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Post by sw on Feb 1, 2009 8:30:18 GMT -5
:)Hello from the land of no electricity, etc. On Mon evening a week ago, a section of the country from Kansas thru W. Kentucky got hit with a severe ice storm. The section is long but the severest hit parts are in a narrow band N to S, but that doesn't matter if you live there. Our small county (Clay, AR) has > 3,000 power poles down. The Little Rock and Jonesboro news plus the governor has stated that the town I live in was the hardest hit. I have seen no other towns so don't know. No electricity, yet, (now 6 days) in out town of 4,000 and estimates are a few days more before any power and 6 weeks for some( >:(our house is the edge of the city limits - actually in the country, just annexed in). No adjoining town, no town in this county has electricity. Most have no water. The power transmission lines are all down that feed the "city" and county. No car gas available until yesterday - can you imagine the lines(over 2 hrs to get gas)! Got above freezing for the 1st time in a week just yesterday. Clean-up couldn't start in earnest until yesterday due to the continuing danger from ice laden trees/power lines. Most had 1 1/2-2" of ice. The ice was unbelievable. Over 30% of all trees are gone, and 100% of remaining trees have the tops broken out and most of limbs gone. I have 89 acres of hardwood that are part of my backyard. I'll post pictures later. RB, Savage Shooter and Chuck live far enough south to have not been affected; but Ben(Ozark) might be on the edge of this.
My 40 cal will have to remain unshot for a few weeks. I just read some of the board this AM. You guys are really continuing to expand and discover new and better things. I likely won't be back on the internet for a few days.
Steve
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Post by fowlplay on Feb 1, 2009 9:43:08 GMT -5
Best wishes on the recovery. Glad everybody is safe.
Steve
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Post by bigmoose on Feb 1, 2009 9:50:40 GMT -5
Steve,
I can understand some of what you are going thur, When Andrew hit South Florida, It looked like the photo's from WW 2, Brick buildings disappeared, I saw a bank, the only thing left was the vault. Metro Zoo, wipe out, whole neighborhoods gone, power out for weeks at a time. Because of this a law was passed forcing supermakets and gas stations to have generators.
Some of the more famous pictures showed bus's blown up on roof tops, a 178 ft boat a 1/4 mile inline, the golf course I live on lost all its tree's roofs gone, what a sad sight, yet within a couple of years, no physical signs remain. I think of folks in your part of the country as bedrock Americans, so I'm sure you will put back your state to it orginal forms, Never forgotten, but just a bad dream.
As always my very best wishes to you and yours
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Post by Dave W on Feb 1, 2009 10:01:23 GMT -5
Good to hear from you and Ben. Good luck.
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Post by jims on Feb 1, 2009 11:42:45 GMT -5
Thanks for the update, glad you are safe.
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Post by Savage Shooter on Feb 1, 2009 12:04:54 GMT -5
Steve,
My dad lives in Paragould and they are still out of power now too. The power company says they should be back on by Wednesday.
I am in the process of building the new Jr High at Marion (across I-40 from W Memphis) and all the power crews on the east side of the state and from all over the southern states are rooming in Memphis and W. Memphis (there has been no power north of here). At night there are 200 to 300 crews from about 6 states at the motels. I have worked a couple of ice storms in the past but this one is catastrophic. The damage will remain thru out our lifetimes to the countrysides.
I talked to one of the Entergy supervisors and he said "it was easier to count the poles standing than the ones on the ground".
Our prayers are with you guys up there.
Mark Anthony
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Post by ozark on Feb 1, 2009 12:44:02 GMT -5
Yesterday afternoon we got power back and this morning the water is back. We had all we needed throughout but it is surprising to experience losing what we are used to but don't really need. We had clothing, food and shelter but had got used to so much more. Today it is sunny and in the 50. Chainsaws are turing the mess into wood and the workers are out enjoying the exercise. We will have company this afternoon and night because people want to watch the superbowl and we have this new fangled thing called TV. I am not a football fan but like for it to be on TV. It puts me to sleep on the couch in no time flat.
Ozark
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Post by jims on Feb 1, 2009 12:57:14 GMT -5
In my grandparents era they recall getting electricity, radio etc. Today we are not as well equipped or prepared not to have it. I am glad everyone is pitching in to help.
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Post by getonit on Feb 2, 2009 10:58:38 GMT -5
Steve - know what you're going through- we had the same thing here a couple years ago and the remanents are still visible when you look at the trees- alot of the old growth oaks had to be cut down in our town from the damage....the gov'ment came in and declared it a disaster area- why , I dont know as we've seen worse elsewhere- everybody was buying generators because the power was out for a week- most had to drive a couple hundred miles to find some-I was one of the dumb ones who didnt- you see later the gov'ment came in an reimbused everybody who bought emergency supplies 100%- free generators, fuel, sump pumps ect.- alot of guys made quick profits selling new supplies after the storm....Rick
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Post by nitro1947 on Feb 3, 2009 12:17:00 GMT -5
thats nuttin....about 40 miles north of me they say people go to the bathroom in the house...  ;D ;D |
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Post by chuck41 on Feb 3, 2009 14:33:30 GMT -5
thats nuttin....about 40 miles north of me they say people go to the bathroom in the house... ;D ;D Now that's just plain disgustin. |
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Post by sw on Feb 3, 2009 20:22:55 GMT -5
:)8th day - no electricity and none in sight yet. We have been told - no reimbursement. Life is still good - we live in America!
