NationStates Jolt Archive

Some of you may have heard about the ice storm in Oklahoma this week. The whole state was declared a disaster area by the President. I know that some of you who hang out here on NSG live in Oklahoma and I was wondering how you have fared. Here is our experience:

On Monday morning I got up to go to work and was greeted by ice on trees and power lines. I turned on the TV to find out the worst had not passed and even though the roads, except for bridges and overpasses, were in good shape, trees and power lines were down through the city. I elected to stay home so I called my boss and told him I was taking a vacation day. I went back to bed and at 6:16 AM my worst fear became true and the power went off. I called the power company to find a recording that said "Power should be restored by 10 PM WEDNESDAY.

I broke out the flashlights, oil lamps, candles, batteries, and portable radio. Then I went to the garage, brought in some wood, and lit a fire in the fireplace. We closed off all the rooms, put on our heavy cloths, and went out to the woodpile. We had about 3/4 of a rick so not to worry. We used a hammer to break the ice on the woodpile and stocked more wood in the garage. For lunch we heated up some left over home made New England clam and shrimp chowder on the gas stove. For supper, we heated up the left over beef stew. That evening we decided to sleep in our Lazy Boy recliner chairs in front of the fire.

That didn't work. Those chairs are comfortable for sitting or napping in but not sleeping in so we ended up in bed with lots of blankets and two cats to keep us warm. In the morning it was cold in the house and the fireplace did manage to get the temperature up to a chilly 61 degrees F. We brought in more wood, got a chicken out of the freezer, and made chicken and dumplings for supper.

Wednesday morning I went to work and listened to the radio. The whole area looked like a disaster area with trees and power lines down all over the Tulsa area and power outages everywhere. Then I found out things would be getting worse. First, power could take up to two or three weeks to restore, more freezing rain was in the forecast for Wednesday night with the temperature dropping into the mid 20's, snow was forecast for Friday night into today, and I had only about two days of firewood left. All the hotels were booked and the shelters were full. Time to get out of Dodge before we got trapped in an even worse situation.

So I called Mrs. C and told her we were heading to our son's house in Louisiana, about a six hour drive away. I OK'd more vacation time with the boss, went home, packed, gathered up the cats, put the meat, fish, and chicken in the freezer into a cooler, packed the car and headed out of town.

As we were driving down the Muskogee Turnpike we saw convoy after convoy of electric and tree trimming trucks headed to Tulsa. Even though there were about 3,000 out of state electrical and tree trimming workers already in town, more were on the way. We counted over 100 more trucks with their crews between as we drove south. You have to love those folks they have a very dangerous job and work in the worst weather and hear they were coming from all over the South to help us out.

We got to our son's house about 10 PM Wednesday, and Thursday night got a call from some neighbors that the electricity came on about 5:30 PM. We wanted to avoid driving in a snowstorm so we will be heading back home on Sunday.

I hope this finds the rest of the NSG Okies well and with no or minimum damage to their property. If any of you out there are power company workers, or tree trimmers, or know of people who are I want to say, "THANK YOU VERY MUCH."

glad to hear from you and glad you and your family (including the cats) are doing ok.

glad to hear from you and glad you and your family (including the cats) are doing ok.

Thanks. Have Smun and Ashmora been on lately? They are also from OK.

Glad to hear you're ok.

Thanks. Have Smun and Ashmora been on lately? They are also from OK.

They have been on regularly.

It was interesting to see ice-covered everything here in NJ. We usually get snow or rain. Rarely funky stuff like that.

Scary. :( We're supposed to get 14 inches here in Detroit, starting very soon...

We're already buried here in Toronto and there's more coming.

I remember the '98 Ice Storm up in eastern Ontario and western Quebec. I had classmates who lost power for at least a week. The worse that happened to me, I got lots of time off fro, school, given the storm hit then we had the teacher's strike.

i was alsoin that. it really did suck. glad to know your okay.

Scary. :( We're supposed to get 14 inches here in Detroit, starting very soon...

Kinky. :)


In a somewhat more serious note, I think we are in for a very precipitatious(is that a word?) winter this year. *nod*

Yet somehow Global warming is still the Ebil boogyman.

