Double To A Million - Step 19 - Ice Storm
The area I live in was hit by a devastating Ice Storm starting Thursday night, December 11th, 2008. The electricity went out around midnight and we could not sleep because all you could hear was the sound of branches and trees falling every five to ten seconds. I am not ashamed to admit it was scary.
It was pitch black out so you could not see what was happening outside. All you could do was sit and hope a tree did not fall on your house. As the night progressed the crashing and snapping got worse. At times it sounded like loud gun fire going off all around.
Finally at around five in the morning, after hearing a loud sound I got up and started to look around, deciding whether to get dressed or not, when a loud crash occurred and something came down on the deck. At this point I got my wife out of the upstairs and we proceeded to go down to a safe part of the house. As soon as we got downstairs the sound of a tree breaking and hitting the house occurred. It sounded like it hit the garage.
It went on like that all night cracking, popping, crunching and smashing. Finally daylight arrived and we could access the damage. Although a lot of stuff came down we were fortunate in that nothing actually damaged the house. Unfortunately the ordeal was just beginning.
We tried to stay in the house, despite no electricity or heat or water and we lasted from Thursday until Sunday and then it was just so cold in the house we had to do something else. All the motels in the entire area were taken so we moved to my parents up north, in the next state.
Apparently our area was the hardest hit. When we were staying in the house we thought things weren't that bad, but we could finally get through the roads on Saturday and we went to my parents to visit and figure out what to do. On our way out I changed my mind about how long it was going to take to restore power. The damage was far more extensive then I could have imagined.
At first it seemed like it would be any moment. I called the electric company and they were saying Monday. Then after seeing the devastation I figured we wouldn't have power until at least Wednesday, if we were lucky. So that is when we decided to move out.
I came back Saturday and drained the pipes and the forced hot water heating system of all water as best I could. Freezing pipes would have ruined the house and cost huge amounts of money in repairs.
From Thursday to Sunday we had gotten about 4 hours of sleep so we were exhausted. We loaded up two cars worth of stuff to camp at my parent and headed there. We kept getting reports about when the electricity would be back. The time kept stretching out until after Christmas. After a while you start to think we would never go back home.
I was afraid any water left in the pipes would freeze or someone would break into the house and steal everything or worse tear the house apart for the copper pipes. There were many reports of things like this happening as well as people having their generators stolen, so you never knew what might happen leaving the house vulnerable.
Just to give you an idea of the destruction, which included downed trees and branches, telephone poles split in half and in thirds, downed power lines of all sizes, etc. I have included pictures of my house and one of the passable roads leading from my house. The other road I didn't get any pictures of because it was not passable and when it finally was I didn't have my camera.
The Govenor declared a State of Emergency and the National Guard came in to assist with helping people. Some people died because they used generators inside their homes and the carbon monoxide killed them. It has been a difficult time for everyone. The cold makes it impossible to stay in your home if you have no alternative heating source or a generator.
Here are some other pics and movies from other people my wife works with.
The power was finally restored on Wednesday at 1:00pm and we came back to try to get the house going. I managed to get everything going but after 7 hours could not get the upstairs heat to work. We feared it might be frozen pipes but I had a feeling it was air trapped in the pipes. We decided to not stay in the house that night as it was still too cold so the next day I came back with a plan on how I would try to get water through the system, it worked and now everything in the house is restored. Hurray!!
I have been trying to get the heat up in the house but it is taking awhile and in the mean time a big snow storm (One foot of snow) is hitting us now and another one is due Sunday. I am hoping we do not lose power. Many people are still without power, possibly till the end of the month.
In nearly 50 years this is the most devastating storm I have seen here in New England. My parent say its the worst they have seen as well. This includes the winter of 1978 or 1998 or the flood my Father went through in New Hampshire when he was a small child. His Mother with something like 11 children in tow held my Father over her head in very deep water trying to get to safety.
Present Stake: $2298.91
Motto: It is only "one" found penny.
Slogan: As Simple As Finding A Penny.
Regards,
Xinfinitum
This Doubling Blog is based upon the Doubling Plan "How to Double Your Way to a £Million in 28 Steps". It is an attempt to "Double Your Way to a Million" by going from one penny to one million dollars, starting from nothing. At the beginning you start by finding a penny and then double a penny until reaching $1,000,000.
D.T.A.M.P. - Double To A Million Plan
Labels: 2008, Crashing, Ice Storm, No Electricity, Trees
posted by Xinfinitum | 1:24 PM PermaLink
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