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Post by ozark on Feb 3, 2009 20:30:59 GMT -5
Leslie where we live has water and electricity and cleanup id going on rapidly. We are in a valley and had less ice than areas on hilltops and higher elevation. Marshal (The County Seat) is 8 miles north of us and several feet higher. 60 percent of Marshall is out of power and they are expecting it to take a month to get everyone back with power and water. Although we had it rough for a time we were among the lucky. Now I have a good generator and plenty of heavy duty cord that I am looking to let a needy person or family to loan the use of.
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Post by Buckrub on Feb 5, 2009 15:15:19 GMT -5
God bless all of you. I live about 30 miles south of the 'line' that got it so bad. So many friends and family without power for so long.
Went to Fayetteville yesterday for basketball game. The devastation to trees is unreal. To think it stretches from there to Kentucky is amazing.
If only power companies had had the foresight to install power lines buried, instead of arial...
The pictures are just mind blowing........
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Post by sw on Feb 5, 2009 20:52:35 GMT -5
Still just on generators at home and office. No hot water at home(electric and too much for generator). Doing ok overall. Continuing education at Little Rock all week-end(flight instructor refresher course -required biannually, but take annually). People in the country have been told mid-March to April for power. The entire Clay County Electric sysyem is being redone. Over 15,000 of appx 17,000 power poles are unusable - they are being replaced. This is just in the country, not any municipalities. The county only has 25,000 residents total and appx 1/2 live in municipalities so consider how many power poles exist/population. The cities also lost most of their power poles.
Generators can burn a lot of gas!
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Post by ozark on Feb 5, 2009 21:14:28 GMT -5
I didn't mind the amount of gas so much as having to refill the tank every 7-8 hours. It is cold out there. I am with both power and water now though. Ben
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Post by wilmsmeyer on Feb 5, 2009 21:17:47 GMT -5
Glad you are hanging in there Steve! Hope gas prices stay low.
The news has all but forgotten this catastrophe.
Stay well.
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Post by sw on Feb 6, 2009 8:05:20 GMT -5
Glad you are hanging in there Steve! Hope gas prices stay low. The news has all but forgotten this catastrophe. Stay well. Actually, it will make all of us appreciate electricity and the other conveniences we are so used to. The lingering aftermath of catastrophies like this don't make very interesting news. Many of the disaster workers say it is worse than Katrina in many areas, especially Clay Co, AR. Piggott, AR has been declared the "epicenter" of the devastation. I do not believe this compares to katrina as in 2-3 months we should be back to normal except for our highly "modified" trees. Life's still good: but shooting isn't in the cards until the clean-up/recovery is finished. |
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Post by petev on Feb 6, 2009 19:46:20 GMT -5
These reports are great, in that they are first hand accounts of what's going on. I am surprised that since I elected to go without cable here, on the evening CBS news they haven't touched on the ice storm much unless somehow I missed it. It's such a big story, I can't help but be curious as to how the recovery is going, and what the clues to making it happen are. Thanks again for keeping the rest of us informed. Pete
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Post by ozark on Feb 6, 2009 22:40:10 GMT -5
This afternoon we drove around looking at the countryside.
This is hill country where you can view a whole hillside from a distance. Since nearly all this area is wooded the view is unbelievable. You look across a valley and see a few large trees uprooted and a whole hill marked by fresh broken limbs that seemed to just split downward leaving long fresh scars. Few houses were damaged but some were from falling limbs and trees. Soon the green leaves will hide most of the ugly but it is something that this old man has never seen before. Powerline poles have been replaced by the hundred of thousands and crews from all over the south and probably from the north are here helping. I don't know of anyone that is in danger or suffering now. Ozark
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Post by ozark on Feb 8, 2009 20:06:37 GMT -5
Just got my first report frrom our hunting area and buildings. A retired Navy bachelor who has a cabin on the property and helps for cabin and hunting rights has just cut his way with chain saws to his cabin and looked at some or our stuff. Some large trees uprooted across our roads and many large limbs blocking roads. A large limb went through the porch roof of his cabin but except for a piece of roofing and gutter no other damage. A large tree fell across our MO-CAB (hunting blind built on a trailer) and ruined the cabin part. The trailer will be fine and I will be able to use it. Water ripped a small channel out of the new pond bank but that can be fixed pretty easily. Sta-Cab (where I hunt most often from) is undamaged. No report from our main cabin but I am expecting problems since there is a large whiteoak by it with large limbs leaning out over the roof. I will get a report from there soon. Anyway, none of this is really bad news and there are good news. Just this year we sold $36,000. worth of timber which would have been severely damaged had it still been standing. Most pine trees not cut were uprooted or the body broken off about half way between ground and top. If I can get someone to go with me I will survey it all and take some pictures of things there and post them here. Ozark
PS: I just happened to remember how my Sta-Cab was surrounded by large pine trees that the timber cutters took out. Had that not been done it would surely have been smashed to the ground. I am lucky even though we have had a little bad luck.
