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WE'RE ALIVE!! Natural Disaster Hit Our City!!! (Pics)

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(@noodles)
Posts: 5912
Topic starter
 

Hey Guys...

Sorry we have not been as active as usual. What a CRAZY past few days it has been. ????

We were SLAMMED Friday/Saturday with a horrible ice storm. It destroyed our city. We have been declared a "Natural Disaster, and a "State of Emergency." It all started out harmless...

We went and stocked up on $200+ worth of food because the weatherman said we'd be getting snow. We battened down the hatches. Wendell baked chocolate chip cookies and we played cards. Everyone around us was losing power, but we were lucky! Until about 1:30 am when we also lost power. We weren't too worried. Usually it pops back on the next day. Not this time....

We woke up Saturday to a MESS. ICE over an inch thick on all the trees, powerlines, etc.. etc... Our city hadn't seen anything like this in over 50+ years! Well, we were fortunate that we did not have trees so our house was spared, but many of my neighbors homes were trashed due to falling tree limbs, ice falling, etc... Then things started to warm up and it got worse. SNAP CRACKLE POP!!! Everywhere. NO ONE had power. We decided we had better go check on our mother-in-law. What normally took a 10 minute drive took a half hour or more! Along the way it looks like a bomb or tornado has gone off in the city. Trees down everywhere. Power lines Zapping, cars wrecked, just so...devastating. ALL power is out, light signals out, people lined up around the block at gas stations, grocery stores, etc...Surreal.

We got to mother-in-laws and SHE had power, thank goodness! But her little trailer park for Seniors was heavily pelted by the thick forested trees and ice falling everywhere. It sounded like firecracker bombs going off. We were just thrilled to be in a WARM home with FOOD. But, we needed to go home eventually because we have felines that need us. Neighbors said "We have power!" ... We get home...Nope. NO Power. Apparently only some neighbors had power but we're on a different, older transformer so ours was dead. Then, we see fridge is "Leaking". At Midnight, we empty fridge and freezer and haul all food to my friends house (who has power) to store until we get power back.
No worries! We'll bundle up and power will be back soon! Nope...

Sunday... No power. FREEZING in house. Fortunately we have a gas fireplace which we leave on constantly, gas stove and gas water heater so Wendell made stovetop coffee and I made Breakfast MREs. I washed dishes by hand and used my dishwasher as the drying rack. Then swiftly got out my "paper bowls and plates" stash for future meals. Then we huddle around fireplace to get warm. Ahhhh!!! My gas bill is going to be about $1000, but...I will have a cheap power bill! (Gotta find the positives in this!) ????

My 15 year old cat starts to shiver and suffer. We grab her, grab some other stuff, and head back to grandmas. My cat IGNORES us for the rest of the time we're there. 5 minutes after we leave, she comes out and purrs and sucks it up to Grandma for food and loves. Thank God!! My baby darling is now happy and warm. *Phew!*

Hospital then asks me to come in and take care of dying patients; people are shutting off their love ones life support machines due to COVID, etc... And...there is an 18+ hour wait just in E/R due to sick folks with no power. I cannot get there due to roads blocked to get there. I feel awful. ????

I have a big ass old, bulky, upright freezer in my garage. The thing works like a champ! I clean and vacuum it's back parts, defrost it yearly, and talk sweet to it. Been picked on MANY times for "Keeping Old Bulky Freezer", but too bad! I love it. Anyhow...I also save those gel pack things that turn into ice packs. I stored probably 30+ of them in freezer. Guess what? Those gel packs and my beast of a freezer have kept my frozen food, still frozen after 3 days!!! YAY!! But...I know sooner or later it won't be able to. So, we put out the MAYDAY for ideas on what to do? We were blessed and lucky to have another friend loan us their generator. YAY!! Food is saved!! AND...there's enough room on generator to plug in fish aquarium so my fish can breathe. YAY!!! Fish get air and start to go crazy, swimming around, begging for food. PHEW!! Fish and food and feline saved!!!! ???¯

