YIKES! "Historic" Blizzard to Hit East Coast U.S.

[redzinger]

There was a light dusting of snow on top of the Surrey Hills today. Roads clear though wet.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

That was some blizzard...closed New York City...for what?...5 inches, when they thought they were getting the 18 incher.

 

[3113]

Well, I'm disappointed. I was hoping for all kinds of dirty stories about snowbound, cabin-fever-crazed Northeasterners having nothing better to do but (or needing to keep warm by) trying new ways to go at it.

 

[JackLuis]

How about a character, Limp Blizzard?

Sort of Like Moist Von Limpwig, In Pratchett's Going Postal?

 

[SweetWitch]

Milk I can understand, but shouldn't one just buy plenty of flour and be prepared to bake bread? If it's two weeks snowed in, one has time for that

My two bread machines are currently making themselves useful.

Baking? That's work!

My thing is about milk is if you lose power its going to go bad anyway....

Um, cooler, snow? Works quite well.

 

[YoursSINSerely]

I don't ever want to ever live through the ten days without power that I lived through during the October storm. My neighborhood was like a war zone. It wasn't fun. Not only did I lose a whole bunch of food, but I had to throw it all away...stinking mess. After that, I had to shop for everything all over again. Things you take for granted; ketchup, mustard, olives. It was exhausting..just staying with relatives was exhausting, as well. Then, I had to sit and make a list for the insurance company to claim the loss. Luckily, I had taken a picture of the inside of the fridge and freezer. The adjuster had the balls to ask me if I had really thrown away all of that booze. Of course, I did. You have to keep Bailey's refrigerated! I'm not stupid.

 

[SweetWitch]

I don't ever want to ever live through the ten days without power that I lived through during the October storm. My neighborhood was like a war zone. It wasn't fun. Not only did I lose a whole bunch of food, but I had to throw it all away...stinking mess. After that, I had to shop for everything all over again. Things you take for granted; ketchup, mustard, olives. It was exhausting..just staying with relatives was exhausting, as well. Then, I had to sit and make a list for the insurance company to claim the loss. Luckily, I had taken a picture of the inside of the fridge and freezer. The adjuster had the balls to ask me if I had really thrown away all of that booze. Of course, I did. You have to keep Bailey's refrigerated! I'm not stupid.

I'm lucky in that I have an extra fridge in the garage, as well as two freezers. When the tornadoes hit here in 2006, the entire county was without power for 14 days. It was March, and winter set back in with a vengeance. There came blizzards and ice storms and misery. The husband wanted to get a room in a hotel that wasn't damage by the storms, but I refused. I wasn't about to leave my home, let the pipes freeze and burst or have the place robbed. My in-laws were in the one small pocket of homes that still had power, so we shipped the princess off to them and I kept the fireplace going day and night, and the gas stove burners on.

There was ice and frost on all the exterior walls and we kept the fridge in the garage open to the cold elements and snow in the freezer, so we lost very little. Whatever did thaw, I cooked up and even canned to preserve. What the hell else did I have to do? I think I went through every book in my extensive library and several cords of wood. As one of the few people who still had firewood left at the late date in the winter season, people were constantly hitting me up for donations to their heating needs. I gave a truckload to a woman who was 8 months pregnant and living with her disabled father. People were selling the stuff off tailgates and making a killing.

When the lights came back on, I was certainly ready for it. Took a week just to get the house properly clean again.

 

[YoursSINSerely]

I'm lucky in that I have an extra fridge in the garage, as well as two freezers. When the tornadoes hit here in 2006, the entire county was without power for 14 days. It was March, and winter set back in with a vengeance. There came blizzards and ice storms and misery. The husband wanted to get a room in a hotel that wasn't damage by the storms, but I refused. I wasn't about to leave my home, let the pipes freeze and burst or have the place robbed. My in-laws were in the one small pocket of homes that still had power, so we shipped the princess off to them and I kept the fireplace going day and night, and the gas stove burners on.

There was ice and frost on all the exterior walls and we kept the fridge in the garage open to the cold elements and snow in the freezer, so we lost very little. Whatever did thaw, I cooked up and even canned to preserve. What the hell else did I have to do? I think I went through every book in my extensive library and several cords of wood. As one of the few people who still had firewood left at the late date in the winter season, people were constantly hitting me up for donations to their heating needs. I gave a truckload to a woman who was 8 months pregnant and living with her disabled father. People were selling the stuff off tailgates and making a killing.

When the lights came back on, I was certainly ready for it. Took a week just to get the house properly clean again.

Nice that you have a wood stove and gas to cook on. I have neither. After our storm, it warmed up, but not enough to sleep in the house, and still too warm to keep the food in the fridge cold. I think the house was hovering around 50 degrees. While waiting for the power to come back on, I still had to go to work. They, of course, had power. Go figure!

Looks like we all do what we gotta do and make it through. Happy to know the princess was well taken care of.

 

[Hypoxia]

Two winters ago was bad here in the central Sierra Nevadas. We were snowed in for a week with intermittent power and no road plowing, and then we were snowed out for a week with no power -- had to stay at the in-laws with no water but snowmelt, which meant sponge baths, and buckets to refill the toilets. Hasn't been so bad since.