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Post by sw on Feb 8, 2009 22:38:29 GMT -5
Ben, I hope you find things in pretty good shape. I haven't seen part of my hunting stands, etc but have simple set-ups , so no real loss possible. However, I had appx $70,000 timber loss. Still no electricity at either office nor house even though virtually everyone else has electricity - starting to get a "complex"  . Maybe tomorrow. Tomorrow starts day 14 w/o electricity/hot water. |
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Post by jims on Feb 8, 2009 22:51:33 GMT -5
Ozark and SW: We had a bad ice storm here several years ago, nothing like yours however. In places it is still hard to walk thru the woods because of the number of tops and trees down and our damage was mild compared to yours.
I hope things get back on track for your area soon.
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Post by ozark on Feb 9, 2009 17:28:21 GMT -5
Limbs hanging over our main cabin but none went through roof.  This shows worker clearing road to Mo-Cab visable in back with tree on it.  This shows the devistation of area.  Bringing damaged Mo-Cab home to repair. Note the ends of logs on either side that went through the top.  |
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Post by petev on Feb 9, 2009 22:20:50 GMT -5
Being w/o power for over a week really defines a natural catastrophy for the books, I think. SW, after you do a salvage logging cut, and firewood, will you recoup some of your loss?
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Post by sw on Feb 10, 2009 7:39:41 GMT -5
Being w/o power for over a week really defines a natural catastrophy for the books, I think. SW, after you do a salvage logging cut, and firewood, will you recoup some of your loss? The price of lumber being what it is as well as the tremendous amt of wood available for firewood, there is no recouping. That said, I haven't harvested my woods any, anyway so there was no actual loss other than inherent value. Power back, intermittently, yesterday at my home but not at office yet. Using generator at office and resting the one at home. |
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Post by Buckrub on Feb 10, 2009 10:14:04 GMT -5
I need to stop hunting and fishing on weekends and take my trailer up north a few miles. My mother, next door, heats almost exclusively with wood and it's always a chore to keep her supplied. I got one tree a few weeks ago but it's almost gone now.
It is sad that so much of this will be piled up and burned, and so many folks heat with wood and need it.
But that's such a small thing compared to what these folks are going through. Yahoo reported yesterday that Kennett, MO was in a mess, etc etc.....not far from SW I guess.
Course, today we have good chance of SEVERE spring weather (tornadoes). Too warm for this time of year. By next week it'll snow and ice again prolly. But there's always a threat of severe weather in Tornado Alley......
It's always something.
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Post by ozark on Feb 10, 2009 10:30:05 GMT -5
Buckrub, Bring your trailer, chainsaws and helpers. You can have all the wood you want free for the cutting from me. Ben
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Post by sw on Feb 10, 2009 19:27:43 GMT -5
I need to stop hunting and fishing on weekends and take my trailer up north a few miles. It is sad that so much of this will be piled up and burned, and so many folks heat with wood and need it. that Kennett, MO was in a mess, etc etc.....not far from SW I guess. Kennett, MO is 9 miles as the crow flies, or my airplane, from Piggott, AR. The head of the Kennett city light,gas, and water dept was Piggott's head of same years ago(he's from Rector, AR). He is a very close friend(helps guide my work on my airplane, an A&P - just to care for his 97 A-36). Kennett, is appx 30% restored as of today according to the asst dept head's wife who was in my office today. My daughter teaches in Kennett and school won't start there until next week, and then generator powered only. Kennett got it worse than even Piggott. All power poles down. Incidentally, as I'm typing this, the news from JBR,AR stated that "only" 12,700 poles still need replaced in Clay County Electric's rural area out of the 15,000 that were originally down. I'm sure firewood is here to be had. Primarily, oaks are down. Piggott still has NO external power coming in - our own generator(s) only. Our "new" generator went down Sunday - it was installed in 1937: the cooling for either the generator or engine is having problems. We are now using the older diesel powered generator(installed in 1910). They are kept maintained and are used when purchased power prices are high. Life is still good.  |
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Post by ET on Feb 10, 2009 20:26:41 GMT -5
Even though I am not a stranger to what Nature can do when it feels like unleashing it’s fury I still am left in awe with the devastation that can occur. Here I can only extend my prayers and best wishes for a speedy recovery from this destructive episode left behind from this ice storm.
Ed
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;D ;D
. Maybe tomorrow. 
