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Ice Storm 2008 - Deady Beauty - Pictures finally uploaded
By Andrew Pollack on 12/12/2008 at 03:21 PM ESTIts been 10 years since we've had an ice storm of this severity here. We've been without power since 7:30am today (about 8 hours as I write this) and without cable TV and cable broadband internet for about as long. We knew it was coming and had planed an EOC (Emergency Operations Center), but it has still been a lot of work. Starting at around 5am the down power lines calls started coming in, and for several hours we didn't get a break. This afternoon as been quiet, with temperatures warming a bit, but tonight its set to hard freeze again -- well below 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
In 1998 we had the last really major ice storm. To get an idea of the devastation an ice storm can bring, take a look at this photo set via the Portland Press Herrald with a voiceover (look to the far lower right for arrows if you want to skip the voice) shows you how beautiful and at the same time utterly devastating that ice storm was. Ice Storm of '98 Slide Show Hopefully this year's won't be nearly as bad, but so far its not looking good.
I would have got these uploaded earlier, but with cable broadband down, I'm failed over to the low speed DSL line and it took forever to upload them to the Lotus Domino server in Dallas where the blog lives. Click on any of these thumbnails to see the picture in full size, and to get an idea of what an ice storm can do.
re: Ice Storm 2008 - Deady Beauty - Pictures finally uploadedBy carl tyler on 12/12/2008 at 04:58 PM EST
re: Ice Storm 2008 - Deady Beauty - Pictures finally uploadedBy Richard Schwartz on 12/12/2008 at 06:31 PM EST
We lost power around midnight last night, which means heat and Internet are
down too. The estimate is in days, not hours, before we will get power back.
More than 50% of New Hampshire lost power, according to the utilities. There
was a fire truck around the block at about 12:30 AM, but it left quickly and I
haven't found out what the reason for the visit was. There are two power lines
down between our house and the main road that we usually use to go just about
anywhere. When I finally got down to the main road, I saw a transformer on a
pole catch fire (I guess something overloaded when they re-connected power
somewhere upstream), so I called it in. There are trees and branches down
everywhere. Crews have done a great job clearing them from roads by now, but
the evidence of it is everywhere. Our neighbor on the the right has a tree
limb in their bedroom. Our neighbor to the left had a tree limb strike a
glancing blow off the front of their roof, but it looks to me like it only
damaged the gutter. We had several near misses by large limbs, but no hits.
Even well after the freezing rain stopped this morning, it was downright
dangerous to be standing in the yard, as every few minutes a hail of ping-pong
ball sized ice chunks would fall a hundred or so feet from the tops of the
various trees. It took us more than two days to get power back in 1998. We're
at a hotel now, for tonight at least.
down too. The estimate is in days, not hours, before we will get power back.
More than 50% of New Hampshire lost power, according to the utilities. There
was a fire truck around the block at about 12:30 AM, but it left quickly and I
haven't found out what the reason for the visit was. There are two power lines
down between our house and the main road that we usually use to go just about
anywhere. When I finally got down to the main road, I saw a transformer on a
pole catch fire (I guess something overloaded when they re-connected power
somewhere upstream), so I called it in. There are trees and branches down
everywhere. Crews have done a great job clearing them from roads by now, but
the evidence of it is everywhere. Our neighbor on the the right has a tree
limb in their bedroom. Our neighbor to the left had a tree limb strike a
glancing blow off the front of their roof, but it looks to me like it only
damaged the gutter. We had several near misses by large limbs, but no hits.
Even well after the freezing rain stopped this morning, it was downright
dangerous to be standing in the yard, as every few minutes a hail of ping-pong
ball sized ice chunks would fall a hundred or so feet from the tops of the
various trees. It took us more than two days to get power back in 1998. We're
at a hotel now, for tonight at least.
re: Ice Storm 2008 - Deady Beauty - Pictures finally uploadedBy John J on 12/12/2008 at 08:06 PM EST
My thoughts are with you all. I remember the Ice Storm of 1998 that hit us up
in Canada.
Safe travels all...
in Canada.
Safe travels all...
re: Ice Storm 2008 - Deady Beauty - Pictures finally uploadedBy Shankwheat on 12/12/2008 at 09:43 PM EST
"shows you how beautiful and at the same time utterly devastating that ice
storm was"
What an exaggeration! This was a total non-event and damage was minimal. Being
without power for 8hrs is nothing. Did you just move to Maine from Florida?
storm was"
What an exaggeration! This was a total non-event and damage was minimal. Being
without power for 8hrs is nothing. Did you just move to Maine from Florida?
What planet are you on?By Andrew Pollack on 12/12/2008 at 10:02 PM EST
You've quoted me talking about, and referencing by link, the storm from 1998
that was exactly as I described. Beautiful and Devastating.
As to your idiotic comment about 8 hours -- we're now speaking of 15 hours
here, with the expectation of something like 48; and I'll be one of the shorter
duration ones.
Half the areas of two states are without power in sub-freezing weather. That's
no joke.
True - this storm doesn't come close to the one in 1998. That's mostly because
there's no second round of freezing rain expected. Its also not as widespread
as the one in 1998 was.
More than 200,000 people are without power at present in Maine -- roughly 15%
of the entire population. I don't know where you live, but here where I am,
the damage is pretty severe.
that was exactly as I described. Beautiful and Devastating.
As to your idiotic comment about 8 hours -- we're now speaking of 15 hours
here, with the expectation of something like 48; and I'll be one of the shorter
duration ones.
Half the areas of two states are without power in sub-freezing weather. That's
no joke.
True - this storm doesn't come close to the one in 1998. That's mostly because
there's no second round of freezing rain expected. Its also not as widespread
as the one in 1998 was.
More than 200,000 people are without power at present in Maine -- roughly 15%
of the entire population. I don't know where you live, but here where I am,
the damage is pretty severe.
re: Ice Storm 2008 - Deady Beauty - Pictures finally uploadedBy Brian on 03/26/2009 at 03:01 PM EDT
We were without power for 6 days in almost 100% of the town I live in in NH.
Fortunately, I had a generator and plenty of gas. Neighbors had frozen pipes,
lost fish, etc. We opened an emergency shelter at our high school with the
help of the National Guard (they supplied a 60KW generator to carry the boilers
and some lights).
This was NOT a "non-event" as "ShankWheat" put it. People died and millions of
dollars in property was damaged. ShankWheat, get a clue!
Fortunately, I had a generator and plenty of gas. Neighbors had frozen pipes,
lost fish, etc. We opened an emergency shelter at our high school with the
help of the National Guard (they supplied a 60KW generator to carry the boilers
and some lights).
This was NOT a "non-event" as "ShankWheat" put it. People died and millions of
dollars in property was damaged. ShankWheat, get a clue!
re: Ice Storm 2008 - Deady Beauty - Pictures finally uploadedBy Ken Yee on 12/13/2008 at 10:05 AM EST
You need a better camera ;-)
Seriously though, hope you and Richard and other folks up north get your power
back soon. Most people don't realize that no power means no heat and in below
zero weather, that's very serious. Some folks have wood stoves, but that
doesn't keep water pipes from freezing over and bursting...
Seriously though, hope you and Richard and other folks up north get your power
back soon. Most people don't realize that no power means no heat and in below
zero weather, that's very serious. Some folks have wood stoves, but that
doesn't keep water pipes from freezing over and bursting...
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still down as I can't get to slingbox of computers. Lots of trees down. Power
was out at CJ Trailways in newburyport when I arrived there too.