Our Turn

Our Turn
Originally uploaded by surfinsandy23

FINALLY!
between 4-5 pm Saturday we got power back! What a relief!

cable guy

cable guy
Originally uploaded by surfinsandy23

The only thing that could make our day any better than having the sun come out and shine was to see workers show up and reconnect us to the modern world. Our cable company actually got here before the power company did!
Progress!!

Icy branches

Icy branches
Originally uploaded by surfinsandy23

against a blue sky, the sun making the ice look more like glass. Already you can see where some has melted and fallen off this tree.

Saturday the sun came out and ice began melting and falling off of everything. The new danger of going outside was staying away from anything that could drop a chunk of ice. It was falling off tree branches, power lines, and roof tops.

It was too pretty out to stay inside. Photos were the excuse to go out. The warm sun was the reason to stay out.

Here comes the sun

Here comes the sun
Originally uploaded by surfinsandy23

The sun played peek-a-boo with the clouds for most of the morning. When it came out, it made the ice sparkle like jewels. It's so strange to think of something so destructive in such a way, but remember all the turmoil and pressure a diamond has to endure to become a priceless gem.
We hear that adversity builds character. If that's true then we will have some real characters walking in our midst around here! I know my story is not so dramatic or special, compared to that of others.
I mostly just wanted to blog this to make it easier to share with friends and family. I also hope that it might help someone realize how important is it to be prepared for emergencies. There may be some who read it who are simply curious about what it was like. That's fine. I am a curious person, and I believe curiosity leads to learning.
To be honest, I want to finish this. I want to post the photos I want to post, say the things I feel like saying and try to get this whole ordeal behind me and move on. And it was an ordeal, it was traumatic in it's own way. It made us put life on hold for a few days, it made us stop and think about things that we don't often think about.
I was glad I had the camera to not only document the event, but to capture some of the beauty in it's midst. I honestly know what to take pictures of now. That was quite a distraction from what has become ordinary and mundane.
One thing that a person must remember when going through something trying (I remember telling myself the same thing while in labor with each of my children)., "it won't last forever". Yes, it's more difficult when you don't know when it's going to end. But knowing it will end, is sometimes all the hope you get.

Crews

Crews
Originally uploaded by surfinsandy23

More signs of Hope.
I was walking the dog Saturday morning and looking at how the sun danced with the ice, when I saw several trucks roll up the street and turn up the street behind us. So Ollie and I walked up a bit to see where they were going. They were gathering behind the factory there, probably getting ready to put in another long day.

Icy Holly

Icy Holly
Originally uploaded by surfinsandy23

Saturday morning started out pretty much the same as the rest of the week. It was cold over night, the inside of the house was cooler than the night before, but we have camped in colder weather!
We still had to boil water in front of the fireplace to make coffee in the french press. At least I no longer had to grind my coffee beans in a pestle and mortar, we had bought ground coffee while at the store the other day. We were tired of cooking, so meals were consisting of coffee or cocoa and instant oatmeal for breakfast, cup ramen and pepsi for lunch. The night before it was canned chicken and noodle soup heated by the log for supper. The cats were happy with their cat food. My mother in law and her dog were able to go back home on Friday, so the animals seemed to be less edgy, but still cold.
Late Friday night, KU had stopped by the house but were not ready to turn us on yet. We fell asleep with the window blinds open hoping they would come back during the night to hook us up. Tarzan must have sensed something too, he was more restless Friday night. He kept going to the windows to look out.
By this time we could see the crews were getting closer to turning us on. A street light and a neighbor behind us were back on. It was exciting and depressing all at the same time. We had hopes of borrowing a generator for a couple hours just to get our freezer re-frozen. The food was holding up pretty well, but wasn't going to last much longer.

The forecast for the weekend was for a warm up. That was good news for the most part, but then we wondered if the garage would continue to stay cold enough for the milk, eggs a other items from the refrigerator to stay safe.
It's so hard not knowing.

Hydrant

Hydrant
Originally uploaded by surfinsandy23

Friday morning I walked around the neighborhood just a little bit for more photos. The sun was trying to come out from behind the clouds, making the ice everywhere sparkle like diamonds when it did peek out.
The weekend forecast was for much warmer temperatures which would most likely melt the ice and snow. So I wanted to get out and take a few more photos before it was all gone and before we got busy with cleaning up the mess.
I didn't take as many photos on Thursday than other days of the week. The whole ordeal was wearing me down, it was getting a bit depressing at times. Looking out of the windows on Thursday was much like looking out the window on Wednesday. We had to try to wash some dishes, make sure candles and oil lamps were ready before dark, and I tried to get a little quilting done.

