On Feb 9, 1994, a serious ice storm hit a large portion of the southeast when we lived in Memphis (I remember the date distinctly, because it was the day my hub got his vasectomy ).

I remember the limbs cracking, as you described, but I also remember the sound of several transformers in our neighborhood exploding, one after another. That's a sound you don't often forget. With every explosion, we expected the power to go out in our house, but it didn't go until about the 6th or 7th. Fortunately, we lived in a part of Memphis that had all the power lines underground, but the rest of Memphis was not so lucky.

I have a feeling Missouri and Oklahoma, at least, are going to have that kind of devastation this time.

Karen