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OT: ice storm

Well, it's been an interesting week here. We had freezing rain start on Monday. Lasted till Tuesday evening. Then changed to sleet and finally to snow overnight Tuesday. We wound up with 1 1/2" of ice, and about 1" of sleet/snow on top of it. Lost power 9:30 Tuesday morning. Didn't get that back till Friday night around 6.

The good news is I could light my gas cooktop with a match. My DFIL loaned us one of his two generators (he normally uses them to charge the batteries on his 5th wheel camper.) DH hooked that into the blower on the gas furnace Wed. So we had heat, and I could cook. We also have a gas hot water heater. So we could also bathe. ;)

Since my kitchen is the only one with a gas cooktop, I cooked for my neighbors and in-laws. We had very simple meals. Just soup made from whatever we all had to toss in the pot. Chicken noodle a couple nights. Then potato soup another night. Didn't matter what it was, it was a hot meal. And that was truly a blessing. I was grateful I could do that for my family and my friends.

Just so you know how bad it really was....... Not only was all of Arkansas declared a disaster area; not only is FEMA here doing what they can.........Wal-Mart in Springale (where I live) was closed for 3 days. Yeah, scary thought huh? ;)

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tried to get all the pictures in order. The one of DS and the neighbor'sdog was pretty funny. We finally talked our next door neighbor intospending the night with us on Thursday. She said it wasn't too bad in her(all electric) house till she went out to dinner on Thursday. While she ateat the restaurant, she thawed all the way out. So her house was COLD toher when she got home. I told her she and her dog were both more thanwelcome to stay with us. The dog, who isn't allowed on the couch at home,was quite content over here. ;) (and got along just fine with mycritters, altho we did keep her and Miss Kitty separated. lol) The trees are really a sad sight. We're not sure how many, if any, of them will survive. It was really disheartening to see 100 year old trees come down like that. Wed. afternoon it sounded like non-stop gunfire. If you've never heard trees freeze and break like that, it's an eery sound. They crack then boom as the big branches break off. I was, for the very first time, grateful there were no large trees close to our house. Most of the pictures are shot out my bedroom window, or the French doors in the living room, or through the front door. Then the last ones I shot while I drove around our neighborhood and my in-laws' yesterday.

It's depressing to look at. But the blessing is we are all safe and whole; no one's home was destroyed; and we had heat and food. There are a lot of other folks not so fortunate.

Sharon

Reply to
Sharon Hays
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A mistress of understatement!

Impresive (if that's the word) collection of pictures. Glad to learn everyone around you is safe and well.

Reply to
The Wanderer

Sharon, I'm so glad your OK. The weather this week has been unbelievable. We had ice, sleet and snow but nothing like you had. You were indeed fortunate to be able to get heat and cook. I can live without lights, but not heat and food. Your pictures are a great testement to your experiences. Keep them for your Grandchildren. They'll never believe the story otherwise. Continue to stay warm and dry. Juno

Reply to
Juno B

Really a shame about those trees. I have lived in Tulsa, OK and Boston and I would take a foot of snow over an ice storm any day.

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> I tried to get all the pictures in order. The one of DS and the > neighbor's> dog was pretty funny. We finally talked our next door neighbor into> spending the night with us on Thursday. She said it wasn't too bad in her> (all electric) house till she went out to dinner on Thursday. While she > ate> at the restaurant, she thawed all the way out. So her house was COLD to> her when she got home. I told her she and her dog were both more than> welcome to stay with us. The dog, who isn't allowed on the couch at home,> was quite content over here. ;) (and got along just fine with my> critters, altho we did keep her and Miss Kitty separated. lol)>

Reply to
Nick and Judy

The damage to all those trees is heartbreaking. The load of ice you had on power lines is scary!

But the icicles on your pergola were beautiful! Maybe in light-weight plastic next time, though, eh?

Reply to
Pogonip

Wow, I'm glad nothing happened to you. But the trees are indeed a sorry sight. However, if you give them a chance, the really big old ones may recover. The nasty thing about ice is that you can't even go out to shake it of, like you'd do with snow on a precious fruit tree. Plus, you'd probaly never even get there without breaking every bone in your body.

But I can imagine the sound of the breaking trees very well - alarming. Makes you want to run and hide, I should think. And, perverseness of nature, a few days after there's no snow and all sunshine! As if nothing had happened. Winter here has been a bit harder than the last couple of years. We actually had some real snow, lasting for more than a week, sunshine on top, so the kids all around were out with their sleighs.

Well, ice storms have something eerie about them, I think, the world looking like it's covered in a layer of glass. (Anybody know the film with Sigourney Weaver, Whatsisname, that Hobbit guy, and I think Kevin Kline.) Anyway, it's good to be prepared like you were. So, take care of yourself and your loved ones.

U.

