Friday, January 30, 2009

Winter Storm 2009 Update

Well, I think this one beat the "Worst Ice Storm In A Decade" forecast. At least for me. We're on day 4 with no power, and guess what? "American Idol" loses something when viewed on a 5 inch black and white portable TV in a living room where it's 40 degrees! They say my power could be out for weeks. I guess it could be worse though.


During the storm, it was hard to rest though the night as we heard that constant sound, "crack, crack, CRASH!" Tree limbs fell all around us and we prayed they would miss the house. Thank goodness they did, at least so far. It's a mess though. It will take a long time to clean up and get back to normal, but there are many things to be thankful for.

Thanks to the neighbor who used his backhoe to clear the road of enough trees and debris so we could get to town before the county road crews, who were swamped, could get to it. Thanks to those who volunteered to bring food, extra heaters and help in general to those without. Thanks to those who are continually checking on the elderly.


Thanks to those utility crews who have come in from out of town to help restore our power. They say, in some areas of Western Kentucky, the power could be out for up to 30 days. It's hard to describe the devastation, and even the pictures don't reveal the enormity of it all.



Thanks to my father-in-law, who lent me his chainsaw. I'll be putting it to a lot of use over the coming days. I've been doing meteorology for more than 25 years, and I've never experienced anything like it. For much fo the 1st 4 days there was no electricity, no phone service and no cellphone service in my county and much of Far Western Kentucky.

Thanks to WCMT in Martin, TN and their crew for broadcasting the most recent news about the storm aftermath and keeping us up to date. They been the best source for those of us in Fulton County. WPSD has also done a good job, especially Meteorologist John Champion, who did a great job with the forecast and warning people about the coming storm on Monday morning. Bridget brought up a good point as she wondered if they have battery powered TVs that receive the new digital format. The analog signal is due to end soon, and these little TV's are a lifesaver. I know our's has been.

Looking at this thing before it hit, I knew it could be bad, but many times, the storms don't pan out as bad as the computer models predict. This one did....and more! We want to get warm. We need food. We need a bath. I REALLY need a bath!!! All we can do now is hunker down, find someplace warm, and wish Godspeed to the utility crews who have rushed in to clean up this mess, and boy do they have a mess to clean up.

4 comments:

Cruise Mom said...

Amazing the amount of devastation this storm caused. Hope you get power back soon, thanks for finding a way to post an update so those of us out of the area can see what is happening.

Lew Jetton said...

Thanks! Maybe we can use this to get SOME information out. While the cities of Fulton and Hickman are mostly on now, Fulton County is still, at last report 100% OUT, as well as Hickman County. It's just overwhelming for the utility crews, but from what I understand, they're working hard and doing the best they can. Bridget and I drove to Tennessee and got showers today, as well as more water and gasoline. We'll keep doing the best we can and hanging in there. No use at whining or complaining. It truly is the WORST ice storm I've ever seen or been involved in, in my life. I'll be chopping up branches tomorrow, and for a while to come. It is nice that most of the businesses in Fulton are back on now, so we don't have to drive as far for the essentials. I went to Wal-Mart in Fulton today and they're back on-line and doing a heavy business with people looking for the staples and other survival goods. We got cold weather sleeping bags to help us get through the cold nights. It's tough, but we're learning a lot about surviving in difficult situations. We know things will get better in the next several days or weeks.

A New England Life said...

I know how you feel as we went through the same thing here in New England this past December. Our home was fortunate to only lose power 3 1/2 days but for our next door neighbors it was over a week!

Hopefully things will improve soon and the utility crews will get things on track. It's so difficult with the enormity of the situation. Some people here started threatening the workers and they had to post police at the local utility office. Hope that doesn't happen there!

Lew Jetton said...

The last report I got is that in Western Kentucky it could be up to 2 months before everyone has power. Obviously, I'm hoping they padded that estimate. It's hard to accurately describe the enormity of the devastation, though. We're hanging in there, because we have no other choice. No one is threatening power crews. We're thanking them, from the bottom of our hearts, and wishing them God's speed.