for those that don't know...

rback33

Member
Sorry if you missed me! I got slammed by the ice. Here are pics of my house and yard from Tuesday morning. I hope to have power again in a week. I do have wood heat and my generator will HOPEFULLY be running the whole house by the weekend. I have two cords running in the dryer vent right now. Now that I look, more limbs are down now than there was then. You cannot walk out of the house and get to the road directly and u get beat when you come off the porch.
 

Attachments

  • Ice Storm 12.11.07 017.jpg
    Ice Storm 12.11.07 017.jpg
    62 KB · Views: 106
  • Ice Storm 12.11.07 018.jpg
    Ice Storm 12.11.07 018.jpg
    69.2 KB · Views: 103
  • Ice Storm 12.11.07 019.jpg
    Ice Storm 12.11.07 019.jpg
    61.7 KB · Views: 96
  • Ice Storm 12.11.07 020.jpg
    Ice Storm 12.11.07 020.jpg
    61.9 KB · Views: 105
  • Ice Storm 12.11.07 021.jpg
    Ice Storm 12.11.07 021.jpg
    61.1 KB · Views: 95
  • Ice Storm 12.11.07 022.jpg
    Ice Storm 12.11.07 022.jpg
    63.1 KB · Views: 94
  • Ice Storm 12.11.07 023.jpg
    Ice Storm 12.11.07 023.jpg
    63.1 KB · Views: 98
  • Ice Storm 12.11.07 024.jpg
    Ice Storm 12.11.07 024.jpg
    62.3 KB · Views: 89

Doc

Admin
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Amazing pics. Sorry to hear it got you. It also got Cityboy over on ForumsForums. He's in Oklahoma. He said they are now predicting 6 to 8 inches of snow for them. And they are still without power also.

I empathize. It would be tough. Hang in there buddy, and keep us posted when you can.
 
Jeremy,
I know exactly what you are going thru. I believe it was the ice storm of '98". We were without power for a grand total of 14 days. Power companys from all over the US came in to help.
For the first couple of days after the storm if you went anywhere you had to carry a chain saw in the truck. That's so that you could clear the fallen trees in the road. Bad part was when you came back an hour later down the same roads you had to cut your way back thru again.

Just remember if you are backfeeding power thru your service panel, turn off the main breaker.

Actually after the storm was over it was actually quite beautiful. then the realization that you couldn't even flush a toilet set in.
 

Attachments

  • ice_storm_birch_pine.jpg
    ice_storm_birch_pine.jpg
    73 KB · Views: 108
  • ice_storm_bent_birch.jpg
    ice_storm_bent_birch.jpg
    50.6 KB · Views: 94

rback33

Member
Main switch is turned off at the pole already. We did that first thing so as to not forget. I should be back feeding tonight when I get home. One buddy bought one cord and end for me in Hutchinson today and I have picked up the 30 amp end here in town. I should be in business. I may even get to shower in my own house tonight...:mrgreen:
 

rback33

Member
And yes, they are calling for 4 to 7 inches of snow tomorrow afternoon into Saturday. Can things get any better?:bash:
 
Main switch is turned off at the pole already. We did that first thing so as to not forget. I should be back feeding tonight when I get home. One buddy bought one cord and end for me in Hutchinson today and I have picked up the 30 amp end here in town. I should be in business. I may even get to shower in my own house tonight...:mrgreen:


Good to hear the switch tis off. Funny how little things like showering are missed. At least you don't have to eat at the local school. If my memory is correct 10 straight nights of franks and beans is a little much.
 

rback33

Member
Yeah.. we showered at my Aunt and Uncles house last night. It was the first shower in 2 1/2 days for me, 2 for the wife. Wife has been cooking on the wood stove, but that is getting old fast for her. Can't say that I blame her. To make matters worse, she decided to go out and try some clean up and tripped over our excitable little papillon. This led to a split lip on the wife and a leg for the poor dog. She called all hysterical of course, partly because she is not working because her office does not have power. Oh... did I tell you she is the office manager of the vet clinic? which does not have power... anyway we found out that the do have a generator running so they have lights and stuff... Dog will be fine and I think momma will too. It's getting real hard to get any work done.... lol my boss got a chuckle out of the whole thing. At least i don't have to worry about the vet bill like most people....So.. how much snow is coming I wonder....
 