Kid living with me has no way to get to work so I get up at 6:30 am and take her. I finally get a really good look at the rest of the city, since I have to go into downtown. WOW. Just WOW. I've been through floods and earthquakes and it was bad, but nothing like this! Who would have thought that this ice would cause this much damage?! ???? I drive really slow and just take it all in...And count my blessings. This is going to be expensive for us, but...I have a house that is un-damaged, I have hot water due to gas water tank, I have MRE's, my felines are safe, and I have many blankets to crawl under when it's bedtime. I see that the gas station is OPEN and NO LINES. I pull in at 7:15 am and fill up the truck! Then I see there is almost no line at McDs. I pull in and splurge on two breakfast meals and COFFEE. I bring home food and wake warm, sleeping Wendell up to a hot cup of coffee and a hot meal. He is very appreciative. ƒ?‹?

I have been having more kidney issues. Kidneys have been making stones and my Nephrologist doesn't know why, so I go in Wednesday for tests. Plus, my kidneys HATE this cold; they ache and screw up things. It just makes normal functioning harder. But...I am a trooper and I can do this!!!

So...There ya go. Until we get power, this is our "new normal". We stay at mother-in-laws until bedtime. We go home, brush teeth, and hop into freezing bed, warm up bed naturally, cats climb in bed with us, and we sleep until the morning. Hopefully we won't get ANY MORE of this crap ANYTIME SOON. And...I will never ever take our "Modern Conveniences" for granted ever again!!

We'll keep you guys updated! As soon as I get power, I am giving my kitchen fridge a nice bath, and cleaning my house! ????

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Posted : 15/02/2021 10:24 pm
(@mathteacher)
Posts: 2081
Noble Member Registered
 

Bless you, Angel and Wendell. I've been in that situation many times, literally every five years or so. We have well water and electric everything, so with no power, we have no water, no fridge or freezer, and no stove. I have a 2000 watt Honda generator that keeps some lights, tv and computer on. I switch it between fridge and freezer 'cause it can't run both at the same time. My next home improvement project is a natural gas whole-house generator, but recent events have put that on hold.

On the bright side, it's somewhat like poor service at a restaurant. Once the food finally comes, everything is so much better and once the power is back on, the outage becomes a distant memory very quickly.

Hang in there!

 
Posted : 16/02/2021 2:57 am
(@stlsurveyor)
Posts: 2490
Famed Member Registered
 

Yikes, ice storms are the worst! We were hit with a really bad one back in '09 (I think) I can still remember the sounds of the trees popping - I know exactly what you are referring to.?ÿ

Glad to hear you are getting by, hopefully things get better very soon.?ÿ

 
Posted : 16/02/2021 3:32 am
(@holy-cow)
Posts: 25292
 

Ice storms are fairly common in this part of the world.?ÿ Large trees tend to be the kind that "bend but don't break" or else they would never get to the size they are.?ÿ Overhead power lines can survive so long as there is very little wind.?ÿ The dynamic loading is what does them in.

 
Posted : 16/02/2021 8:06 am
(@ric-moore)
Posts: 842
Prominent Member Registered
 

Wow...wow.?ÿ Glad you two are ok

 
Posted : 16/02/2021 9:48 am
(@dougie)
Posts: 7889
Illustrious Member Registered
 
Posted by: @noodles

And count my blessings

Yes, there will always be someone worse off than you...

You're lucky to have friends and family; I pray that the good people in Texas do too...

It was single digits and even dipped below 0 at DFW. Unprecedented!

 
Posted : 16/02/2021 10:05 am
 Joe
(@one-cup-o-joe)
Posts: 240
Reputable Member Customer
 

Angel,

Up here it was 3" of snow, then 1/2" of ice, then 6" of snow, then another 1/2 to 3/4 of ice. We did not lose power, thankful. Much of the neighbors tree ended up in our back yard.

Even a snow plow came by, it covered the driveway and and all the cars on the street with a 2' mound of snow which solidified into ice blocks.?ÿ They could have plowed everything to the other side of the street where there are no driveways and no parked cars, but noooooooooooo!

