ICE STORMS SUCK!!! The worst power outage in Kansas City history. The only positive thing is I got some good pictures. Well, that and I didn't have a tree fall on my house. Let's see here: Saturday and Sunday it was sunny and almost 70 degrees. Tuesday and Wednesday we had freezing rain and sleet. Schools were cancelled three days in a row, no streetlights, no businesses were open, and about 500,000 people were without power. Time stood still for two days. I love the Midwest.
Here's a few pictures I took once
everything stopped and the sun finally came out. Looks can be deceiving.
Sure the trees may look "pretty", but tell that to the half million people in the
Kansas City metropolitan area that didn't have any electricity. Believe
me, when it's 15 degrees outside, and 40 degrees inside the house, you really
appreciate those little amenities like HEAT!!! I only went without power
for about 12 hours. I work nights, and I didn't have any power when I
left, but when I got home....ahhhhh...70 degrees. When the power did go
out in the wee hours of Thursday morning, I stepped outside. All across
the sky, I saw the greenish-blue flash of transformers blowing up. It also
sounded like someone lit a huge string of firecrackers, due to tree branches
collapsing under the weight of the 1/2 inch to 1 inch thick layer of ice.
For those of you not familiar with this type of weather, it's rare that it
occurs, but when it does it's definitely an experience. Just the sight of
a huge oak tree split in two is something to behold. Just think...that
tree has been around over a hundred years and all it took was some ice to bring
it crashing down. Incredible. The backyard was one big sheet of ice,
and Bob loved it. Since I had no power, I lit up the
candles, and turned on my
C. Crane
Freeplay Plus radio and listened to
Art Bell. If you don't
have one of these crank radios...BUY ONE TODAY!! As you can tell from the pictures, my
trees weathered the storm pretty well, except a few small limbs. And
again, for those of you not familiar with ice storms, the limbs are NOT supposed
to be bending down like that! The next couple days aren't going to be
experiencing temperatures too much more over freezing, so hopefully the sun will
start melting the ice. Which brings about an entirely different
problem...flooding. Oh well, I live on a hill so fuck it!
Click on the picture to see a larger version
