - Severe thunderstorm watch, then warning, lots of warnings. Soon, I received an alert that a Tornado Warning occurred in Washington, PA, about an hour’s drive southwest, along I-376 and then I-79, of my home in Monroeville, PA - about 20 minutes east of Downtown Pittsburgh. My wife asked if we should go into the basement, but looking at the projected path, where it remained due south, it did not seem like anything would come our way. Then that shrill TORNADO WARNING came through my iPhone for Monroeville.

It’s not the first time we’ve had a tornado warning, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that between 2024 and now, in 2025, I’ve had more Tornado watches and warnings than I’ve ever experienced in all 32 years of life combined.

I herded the kids and my wife downstairs, grateful the basement was already half‑prepped for exactly this.

We immediately lost power, so I began to do everything I had prepped for: plug my garage-based freezers and refrigerator into my Jackery Battery Backup and run an extension cord into my basement so we could have some light. At the same time, we waited for everything to pass.

The violence outside lasted ten, maybe twenty minutes. When I finally returned from the basement, a tree in the backyard lay on the edge of my yard, saying, “Be happy I didn’t get you.” Out front, the utility pole had shattered and dropped—power lines draped across our Nissan Sentra and Chrysler Pacifica, both cars pinned, the street blocked going down our hill.

News trickled in from KDKA, WTAE, CBS, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette through a shaky LTE signal: at least two people were dead, 9-1-1 services were pushed beyond capacity, and more than 400,000 customers were without power across the region.

CBS News - Severe storms sweep through Pittsburgh area, bringing tornado warnings and winds up to 70 mph. Hindustan Times - Pittsburgh severe storms wreak havoc as 2 dead, 400,000 homes plunge into darkness.

While the house was dark, with the upstairs only lit by candles and flashlights, it sure was not quiet. My kids questioned when the power would be back on, whether there had been a tornado, where it was, and on.

I moved as much food as possible to my downstairs freezer and refrigerator, the only things in the house still on power—just as I had planned.

Wednesday ( Day 1 )

We stayed put. The Jackery battery stack kept the garage fridge and freezers at safe temperatures, but the kitchen fridge warmed beyond saving. I tried not to think about the bit of food that I could not fit in the garage appliances going bad. But that still didn’t stop the stress math from running numbers in my head. School cancelations and continued news, pictures, and videos of the widespread damage and destruction across the city.

I pulled out my solar panels to recharge my main Jackery battery and the smaller, more portable version. The sun did not last very long as clouds ultimately rolled back in.

Thursday ( Day 2 )

The reality of a long haul set in.

With no sun for the solar panels, the Jackery’s charge was barely hanging on, so I drove a rented pickup ($600 I hadn’t planned to spend) to Lowe’s after seeing a post online that they had received an emergency overnight drop shipment of generators. Another grand for 4.5‑kW of gasoline‑powered peace of mind. Extension cords, oil, extra cans, more dollars. I kept running mental audits of all the “prep” I’d done and the one blind spot I’d never considered: what if the cars themselves are trapped?

We escaped to my brother’s place for a few hours of warm air and coffee. This was after he had left work early to help unload and setup my gas generator. Then came back home to a house that is still whispering “how is my roof?”

I refilled the generator so that it would be good for the night, and even ran an extension cord to my neighbor’s since it was clear the generator, which I fed into the Jackery battery and then into the house, was pumping far more power than I was demanding.

Friday ( Day 3 )

The new routine: dawn gas station run, generator check, freezer temp check, reassure the kids, food, rinse, repeat.

No more delivery—too risky for drivers who have been heading up the road from the side with downed trees and the down power line - walking around the lines despite general advice from the power companies not to do so—but still plenty of take‑out so we didn’t have to fire up the stove.

Duquesne Light stopped giving street‑level ETAs; the only timeline left is their blanket promise that everyone will have power by Tuesday, May 6.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Charging phones in a Sheetz: How Western Pennsylvanians dealt with power outages Wednesday.

Social media became a hotbed of frustration, with many boroughs receiving staggered power restoration. There were countless posts on Facebook and NextDoor with families asking who does and does not have power within their neighborhoods.