Multi-purpose

Multi-purpose
Originally uploaded by surfinsandy23

Thursday came, and still no power. My mother in law's dog had been left at her house, and the nights were getting colder as the week wore on. We began making plans to go get the dog and go to the store for extra batteries, cat food and things to eat that were simple to prepare. We didn't know how long we would be without power, or how long we'd be under a boil water warning and wanted to be able to conserve butane.
We went to the garage where our camping gear is stored and found a rack we usually use over camp fires. We found that placing it beside the gas log put the water pots closer to the flame and would do a slow, yet good job of boiling the water. We were now able to heat and boil water without using up butane fuel.

The night before the storm hit, I discovered we were very low on cat food. There wasn't even enough for one more day. At the time I had hopes we'd be able to get to the store to get more the next day, but the next day proved more challenging than that.
We had plenty of dog food and figured if the cats were hungry enough, they'd eat it. I was wrong. Two of the cats were happy with canned food I kept in case of emergencies, but Tarzan was picky and wouldn't even eat that. I found some sliced turkey meat thawing in the kitchen freezer and he ate that. Another day he had some leftover hamburger that wasn't eaten at supper the night before. He likes milk, so he even had milk, which was now being stored in the garage because the garage was colder than the refrigerator.
Hubby needed a prescription filled and word on the radio was that the pharmacy was open again. He had extras in his camping gear, which got him through the week.
So we cleaned off the car and headed for Walmart. They were completely out of lamp oil, was restocking propane (which we didn't need), no sign of butane, and almost completely out of candles. It was a good thing we found a better way to heat water, and didn't really need the oil or candles.
We picked up hot cocoa mix, instant oatmeal and cup Ramen, plus a big bag of cat food, and a case of Pepsi. The water was nearly completely sold out, good thing we didn't need that either!

We saw several people we know, including someone we hadn't seen in many months! It was good to see folks and hear they were all doing well.
We finally got out of the store, and headed to Mom's house to get her dog. Her house was cold, but her freezer was still cold. So we got the dog and a sweater for mom and headed back for home. The poor little dog was scared and cold, but she was safe. Outside temperatures that night were predicted to be down to around 10 or less, not counting windchill factors. We felt much better getting her out of there.

Traffic

Traffic
Originally uploaded by surfinsandy23

I couldn't believe how much traffic there was on our street all week.
It seems the east end of our street suffered more damage than on our west end. To make matters worse, there is a trailer park on the east end. I can't imagine what it would be like living in a trailer through a storm like this.
I imagine most the traffic was people checking on others, taking some to shelters, or to the store for supplies.
During the night before I heard freight trains going through on the tracks west of town, and it didn't sound like they were even slowing down. I don't know how the storm didn't slow them down.

By Wednesday, when this photo was taken, we were making attempts to check on my mother in law.
My husband's brother lives closer to her than anyone else and he tried to get to her Tuesday night. He was not allowed on her street because of limbs and power lines down. He was told someone had been up and down her street to check on everyone and was told she was fine. Later, she told us no one had even come to her door.
She is a diabetic, living alone, and someone was trying to check on her. Why would they just lie like that?

So Wednesday, my husband tried to call officials to find out if the street had been cleared enough for him to go get her. We were pretty sure she was without power, because her phone was not being answered, (she has an cordless phone which needs power), which also meant she had no heat. He was given rude and short answers on the phone that were anything but helpful. So he called the radio station to see if someone listening who lived closer to her and could go check on her or tell him if the street was clear.
To make a long story short, he got through, people were listening and helping, and a good Samaritan picked her up and brought her to our house.
Our hometown radio station, was a life line for this community during this whole ordeal. They stopped all their regular broadcasting and turned into a communication hub. People could call in and ask for help or offer help for a wide variety of needs. Information about the water shortage, updates about the power companies, shelter information and much much more was being announced all day, every day. It was a vital tool for people in Boyle County and surrounding counties. At times they even operated by battery power, without lights, without heat, and surviving by volunteers taking them food, calling them and telling them what was going on outside their studio or trailer.
They are our home town heroes! Thanks Charlie Perry and everyone there who helped this community even though your own homes were needing power, trees cut and whatever else. I hope you know just how much you helped this community!

