Major winter storm

tonycondon said:
chip,
any idea if they got power there? dianas PM to me last night/this morning indicated they were about out of generator gas.

round two tonight...ugh.
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No power - it will be quite a while from the looks of things. They did get a generator but ran out of gas. Tom was having trouble finding gas to buy - everyone was out.

A couple more photos from Diana:
 

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Having been through a number of ice storms (we got 1-2 a winter in San Antonio that left the palm fronds broken and lying in the pool), I always found them pretty, but really nasty to deal with.

Went to WV yesterday to cut a Christmas Tree, which had a bit of ice on the branches. Roads were fine.
 
FlyNE said:
Felix,

I can appreciate the sentiment, but that statement would lead me to believe that you've never been through a true, honest to goodness, ice storm.

Here is what we had in Nebraska last year...

http://www.extremeinstability.com/06-12-31.htm
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We used to get one every few years back over in Europe. All the power lines there were underground, though, so at least you generally wouldn't lose power. Most houses also had a huge underground heating oil tank, so heat wasn't a problem, either.

Nice pictures!

Hope everyone makes it through ok. Good luck Diana, and thanks for the picture comparing me to a powerline! ;)

-Felix
 
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Very lite drizzle here today but we are supposed to get a lot more during the overnight. I am way up north and with luck may be just on the snow line.
 
FlyNE said:
Felix,

I can appreciate the sentiment, but that statement would lead me to believe that you've never been through a true, honest to goodness, ice storm.

Here is what we had in Nebraska last year...

http://www.extremeinstability.com/06-12-31.htm

Diana,

You and Tom take care of yourselves. I wish that there were something that I could do.

I'll keep all of the OK and MO people in my prayers.
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Those are some amazing pix! One comment sums it up rather well...so pretty but so destructive.
 
Son in Tulsa called. The ice storm has brought down even more limbs. He says it is really bad. There is a large limb resting on the power service line and expects that to break. I guess it is good we took down the largest limb over Thanksgiving. Most of Tulsa has no power (including them) and they are off to a hotel for heat. Daughter in Tulsa has no power either. Haven't heard from daughter in Ponca City.
 
That iced up biplane is a Christmas Card shot for next year!

Sorry to all those impacted by the storm. I'm thinking warm thoughts in your direction.

-Skip
 
kevin47881 said:
Those are some amazing pix! One comment sums it up rather well...so pretty but so destructive.
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My wife and I were driving home the day that they opened the interstate. It was one of the most beautiful natural phenomenons that I've ever seen...yet you knew that it was as destructive as it was beautiful. There were homes that went weeks without power after that storm. I suspect it will be similar for Tom and Diana.
 
I live about 20nm northeast of Diana and this is what it looks like here. I still have power at the house, but work has been out for two days. I have been off, but having to use vacation time. There has been one good thing out of this, I have had time to work on the remodeling of the basement.
 

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No sense staying at the house until everything is back to normal. Pack up and go to a warmer place. I have a guest room available.

Take care and keep in touch. Thanks for posting the photos also. Hope you get reconnected soon.
 
Aloha_Jim said:
No sense staying at the house until everything is back to normal. Pack up and go to a warmer place. I have a guest room available.
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I'll be there after my visit to the north pole (lapland) in January. It is going to take three day of flying to get the arctic circle to the big island but I'll be looking forward to warmth. What island are you on?
 
AuntPeggy said:
Most of Tulsa has no power (including them) and they are off to a hotel for heat. Daughter in Tulsa has no power either. Haven't heard from daughter in Ponca City.
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I called PSO in Tulsa (Mooney buddy is upper management), they have over 200k people without power in the area. Keep in mind that PSO is bigger than just Tulsa. PSO is stating that it might take a week to get power restored to everyone. They have 500 crews out of state coming in.

I called area hotels and every one of them is booked except for the ones without power. So, I wish your family luck.

KTUL is out of power. They are getting daily shipments of juice to keep the generators in the tower and approach up. However the terminal is shut down for two days (approx).