Yeah.. we showered at my Aunt and Uncles house last night. It was the first shower in 2 1/2 days for me, 2 for the wife. Wife has been cooking on the wood stove, but that is getting old fast for her. Can't say that I blame her. To make matters worse, she decided to go out and try some clean up and tripped over our excitable little papillon. This led to a split lip on the wife and a leg for the poor dog. She called all hysterical of course, partly because she is not working because her office does not have power. Oh... did I tell you she is the office manager of the vet clinic? which does not have power... anyway we found out that the do have a generator running so they have lights and stuff... Dog will be fine and I think momma will too. It's getting real hard to get any work done.... lol my boss got a chuckle out of the whole thing. At least i don't have to worry about the vet bill like most people....So.. how much snow is coming I wonder....

Well I'm here in MA not too far from the Dougster, (who by the way will be eating like a king), it started snowing around noon time. I just went outside and ther is at least 6" on the ground. Up home in Maine they are calling for 1"-2" out of all this. As far as the weekend goes no one is even guessing at the snowfall totals yet.

Hey consider yourself lucky that you have relatives with power. I think our first shower was after four or five days and that was in the high school locker room. We did find a way to get the toilet to flush after day two though. That entailed a trip down to the stream at the bottom of the hill, busting up a bunch of ice and filling up five gallon jugs. The rest is physics. Tell the Mrs to look on the bright side, none of the trees fell on the house.
Just a thought, power is out due to downed lines right. You don't have any damage to the service line comming into the house do ya? The reason I ask is because typically the power company will fix the wire from the pole to the house, but if there is any damage to the weather head, you have to get that fixed by an electrician before the power company will do their work. That alone caused many people up by us to continue without power for several more days.
 

rback33

Member
All the lines near the house are OK. They are down up the road in the mile from the blacktop to the house. Two poles snapped off. The line only feeds three meters I think and there are only two house in the three meters. We are not going to be a priority. My relatives have power in town because Sterling has it's own power plant. It's complicated to explain as the plant typically only runs during the summer time and they buy power the rest of the time.
 
All the lines near the house are OK. They are down up the road in the mile from the blacktop to the house. Two poles snapped off. The line only feeds three meters I think and there are only two house in the three meters. We are not going to be a priority. My relatives have power in town because Sterling has it's own power plant. It's complicated to explain as the plant typically only runs during the summer time and they buy power the rest of the time.

Good no damage to the house that will speed things up, but like you said low priority due to not too many people. That's what happened to us. 1 mile long road and three house on it, plus the fact that the power line had so many breaks in it that the entire mile long stretch had to be replaced.
 

jbrumberg

Member
rback33:

Nice pictures. Ice storms can be pretty to look at, but a pain to deal with. Our recent ice storm left around 1/4" on everything not enough to cause serious problems. In our rural area in western MA if we lose power due to an ice storm we may be waiting awhile like you. Fortunately that has not happened here in many years. During that storm we lost our power for only 4 days. Thank goodness for our wood stove and a gas cook top. Jay
 

Bindian

Member
All the lines near the house are OK. They are down up the road in the mile from the blacktop to the house. Two poles snapped off. The line only feeds three meters I think and there are only two house in the three meters. We are not going to be a priority. My relatives have power in town because Sterling has it's own power plant. It's complicated to explain as the plant typically only runs during the summer time and they buy power the rest of the time.
Jeremy,
We have had in ice stroms here, but never where they took out the power. The hurricanes and tornadoes do that down here. Hurricane Rita left us without power for 7 days.:whistle: We had generators going, but the stifling heat and humidity was dreadful. At least you and the Mrs. can snuggle around the stove. ;)
hugs, Brandi
 

Doc

Admin
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Ice storms are predicted for here Saturday. But ....whenever they predict them we rarely get them. Normally we are surprised with snow or ice when it does happen.
 

rback33

Member
Well, staying positive, I DO have my whole house under power of the generator now. My in-laws should be there in an hour or less so I will have some help tromping through the snow tomorrow getting organized. Need to get the horses back outside, but have some limbs to clear before that can happen. Me thinks a long weekend is on the works.... There are rumors about FEMA help since it has been declared a disaster, but I am not holding my breath on that.
 

Doc

Admin
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Well, staying positive, I DO have my whole house under power of the generator now. My in-laws should be there in an hour or less so I will have some help tromping through the snow tomorrow getting organized. Need to get the horses back outside, but have some limbs to clear before that can happen. Me thinks a long weekend is on the works.... There are rumors about FEMA help since it has been declared a disaster, but I am not holding my breath on that.

Good for you. At least you have power via generator. :thumb:
I sure wouldn't wait on FEMA either. Their help appears to be more hassle than it is worth IMHO. And that is if they show up at all. A huge area was affected by that storm. Maybe they'll be there a month from now acting like they saved the day.
Good for you taking care of yourself. :thumb: :beer:
 
B

bczoom

Guest
Sorry to hear about all of you without power. As the storm came East, it missed us by about 10 miles and we just got rain. A real mess to our north.