Years before, closer to the coast, we had two storms-of-the-century in two months. Our funky hill became an island when the Russian River flooded. How to deal with power outages? The hilltop community had freezer-thaw parties. Everyone brought whatever was about to spoil to a designated home for mass BBQ-ing, feasting, wine-bibbing, etc.

 

[SweetWitch]

Two winters ago was bad here in the central Sierra Nevadas. We were snowed in for a week with intermittent power and no road plowing, and then we were snowed out for a week with no power -- had to stay at the in-laws with no water but snowmelt, which meant sponge baths, and buckets to refill the toilets. Hasn't been so bad since.

Years before, closer to the coast, we had two storms-of-the-century in two months. Our funky hill became an island when the Russian River flooded. How to deal with power outages? The hilltop community had freezer-thaw parties. Everyone brought whatever was about to spoil to a designated home for mass BBQ-ing, feasting, wine-bibbing, etc.

That's a fun way to handle things.

 

[Handley_Page]

I gave a truckload to a woman who was 8 months pregnant and living with her disabled father.
People were selling the stuff off tailgates and making a killing.

When the lights came back on, I was certainly ready for it. Took a week just to get the house properly clean again.

A very neighbourly thing to help the pregnant lady.
Quite the reverse for the others (perhaps the 'killing' paid towards replacement food?)

Good Morning, Molly.

 

[Hypoxia]

That's a fun way to handle things.

And we had those freezer-thaw parties twice a day sometimes. Too many calories? Not when you had to walk the hill to get there and back. No just sitting around watching TV, nope. You get to know the neighbors, too.

One neighbor was a construction contractor with a wheeled generator. With donations of fuel, he took the gen to houses whose residents NEEDED power to charge medical devices, keep freezers frozen, etc. It was a community thang.

A community is people interacting, not just being. I lived in a commuter suburb with little neighborliness before, during or after a disaster. And I've lived in real communities where people actually walk around and talk to each other. Guess which feels better? Guess which handles crises better?

 

[SweetWitch]

A very neighbourly thing to help the pregnant lady.
Quite the reverse for the others (perhaps the 'killing' paid towards replacement food?)

Good Morning, Molly.

Don't get me wrong. They weren't gouging people. They asked for appropriate prices for their wares. They just were able to sell enough to make for a happy spring. Good people doing good and making a living. It's all good.

The pregnant woman didn't have any money and could not load the wood in herself. It would have been too difficult to move her father, his wheelchair, medications and other needs as well as her over-gone state to the tornado shelter, which was at a local high school. Could you imagine being that far gone, with a father in a wheel chair, living in a gymnasium with 300 other families? I was worried for her and helped where I could, because I remembered too well being in her condition.

And we had those freezer-thaw parties twice a day sometimes. Too many calories? Not when you had to walk the hill to get there and back. No just sitting around watching TV, nope. You get to know the neighbors, too.

One neighbor was a construction contractor with a wheeled generator. With donations of fuel, he took the gen to houses whose residents NEEDED power to charge medical devices, keep freezers frozen, etc. It was a community thang.

A community is people interacting, not just being. I lived in a commuter suburb with little neighborliness before, during or after a disaster. And I've lived in real communities where people actually walk around and talk to each other. Guess which feels better? Guess which handles crises better?

Sounds like a small town. I loved the community of living in a small town.

 

[_Lynn_]

Blizzard-like conditions here on the lakeshore, with wind gusts over 40 MPH. Visibility varies from a few car lengths to zero. Another four to eight inches of snow predicted for tonight on top of the six from this morning.

 

[Hypoxia]

Sounds like a small town. I loved the community of living in a small town.

We lived in the Rio Dell part of Forestville from 1989-2002 and loved it, hated to have to move away. Rio Dell was one of a series of neighborhoods on adjacent Coast Range hilltops and canyons branching off the Russian River, all quiet walk-around places. Politically liberal, and active, with typically 95+% voter turnout. Not a rich area but not broke either (except for river rats stuck down in the flood zone). Many of the hill houses were old vacation shacks upgraded for full-time living as the Bay Area metastasized. The 'town' was a mish-mash of hamlets strung together along River Road, a two-block business district, and scattered farms and wineries. Damn, we miss it! Can't move back, though.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

And tomorrow will be another day that keeps me from work because of ice and snow, when all I really want is hours of paid work...

 

[3113]

Blizzard-like conditions here on the lakeshore, with wind gusts over 40 MPH. Visibility varies from a few car lengths to zero. Another four to eight inches of snow predicted for tonight on top of the six from this morning.

And tomorrow will be another day that keeps me from work because of ice and snow, when all I really want is hours of paid work...

I've started a new "YIKES" thread for all this latest brouhaha.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

That topic is about the midwest

 

[Carnal_Flower]

Beautiful outside. 6-7 inches of heavy snow. Ice forming everywhere. Nice day to stay IN BED.

 

[Hypoxia]

That topic is about the midwest

Yup. Very provincial. Hey, how's the weather in Hungary right now?

 

[3113]

That topic is about the midwest

Which is moving East