I was in the heart of the 1998 ice storm. There had been many deadly accidents of trees falling. Even walking downtown near high rise building was a hazard and if I remember, they closed some streets for that reason.

I was really worried about the trees that were all bent and breaking. It was a surrealistic apocalyptic vision. But actually nature has an amazing capacity to recover.

One lesson I learned is to stock up on candles before such an event happens. There was quickly a candle shortage and merchant quadrupled the prices. Same for batteries, firewood, gasoline and other goods. We would rage that no one should be permitted to profit from the misery of others...

Living in a studio, I had to bug out to join relatives that had a fireplace. But sometimes it was a better idea to join a public shelter because many fireplaces where not designed to withstand a constant use like that and their home caught on fire.

NO kidding Blast, this is flyover country..if the same number of people in NYC had no power, it would be a national disaster...but like the song says, "A country boy can survive."

I'm on day three with no power, well prepared compared to some. I am having hot meals while I spoke to a guy at work today who had PB and crackers last night for dinner.

Some of the elderly are especially vulnerable. My wife works with one who as total electric except for one of those fake fire places that are gas. Sent her a campstove and heater today with some candles and lighter and fuel for both. Maybe it will help.

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

Silent,

Excellent post! Here in Houston ice storms are deemed to be very, very rare and I've never given serious consideration to staying warm. Your post has me re-evaluating my preps.

-Blast

I am up here on the edge of the storm, N of Chicago, S of WI.
We had a good ice storm on the freeze line, but our timing was good and 1/2 in.of rain mostly fell "wet" onto 6 inches of snow cover. We also got lucky with little wind. The trees are all still covered, but just above freezing temps helped lighten the tree load this PM.
I am home alone,as the DW is off on business, so I had another chance to reprioritize my needs. Losing power would shut down my sub pump, leading to a battle royal between rising water in my drain tiles and dropping temps. My personal comfort would have to take second chair to fighting that battle.
I did pat myself on the back for having enough dry firewood to ride out most short term issues since it is early in the burn season. I even built a fire last night, starting with 3 dry logs, then moving onto some seasoned, but now wet firewood.
The cat looked up from his place near the crackling fire and said "Nice job..." or so I think if I read his cat smile correctly.
I would have been disappointed if I had needed the generator I have so far not bought. The neighbor I talk preparedness with has one, but he would need it if we were both stuck.

I have had similar experiences to many of these. Falling limbs don't "snap" or "pop," when they break off, they BOOM!!! I've never been in a warzone, but that's what I thought of with the intermittent concussion sounds going off for days.

Those big, thick, sheets of ice can also slide off roofs. When your car begins to warm inside or even when your dark roof shingles begin to warm - KA-BOOM! Those sheets of ice are big, heavy, SHARP, and deadly. The most dangerous time is as things start to melt. In my town, one big chunk of ice came off the tower at one of the TV stations and went right through the roof of the station like a rocket. (no one was hurt)

Heat remains my biggest challenge. I have a fireplace, but I live in a townhouse (all electric), so storing large amounts of firewood - or even lots of kerosene for a stove, is not feasible. I've never met a "Duraflame" log yet that would last for more than 2 - 2 1/2 hours, no matter what the label said.

I'm in Okmulgee.

todd

I believe I heard a quick news story about a wave of forty or so cases of CO poisoning - the result of using grills indoors during this ice storm. Carbon monoxide is very tricky stuff.

That is starting to sound like NW Washington state last winter...

Tips for people who have part time fireplaces and are scrounging-

Check your draw, make sure you are venting your smoke. You'll have some, but too much leads to drowsiness, red face, then blue face.

Check your chimney, make sure you don't have something like a squirrel nest in it, or a duck. (Trust me on this- a duck fits in a chimney.)

Avoid soft woods, like pine, if at all possible. More resinous, so you get more sparks, and more soot. A chimney fire might warm the house, but it is the last thing you need.

Avoid, absolutely, manufactured wood products like chip board, plywood, pressure treated, etc. See above, but if you aren't getting a good draw, then heavier than air combustion products might be leaking back in, some of which are even more fun that carbon monoxide.

And for fuel that is easy to store, look at wood pellets. They are compressed saw dust, that's it. They are a pain to light, but they burn slow while throwing good heat, and a hobo stove full of them lasts for a while.