The 2nd wave is on it's way East. Unfortunately, this is the weekend we have Christmas with my relatives in NY. I have to drive from the Pittsburgh area, through the snow-belt area south of Buffalo NY then eastward past Rochester. The storm is coming tomorrow/Sunday so I'm going to have an interesting ride back...

We did find a way to get the toilet to flush after day two though. That entailed a trip down to the stream at the bottom of the hill, busting up a bunch of ice and filling up five gallon jugs. The rest is physics.
Just a heads-up for those of you that have a pump in your sewer system. Don't do this unless you have power to the pump. The overflow gets really nasty...
 

Dougster

Old Member
Well, staying positive, I DO have my whole house under power of the generator now. My in-laws should be there in an hour or less so I will have some help tromping through the snow tomorrow getting organized. Need to get the horses back outside, but have some limbs to clear before that can happen. Me thinks a long weekend is on the works.... There are rumors about FEMA help since it has been declared a disaster, but I am not holding my breath on that.
Hey Jeremy - Just catching up with this amazing thread of yours after an intense couple days dealing with this Southern New England snow storm... which was nothing by comparison to your mess out there! As of 1 PM today, all of my clients are serviced, re-serviced and post-storm cleaned up... plus new clients are calling left and right for quotes & contracts... plus I managed to fit in a few "one-ups" and even deal with an idiot or two wanting the impossible... and done for free, of course (or dang close)! Needless to say, I am dead pooped out, my truck is empty and a mess... but I am almost kinda semi-wealthy for a few days! :) I even bought a "DD" coffee today... the closest thing I could afford to Starbucks! :D Next I will be shopping around for a good deal on some heating oil! ;)

Very cool that you have that generator and... I assume... the fuel for it. Is it permanently installed or a portable? You are handling that mess out there like a champ! Keep up the good work! :thumb: And I hope that you do get some FEMA dollars. From my Florida hurricane days, I know how helpful those dollars can be! :) Although you do have to prove an actual loss... harder if no trees fell on your house. :rolleyes:

Dougster
 

rback33

Member
Generator is a portable one. It is backfeeding through the welder plug in my shed that is unused since I do not own a welder.. yet... The generator is used on the horse trailer at shows sometimes to if it is an overnight deal. My in-laws are here now, so that will help take some stress off of me while adding the stress of their presence. It is snowing like mad outside now. Have no fear, more pics will be forthcoming. :umbrella::wave:
 

Bindian

Member
Hey Jeremy - Just catching up with this amazing thread of yours after an intense couple days dealing with this Southern New England snow storm... which was nothing by comparison to your mess out there! As of 1 PM today, all of my clients are serviced, re-serviced and post-storm cleaned up... plus new clients are calling left and right for quotes & contracts... plus I managed to fit in a few "one-ups" and even deal with an idiot or two wanting the impossible... and done for free, of course (or dang close)! Needless to say, I am dead pooped out, my truck is empty and a mess... but I am almost kinda semi-wealthy for a few days! :) I even bought a "DD" coffee today... the closest thing I could afford to Starbucks! :D Next I will be shopping around for a good deal on some heating oil! ;)

Very cool that you have that generator and... I assume... the fuel for it. Is it permanently installed or a portable? You are handling that mess out there like a champ! Keep up the good work! :thumb: And I hope that you do get some FEMA dollars. From my Florida hurricane days, I know how helpful those dollars can be! :) Although you do have to prove an actual loss... harder if no trees fell on your house. :rolleyes:

Dougster
Dougster,
Just coffee? No dough nuts? Back in the early 80s, I found myself TDY in Fairbanks, Alaska in December working 16 hours a day doing sheetmetal repairs to a helicopter tailboom. I ate 4 meals a day.:whistle: For breakfast, it was bisquits and gravy. Each morning, after their shift, a snow plow crew for the city came in and ordered steak and eggs.......then they went home. I know the cold saps you of lots of energy and those carbs help. So I can't believe you just had DD coffee.:no: :notthatway:
I do agree with your accesment of FEMA. I had a lot of damage from Hurricane Rita, but nothing to the house.:alc: So no dollars for me.:mad2:
hugs, Brandi
 

Bindian

Member
Generator is a portable one. It is backfeeding through the welder plug in my shed that is unused since I do not own a welder.. yet... The generator is used on the horse trailer at shows sometimes to if it is an overnight deal. My in-laws are here now, so that will help take some stress off of me while adding the stress of their presence. It is snowing like mad outside now. Have no fear, more pics will be forthcoming. :umbrella::wave:
Jeremy,
Nothing like passing stress around the family. ;)
Hang in there.
hugs, Brandi
 
Top