Ice Storm 2005....HELP!!!!!!!

[Sparky-Watts]

RE: Steering box, comment & question.

Power has been off since around 10am, just came back on, don't know for how much longer. We've had over 1 1/2 inches of freezing rain today and more is predicted, followed by snow of unknown depth. I'll post pics of the damage later, doubt power will be on long enough to do so now. Trees down all over town with power lines and transformers blowing. Two BIG limbs on roof. More later, keep us in your prayers. THIS IS VERY, VERY BAD!!!!!!!!

Eric

 

[southtj]

Stay warm and get prepared.

Keep us posted when you can.

 

[_(OIIIIO)_Jeeper]

Our prayers are with Ya!
...... think warm...it was 70 here in Arkansas today...come on down!

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

RE: Here we go - pregnant again!

We've dodged the bullet here near St. Louis so far, but it's very close and we're watching it closely. Hang in there, and stay safe.

 

[judge09]

I hear ya. Been through a bunch of nasty ones in 1994 we were without power for a week and half the trees in the neighborhood came down. I love that when power came on you went right to the computer. Very nice. Stay safe.

 

[mud4feet]

Keep you and yours snug and safe, Sparky. Watched the coverage on the news this morning........looks very nasty! We'll be keepin' ya in our thoughts.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

Thanks for all your prayers. I think the worst is over, or at least until the wind comes up. Power came on sometime around 10:30 again. We're fortunate for a city of 900 residents, because our city council back in the day decided to get their own electric distribution system. We buy our electricity wholesale from the big boys, then sell it for a small profit to the residents. That way it's much cheaper rates, and the city uses the little extra for special projects and to pay some of the other municipal bills. We don't have to wait for the big companies to come out and put things back together. Another great advantage is that our two (yeah, that's right, two) city maintanence guys have pretty much built the entire electrical grid, and know just where to go and what to do when power does go out. They worked till around midnight and managed to restore all power to the residents last night. They were back out at 6:30 this morning working to restore power to the businesses. Sunshine and I didn't do too bad, we've got some limbs down and maybe a bit of damage to the roof and one of the arbors I built for her. Others in town weren't so lucky. There was one minor house fire, lots of damaged cars and houses. I've got to get the chainsaw from my mom, as I loaned mine to my brother-in-law for similar damage at his place a while back. It's gonna be a long cleanup, as the limbs are still about 2" thick with ice, and more on the ground. The wind is supposed to be up to 25mph today, and that will bring down more, so it won't be safe to be under the limbs working. We're most likely going to have to cut down all but two trees on our place because of all the damage, they won't be wind-worthy anymore. And Lord knows we have our share of wind in Kansas!!!!

I'll be back later to post some pics, providing the power stays on and I don't get killed by falling limbs. Thanks again for all your prayers!!!

 

[Saurian]

RE: Flat Fender Conversion

That's an interesting idea; an independant city-owned power grid... Maybe the Heights wouldn't be in such financial stress if we had something like that...

Very glad to hear that you are OK, and that all should end up well... How many trees are you talking about?

 

[LadyJeepFreak]

I'll never forget the tree damage during hurricane isabal here last year. I thought we'd never get done cleaning that up. We were VERY lucky none fell on our house. I heard the coast of California had huge storms the other day too. One of my friends has a tree down on her car and garage there and is just digging out. They were promised another storm today. I know the coastal roads were washed out with flooding and rock slides. Ohio was getting a foot of snow today and yesterday as well. Our corporate offices are there. What a mess.


My thoughts are with you Sparky.
Lady

 

[Sparky-Watts]

Power kicked off again this morning around 10am, just after my last post. It just came on again about 10 minutes ago....right after we had hooked up our old gas stove for heat and food. It was down to 60 in the house, and it's 11 outside. Still snowing, but we've only gotten an inch or two and it's about over.

Saurian, I figure we'll end up losing 5 maples and a mimosa tree, pretty much leaving our place barren of trees, and costing about $100 a month more in A/C bills this summer.

 

[sicnik]

10.5 or 12.5's

We only got about 1/2" of ice in lyndon, and about 1-2 " of snow from what the wife said, I havent had a chance to look over the damage I had to drive 32 miles to work in this stuff at 0400 A.M.. You guys down south got hit alot worse than us I hope you all are safe, keep warm and good luck. :shock:
Nick

 

[Sully]

Stay safe! This is some serious weather! I can see more snow in the mountains here now than I have ever seen in them before. We are suposed to get more rain and that's exactly what I dont need. Will keep you in my prayers.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

New Years at Greenridge

Ya know, the crazy thing about all this? New Year's Eve, we set a record high temp of 72 degrees. 4 days later we get hit with the ice storm, today it's 5 degrees, and by the weekend, they say it's supposed to be back up in the mid-50's!!!! Any wonder why the suicide rate is so high in Kansas?!?

 

[judge09]

Your getting a taste of central NY weather. Except we have had plenty of days where all that comes in one day. 55 in the morning, 10 and snowing at noon, and then back to the 40s-50s.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

Finally got a chance to get some pics uploaded.

My neighbor's yard:

One of the huge limbs that landed on my garage:

My backyard shed:

Some of the lower limbs of the tree that didn't get as much ice, but still as big around as my finger:

My other neighbor's house....gonna need a roofing job here, it goes all the way into their living room:

Once the sun came up this morning, there was a surreal beauty all over town:

Always a silver lining, nobody injured, we still have a home, and God is still with us:

We've still got a long way to go to get things cleaned up and repaired, but our little town has seen much worse than this in the past. In the next couple of days, the temps will be back in the 50's, the chainsaws will be buzzing, and life will start to get back to normal....well, as normal as possible for this little burg! :wink:

 

[Sparky-Watts]

A few more that I missed. This is after a 50 mile trip in the freezing rain, the ice on the grill is about 1/2 inch thick. I wonder what my headlight covers would have looked like if the lights hadn't melted some of the ice:

My antenna was about an inch and a half thick:

Makes me glad I've got a garage:

This gives me a whole new appreciation for just how strong power lines really are, the full weight of this tree and all that ice is resting on the line:

 

[White]

```````For sale in NE Ohio````````

Still No Power here. They expect it to stay out for 1-2 more days.

 

[TwistedCU]

That one with the tree on it is telephone cable. Looks like the one accross the road is too.

I hate ice storms, they are nasty, cold, and deadly.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

Ran out of gas for the chainsaw, so decided to go get more....by way of the lake! One of my favorite wheeling roads was blocked like this for nearly a mile:

I tried several routes to actually reach the lake, but everyone of them was blocked like that. So, off to home along another good mudding road, where I encountered some prairie icebergs that couldn't quite sink the Wrangtanic:

It was pretty cool, I was driving along over a frozen flooded road when all of a sudden BOOOOM!!!!!!!!!! and I sank a foot with all four wheels. Just kept some steady RPM's and drove on through, like any good Jeeper would. Had a lot of fun playing on all the ice between here and there. Dropped tire pressure down to about 25 to get traction on it, though, otherwise I'd just sit and spin.

 

[Saurian]

XJ forum mods

You know, as horrible as ice storms can be, and with all the damage they cause, you have to admit that there are few things that look nicer than all the trees being covered with ice, and the morning sun shining through them like they're made of crystal... I always liked that...