Hunker down time in the ozarks

zion-diy · January 27, 2009, 07:03:46 PM

Well, it's time to hunker down. Ice is everywhere and trees are falling all over.

The power went out this morning. just now got my crappy generator running. I have lost at least 15 to 20 trees that I can see. those are the complete tree, roots and all. not counting the thousands of limbs.
Taylor, has this storm hit your area and hard? thank God for wood stove. and a 5 burner ventless heater. Oh yeah, and a battery powered carbon monoxide detector.

I feel for anyone east of us. looks like it might get even worse there.

StinkerBell · January 27, 2009, 09:13:33 PM

Keep safe and warm!

January 27, 2009, 09:42:17 PM

i've never lived in such an enviroment

here in texas, when we hear "hunker down", it means the big blow is a commin'

i know this sound kind of corney, but i'll remember you in my prayers.

i can only imagine what it must be like to be in that bitter cold, i'm whinning 'cause the low tonight
is 50

i talk a big story, about wanting to see some real snow one day, (being from texas, i never really have)
but i dont think i'd last 1/2 a day in that kind of cold

good luck, stay warm

tesa

Redoverfarm · January 27, 2009, 10:25:34 PM

Well it's finally reaching here. 2" of snow this morning and then by afternoon it started to rain and then freeze. Trees are alredy glazing up. A look at the radar map and we are right on the border line. Who knows I guess we will find out in the morning when we look out and see either dull white or shining on the tress.

ScottA · January 27, 2009, 10:53:48 PM

We ended up with 1/4" of ice, 1" of sleet and about 1" of snow. Burrrrrr.

January 28, 2009, 08:06:46 AM

Thanks everyone.we made it thu the night,but it was spooky. all night, trees were snapping, then crashing. took a couple of big hits on the house with some hefty limbs but thankfully no direct hit from any of the big trees that went down. It's dawn now and I can see 2 of the trees that were next to my house are down, roots and all

I'm not ready to venture out yet. Everybody east of this "Get ready" gotta shut down the putor for now. let the fridge and freezer run.
Oh yeah, thank you, tesa I think your prayers worked

glenn kangiser · January 28, 2009, 09:03:59 AM

Glad to hear you made it OK.

NM_Shooter · January 28, 2009, 09:40:13 AM

Stay off the roads!

We kids used to love the ice storms. Made for excellent sledding with the old steel rail type sleds. We had a road near our house going down to the lake that we could get a 1/2 mile run on. Sledding at night was especially fun.

Hope your power stays on...

-f-

tesa · January 28, 2009, 07:12:10 PM

glad to hear all is well!

its all over the news down here, i'll never forget the sound of snapping and crashing
trees during hurricane ike

its creepy, especially in the dark

and your welcome for the prayers, a little divine intervention never hurts

tesa

January 28, 2009, 10:52:31 PM

If they are nice trees and you can swing it, think about having a portable bandmill come in and make lumber out of the trees. When life hands you lemons, our oak cabinets and trim came from an ice storm. Be careful cleaning up, our woods were full of springpoles, bent over saplings under the big boys, waiting to smash into you if released wrong.

ScottA · January 28, 2009, 11:03:15 PM

Our power was out for a while today, I had to get the generator out for a few hours.

zion-diy · January 31, 2009, 09:56:44 AM

well friends this is the first time we've had internet access. storm was worse than expected. Phones went out along with power. last heard on the portable radio that there is 6 dead. 2 from falling limbs and other carbon monoxide. bad, bad. we probably wont have power for 3 weeks. could be worse. town of truman was told 6 weeks or more. got to got saw up some more trees. got at least 2 limbs stick thu the roof. 1 came clear into living room. can't get on the roof to see if there are more punched in. hopefuly the sun will melt the snow and ice off the roof so I can see if I need to roof the whole thing over.

Alex and Linda

Redoverfarm · January 31, 2009, 10:03:31 AM

zion-diy my heart goes out to you. We faired easy in comparison. The western part of our state was worse than the mountains. I guess they gave us a little protection from the weather pattern. My parents live near the Ohio River and they have been w/o power for 4 days. It is bad enough to have to make repairs but to have to do it in the winter is worse. Good Luck.

glenn kangiser · January 31, 2009, 10:22:13 AM

Sorry to hear that, Alex and Linda. Be careful working under those conditions -- I went off a roof during the fire - didn't hurt much but still before I did it I figured I couldn't do it.

No walking on water for me I guess...

January 31, 2009, 10:31:18 AM

Glenn you must have landed on your head. Nothing hurt.

glenn kangiser · January 31, 2009, 10:34:07 AM

Luckily a few 2x4's on the gate frame broke my fall.

Yes -- you are right - armor plated skull -- Kevlar. You can beat my head with a 2x4 like a pinata and nothing will be damaged...

zion-diy · February 03, 2009, 08:48:16 AM

Well we are still without power and to make things worse, my 5k generator gave up the ghost yesterday. I managed to get on the roof without falling off :)and quicky patch the holes we can heat and cook on the woodstove. only worry I've got is the freezer. I can't eat all that food fast enough. I managed to get online by using my tractor battery and a small 175 watt Inverter with my laptop. Got out and found the gougers are working full force. $600 for a chinese 3000 watt gen. $880 for 5000 watt, told them to keep it. Anyone who wants to live off grid and be self sufficent needs to come stay here or Kentucky for a bit. a good learning curve

Alex-Linda

NM_Shooter · February 03, 2009, 10:17:01 AM

Can you get your food into some sort of insulated box outside in the shady part of a building? Put some water jugs out at night to freeze, or harvest pond ice to help keep it cold.

Does the power company in Northern Arkansas reimburse you for lost food if the power goes out?

I have friends there near Mountain Home who have been sending me pictures... unbelievable storm.

Do you guys need FEMA or the national guard to sort things out? (I'm guessing NO! Based on my experiences with being a Hillbilly. They would just get in the way).

-f-

OldDog · February 03, 2009, 07:39:46 PM

170+ hours on generator so far

Bruce

cordwood · February 03, 2009, 08:32:24 PM

Finaly got a putter that I can log on with. Over a week with no power but we have water and wood for heat so we are better off than some.
We lost hundreds of trees and slight roof damage but not enough to file on insurance.
It seems rough but I don't recall it being much different when I was a kid and I lived through that

!
If we get power back soon I think I can post some pics. on the home computer!?!?!

February 03, 2009, 10:13:14 PM

Here's hoping you all have plenty of gas.... be careful out there.

zion-diy · February 04, 2009, 09:03:41 AM

finally. last nite, the juice started flowing again. just in time as temps went to single digits here.
NM_shooter,fema, we don't need no stinking fema

Dog, I feel for you. hope the gen stays running.
Cordwood, you're right, it probably isn't any different from years gone bye. I guess it's cause I can't get around like I used to. Golden years my butt

I'll have to get the womans help to post pics. lets just say I'm putor stupid..

OldDog · February 06, 2009, 08:19:13 AM

10am today will be 10 days on generator.

still haven't seen any "officials" of local government

Redoverfarm · February 06, 2009, 09:03:19 AM

OldDog make sure you shut it down long enough to change the oil, Often in long use periods this is forgotten.

OldDog · February 06, 2009, 02:25:46 PM

I have had 2 oil changes this week & checked every tank of fuel.

A lot of people never look at them.

There are several week old generators showing up for sale. I think they will get cheaper when the credit card bills start rolling in!