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.
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8 comments:
Wow! You all are in our prayers. What a mess to come home to. I am sure that the boys just took it as an adventure. It was really good to see and chat with you too.
Roni
For pictures of the storm, check out: http://www.extremeinstability.com/06-12-31.htm
The majority of these were taken in Tom's immediate area
wow, I knew you'd be going back to a storm, but wow thats a big mess. Glad you were able to help so many and that the power is finally back! Brian thanks for posting the pictures, I'll check them out now.
Thanks for sharing the emails, it is good to hear how they are doing. I checked out the pictures, they are amazing...so beautiful! I couldn't believe how much ice surrounded everything...it looks like it will take a long time to recover! Keep us posted on their progress if you can!
It was great to see everyone at Christmas...we enjoyed it very much!! Thanks Tom and Linda for hosting the party!!
I heard from Steph... they can't be that bad off, they've been out hunting and Toby got a huge doe! This is from Steph's email:
It is about 38 degrees. We are supposed to get up to the mid 40's for a couple days then down to the mid teens for the high by the Friday. Possibly more snow on Sat. As soon as the kids have a quick snack we are heading out to chip the ice off of our sidewalk and driveway so we can start fresh with the new snow later. After all this time, it is still a couple of inches thick in the yard and on the concrete. The kids started back to school today, but everything in town is being run by two big generators. Could be several more weeks before we get real power. They are saying that it could be 3-6 weeks before the country homes get power. We are actually setlling in to life, mostly, and we have our friend Joe staying with us as his house is way out in the country and it could be a while before he leaves.
Wow! We have had ice storms up here on top of the mountain, but nothing like in these pictures! It is beautiful, but it leaves so much damage behind with the trees and power lines. Stay warm!
boy you guy are going thur a COLD winter but PLEASE keep it there and don't send it this way (at least in the AC area the Poconos is ok) Stephanie I send the information on the boat that i had but I guess with no electric you haven't gotten it yet
Stay warm..we will continue to pray for all of you.
It was great to see all of you ...Tom..on the way home Victoria said that you looked like Uncle Bruce to her.
Brian, thanks for posting those links of NE ice storm!!!! Those were some amazing pictures! And Sheri, thanks for sharing how they are doing!!! Please keep us posted!
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