Thank You:
*Faith Designs
*Heartlight.org
*Diaryland

Navigate:
*Latest
*Older
*Notes
*Profile
*Rings
*Friends

Extra Stuff:
*family pics
*myspace


Okay, so I may not be the most interesting read and I may not say anything that you don't already know but this diary is mainly for myself. I enjoy sharing it with others, particularly my close friends so they know what's happening in my world, but its still mainly for me. I love to type out my thoughts. Its a great break from my otherwise hectic day. And I love reading over old entries and seeing how much life has changed. So enjoy the read but try not to be too critical.

The Ice Storm x 3
January 18, 2007 - 9:17 a.m.

One crazy thing after another. Last week it was trying to get Mari & Cody all packed up and ready to move down to Texas. This week we have power outages and severe weather. It feels like things will never slow down around here.

Friday afternoon an ice storm moved into the Ozarks. We'd already had one ice storm this winter (the first I'd ever witnessed) so I was prepared... or so I thought. I knew they were talking of this storm being worse than the next but our media is also great at ensuing panic on the public so I didn't hold too much stock in it. I knew we'd get ice, some might lose power. We probably wouldn't be able to drive around but that would be about it. Boy was I wrong!. The first of three storm systems moved in mid-afternoon on Friday. The temperature had been slowly dropping all day and was sitting right around freezing when it hit. As we went about our evening, the lights flickered every once in a while. I took notice, but not much. Around 9:30 it started occurring frequently so, as a precaution, we gathered up the matches and candles and then turned in for the night. Around 11pm as Paul was sound asleep, there were a couple flashes followed by a popping sound and the lights went out. I have to say that is the darkest I have ever seen it in Springfield. By Saturday morning it was only 54 degrees in our house and 90 percent of Springfield was without power. Paul and I loaded up Haidyn in the car and went in search of a warm eating establishment. As we drove through town, we were amazed at the amount of devastation the storm had caused. The mobile home park behind our property was a wreck with downed tree limbs blocking the residents from leaving the area by car. There was even an uprooted tree in our neighbor's back yard. All through town it was the same - no power, downed power lines strung across roads and houses, tree limbs and in some cases whole trees laying across roadways and vehicles and some, resting partially in homes. It looked like a tornado went through.

We drove for about 20 minutes before coming across a restaurant that wasn't either out of power or jam packed with people doing the same thing we were... looking for a hot meal. After eating, we headed back home to see if the power had been restored. When it was still off and the temperature had already dropped in the house by 4 degrees, we decided to pack up what we could and head up to Mom & Dad's as they still had power and did not have the damage to trees and power lines as we had in Springfield. Mom's house was nice and warm when we arrived midday on Saturday. Throughout the day, we listened as tree branches cracked and broke from the trees due to the extreme weight of the ice that was forming on them. Dad and I went around the property, taking pictures of the frozen plants, trees and fences. Sunday morning was quite cold and met with more rain. Dad, Paul and I went over to a neighbor's to remove the branches (some quite large) that had fallen across their drive way so that they could get out if need be. It was bitterly cold and a bit strenuous as there were so many trees damaged by the ice. By this point, there was over an inch of ice around most things. We were again amazed at how much damage the ice was causing to the trees. We've had ice storms before, bad ones even. But they have never damaged the trees in this area the way they were doing this past weekend. Between 12 & 2pm, the electricity went out at the house. Paul called in to work as the possibility of us being able to return home that night was pretty slim. We decided to stay one more night at Mom & Dad's as they had a generator that could be used to heat the house. Some time that evening, we went out in search of fuel for the generator and found that a lot of stations were without power. In fact, a good part of Laclede county, specifically those areas outside of city limits, were without power or water. The evening was spent in relative silence (except for yours truly who can't stand the quiet). We awoke Monday morning with a bitter chill on us. Mom was beginning to become restless with the situation. After listening to the news and hearing that it would take 5-7 days at the best to restore power to the area, we decided to take a chance and head back home, with Mom, Dad & the dogs accompanying us. We would take the generator down and hook it up to our furnace as it would do a lot better at heating this house than theirs. We were overjoyed to see that we had power when we returned to our house Monday afternoon. So many around Springfield were still without power - including the mobile home park just behind our back yard - but God had blessed us with electricity & running water.

It is now Thursday. Most of Springfield is still without power. Since Monday, the temperature has plummeted. The guage sits close to 0 each night. Most of our friends without power have purchased generators to help warm their homes but they are still without water. Their yards look like war zones. We have driven around the area, both in Laclede & Greene counties, and have taken numerous pictures. If the houses were as damaged as the trees, it would look like frozen pictures of the Katrina aftermath. That is not by any means an exaggeration. I will be posting the pictures up in the next couple of days for you all to see. The damage is just incredible.

Mom and Dad are still without power and may be through at least the weekend. Dad goes back up there each morning to run the generator in an attempt to keep the house (and the water pipes) from freezing and causing more problems. Three trees have been completely uprooted from the ground by the weight of the ice. Nearly all of the trees around their property have sustained minor to major damage. The continued snowfall has compounded the problem. It will take days to clean up the debris left behind from this storm at my in-laws. I'm sure that it will take weeks or months to clean up all the damage that has been done across the state.

With all the craziness that is going on around us, I am so thankful that our electricity was only out for 3 days. I'm thankful that we are able to offer a warm place for Mom & Dad to stay until they get power again. God has truly blessed us. I have never seen anything like this. You read on the news of other people suffering because of harsh weather but, other than the occasional tornado, nothing really ever happens here. With over 375 National Guard assisting in the state of Missouri and over 290,000 people still without power, this is by far the worst natural disaster (aside from the '89 earthquake that I went through) that I have seen. It is awesome to see how, in the middle of all this crumminess, people are reaching out to help each other; Someone you would probably never otherwise talk to assisting so that the roads can be cleared, the electricity can be restored and life can go on like it always has in its fast-paced, hectic way of life that we've created for ourselves.

A Heart In Turmoil - July 25, 2007
Still My Baby Girl - July 24, 2007
Aaaaggghhhh! Stessful Summer! - July 23, 2007
Jumping Through Hoops - July 20, 2007
A Vacation from Vacation - July 17, 2007

<<== || ==>>