A Country Boy Can survive!....(Just Barely!)

[Dan-MO]

No electric for the last 6 days due to 6 inches of ice on everything!Thousands of trees down on power lines, utility crews from Canada to Mexico called in with the National Guard to clean things up and get the power back on. They are calling it the worst ice storm in history.We have stayed home and survived very nicely with the help of a generator and wood burning fireplace.One day I had to drive nearly 50 miles to find a gas station with electric to buy fuel for the generator. All things considered,we were blessed to have what we had to get thru the worst of it-many folks were not so lucky and there have been several deaths due to the storm.Most of the deaths I have heard of were due to carbon monoxide poisoning from poorly ventilated heat sources.

Power came back on about an hour ago.I have lots of catching up to to and will post more later.

 

[Arkie John]

You are going through what we went through in 2000.

Boy, on Christmas day it was a frozen wasteland here.(as you may remember reading). We learned to cook on the parlar stove and survive with oil lamps, but we had the BEST of times familywise.

I mean it was one special unscheduled vacation. It really tore the wood up though. To this day it is hard for me to trek down the creek bottoms of the National Forest properties. The trees are down and still look like giant pick-up-sticks.

Be sure to chronicle your adventure. I'm SURE there's a good story or three in there somewhere. Besides, the kids will love reading about the "biggest ice storm in history" in a decade or three. <><

Stay warm buddy,

aj

 

[Royal]

posted a picture showing it was "0" where he lives/ It is nice up here right now. Snow ain't squat compared to Ice!!

I have a generator too. It stays in my truck in the winter so I have power if I need it up her or down in Waterford.

Stay warm

 

[david(tx)]

we did a 3 day deal like that 5 years or so ago,but some people waited 2 weeks.

 

[Rob/Windsor Ont.]

half as much and cried twice as loud. Jes kiddin' grape jelly man !! Hope things stay up and running. You guys out in computer land are sure getting your winter. So far, so good here. Hope we stay lucky !

 

[VT Dave]

n/t

 

[Micheal_R]

Thus far, we have been lucky... no outages at all yet!! [fingers crossed smiley here] Like you, we are pretty much set though. Generator is at the ready, we have 10 cords of firewood, and the house stays pretty warm in the coldest of weather. All in all, we are better prepared than the major centres..... Vancouver just had a week of rough weather and with the way the media reported it, you would have thought that the world had come to an end..

fair winds, sunny skies

M

 

[Wayne in BC]

nothing worse than an ice storm! Snow is managable but that much ice is heavy danger. Good on you my friend and glad your ok
Rob is correct (wuz gonna say "right" but i think he is a "sillysider") you had it worse and i whined more

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

I can not envision what it is like living in an area with the cold blizzard type conditions in the winter. Thank goodness you were prepared and knew what to do to survive. Please have a great day! Kelley (Texas)

 

[Dan-MO]

Taken in front of our property facing south more than 24 hours after the storm ended.It was a couple of days before all the trees were cleared from the roads.I clipped this from the local paper and it is not the best quality picture.That is all ice-not snow and the road is a major state highway

 

[Sunny]

a good generator! That's the way it was with us anyway! We have been thru one of these too. In Arkansas, we most always get ice before the snow, and it causes major problems. No one here can drive on it, because it is just not common for this area.

But thanks to all the Canucks, for sending their cold winds to us. It is twenty degrees outside!

Glad you all stayed safe and cozy, Dan! Bet you keep a bit more fuel on hand after this!

 

[Sunny]

n/t

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

every so often we will get an ice storm that will last for maybe a day or two, then back up into the higher temperatures.

When I was a young boy, we got some snow that lasted about three days. I remember the snow ball fight that we had, the one where my brother got into trouble because he hit my sister in the face with a snow ball with a dog turd inside of it. I keep thinking that I was eight years old at the time. My brother and sister were always fussing about something, but I clearly remember that snow ball fight. In my mind, I can still see her running for the house screaming at the top of her lungs...seconds later my father came out through the door with his belt in his hand. My brother tried to tell everyone that it was a fluke, that he did not know it was inside of the snow ball. My father did not buy his story and blistered his bottom. I thought it was funny. Please have a great day! Kelley (Texas)

 

[Royal]

and when I looked out and saw what was happening I always thought one thing. Beautiful!! Then the ice kept building and then the distruction starts.

Tree limbs start snapping and whole trees drop. Power lines are brought down with them. As a kid I thought it was amazing the size of the ice cycles hanging from the eaves but the ice also caused ice dams on the eaves and the backed up water would come throught the ceiling! Basements would sometimes flood and with no power we had to haul it out in buckets.

I have even see ijits beating the ice off their car windows with a dang hammer and busting the glass! People with 4WD figuring they could drive anywhere and then finding out the 4WD don't stop any faster on ice than a 2WD. Usually young men with daddys truck. Idiots.

Ice storms are sure distructive!

 

[Royal]

of Idiots have learned this the hard way.

 

[WillyP]

n/t

 

[Sunny]

It's a sickening sound. I agree with you also, though, that the ice storms are beautiful, but what they leave behind in often devastating. It is 18 degrees here this morning, with a wind that can cut you in to!! Br-r-r-r-r-r!

 

[Sunny]

here in Arkansas is very comparable to yours! Good to have you posting again, Cowboy!

 

[Royal]

n/t

 

[Jbird]

Dog turd in a snowball!! Wow, I never thought of that one. Snow dont happen down here very often and you have to be prepared when you do get one. Im waiting for the next snowstorm!!