I figured Tom and Steph can't post this information due to no power so I am posting what information they have been able to send in quick emails.
Thursday Jan 4 - I just wanted to let everyone know that we arrived home yesterday about noon. The devastation caused by ice is quite large. We are now hearing it may be a week to two before we have normal power returned. Even Kearney is having rolling blackouts to conserve power. There are so many poles just snapped in half from the weight on the ice on the lines. Many miles of lines down.
We, however, feel so blessed. Through Toms involvement in the fire department, we were able to buy a generator that has heated up our house to 55 degrees, and climbing slightly. (I was so excited when I could not see my breath in the house!!!) I just jumped on the computer for a minute, as we have pretty much everything turned off to help keep the heat up. Within minutes of our arrival, some friends were backed up, unloading, and connecting the generator. So many others are less fortunate. We had one friend sleep over last night, and possibly more as we find those in need. With our camp stove and BBQ grill we are pretty self sufficient. Tom is out on a unit call right now (the unit was stuck on the country roads and I listened as Tom walked up to the house. The country roads look like someone melted wax and poured it over them, and it hardened. I have never seen such "Sheets of ice"), so a friend came just to check and refill our generator. It is indeed a blessing to live in a small town.
Please pray for everyone in our area, as many are truly struggling just to survive. I'm off to go help prepare and serve lunch at the red cross shelter at our school. School has officially been cancelled until monday, but really until we have power back. We love you all and had and truly wonderful time being with you. The memories made and the love shared are treasured, and we can't wait to see you again.
Friday, Jan 5 Hooray!!!!!!!!!!! Our power company brought several large generators to power our whole town. As of 2:00 PM Friday we have temporary power. The power went off at 7:00 PM last Friday. It may be 2 more weeks until we have permanent power again. We arrived home at 12:00 PM Wednesday and had a generator running at home by 12:30. However since we are fully electric we could only run the heat and few lights. We had to shut everything else off in order to run the hot water heater for a short time this morning so we could all take a shower. We have been eating at the red cross shelter at the school. Life has been fun. It has really be interesting to watch a whole town come together to care for each other. We are safe and looking forward to "normal" again. More to follow later.
