Ice, ice, baby!

[sundial]

Makbike, I was worried about you and the other TE'ers hit by this storm. Are you staying warm? Are you able to get to work? Do you have enough food and fuel?

I lost power not long after my last post so we were back in the dark. Finally snagged a little generator yesterday, just as the lights came back one. Fortunately for us, we have a gas stove so I can make a hot meal and boil water. The generator will keep our frige, tv, computer going and our cell phones charged.

This is a terrible, terrible storm and FEMA has yet to respond in our state even though it's been declared a disaster by the president. The national guard was called out but they didn't even have access to chain saws. Out of state utility trucks are still coming into the region to assist. I think we had 7800 utility poles down just in our region.

There are so many people trapped in their homes from the fallen debris. These people don't have food, water, or heat to survive the temps that are in the 20's. Please continue to pray for the victims. It's going to take a long time to recover from this.

[makbike]

Sundial,

I'm doing well. Power was restored late yesterday afternoon (lost it for about 24 hours). I had a warm place to stay during the outage. We did not have school at all last week but headed back today on a 2 hour delay. Looks like we will get a light snow early tomorrow and then a warm up is in the works. The rural areas have been hit the hardest here in Kentucky and the utility companies are working long hours to get power restored. Lots of out of state utility trucks are visible. We are very blessed.

Thanks again for checking on me - all is well in Shelbyville.

[sundial]

Thank goodness you are alright! I believe KY got hit the hardest.

I am incensed over the lack of response by FEMA. People are dying. Staples such as batteries, heating fuels, lanterns, fuel storage containers are extremely limited, if available. It will be mid February before power is restored to many. In Arkansas 130,000 people are without electricity. Utility workers traveling from the gulf coast to Arkansas have stated the damage is equal to that of Hurricane Katrina. In the meantime, people are sick from the exposure. I am battling a bad chest cold myself. 1000 national guardsmen were brought in and they didn't even have access to chainsaws to free people trapped inside their homes from downed trees and limbs. I'm becoming angrier by the day as I see how people have to suffer needlessly.

[Geonz]

That's appalling.... blog it!

[sundial]

From Newsmax:

Obama signed federal emergency declarations last week for Kentucky, Arkansas and Missouri after ice and snow blamed for more than 40 deaths in nine states and for power outages that peaked at 1.3 million customers from the Southern Plains to the East Coast.

And:

Kentucky had the most power outages last week, a state record of 700,000 customers. By Sunday night, the figure had dropped to less than half that. Still, it could be weeks before some people have power again.

"It's going to be a long haul for us," Beshear said Sunday as he toured hard-hit areas in and around Elizabethtown. "We've thrown everything we have at it. We're going to continue to do that until everyone is back in their homes and back on their feet."

In Arkansas, many residents in the northern part of the state will spend another week without electricity as utility crews work to replace thousands of poles and eventually work house to house to restore power.

About 114,000 Arkansas customers were without service Monday morning, a week after freezing rain started to fall. A peak of about 350,000 homes and businesses had no electricity after the storm.

http://www.newsmax.com/us/winter_sto...02/177531.html

The Federal gov't is not responding to our needs, I can assure you.

[skhill]

What I find the most appalling: the multitude of water systems that shut down due to the power outages. Thousands of people were without potable water (and with no electricity, boiling water to make it safe is a big problem) and there were towns with no water pressure at all. There were fire fighters trying to put out burning buildings with water pumped from creeks, because the hydrants were dry... Thankfully, it sounds like most of the water systems are back up, at least here in central KY-- don't know about in the western areas. But why why why were there not generators either on site, or very near by? Why no backups?

Appalling thing no. 2: cities and counties that lost internet, land-line phones, and cell phones, and were in contact with the outside world only by ham radio. There were places that couldn't report in to the state emergency agencies for more than a day-- and they're the places that undoubtedly needed the most help, and needed it fast. But they couldn't get the word out that they were in desperate need...

This emergency is not over; people are cold and hungry and thirsty; people are dying. And the rest of the country doesn't seem to even know or care. Did we learn nothing from Katrina?

--Sharon

[sundial]

As of Sunday, our town has at least 3000 people without power, 7000 in our energy service area. State parks in the northern part of the state are shut down due to fallen tree limbs. It looks like bombs were dropped on us. People are still cutting their way out of their roads and homes.

I had to put up my mtb this winter. I don't know when I'll get to ride my trails again.