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New England Weather Disaster

judith5bmontreal

15 years ago

My thoughts and prayers to all of you New Englanders who are suffering through this ice storm. The pictures on the newscasts up here are pretty terrible. I hope you will be getting your electricity back soon, and that there is not too much damage to your homes or gardens. Stay safe and warm.

Judith

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Comments (10)

jerijen
15 years ago
I've also been thinking this morning about the folks in New England.
All that ice, to us in SoCal an umimaginable fairyland, is clearly not so magical when you have no light, and no heat, in your home.

Jeri
celeste/NH
15 years ago
We finally got our power restored very late last night and I was thanking God because the temperature dipped below 10 degrees last night. As some of you know, my 85 yr. old mother who has Alzheimers and is very frail lives with us and is usually freezing even with the furnace blasting. We were facing another frigid night of shivering but thankfully the power came on in time for bedtime.
This is the largest single power outage in New Hampshire's history with more than 430,00 homes and businesses losing power. My heart goes out to those who are still waiting for their power to be restored. We were the only road in the vicinity without power...if we went only a quarter mile down the road all the houses were ablaze with Christmas lights. My roses looked breathtaking encased in ice and I wanted to get out there to take pictures but I didn't want to get EVEN colder by going outside...LOL.

Celeste
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Hello all, Sorry to hear about those of you who had damage and power loss. And more sorry to those we havent heard from yet who still are powerless. I live in shrewsbury and we went 48 hours without power. There are tons of trees down in my area and 7 power lines down on my little street. Thankfully the work crews removed the trees in the street and got power going...I myself am very happy with the level of help everyone has offered and impressed with the restoration of power in such a short period of time. My 2 year old and 5 year old were shockingly good throughout the whole experience. Absolutely not one single complaint about cold or boredom or lack of tv. We got a fire going and huddled in the living room. We said we were pretend camping and read books by candlelight and did crafts by the fire. My wife traveled south to buy box of joes for the work crews to stay warm and show our appreciation. When life gives you lemons.... I myself am only bummed about the plant destruction. I lost a beautiful lilac that was here for greater than 50 years (split in half and lying on the gound). My newly planted blue spruce fat albert is snapped in half (and this was a memorial tree for our dog who just died). And lots of limbs off the evergreens and maples and oaks in the back. Lots of work ahead means lots of firewood for next year. Any thought as to how to possibly save the blue spruce or lilac? My sympathies again to all who have suffered. This sort of event really makes you appreciate that we have electricity and power in the first place. Think of our ancestors and settlers....I am blessed to have my computer back and my cable and warm water and aahhh, a shower. sunshineboy
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judith5bmontreal
Original Author
15 years ago
Oh Celeste, I am so glad that you, at least, got your electricity back. I remember during the ice storm of '98, my mother was staying with us, and she too had trouble staying warm. We were lucky - the temps hovered just below freezing for the three days we were without power. Many people went a few weeks without. My friend and her children finally gave up and came to our house too. They thought they could stick it out and kept refusing the invitation. We only had a small place at the time, and there were people sleeping everywhere, but at least we were all safe and warm, with lots to eat.
You're right, Jeri, it really does look like a fairyland, but step outside and a huge, ice-encrusted branch can fall on your head, or your car. It is so beautiful to look at, but so scary at the same time.
Judith
jerijen
15 years ago
You're right, Jeri, it really does look like a fairyland, but step outside and a huge, ice-encrusted branch can fall on your head,

*** A news report I saw last night made that pretty clear.
A reporter, mike in hand, was just finishing a report on the danger of falling tree limbs.
At that moment, a mass of ice-crusted branches behind him cut loose with a roar.
The guy was showered with ice, but fortunate enough that the branches just missed him.

Jeri
ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
15 years ago
I can imagine the misery this must be causing and am especially worried about small children and old people who live alone. I hope this is over soon. My heart also goes out to the repairmen who must brave the elements to make repairs.

Ingrid
melissa_thefarm
15 years ago
Celeste, I'm glad you got your power back, particularly for you mother's sake, but for all of your family as well! I hope people who don't have power and may be without it for a while will take shelter with friends or family or in a shelter. I remember the ice storm and heavy snowfalls in western Washington when I lived in Olympia, I think it was 1996-97: spectacular, but what a MESS! And it wasn't nearly so cold there as it is in New England.

I'm saying a prayer for the safety of all the people who are without power, and for the power crews who are working to restore it.

Melissa
jim_w_ny
15 years ago
Looking back on 3 days without power it wasn't that bad.
Almost fun! Fire in the stove watching it endlessly, no TV, just candles. Left with only talking. My wife and I caught up on a lot of past memories. Especially me who has forgotten half of the past.

Water was the main problem. Washing dishes was a real challenge. Then there was the matter of water for the toilets. Thankfully we had some rain water stored in tanks. I was seriously thinking about fashioning a make shift privy!

Having said all that what a relief when the lights came on!
buford
15 years ago
My brother and good friends live in NH and were without power for days. Everyone is fine though.

Ice storms are tough. The last one we had here, I almost lost 4 or 5 pine trees. Luckily they were so weighed down, they came out of the ground and fell over rather than snapped. We actually still have some staked but most are ok now. And thankfully we have a wood burning FP because even down here during an ice storm, it gets very cold with no heat.
sammy zone 7 Tulsa
15 years ago
You have my sympathy. Last year we had no power for 5 days. Our house is rather open, and the fireplace is gas. We bought some indoor gas heaters, and used a boy scout cooking stove, but we were miserable.

I remember hearing the limbs break and crash to the ground. A neighboring school went back to classes even though most of the people did not have power, I so much feared that ours would go back, and I would have to return without being able to blow dry my hair. (That is a requirement for me.) I was so bored, and could not comfortably work in other rooms in the house but the living room.

Many churches in our area were inviting people to come in even for a short time if they wished. I wish we had gone over to our church for awhile just to get a little warm all over without blankets, since my church even invited people to bring in their animals.

We were so lucky also to have water. We were also lucky that about a year before, I had been concerned about the cost of insurance if something messed up our house and it was our fault. I paid to have a guy come out and cut some huge branches off of trees that could have possibly fallen on our house. Of all the dumb things I do, that ranks as one of the smartest.

I hope you all have relief soon, and don't have the nasty stuff we are sending you now.

Sammy
Terry Crawford
15 years ago
Celeste, I have been thinking about you and your family, especially about your mom. I'm so glad you posted and let us know you are OK.

Jim, good to know you are OK. 3 days is a long time; glad you have a fireplace to keep warm and spent time talking with your wife and talking about old times. We all need to take a break from our busy lives and reconnect with our spouse.

Ice storms are the worst; I'd rather have snow. Sammy, I think we're getting your storm; there's a ice storm heading our way Thursday nite. I'm heading out today to get some Ice Melt and gas to keep the generator fired up just in case the power goes out. A generator is a must here..if it's not ice, it's tornadoes.

And it's not even officially winter yet....
-terry

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