After The Ice No Power No Heat For 5 Days, With More On The

[bzukajo]

Friday morning it was raining tree branches in Auburn MA. The ice was bad, but nothing compared to what happened just a few miles north. There are places still impassable, and no one really knows when the power can be restored. The estimates range from a just a few more days till after Christmas. I have never seen anything like this. This ice storm took down more trees than what I saw after hurricane Ike in Houston. I think these things follow me lol.

I am just one of many many thousands that do not have heat, power, or water, and are effectively refugees waiting just outside our local communities that were affected by the storm. I can sense the initial "ya we are tough. We are from New England. We can get through this, no problem" attitude has quickly faded with the news that more ice and snow is on the way. Not just tomorrow but Friday too, which could be a more signifigant storm.

As it stands now, the national guard is trying to clear the roads of downed trees. In places like Pakachoag Hill in Auburn, there are huge trees laying across the roads, on houses and cars…trees are down everywhere. In Worcester the main roads are okay now, but in the rush to open them, the trees were just pushed to the side of the road. it makes plowing impossible. I am not sure what will happen to the secondary roads as there are many that are still impassable in that city.

North of Worcester is simply a crumpled mess. In most places, plowing will be impossible. And the greatest fear for people around here (…and it is fear at this point,) is that the ice and snow will slowdown the restoration of power. Or worse, undo the work already done to restore power.

I know the system on the way for tomorrow will be light, but ANY ice would be entirely unwelcome. Especially north of Worcester.

My largest concern is Friday’s event.

Any comments and predictions about tomorrow’s or Friday’s event for NE would be welcome.

[jasons2k]

Very similar to what happened in much of the Southeast US after the 1993 superstorm.

Thanks for posting that. It's a good reminder that winter weather isn't all fun & games.

[CajunMama]

I didn't know y'all had gotten hit so hard up there. I hope your utilities are restored soon. Are you staying with friends or family so that you can have heat & electricity?

Are there any pictures you can share with us? Down here in the south we were excited over 1" of snow. I can't imagine what you have.

[Brent]

Ice storms are no fun at all(I'd rather just have rain than freezing rain any day), I feel lucky the worst one we've had in the last 15 years was essentially a 6-hour event in 2005, I can't imagine what one that causes outages for days and weeks is like. Northeast Georgia gets hit a lot more.

[bzukajo]

Actually I do have photos from Friday morning, but they are nothing spectacular (my battery died.) I will post them on flickr and post the link here. My Hurricane Ike photos are there too, but they are much more dramatic. I am staying with friends like most people are. Most of us tried to stick it out, but the temp went down to 14 on Saturday night. Sunday became a mass exodus from central and north-central Massachusetts for much of the 200,000+ who had no power or heat source. Especially after it became clear that this was going to be a long term situation.

[bzukajo]

Here are some photos of the event. Does not look like much, but I guess it does not take much to shut down everything. A few miles up north, it was MUCH worse.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bzukajo/sets/72157611261843173/

I was supposed to fly back to Houston to spend the holiday with my girlfriend. I am thinking I may leave early if this goes on much longer.

[Agua]

Yup, living with the aftermath of ce storms sucks nearly as bad as hurricanes.

[Cyclenall]

The only extreme weather event that winter weather enthusiasts dread are Ice Storms. Having no power for weeks and sometimes over a month is not worth it.

[Stephanie]

Ice is scary. The potential for accidents, no power, isolation makes them terrifying.

I do hope that you and the rest of the Northeast can get your power back soon, bzukajo and I pray that Friday's event is not as severe as they are forecasting it to be.

[jasons2k]

The only extreme weather event that winter weather enthusiasts dread are Ice Storms. Having no power for weeks and sometimes over a month is not worth it.

For the most part yes, especially up north.

But a foot of snow in Birmingham, Alabama in 1993 put us in the dark for over a week, 2 weeks with no phone, and 3 weeks with no cable. Anything over a few inches and southern pine trees can't handle the weight and snap like toothpicks. There were roofs that collapsed and numerous fires. In the deep south, a few inches of snow can be fun but a big snowstorm like that causes major problems.

[BlueIce]

I didn't realize that it was that severe of an event, I feel your pain having gone through a considerably damaging ice storm last season here in Oklahoma City it left us without power for 7 days - lucky on generation for 6 of 7 days - AND that was with the weather cooperating. I hope that you and the NE don't get the brunt of a second wave. Good Luck

Check out the pics at.
http://picasaweb.google.com/snward88/Ice07#

[CajunMama]

As dangerous as an icestorm is the ice on the trees is absolutely beautiful. Thanks for the pics bzukajo and blueice.

[tomboudreau]

Here are a couple of slideshows that I have found so far showing some of the damage up in New England.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/slideshow/18262198/detail.html?taf=bos

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/slideshow/18263479/detail.html?taf=bos

[Stephanie]

As dangerous as an icestorm is the ice on the trees is absolutely beautiful. Thanks for the pics bzukajo and blueice.

Beautifully dangerous. When the sun shines on the ice, you're in a winter wonderland.

[Persepone]

For lots of ice storm coverage, go to:

http://www.wmur.com/nh-ice-storm/index.html

WMUR is in Manchester, NH. Read their "heroes" comments to get an idea of how people are coping. It's neighbors helping each other, small towns taking care of each other, etc. Sure, there are miseries, but many are doing surprisingly well. I went up to my daughters' house with diapers, fresh milk, gasoline, etc. (she lives in one of the hard-hit towns) found remarkably good spirits. The coming snow is worrisome, however...

[Stephanie]

For lots of ice storm coverage, go to:

http://www.wmur.com/nh-ice-storm/index.html

WMUR is in Manchester, NH. Read their "heroes" comments to get an idea of how people are coping. It's neighbors helping each other, small towns taking care of each other, etc. Sure, there are miseries, but many are doing surprisingly well. I went up to my daughters' house with diapers, fresh milk, gasoline, etc. (she lives in one of the hard-hit towns) found remarkably good spirits. The coming snow is worrisome, however...

What wonderful stories and tributes to the local heroes.

[breeze]

Thanks for posting the pics, bzukajo, and I hope you folks get your power back on soon!

I remember the southern storm that jasons spoke about in '93 - we had ice here in Tennessee,
and I lived in the woods, then. I remember hearing the loud snapping of trees in the dark
night, and being without power for four days. I do not wish to ever experience that again!

[SaskatchewanScreamer]

We hit -44 degree Celsius = -47.2 degree Fahrenheit (with windchill) more than a couple of times this past week and our steam boiler blew a hole 2 weeks ago (we are praying this latest, now curing, patch will take).

On the plus side we do have power so, with little electric heaters and the oven, we are keeping the inside of our house just above freezing.

Hoping everyone there finds some way to keep their homes somewhat warm (or are able to drain their pipes so they don't bust).

[HarlequinBoy]

My first substantial memories are the aftermath of the Ice Storm of 1994. It was the costliest ice storm in history with over $3 BILLION in damage, most of it in Mississippi and Tennessee. We had no electricity for 23 days and my grandparents had no power of over a month. Here we had about 5 (yes 5) inches of freezing rain.