Ice Storm

**Darlene** · 12-15-2008, 10:32 AM

Wow, what a weekend. Wondering how others here in the east fared. Our power went out Friday morning & came back on last night after dinner. Could ya hear us yelling Woohoo?:woohoo1:
The ice was something and it was so scary hearing trees crashing down all over. So glad we got rid of trees that could threaten our home. Temps got really cold Friday night and once again we were so glad we were prepared. We always keep extra gas on hand & our generator kept the blower on our wood burning stove going, powered our refrigerator in intervals, gave us light, juiced up our cell phones and even let us watch our tv,lol. Ours (generator) isn't a very powerful one so couldn't do the freezer but since it was full, we kept it closed & it kept everything ok for 3 days.

We cooked simple things from the pantry on our propane camp stove. Water from our artesian well ran slow but we were able to get water to do dishes, flush the toilet, bathe & cook with.

Checked in on neighbors & worked to clear debris together. Hubby Jack was so sweet he even made a bath for me.

I think he loves me.
Being prepared made this all just a minor inconvenience for us & that small Coleman powermate 1350 generator that cost us around $200 was & is one of our best investments ever.

Sadly some people lost their lives due to carbon monoxide poisoning and other weather related things. :sosad: Shelters are still open as many are still without power.
Clean up is going to take quite a while.

How did other Fvr's that went thru it fare? And are you prepared if power went out for numerous days where you live?

**Holly** · 12-15-2008, 10:49 AM

We were lucky we only got the snow not the ice.
We have 2 wood stoves and cook with gas . We have a gas generator
and plenty of food in the pantry.
We wouldn't have water to flush toilets but would melt the snow and use that.
We are as prepared as possible...
Glad to hear your safe Darlene.
My DS 's flight home Thursday night was canceled because of the ice in Albany
He finally got home Friday night

**zakity** · 12-15-2008, 11:55 AM

Oh man! I am so glad that you fared so well. Those ice storms are scary.

**VanVivCam** · 12-15-2008, 12:04 PM

Glad you all were able to get thru this OK. We had an ice storm a few years ago and Lexington was in horrible shape. We cooked on coleman stoves and was OK, but, I sure did hate not having a generator. I may talk to hubby about getting one.

**staciah** · 12-15-2008, 12:07 PM

Darlene,

Glad you were prepared. My mother is in Colonie and still without power. She said their house was 31 degree yesterday. They could see their breath. I told her about a portable propane heater for indoor use (we just purchased one for just this reason) She said she would look in to it but her husband and her are not into heaters or camp stoves.They would rather suffer than to purchase an item like that. They would never purchase a generator either. I guess they are scare of them.

Anyway, it's good to be prepared and makes you feel good that you can make it, doesn't it. Glad everything turned out good.

**homesteadmamma** · 12-15-2008, 12:20 PM

Darlene I was thinking of you and wondering if any other villagers were affected by the weather. We saw pictures of it last night on tv. Not a pretty sight. Is it cold there too like it is in the prairies? Glad to hear you were safe. Hope everyone else was too.

**brenda67** · 12-15-2008, 02:14 PM

Glad your family and home are okay Darlene..Where I live we had alot more flooding before the ice storm that caused us some major problems in my small little town..down the road from our house the roads looked like a river... I've never seen so much water verses road in all the 41 years I lived here..really scarey.. We were fortunate not to lose power like our neighboring town that got hit hard with the ice storm knocking down lots of power lines and massive loads of trees..I for one have comfort knowing that we have our generator outside in it's little house just waiting for us in the time of need when mother nature strikes her fury...I hope the remaining people without power get restored today..I also hope my kids have school tomorrow this is day 3 of no school..

**pinetree** · 12-15-2008, 02:15 PM

Glad to hear you are doing ok, saw some of it on the news. I've never been around an ice storm, thank goodness, it looked horrible.It must take along time to clean up from one of those storms.

**Michelle** · 12-15-2008, 02:30 PM

Thank goodness you were prepared, Darlene. I would have gone crazy w/o power for that long. I truly am spoiled.

We had the ice, and most of my town lost power until late yesterday afternoon. My brother's power was out from late Thurs night until Saturday night, and he only lives about a mile from me.

School was canceled on Friday, and a lot of schools in the surrounding areas didn't have school today either.

I am thankful it wasn't worse here, and I hope everyone here fared well.

**lgw** · 12-15-2008, 03:10 PM

We are still without power in New Hampshire. We lost power at 11 p.m. Thursday. We do have a generator so we have heat, showers, refridge, etc. And last night, DH broke down and bought some rabbit ears for the TV so he could watch the Patriots game. So now we have our local TV station and updates on the outage! Thankfully, more gas stations are coming back on line so we are not having to wait in line to get gas for the generator. And we have plenty of

!

**fixer** · 12-15-2008, 03:20 PM

We have ice coming in a few hours. It should not be as bad as a few years ago. It was the same storm as VanVivCam alluded to. We were out of power for five days. We really had little damage here but a few miles away looked like a war zone. We had a generator so we made it okay. The worst was taking cold showers. The temperature was bad enough but, since I get greasy and oily at work I just could not get clean. I added a gas range and a gad heater so they will work without power. For Christmas, my parents are giving me a crank powered radio. The biggest user of our battery stockpile was the radio. As If it was years ago, we would set in candlelight and stared at the radio. Here's to everyone getting the power restored in a timely manner and thinking about the men and women out in the elements working on the lines.

**Monner 1** · 12-15-2008, 05:31 PM

We lucked out and only got snow. I did have my grandchildren for the day since school was closed. We have a generator in case of power loss but so far so good. We had to go to Amsterdam on Saturday and the roads were good but there was ice on all of the trees but nothing like Schenectady, Albany and surrounding areas. I am glad all of you that had the ice storm are okay.

Monner

**JerryG** · 12-15-2008, 05:54 PM

We are just now getting rain that has been promised for days. It is quite cold in Phoenix AZ. If it was colder (it's about 40 degrees right now) we would have an ice rain. Lemme tell ya - I'd be SCREWED!! No power and no water??? No, I'd be in a shelter. I cannot install a generator where I live and altho I don't think I'd lose water (we lose power regularly in the summer but we still get water) I couldn't handle the cold. Another poster stated "31 degrees in the house"!!!!! Um, no, couldn't do that either. So be safe, keep warm and kuddos to all that are prepared.

On a side note - I worked all Saturday am re-doing a friend of a friend's roof so they'd be prepared for this rain. . . .I did my "good karma" thing so I wouldn't have to deal with an ice storm . . . I helped them prepare for rain. And my poor muscles feel it on every inch of my body.

**LynnLC** · 12-15-2008, 05:58 PM

I'm back after 4 days of no power. I was starting to go into heavy no internet withdrawals.

**IntlMom** · 12-15-2008, 06:00 PM

I was thinking about all our FVers with this storm,,,Thanks for checking in Darlene - have I missed any of Heathers posts - or are we still waiting to hear from her? (and everyone else.......