Reply to
Ursula Schrader

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I've been thinking about you all week. The pictures of the ice storm made the front page here, and I was so worried about you and your family. Snow is bad, but ice accumulation is really terribly destructive, I'm so glad you are safe and warm, and applaud your efforts to make things better for your neighbors. Beverly

Reply to
BEI Design

The trees do look rather sad, don't they, but as they would have been dormant, come spring most should bouce back okay.

Glad to hear you're all okay.

At the end of this week they're forecasting high 30'sC and a fair bit of wind, just hoping there are no numbskulls out there that decide to start fires, like it appears happened down in Victoria where there were several houses lost to bush fires suspected to be delierately lit last week.

Reply to
melinda

Oh no fooling!!! I talked to my Mom in Indianapolis. She said they got just over a foot of snow there this week. I asked her if she wanted to trade (this was while our power was out.) Can you believe she wasn't willing to swap??? LOL She was also calling me Frontier Girl. LOL

Sharon

Reply to
Sharon Hays

Yeah, it really was. Then on Thursday when things started to melt, I loaded up the kids and we went OUT for a while. ;) We went to the dollar store and got more candles. lol The scary thing was it was warming up enough that stuff was starting to melt. So the overhead lines that were coated with ice were thawing. Good thing right? Well, at one intersection, we stopped for the light and watched a section of ice, about 4 feet wide fall off an overhead line right onto a minivan in front of us. I was so glad those folks didn't have a sun roof on that car!! It was scary.

lol Yeah, I thought that was pretty too. Maybe the icicle outdoor Christmas lights? That would be pretty. At one point, and I couldn't get a good picture of it, there was snow and ice up there so that the entire pergola had a "ceiling." DH and I talked about making a canvas, or sunbrella thing to go on the pergola. Sort of like a Roman shade that would hang on the underside to give more shade on the deck. I told him to come look and see what he thought b/c that was the easiest way for us to tell ahead of time if we would like that or not. ;) So there were some perks.... But I'm in no hurry to repeat any of it!!!

Sharon PS It was 60* here today and sunny. We had the heat off and the windows open for a while this afternoon. Go figure!!

Reply to
Sharon Hays

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> Sharon I've been thinking about you all week. The pictures> of the ice storm made the front page here, and I was so> worried about you and your family. Snow is bad, but ice> accumulation is really terribly destructive, I'm so glad you> are safe and warm, and applaud your efforts to make things> better for your neighbors.>

Thanks, Beverly. I could hear you worrying from here. ;) I knew I'd better check in as soon as the internet was back up here at the house.

I sure do appreciate the thoughts. Give yourself a big hug for me.

Sharon

Reply to
Sharon Hays

I'm with you, Juno. The light wasn't a huge issue for me. We had candles and that was enough. (although, we won't talk about how many electric lights I have on NOW. LOL) Being cold all the time just is not my thing. At one point, before we had the generator running for the day, I had on my polar fleece sweatpants, a pull over sweatshirt and a zip up sweat shirt over that. Oh, and wool socks and slippers. I don't do cold. And it's amazing how uplifting a hot meal can be. I was about in tears several times just because I was so grateful that we could all have a hot meal.

I sent the pictures to my family and friends all over the place. There's just no way to understand how nasty it was without the pictures. I will definitely keep these. I know we will be talking about this week for a long time around here. Fortunately, there are some good memories to go with it too. ;) My next door neighbor (I just dearly love all our neighbors, the are wonderful people) told me I should put in for a grant from FEMA for running a soup kitchen during the crisis. LOL Then my mom said she would paint me a sign that says "Sharon's Soup Kitchen" to hang up. heh heh So there were some good times in all of it too. ;)

Sharon

Reply to
Sharon Hays

Thankfully, you all are okay. To be able to cook and share with your in-laws and neighbors during that time was great. I'm sure they really appreciated the hot meals.

Tell your Mom, you don't need the sign now, but she should send it anyway for the future. LOL

After reading your description and looking at the photos, I told DS, I will stop complaining about this roller-coaster weather we've had for a while; temperatures in the upper 20s to low 30s and highs in the low 50s one day; then the next day, the lows are in the 50s with highs in the 70s-low 80s. We had a bit of snow one morning, no ice though.

I'm glad you had some good times in spite of it. Emily

Reply to
Emily Bengston

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On the road

On the road had written this in response to

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:I'm new here so posting replys is a learning process. My apologies for anempty message to someone. We lived in Indiana for years and had snow so when we moved to Georgia the ice instead of snow was a real adventure.

My Son-in-Law and I spent the night going from window to window listening to the 100 foot top heavy pine trees breaking. We would hear that awful sound and hold our breath to see if it was going to hit the house. None did luckily but some of our neighbors weren't so lucky.

We sure learned how to build a great fire in our first fireplace for the ice storm that hit just a week after we moved in the new house.

You can bet I had supplies in for the second one that hit just a week after the first. One lesson learned - lots of different fragrance candles can make quite a stink. I only got unscented or vanilla for the next round.

Glad you made it through.

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On the road

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