Yet somehow Global warming is still the Ebil boogyman.

http://www.boomspeed.com/looonatic/martin_scientific_method.wav

:)

I am very glad that I live in eastern NC where the winter storm is nowhere near here. Kind of sucks, since I can't get out of school because of wacked-up winter weather. But at least my power's still on and all the trees in my yard are still standing.

Hope you guys in OK are alright :fluffle:

Hope everyone's doin' fine. If that ice storm happened here, people would surely rejoice!

Thanks. Have Smun and Ashmora been on lately? They are also from OK.

nooo im from new mexico. north of here got hit pretty good. 3 feet of snow at taos ski valley. but here in socorro we just got some rain.

it was light enough that the power companies here sent workers to OK to help out.

y'all get nasty weather over there.

Yet somehow Global warming is still the Ebil boogyman.

You do know that a rise in global temperature leads to climate change and weather extremes that do not just cause droughts in some areas, but increased precipitation in others? That that's why it's called "Global climate change" and not just "Global warming"? I ask rhetorically, because of course you don't.

Scary. :( We're supposed to get 14 inches here in Detroit, starting very soon...

So we're supposed to have a proper winter again?

nooo im from new mexico. .

Sorry 'bout that.

y'all get nasty weather over there.

Another reason I'm moving to Northwest Loouisiana in one year, eight months, twenty nine days,.....:D

We've had snow on the ground everyday since the beginning of December. Admittedly we've never lost power, but we've had lots of snow and very cold temperatures.

Some of you may have heard about the ice storm in Oklahoma this week. The whole state was declared a disaster area by the President. I know that some of you who hang out here on NSG live in Oklahoma and I was wondering how you have fared. Here is our experience:

On Monday morning I got up to go to work and was greeted by ice on trees and power lines. I turned on the TV to find out the worst had not passed and even though the roads, except for bridges and overpasses, were in good shape, trees and power lines were down through the city. I elected to stay home so I called my boss and told him I was taking a vacation day. I went back to bed and at 6:16 AM my worst fear became true and the power went off. I called the power company to find a recording that said "Power should be restored by 10 PM WEDNESDAY.

I broke out the flashlights, oil lamps, candles, batteries, and portable radio. Then I went to the garage, brought in some wood, and lit a fire in the fireplace. We closed off all the rooms, put on our heavy cloths, and went out to the woodpile. We had about 3/4 of a rick so not to worry. We used a hammer to break the ice on the woodpile and stocked more wood in the garage. For lunch we heated up some left over home made New England clam and shrimp chowder on the gas stove. For supper, we heated up the left over beef stew. That evening we decided to sleep in our Lazy Boy recliner chairs in front of the fire.

That didn't work. Those chairs are comfortable for sitting or napping in but not sleeping in so we ended up in bed with lots of blankets and two cats to keep us warm. In the morning it was cold in the house and the fireplace did manage to get the temperature up to a chilly 61 degrees F. We brought in more wood, got a chicken out of the freezer, and made chicken and dumplings for supper.

Wednesday morning I went to work and listened to the radio. The whole area looked like a disaster area with trees and power lines down all over the Tulsa area and power outages everywhere. Then I found out things would be getting worse. First, power could take up to two or three weeks to restore, more freezing rain was in the forecast for Wednesday night with the temperature dropping into the mid 20's, snow was forecast for Friday night into today, and I had only about two days of firewood left. All the hotels were booked and the shelters were full. Time to get out of Dodge before we got trapped in an even worse situation.

So I called Mrs. C and told her we were heading to our son's house in Louisiana, about a six hour drive away. I OK'd more vacation time with the boss, went home, packed, gathered up the cats, put the meat, fish, and chicken in the freezer into a cooler, packed the car and headed out of town.

As we were driving down the Muskogee Turnpike we saw convoy after convoy of electric and tree trimming trucks headed to Tulsa. Even though there were about 3,000 out of state electrical and tree trimming workers already in town, more were on the way. We counted over 100 more trucks with their crews between as we drove south. You have to love those folks they have a very dangerous job and work in the worst weather and hear they were coming from all over the South to help us out.

We got to our son's house about 10 PM Wednesday, and Thursday night got a call from some neighbors that the electricity came on about 5:30 PM. We wanted to avoid driving in a snowstorm so we will be heading back home on Sunday.

