Ice Tales

[Samuari]

I have just returned to cyber space after a prolonged stay in the real world enforced by a blackout that was caused by 20 hours of freezing rain. Over night the worold became ice coated, glistening, beautiful. An occurence that is not too unusall here on the high plains, but this time it kept coming. Before it was over, the ice was up to 2 inches thick. trees were stripped of thier branches, if they were left standing at all, and most significantly, power was out for nearly 200,000 customers in Oklahoma alone.

My City of 55,000 was totaly dark, except for a few folks that had generators left over from Y2K, and a couple of merchants that had built natural gas fired generators into thier buildings. One of these was the only place that was able to pump gas for a 50 mile radius.

After 6 days now, 2500 poles have been replaced, and 70% of the town has power again, but there are rural folks that will not have service untill March. Sitting in the coffee shop you can hear many stories of generosity and kindness. My favorite is about a lady that refused to leave her home and go to a shelter. People would come by to check on her, knocking on her door, to rexcieve a rap or two on the window in return. On Monday, her 97th birthday, she was stirred to the strains of "Happy Birthday" and a donut with a candle in the center, and a thermos of hot soup.

I know that there a lot of you that have survived winter diasters lately. Let's hear your "Ice Tales".

 

[JennyOmanHill]

That's certainly a wonderful and heartwarming tale, Samuari!

Sorry to hear it's been so bad in your area. Our winter so far in NYC has been reduced to warm to freezing weather (very windy here today, 23 degrees with wind chill factor lowing the feel of the temp 10 degrees). So I don't recall too many snow/ice stories for many years.

However, this is another chance to mention what happened throughout this great City since September 11th! People/strangers hugging and crying with others. Elderly people being cared for by their neighbors. Firefighters and police officers getting acknowledged for a change, with our local firestation receiving free food, items and funds from the Broadway theatre community. It certainly showed how united we really can be here in this big metropolis.

Visitors and tourists who were "caught" here during that time were also most generous, and spent hours (and money) trying to keep the businesses in the area alive.

It's great to know that people do come through at critical times.

 

[Samuari]

Another story

My eldest daughter was nearly out of gas when the world turned dark. With no idea how long this situation would last, she desided to go to the one gas station that was still pumping and fill up. When she got there the line was 3/4 of a mile long. As she waited, she would notice folks getting out thier cars for a minute and then back in, after which the line would move up again. This went on for nearly an hour, untill she saw this same group of men pushing a car accross the street to a gas pump. They had pushed this woman a half mile, keeping her place in the line, so that she could get gas before they did, not knowing if the place would run out of gas before they got thier chance.

Its good to have nieghbors.

 

[T.H. Oughts]

Hoping the big thaw happens soon for you


I could tell you my ice tales but it might make you blush


*what's the bet STP opens this thread, lol*

 

[MissTaken]

Mmmm my money is on STP!


Ice tales: the ice storm of 98 which covered northern New York, Vermont and parts of Canada.

Ack! It wasn't enough that we had resorted to communal living with nothing but baby wipes to bathe with, my daughter was three weeks old. I was deeply into post partum coupled with sleep deprivation and I had a very bad tooth throughout the ordeal.


On the warmer side of things, teh community truly pulled together. People were helping one another out and as for me, it was a great kindness that my landlady allowed us to stay with her rather than go to a shelter.

We were without phone service for ten days and no power for six. Roads were closed while they removed the trees. I hope never to have to do that again!

 

[Cheyenne]

We had an ice storm in MAY about 12 years ago. The leaves were starting to bud already so it really did a lot of damage. I don't remember ever being without power for more than a day though.