Wife called this morning. They went back home, she just wanted to be in her own home. It was 62F in the house. So she built a small fire with pinon wood. LOL and it raised it a degree. Like that was going to do much for her, she needs some real wood. So our best friends called and begged her to come back and stay. She gladly said yes.

I made it out of Willow Run, MI and over to DuPage this morning. Willow Run was horrible on the ice. Taxing out, I couldnt keep much control so I aborted and tower closed the runways again until the sand and chemical trucks to treat. DPA the runway is clear but the taxi/ramps are horrible. Had moderate clear and rhime ice from 4000 msl down. You all know how Chicago keeps you low forever here. So that was lovely. I should get home tomorrow night and be able to be a man and take care of my women!
 
I'm about 60 NM south of Tom and Diana. Here's what we were doing here in Arkansas today. :D :yes: :D
 

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Just talked to my son in OKC, no damage yet but no power either. They're out looking for a motel but like Tulsa, if they have power they don't have any rooms. A nice 69 deg here in East Tennnessee after the fog burnt off. That's one of the reasons we moved here. Did the upside down in the ditch thing once, That was enough. Ya'all stay safe.
Ron
 
Looks like we need to arrange a POA cleanup crew to head to Diana's and Tom's house this weekend, chainsaws in hand...
 
Ice grass? Sounds like a new summer treat for the kids... from the sixties! :)

It sure was nice here, today. Highs in the 70s!
 
Aloha_Jim said:
No sense staying at the house until everything is back to normal. Pack up and go to a warmer place. I have a guest room available.

Take care and keep in touch. Thanks for posting the photos also. Hope you get reconnected soon.
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Hey Jim! Welcome to the forum! Everybody, Jim is Tom's son. :)

Thanks for the offer to let us come stay. As you can imagine, it would take dynamite to get us to leave here now.

We lost the rest of the redbud tree this afternoon and the basketball pole is about to go. We still hear limbs crashing outside tonight. We're now under a boil order, but at least we still have water.
 
I have about 3/4 inch of ice in the pecans trees in the back yard and lost several good size branches. Trees and power lines down all over the place. It's still misting and freezing out and I've seen some fairly spectacular brillaint blue power flashes tonight. Y'all please be careful out there! Q
 
wby0nder said:
Geez! Standing by...
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Matt, you wouldn't believe the nightmare in our yard. We can't even walk out there now, there are so many tree limbs all over. And they keep falling, so it's not safe to stand out there. We constantly hear crashing and exploding trees in the woods around us. One of the limbs is on the roof, but it didn't break through.

The governor was here (well, not HERE, but a few miles up the road) and this is now a disaster area. Our electric company still has 56,000 homes without power, and we're about the last on their list since we are in the boonies.

Thanks everyone for your kind words and thoughts. You guys are great! :)
 
diana, i hope that you have gas furnace and stove/oven? and a lot of propane?

take care out there...
 
It just started with the freezing rain here about an hour ago. Everything now has a nice glaze of ice on top of what we got last weekend. I'm guessing that I won't have power by the end of the night.:dunno: TAF shows no end for the freezing rain through at least 6 PM tomorrow.
 
tonycondon said:
diana, i hope that you have gas furnace and stove/oven? and a lot of propane?
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We have natural gas for the furnace and stove tops. Got the furnace and fridge hooked to our new generator, plus a few lights. Every once in awhile, I hook up my computer and use the old dial-up. My fish are hooked up to a battery for their air pump.

It's sad to look outside now...looks like a tornado went through here. Just thinking about all the clean-up is depressing.

We still have more ice coming, and I offered to work home health tomorrow driving around in the boonies to see patients. What was I thinking???????

tonycondon said:
take care out there...
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Thanks Tony. :) The rest of y'all, be careful out there! And again, thanks for your concern.
 
oh jeez diana, be careful on the roads if you go out tomorrow.
 
I experienced a storm like that once about 18 years ago here in central Iowa. I lived in a cabin surrounded by forest. The sounds were amazing. It is a unique and terrible and awesome force to witness Then the sun returns and it's dazzling beauty all around. Weird. Tragic for the trees though many of them can recover especially with a little help. A lot of people cut down trees that are perfectly salvageable

Sounds to me like you folks are doing just fine. I understand not wanting to go somewhere else. As long as you can stay warm and charge the laptop and cell phone occasionally why leave?

