I live in Central OK. We had approx. 3/4 to 1 inch of ice on everything except the roadways. Strangley the ground temps were high enough that the roadways remained clear the entire time.

When I say 3/4 of an inch on everything, I mean it. It is difficult to explain how devastating the ice build-up has been.
I have lived in Oklahoma my entire life, I've seen my fair share of ice storms but 9 times out of 10, these are accumulations of sleet and snow. It's fun to play/drive on. But....this time there was no sleet or snow, just freezing rain and what an abomination that is.

At least 50% of the trees in the city are gone or will soon be. They either cracked in half at the trunk or split down the trunk into the ground like a peeled banana. At night is sounded like a warzone. It is really spooky. The most heavily damaged trees I've seen around town are Syccamores, Maples (that hadn't lost all of their leaves yet), and the poor poor Bradford Pear trees. I bet there isn't a single Bradford pear that survived.

Lots of streets were blocked for at least several hours before the clean-up crews could move the downed trees and power lines to the side of the road.

I've learned several lessons during this ice storm that I thought I'd pass on:

1. I was only without power for about 8-10 hours, but the temp in my house bottomed-out at about 62-degrees despite the 30 degree and below temps outside. My parents are still without power and their house is "uncomfortably cold" by their estimate. A co-worker that has been without power for going on three days said the temp in his house this morning was 42 degrees.
If you haven't seriously conscidered an alternate heat source...you should. I have a fireplace that I have neglected since moving into a new (to me) house and I haven't had it cleaned/inspected and therefore won't use it for fear of burning the house down. I also didn't have a good supply of dry seasoned wood on hand to make this a viable option for heating the house. I'll be taking care of these oversites soon! I'm also going to be looking into getting one or two of the Mr. Heater Little Buddies as an alternate portable heat source. I've been reading nothing but good reviews on these.

2. Good LED area lights (lanterns) and headlamps are life savers in an extended power outage. I was in the middle of upgrading my lanterns from florescents to LEDs when the storm hit. The LED lantens are great and run forever (i'm using the newer energizer LED folding lanterns - both the D-cell and AA-cell versions I got at Home Depot and Walmart respectively). I'd trade all but one of my expensive "tactical" lights that run for 20-minutes to 1-hour at high brightness for a simple relatively inexpensive LED headlamp that will run for hours/days. Having the use of both hands without having to hold a flashlight is a godsend! I have a Myo XP headlamp and really love it. It has good throw and a diffuser for area lighting. I plan on getting several of these headlamps.

3. When the power went out in my city. We were advised to begin "rationing water" as the power to the water pumps that supply water from the lake to the treatment facility to the water towers was down. The only water available in the city was on gravity-feed from the water towers. Thankfully power was quickly restored to the pumps...Don't forget to store emergency water at the house. You can't cook, flush a toilet, or drink without some pretty bulky water supplies. A couple of cases of bottled water aren't sufficient for any extended period of time.

4. My parents, even up until last week, made fun of my emergency preparations (even though we live in Oklahoma, the tornado capitol of the US). They aren't laughing now that they have been cold, without power, without water (they have a well), and little hot food or entertainment for over three days. But, even without having preps at the house and with a little brainstorming...we were able to come up with some work-arounds so they could be a little more comfortble. Remember that an outdoor gas grill can be used just like a gas range. You can heat/cook soups and cook on pots/pans that are oven-safe on an outdoor grill. Remember not to bring the grill indoors as there is a danger of carbon monoxide poisoning. They also put out buckets to catch rain water so that they would have water to flush the toilets with. Needless to say, they'll be making some emergency preps after this experience.

5. If you don't have it before the incident...you likely won't get it. Even though I was pretty well supplied, I stopped by the local Walmart to get a few odds and ends on the morning after the power went out. Most of the stores in the city were closed due to a lack of power (Sams Club, one of the Super Walmarts, banks, fueling stations, etc.) The camping isles were bare, no fuel, propane canisters, sterno cans, camp stoves, water storage containers, or anything. All of the bulk packages of batteries in the common sizes were all sold out. Bottled water...gone. Candles, in all but the obnoxious scents, were all sold out. The flashlight isle was bare. P.S. few if any remember how to run a store without power/computers.

6. Cell phones continued to work throughout the incident but some of the towers near me must have gone down as my reception dropped from 4 or 5 bars to 1/2 to 1 bar most of the time. Portable phones don't work when the power goes out...so have an older non-portable phone hooked up for use when there is no power.

7. Be sure to check on your elderly neighbors in emergency situations. They may not be able to care for themselves in an extended power outage. P.S. most of the ones I know are pretty pridefull and won't ask for help until it is too late. Remember their stories can help pass the time where there isn't any television/Xbox.

8. Speaking of entertainment. If you've got kids make sure you have some that aren't dependent on power.


These are just some of my observations. I hope our friends in the effected areas that are still without power are fairing well and keeping warm.

-Silent