branch on the roof

branch on the roof
Originally uploaded by surfinsandy23

Tuesday night was terrifying!
Our power line was cut from the grid late Tuesday night as a safety precaution. If power had been restored with the damage we had, there was a chance of sparks or even fire. We thought that would help us sleep better through the night, but it was only one less worry on my mind. We went to bed between 11:30 and midnight. The neighborhood was completely dark by then. I fell asleep and slept until about 3am. After that the sounds outside kept me from sleeping any better than an occasional doze.
We had turned on our gas log fireplace a couple hours after the power went out. We let it run a few hours, then turned it off before going to bed. All of our bedrooms are upstairs and most of the heat from the fireplace goes up stairs. The boys both slept in the front bedroom, since the side bedroom was too close to the trees beside the house, and we just didn't know if a branch would come crashing through his windows during the night
Throughout the night, I could hear branches of trees all over the neighborhood crack and pop, and the sound of ice shattering off as they fell surrounded us. Some I could tell were not close, some sounded close, but it was hard to tell how close. It was a fear gripped night, not knowing if houses were being damaged.
I got up several times during the night to try to see what was happening outside. But without street lights, I couldn't see anything but ice. The night was black and gloomy. Occasionally a car would drive by, but their headlights weren't enough to see very much in the yards. One time during the night, I could barely see this branch on the garage roof. I took a battery powered lantern down to look inside the garage to make sure it didn't go through. It looked like it didn't. That was some relief!
All the cats were sleeping on our bed. At one time during the night there was a cat on either side of my feet and one on my head. I hoped the one (Tarzan) on my head would muffle the sounds outside, but he only partially muffled the sounds.
Not only could I hear tree branches snapping everywhere, but I could hear it raining, and I knew that it was more freezing rain, which would weigh the trees down even more. The night seemed to last forever.
When would this nightmare end!?

Just beyond

Just beyond
Originally uploaded by surfinsandy23

We spent the first day of the storm looking out all the windows, watching and listening to branches fall out of the trees, holding our breath each time. Every hour that went by we wondered if the power would go out. Around noon we lost power for about a half of an hour, then a little later, it went off long enough to reset everything that was on.
We gathered candles, oil lamps and flashlights, all the time hoping we wouldn't need them.
Hope can be fleeting.

Early Glimpse

our small pine tree
Originally uploaded by surfinsandy23

One of our earliest glimpses of the ice storm when we woke up Tuesday morning as we looked out the back door. The light of day was just beginning. Street lights are still on, and we have power. We know that may not last. And we know the storm is just beginning.
Storm warnings were issued Sunday night so people would have a chance to prepare for the storm. Many people heeded the warnings but had no idea how bad it would get before it would all be over with.

You can see that even this early in the storm the weight of the ice was already an incredible burden for the trees and power lines to bear. This tree does not normally droop at all.

Getting Iced

Getting Iced
Originally uploaded by surfinsandy23

Well... we survived the ice storm of January 2009. We were without power for about 4 days. This storm was no picnic to ride out, to say the least. I will try to make several entries with photos and stories, but that will take awhile. My camera held up just fine, and gave me something to do and a reason/excuse to go outside for more than just walking the dog. I only used about half my memory space, and was about half way through my available battery power. Through photos I was pretty much able to document the storm from my corner of the street.
Right now we are in recovery mode. The fridge has been cleaned out, relatives have been called, the insurance adjuster has been here but we have debris to remove and no chain saw to do it. We will have to get some professionals to remove a couple trees that I have greatly enjoyed. It really is hard to come to terms with their loss. They provided shade, privacy from our busy corner, and were a sound barrier as well as something to focus my camera lens on countless times.
Many photos have already been added to my flickr stream, but as of this writing, all but one of those were taken and loaded on Tuesday during the storm, and before we lost power. I will have to organize my photos, thoughts and stories before really starting the blog entries.

It was a bit traumatic, but we found out we were much more prepared than we may have realized. That will be another topic of my blog. People really really really need to be prepared for emergencies!