It's not freezing cold, which is better than good. We rarely get below freezing and the chances of rain during that time are pretty slim, although it does happen.
In the late 90's, we had an ice storm. Before it was over, the ice took a heavy toll on trees and power lines. For a week, I didn't have electricity, except for a small generator, which was only good for a few lights and a small space heater.
The entire event was far from pleasant. Heating bottled water on a colander - with a candle -was hardly a soaking bath, although it was far better than no bath. My wife and I would take shifts: one would sleep and the other would keep an ear on the generator to keep it fueled. For the week, I never slept more than a few hours at a time and the final deficit required a 16 hour "nap" to recover and forget about cutting live oak branches in the night to preserve my electrical service drop.
When it was all over, I helped a friend remove two large trees from his house, which made me count my blessings. They'd awoken when the trees crashed into the house while they were sleeping. One tree had missed their son's bed by a few feet. I can only imagine the feeling of surveying the damage with only the dim light of a flashlight.
So it's cold, but far from cold enough to make me worry. I know some people are living what I lived years ago, and I don't envy their experience.
Ice storms are the worst. When I lived in Kansas we had an ice storm that took out our power for 6 nights and 7 days. My daughter was one month old at the time and we were seriously concerned about keeping her warm. We didn't have a generator or a fireplace so we had to stay in a hotel.
ReplyDeleteSo, ironically, living in the great white north is better. We tend to get a lot of snow, but not so many ice storms. And, knowing inclement weather is the norm up to 6 months out of the year, one prepares more carefully for the worst. You can bet that Leif and I insist on keeping a working generator with a week's worth of gas on hand just in case.
Hope you all make it through the rough weather without serious incident!
Live oaks are a popular tree around here. They never shed their leaves, so they accumulate enough weight to snap huge branches, or topple due to their relatively shallow root structure.
ReplyDeleteAfter the last ice storm, the live oaks, and pines, looked worse than after they were hit with 110 mph winds during hurricane Rita.