Somewhere between trips, I realized the caffeine headache wasn’t going away. After spending $50 in Starbucks, I realized that if I were in “Leave the World Behind,” I wouldn’t make it. Starbucks is always expensive because I have spoiled children who demand $4 cake pops with every trip, and because my coffee machine was down, I purchased the traveler-sized coffee.

My wife’s substitute‑teaching days evaporated when her car became trapped, and the schools lost electricity; her next check will be thin. I am on PTO and paid, and the privilege weighs on me more than the fallen tree.

Saturday ( Day 4 )

Another dawn, another ten‑gallon fill. Denny’s pancakes for take-out tasted like normalcy at this point. Back home, I thawed meat for lunch, and my wife boiled noodles for dinner, still leaving the sealed emergency rations untouched.

Between refueling cycles, I found myself thinking about being younger and how I used to side-eye those who call themselves “preppers” on TikTok. Now, it was I who was calculating how much water we’d really need for two weeks if this ever happened again and debating whether canned peaches count as “fruit” in a crisis. I’ve underestimated what it means to be prepared and wrongly stereotyped those videos.

Insurance claims began—photos of wires curled over the yard, lists of what spoiled, receipts already at $2 600‑ish (truck rental $600, generator $1 000, cords and supplies $150, gasoline $100, food $430, hardware odds‑and‑ends $150, groceries lost ≈ $175). I kept repeating: We’re safe; it could have been worse. Another voice answered: Yes, which is exactly why you must plan for the worst version.

Night falls, and my Health App on my phone does a check-in:

I’ve been ignoring it for a few days, but now I begin to write this very blog post.

100+ neighbors were still dark this night on my block/area alone, and Duquesne Light’s map hasn’t budged.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - More storms possible Friday as recovery continues, Pittsburgh Marathon could see rain.

I’m truly grateful that the kids are okay, that the house is intact, and that Jackery’s 100% charge is a quiet promise of frozen food until morning if the gas generator runs out of fuel. I’m also exhausted, ashamed of the snap I hear in my own voice when a child asks for the hundredth time why the internet is gone and the tiredness that is becoming overly evident when I speak to my wife.

Sunday ( Day 5 )

I’ve planned ahead by keeping full gas cans ready the night before. There is no need to quickly run out for a refill before the generator gets down to fumes.

Giant Eagle (a regional grocery chain—not to be confused with Giant) offers customers a 15% store-wide discount to restock their fridges. My wife and I also meal plan and prep for the week on Sunday. The kids wish to leave the house, as evidenced by their restlessness. So, the family ventures out to the store, knowing we are in for a hectic time.

WTAE - Long lines form as shoppers take advantage of 15% discount at Pittsburgh-area Giant Eagles after severe storms

Lines for every single cashier lane stretched to the back of the store. If you’re from the Pittsburgh region, it felt like sitting on the Parkway West (I-376) Inbound at 6:30 AM during rush hour in the middle of a major highway construction project and no detours… it took about 30 minutes to go from the back of the store to the front to be able to check out.

The kids got a kick out of it all, which made it much easier for me to deal with my own impatience.

$350 later, we are finished checking out. Groceries for the new week and to replace what we had to toss.

Back home we continue to return to our normal routines; getting laundry done, cleaning, dealing with the littles, watching cars continue to drive down our road only to have to perform a u-turn when they see the downed pole.

We begin planning for “if it were worse” or even if we have to be without power beyond the Tuesday ETA by having a fresh stock of canned food and frozen meals that can be easily made on our gas stove top.

The hecticness of the grocery store was enough to make the rest of the day feel… easier.

As the end of the day rolls around, I receive notifications from our school district: the entire district will operate on a normal schedule come Monday. Students can return to in-person learning. I breathe a sigh of relief that I can drop them off in the morning and maybe try to clean up the house a lot more or rest.

For the first time in a very long time, my youngest child tells me they are ready for bed before official bedtime. I happily oblige and take her to bed - the sun still up at 7 PM. The tiredness and exhaustion are hitting us all as more thunderstorms approach for the night.

Monday ( Day 6 )

Thirty-six minutes past midnight, Duquesne Light arrives on the scene.

As fog covers my street at 4:40 in the morning, we have full power once again.

After the sun comes up, I am finally able to turn off the generator.