I just checked outside at my wifes request. We have a teenage daughter out tonight. Based on the reported temps I expected sleet but it's raining and it's freezing when it hits. I guess the cold layer down here is really thin. It's only in the mid 20s! Cripes, I say, tell the girl to stay put and forget driving home tonight. I've already gotten her out of the ditch twice this month.

MM


Diana said:
Matt, you wouldn't believe the nightmare in our yard. We can't even walk out there now, there are so many tree limbs all over. And they keep falling, so it's not safe to stand out there. We constantly hear crashing and exploding trees in the woods around us. One of the limbs is on the roof, but it didn't break through.

The governor was here (well, not HERE, but a few miles up the road) and this is now a disaster area. Our electric company still has 56,000 homes without power, and we're about the last on their list since we are in the boonies.

Thanks everyone for your kind words and thoughts. You guys are great! :)
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We had a series of ice storms here in 1996. Took out the power and it stayed out for 10 days. Tree branches breaking off all over the place. Tremendous light show across the inlet as power transformers popped. People on the main street thought we had electricity because our street lights were still lit. Nope, they're gas. No more electricity than they had. Heck, we were on the same medium voltage feed as they were. And it was down for the count with snapped poles.

I feel for you all. BTDT and I don't want to do it again. Hawaii in April is sounding real good right now. We'll be on Kauai for a week.
 
I am on the ice side of the storm since about 3am last night. Nothing falling down yet but everything is covered in ice. There are 5 very large trees right next to the house and on windy days a lot of stuff comes down. If anything huge does drop I just hope it is in the backyard.
 
we are forecast to get .7 inches of ice and then another inch of snow.
 
heh theres a kid i work with out in the parking lot under my window. he has a front wheel drive toyota i think. pulled it out of the garage, cant get it up the driveway. now he cant get it back in the garage.
 
Son in Tulsa said the trees in our yard totalled one car and damaged the other. The chain link fence is destroyed. The neighbors have a hole in the roof over the living room. Son & wife left about 2:30 am and are staying with his in-laws. It was a challenge to just get the 2 blocks from the house to the nearest major street, driving around broken trees in the road. There is no electricity at the in-laws either, but they have heat. When he called last night, they were making coffee by heating water in the barbecue and spooning it over coffee grounds. I asked him when he thinks they can get back to the house, to please open the water spigots in kitchen and bathroom. He's been told not to come to work, but to be a phone contact for employees since his phone is rechargable. After power is restored to the city, it will be up to homeowners to get the power lines repaired to the house. No telling how long it will take to get someone to come out. We'll bring a chain saw with us when we come for Christmas. Son says the stores are all out of chain saws (except the electric ones) and generators. Food is in very short supply in the stores. He says he isn't scared, but his voice was pretty intense.
 
smigaldi said:
That could be you next
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no problems getting to work. raining pretty good here, a tad warm for it to freeze right away but it will get there eventually. worst part was standing in the rain scraping nearly 1/4 inch of ice off my car. front wheels were in about 2 inches of water, thankfully that wasnt frozen!

trip home from work...well, we'll see i guess.
 
AuntPeggy said:
He says he isn't scared, but his voice was pretty intense.
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Peggy, I get back in tonight (9pm) from DPA if the weather willing. Right now the TAF are showing it's doable. My wife is in Bixby with friends that should be family (www.bahitch.com). The guy that owns this is my bestfriend. They are warm. The wife was smart enough to drip the faucets before she left. We live on the extreme west side so it might be a while before we get power also. At least our power lines are buried. Peggy, if you were to go out west on 51st for about 10 miles you would hit our house. If he gets jammed up give me a call if you still have my cell phone number. Right now you just need heat, food, and water. Everything else is gravey. I had a trip to Little Rock for family this weekend that I have cancelled. I need to get heat in my house and the girls back in. I gotta find some wood when I get home. After that, Chad will probably get the fire truck started and see if I can help. It has a 75 foot hydraulic ladder, and enough power to pull trees.
 
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