 
Posted : 16/02/2021 10:18 am
(@flga-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2)
Posts: 7403
Illustrious Member Registered
 

ƒ??Cheer up, be happyƒ? they said, nothing could be worse than 2020. ?????ÿ

Glad yƒ??all are OK!

 
Posted : 16/02/2021 10:28 am
(@grant-brady)
Posts: 121
Estimable Member Customer
 

Wow, glad you are OK despite all the chaos around you

 
Posted : 16/02/2021 10:38 am
(@williwaw)
Posts: 3321
Famed Member Registered
 

I'm awaiting swarms of locusts and frogs. You guys hang tough and stay safe. This to shall pass.

 
Posted : 16/02/2021 10:41 am
(@jitterboogie)
Posts: 4275
Famed Member Customer
 

Wow. Glad you're ok!

 
Posted : 16/02/2021 10:46 am
(@jim-frame)
Posts: 7277
 

Our power was off for about 42 hours a few weeks back, so we had to rely on our gas fireplace insert for heat.?ÿ It keeps the living room warm, but that's about it.?ÿ (Outside temps weren't very low, maybe low 40s overnight.) After about 36 hours I fired up my generator to run the fridge and the water heater so we could save the food and take a shower.

Not fun, but we managed okay.?ÿ I got more reading done during that time than I had in the prior year.

Glad to hear that you and Wendell are getting by okay.

 
Posted : 16/02/2021 12:14 pm
(@eddycreek)
Posts: 1033
Noble Member Customer
 

@stlsurveyorstormKy

Yeah, that 09 storm pretty much shut Ky. down.?ÿ Our power was off for 21 days.?ÿ Power company had one stretch of line with 50 poles in a row broken off, and it was not adjacent to any road.?ÿ It is now, though.?ÿ Learned a lot of lessons, like keep some cash somewhere because you cant buy anything with a credit card when the power is off.?ÿ Also, get a generator or 3, and run them every so often.?ÿ Make sure you have a good chain and bar on your chainsaw, we had to cut our way out about 3 miles twice because it kept adding ice every day.?ÿ Make sure you have some firewood cut and in the dry, even if you don't use the wood stove any more.?ÿ Make sure the 300 gallon gas tank is full if they are calling for ice, those generators won't run without it.?ÿ Have plenty of diesel on hand for the tractor to push trees out of the road.

 
Posted : 16/02/2021 3:18 pm
(@noodles)
Posts: 5912
Topic starter
 

@stlsurveyor

I see you guys are getting slammed now! My friends are posting snow pics.
Busch Stadium and the Arch are beautiful with snow. ???

 
Posted : 16/02/2021 7:50 pm
(@noodles)
Posts: 5912
Topic starter
 

TODAYS UPDATE:

Well, still no power. Last night before bed, we decided to fill up the generator with gas. BIG boo boo. We couldn't figure out how to re-start it! :/ So I text my friend and she sends her husband over at 6:40 am to start it for us. We didn't even know he came over! Amen for such good friends.

I finally slept!! I got up at 10:30 am! Wendell brought me a hot cup of coffee, and I had cats stuck to me, so I just laid in bed for a moment to stay warm. Surprisingly, it wasn't as cold today as it was yesterday, so it was easier to mosey around. I made Wendell and I a fine lunch with our MRE's. Then did dishes, played with cats, moved stuff around outside, cussed at stuff, went back inside, talked to my plants, talked to the walls, talked to my fish. Then hopped in shower and went and helped out a friend in need with our truck. (See how boring our life is now! ???? )

Mother-In-Law made us a nice steak dinner and cherry pie. Feels SO GOOD to be in a WARM home with WARM food and YUMMY Dessert. My 15 year old kitty was glad to see us. YAY!?ÿ Hopefully we'll get power tomorrow. But, we're hanging in there either way. ?????ÿ

Here's a pic of our Capitol building. All of the cherry trees are destroyed. ???¦?ÿ

Capitol Cherry Trees

And a pic of our lovely lunch! ƒ???ÿ

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Posted : 16/02/2021 8:11 pm
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