Now, I could focus on recovery. I connected my Eero router to my phone’s hotspot, and the rest of my home came back online. Notifications from all of my smart home accessories began to flow in immediately - with my Airthings home monitor alerting me on high everything: humidity, CO2, and Radon. I had actually planned on writing about my use of Airthings accessories.

The radon mitigation system hardwired to the breaker box is running, which should help bring radon levels back down. It spun up only when the grid resumed after being down for nearly seven straight days, and our family was breathing in the radiation. The HVAC is running to circulate air, and the humidity eventually will clear with the fog.

Today, I rest. Then, I can turn my focus on cleaning the debris around the house. We are preparing for a “First Alert Weather Day” as more storms roll through the area Monday afternoon and into the evening, with thunderstorms, hail, and a risk of tornadoes.

CBS News - Gusty winds possible again and large hail as another round of storms moves through, First Alert Weather Day issued.

Tuesday ( Day 1 Post Restoration )

Our power remained stable through the night despite my fears that the freshly installed pole would be brought back down due to low-hanging wires.

My wife and kids have already been back to work and school for a day, and now today I return to work as if nothing had happened. Beyond work, my focus still remains on cleanup. I still have a fallen tree in my backyard and a house that has things thrown to and fro. Verizon had dispatched a technician to restore the disconnected internet lines from the telephone pole to my house.

We inch ever closer back to our every day lives.

What I’ve learned from all of this.

Resilience isn’t grit alone. It’s liquidity, community, patience, and grace. I am lucky and blessed to have done as much preparation as I’ve done to this point. Far more blessed to have a job in which I’ve been able to put some money away although it never feels like it’s enough.

Staying strong when you’re anything but came in the form of mini breaks. I found myself trying to do everything I could to make this experience the least painful for my family. I did “all the things,” from constant runs to the gas station, running extension cords, takeout, answering all of the questions, and more. Provider, Dad-mode, Protector - all of those things kicked into high gear so my wife would not bear any of the stress. Taking mini breaks, even if that break was simply to go to my garage and check on the Jackery batteries, helped to keep any fatigue at bay.

Choosing optimism is vital, and progress beats perfection. We tracked the small wins - such as the city coming out to clear a downed tree in the road even though they were unable to do anything about the downed power lines.

Planning worked. While I thought I did well with a battery backup and solar panels, Mother Nature threw a curve ball by keeping it cloudy all week. Thankfully, the generator as a fallback filled this gap, and I’ll have the generator for future power outages. We did not need to tap into any go-bags or emergency rations, but they helped to keep peace of mind if it ever came to it.

Whatever you think you need to have saved, know you probably need more. I quickly blew through my rainy-day funds.

Community is important. I’ve talked to my neighbors more this week than in the 4+ years I’ve lived in my current home. My neighbors are relatively older than I am, so typically, conversations are kept to a “Hi, how are you?”. But this week, everything from groceries to frustration with the power company and plans for if we had to leave were all talked about in the streets. I had run one cord to a neighbor with an extension cord from my generator so they wouldn’t be stuck in the dark. While I don’t often go on Nextdoor (the app), as I too often see far too much negativity, likewise with Facebook - I found myself posting and checking for updates over this past week.

If you’re reading because you’re living through the same outage, I hope your family is warm and the questions you’re asking yourself lead somewhere helpful. Mine are piling up:

What if the storm had lingered an hour?

What if the generator hadn’t been in stock?

What else do I think I’m prepared for but haven’t tested?

Now that the lights finally blink back on, will I remember these questions or push them aside because the crisis is over? I hope I don’t. The storm was just one kind of test; now, the bigger job is deciding which answers become action before complacency settles in again.

If this storm found the weak seams in your plans, tell me what held and what didn’t in your own plan. Please drop a note below, and let’s share our collective experiences.

Stay safe, stay human, and remain ever hopeful that any storm that comes will always pass.

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Hardware List

Equipment used:

• Jackery Solar Generator 2000 Plus Kit (4kWh) + SolarSaga 200W x2
  • Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus
  • Battery Pack 2000 Plus
  • SolarSaga 200W panel (x2)
  • Link to Buy on Jackery.com
  • You can use this Referral Link to save an extra 3%
• Firman H07553 Electric Start 120/24OV with Power Cord 9400 / 7500-Watt Dual-fuel (gasoline/propane) Portable Generator
  • Link to Buy on Lowes.com