I hope this finds the rest of the NSG Okies well and with no or minimum damage to their property. If any of you out there are power company workers, or tree trimmers, or know of people who are I want to say, "THANK YOU VERY MUCH."

Oy. Hope everything turns out alright. :(

A few years ago in KC, we got a pretty bad ice storm. We lost power for five days. It was actually pretty fun, bundling up against the cold. Ice storms are a lot of fun for sledding, too!

Gotta look on the bright side of everything.

A few years ago in KC, we got a pretty bad ice storm. We lost power for five days. It was actually pretty fun, bundling up against the cold. Ice storms are a lot of fun for sledding, too!

Gotta look on the bright side of everything.

Indeed. Why, if the Russians were invading up through Mexico, this ice storm would stop 'em cold and give us valuable time!

Wow, I Hope all of our posters in the plain and mid-states are ok. Here in NC, we've been getting rain but that's pretty much it, no snow or ice or anything.

Things are fine-ish here, we are the only house on the block that didn't loose power (generator FTW!) and our block got power back Monday night, there are still areas in OKC with no power at all. About 15 of my friends have no power and stayed at my house on and off last week (with at least 12 of them here one night) they are all at the Cox center now, I kicked them out. The Village, Crown Heights, and Nichols Hills are still 90% without power. My friends in Guthrie might not get it back for 8-10 days. I have been helping out for a few hours a day at the Cox center shelter, they have meals set up for people on restricted diets, I have been helping them wade through ingredients statements. I lost another tree, but things could have been much worse for us. Luckily hubby is taking care of us, otherwise we would have been sunk Sunday/Monday with no heat. There are still hundreds of thousands in the city without power, but it's not as bad as it could be, the city has set up shelters, churches are taking people in, and if you need a ride to one, they even come pick you up!

Glad to hear you guys are alright

We get that sort of thing from time to time up here which is why we keep a forced air wood stove, backup generators and a whole lot of wood :) it sucks but life goes on

Keep safe

Indeed. Why, if the Russians were invading up through Mexico, this ice storm would stop 'em cold and give us valuable time!
So true! I bet this ice storm has stranded all those terrorist-illegal-immigrants coming up through the border so the Homeland Security can get 'em and take them to Gitmo! Yeaaah!

So true! I bet this ice storm has stranded all those terrorist-illegal-immigrants coming up through the border so the Homeland Security can get 'em and take them to Gitmo! Yeaaah!

I was actually serious. Not that I can see the Russians invading anytime soon, but any invading army WOULD be stopped by weather like this.

I was actually serious. Not that I can see the Russians invading anytime soon, but any invading army WOULD be stopped by weather like this.
I was serious, too.

[snipped]
*looks at the one bag of Kona Coffee bought.*

*goes to store to buy more...*

nooo im from new mexico. north of here got hit pretty good. 3 feet of snow at taos ski valley. but here in socorro we just got some rain.

it was light enough that the power companies here sent workers to OK to help out.

y'all get nasty weather over there.

Socorro is where the "Hilton Hotel" family is from I believe?

Socorro is where the "Hilton Hotel" family is from I believe?

its the next tiny town down. san antonio new mexico. home of conrad hilton.

I was actually serious. Not that I can see the Russians invading anytime soon, but any invading army WOULD be stopped by weather like this.

Stalingrad...1941...?

I'm always amazed but the severity of the weather that some people live through on a fairly regular basis. I live in Manchester (UK) and if we get so much as 4 inches of snow and the place pretty much shuts down, I remember a few years ago we had a 'bad' winter and 5 inches of snow lead to a school in Devon having to have supplies air lifted in by the RAF because none of the parents could get there to pick up their kids. If there temperature here drops below about -5C there whole city is bitching and moaning but I remember being in Heavenly CA in 2000 skiing and seeing a thermometer on one of the mountains that went down to -40C frozen solid and still people were just getting on with it.

The point of this rambling and fairly incoherent post is kudos to all you guys living through really bad weather this winter and just cracking on with life.

I live in Manchester (UK) and if we get so much as 4 inches of snow and the place pretty much shuts down, I remember a few years ago we had a 'bad' winter and 5 inches of snow lead to a school in Devon having to have supplies air lifted in by the RAF because none of the parents could get there to pick up their kids.

