Mother finds it hard to change diapers in the dark

By Ryan Ross

The Martin family’s power went out on the afternoon of Jan. 28 when a branch snapped off the maple tree in their yard in Kensington and knocked the power line down.
One end of the line sat next to the house while the other was wrapped around the broken branch in the middle of the yard about five metres away.
Thick ice coated every branch of the trees surrounding the house and the yard was loud from the constant crack of shifting ice.
That night Brandi changed her baby’s diapers with a wind-up flashlight in her mouth so she could see.
“It sucks.”
A wood stove kept the house warm and Martin used it to heat water for Madison’s bottles.
Since the power went out, the baby got more bottles than she usually does, she said.
“You can’t heat up her baby food.”
A few days later their grandparents, who live a few minutes away, got their power back and the Martins took their frozen food up to them and put it in their deep freeze.
“The refrigerator stuff is sitting in the car.”
As the family waited for the electricity to come back on, they sat next to the picture window to get as much daylight as possible, chunks of ice beat against the glass.
The ice started to melt as temperatures rose and large chunks fell from overhanging branches.
Martin’s sister Heidi sat on the couch, bored as they tried to find ways to pass the time.
“I think the computer is the thing most missed.”
And her brother Jonah, a Holland College student in Summerside who had classes cancelled because of the storm, agreed.
“It’s been getting more difficult as the days go by.”
But Heidi said when they called Maritime Electric they weren’t given a timeframe for when to expect the power to come back on.
“Now that the big problems have happened, our house has probably been bumped to the last of the list.”