Midwest Ice Storm

Most of Kentucky was pounded last Tuesday by a snow storm that turned into an ugly ice storm. It started last Tuesday morning with about 4 inches of fresh, fluffy snow. For Kentucky, that is more that enough white stuff to shut down the schools and most businesses. Tuesday morning was fairly calm, but by Tuesday evening the storm had turned to freezing rain.

After spending some time at the fire station on Tuesday night, I drove home around 10:30 PM. By that point, the tree branches were already starting to hang low enough to scrape the top of my truck.

Sometime around 4:45 AM, we lost power at home. I added another blanket to the bed for Amy and went back to the fire station around 6:30 AM. By that time, the roads were almost impassable due to the tree branches. They were literally hanging all the way to the ground. I had to drive on both sides of the road to negotiate around the obstacles.

Around daylight, another storm surge dumped about 4 more inches of fresh snow on top of the layer of ice. I spent most of the morning helping out around the fire station and running a few calls. Amy spent that time bundled under blankets and reading through magazines.

Because Dani and Brandon had a two-month-old baby to care for, they really needed to find some place with power. Brandon called 30 different hotels before finally finding a room at the Seelbach Hotel in downtown. After an hour of loading the car with baby supplies, they were off for the evening.

Amy and I opted to stay the night at Dani and Brandon’s house since they had a working gas fireplace. We put the air mattress in front of the fireplace and loaded it with about 5 blankets. We stayed pretty warm throughout the night, but the trips to the bathroom were pretty chilly. By morning, the house was down to 50 degrees.

Dani and Brandon were able to extend their hotel room for another night and also reserved a second room. After making arrangements with the rest of the family, Amy and I decided to take the other hotel room. Heat and power never felt so good!

Mom and Dad decided to drive 4 hours north to stay with my grandparents in Illinois. We shut the water off at the houses and hoped for the best.

By Thursday afternoon, we had power back on at the office. Dani and Brandon got power back at their house by Friday afternoon. I stayed with them on Friday night while Amy enjoyed visiting her college friends in New York City.

Finally, by Saturday afternoon, the power was back on at Mom and Dad’s house. Since the temperature inside had reached 34 degrees, it took a few hours to bring it back to an inhabitable level.

All in all, we were pretty lucky. Several large branches came down at Mom & Dad’s house. Amy and I lost another tree in our new yard. However, none of the three houses received any damage from the storm (at least that we’ve been able to find).

I said it after the big storm last September, but we really do take the luxury of electricity for granted. You really cannot appreciate it until you have gone without it for an extended period of time. This last event was especially difficult due to the cold weather.

Thank God for the amazing efforts of the electrical companies all across the nation. We have seen electrical crews from Michigan, North Carolina, and Virginia (just to name a few). We are forever grateful for their efforts.