....

Ok, in NYC, people ignore anything under six inches of snow and go about their business on their own. We shovel our walks, drive our cars, pick up our kids, etc. and most assuredly do NOT need supplies airlifted by the National Guard because parents "can't" get to school to pick up their children!

I'm always amazed but the severity of the weather that some people live through on a fairly regular basis. I live in Manchester (UK) and if we get so much as 4 inches of snow and the place pretty much shuts down, I remember a few years ago we had a 'bad' winter and 5 inches of snow lead to a school in Devon having to have supplies air lifted in by the RAF because none of the parents could get there to pick up their kids. If there temperature here drops below about -5C there whole city is bitching and moaning but I remember being in Heavenly CA in 2000 skiing and seeing a thermometer on one of the mountains that went down to -40C frozen solid and still people were just getting on with it.

The point of this rambling and fairly incoherent post is kudos to all you guys living through really bad weather this winter and just cracking on with life.

Lol we got 14 inches last week ... it is too early in the year here to get to -40C but we have hit -20C ... January and February are usually when we hit -40 or less

Just goes to show you can get used to anything, I have always been from here so I guess it just feels like the normal way of things, ya just make sure you have mostly full tanks of gas, if in the country a 4 wd vehicle Good cold weather cloths and backup systems for heating (at -40 or less if the power went out for a day ...)

....

Ok, in NYC, people ignore anything under six inches of snow and go about their business on their own. We shovel our walks, drive our cars, pick up our kids, etc. and most assuredly do NOT need supplies airlifted by the National Guard because parents "can't" get to school to pick up their children!

do you have salt trucks and snow routes and snow tires and such?

do you have salt trucks and snow routes and snow tires and such?

Sometimes we do ... the cities do the rural areas less so it can take more then a week to get the last 2 miles to the farm plowed and they usually dont use salt out there (tones in the city though) maybe some grit on corners 3 or 4 days after the snow

Edit: and I have never owned a "Snow" tire even though they do make them
Not entirely sure I ever saw one to be honest.

do you have salt trucks and snow routes and snow tires and such?

Yeah, but even before the salt spreaders are out there, people just get out and clear the area in front of their houses.... we have snow routes but they're usually not the only ones passable -- even small side streets are... and we have all-weather tires here.

Sometimes we do ... the cities do the rural areas less so it can take more then a week to get the last 2 miles to the farm plowed and they usually dont use salt out there (tones in the city though) maybe some grit on corners 3 or 4 days after the snow

Edit: and I have never owned a "Snow" tire even though they do make them
Not entirely sure I ever saw one to be honest.

I have no clue about snow tires, I was told by someone to "get some snow tires and get over it" when I called to say I wouldn't make an appointment Monday due to a foot of ice on the roads and a tree blocking my way out of my neighborhood (living on a cul de sac doesn't sound like a good idea anymore)

I have no clue about snow tires, I was told by someone to "get some snow tires and get over it" when I called to say I wouldn't make an appointment Monday due to a foot of ice on the roads and a tree blocking my way out of my neighborhood (living on a cul de sac doesn't sound like a good idea anymore)

Sounds like a jerk (that person)

Ice is way worse then snow, we get quite a bit of both but you can tell it slows even those of us used to it down to a stop (I can only ever remember 1 snow cancellation and 2 cold cancellation days of school but like 4 or 5 ice ones over the entire time I was there).

Either way the tree would be quite a barrier ... hell with the ice I would even have problems getting enough traction with my jeep to get over it.

Dont get me wrong not trying to belittle your guises situation specially in light of an infrastructure not being designed to handle it. Hope everyone is all right with the power outages and other stuff!

Yeah, but even before the salt spreaders are out there, people just get out and clear the area in front of their houses.... we have snow routes but they're usually not the only ones passable -- even small side streets are... and we have all-weather tires here.

I have been out in the impala with up to 6 inches of snow with the stock tires before the trucks are out no problem. More then that and I want to have my truck on me (don't know how easy it would be with more with the car I always just plan to have my truck or jeep when we are going to get that sort of snow)

Working nightime security and getting off at 6 am you just had to plan on going through the worst of it