Survivor Louisville

As soon as I say I’m going to get back to regular postings here Old Man Winter pulls off his thick belt and spanks the living snot out of me and the entire state of Kentucky. We’re not sure what we did wrong but this was no slap on the wrist for a minor offense. This was a Singapore flogging. Mother Nature must be just as ticked because she continues to throw a Canadian cold front at us defenseless Kentuckians.

Following a three inch snow fall overnight Monday, January 26, came a pelting ice storm that raged through Tuesday and on through Tuesday night. I awoke around 6 A.M Wednesday to the creaking, cracking and popping of tree limbs due to the weight of the ice. Three large branches from our sturdy elm in the front yard snapped and crashed straight down. The fingers of the branches held the stems straight up. They froze in place like a Marine holding a fingertip push-up. The branches blocked passage down our street. I was able to pull one of the fallen limbs from the ice to provide a passable lane. The others were immovable. I retreated to the warmth as the freezing rain was turning me to a popsicle.

Just past 6:30 A.M. a white flash and a sonic boom shook the house and knocked Cassidy out of bed. WOW! The dog was whimpering, Cassidy was shrieking “what was that?” The power immediately left the building, it must have caught a hot deal on a Caribbean Cruise and bolted south.

The state shut down and by mid-morning the precipitation petered out. The temperature dropped further freezing everything that wasn’t previously. The limbs continued their popcorn sounding descent and smashed out the back window of our neighbor’s car. Our subdivision looked like a war zone.

Venturing outside was a dicey affair as a hailstorm of breaking boughs crashed downward. Pine trees looked like a crazed lumberjack had clambered to the top and chain-sawed a straight line down leaving only bare trunks. Power lines snapped from the frosty load and the pounding from dropping timbers. Transformers were pushing out their blue arc of light with a whump before dying or being set ablaze from the overload. Sirens blared from every direction as firemen rushed to the hot spots to battle the flames that climbed the lines toward the houses. Each tree was twisted and bent, laden with a new arctic coat and threatening to fracture from the glacial mass. It was disturbingly beautiful.

Later in the day as the number of powerless homes jumped over the quarter million mark, the snow returned. Another four inches of powder cooked up a layer cake of frigid white. A diesel pick-up and a chain provided the strength to move the ice-encrusted elm branches from the road (Thanks, Nate). The rest of the day was spent trying to keep the driveway clear enough to get the cars out. We moved all of the freezer product to coolers and placed them outside in the snow. Our neighbors across the street with power invited us for a hot soup dinner followed by gooey warm brownies for dessert, yum. I’m not a veggie guy but I even ate the broccoli in the soup. We braved the night in the house sans heat except for the broccoli residuals - just call me Methane Man. After this episode I am convinced that there is no way broccoli can be good for you.

A few strings of electric juice remained in the city. It dangled across the street and teased us but one look out the window let us know that we were in it for the long haul. Our utility provider was advising us to prepare for a 7-10 day self-sufficient sojourn.

By Thursday A.M. every hotel room in a fifty mile radius was booked. We knew that a second night without heat was not an option. Our water is heated by gas so at least a hot shower could be had. I went to work following a two hour delay. Cassidy was still doing her fever roller coaster from Monday’s call out from school. Renee had her checked out at the closest immediate care facility that had power and they prescribed antibiotic for an ear infection. We received several offers to stay over at houses with heat. We ran an extension cord across the street and tapped into the neighbor’s power. An attempt to wire the furnace to the extension cord failed so we bailed out of the refrigerated environment for the warmth of an overpriced hamburger joint next to the highway.

We discussed our options while waiting for our dinner. Renee and Cassidy were set to stay in the basement of the other Robert and Renee on the street. I was going to stay with the shivering dog in the house.

Renee had checked Costco earlier and they were out of generators and warming devices as were the other retailers in town. I decided to take a shot at Lowes to see if they had any fireplace logs or anything to safely generate heat. I walked in and right in front of me they were dropping a pallet of portable electric radiators. Best $30.00 I’ve spent in a long time. As Renee was talking me into buying a second unit, the other Renee called. She listened to Renee’s description of our good luck and then relayed they had a space heater they weren’t using.

We set up both heaters in our bedroom and hooked them into the extension cord. The room warmed up fairly quickly and Renee and Cassidy decided to stick it out at home.

We camped out in our bedroom for the next four days. Polly, a dog who loves the cold, finally warmed up enough that her teeth stopped chattering. We had no lights beyond candles and flashlights. We had a battery operated radio to keep us connected to the outside world. Friday night dropped to 3 degrees Fahrenheit but we toughed it out. The kitchen got down to 41 degrees. Although by Saturday it was warmer in the uninsulated garage than in the downstairs.

The power came back on around 2:00PM on Superbowl Sunday. Due to varying temperatures the cooler contents were pretty much a complete loss.

So it’s been a full week since I’ve been able to update. I’ll give you the medical update in the next post.