Springfield Missouri - disaster area.

[coppercoins]

Presidential citation as a disaster area came down yesterday. FEMA and over a hundred power crews are working to restore power to tens of thousands who are still without and going on their seventh night without. Shelters are still open to the thousands who need it. Generators, chain saws, heating oil, gasoline, and other essentials are still in short supply even though they are being trucked in daily. Death toll is at 35 in the state.

We haven't seen temperatures above freezing since the storm started seven days ago - so all the ice that brought the trees down is still in the trees that are still standing. Worst news...we are expecting six inches of snow Saturday that will invariably cause many more problems.

I put a photo of one neighborhood I took on the server for all to see:

[ldarrellc]

only one piece of advice for you......... dont stand under any trees.

[Gabe]

OMG... what a beautiful picture, but at the same time, I see the danger that this situation puts many people in.

Mother nature is like that... beautiful and deadly at the same time.

BTW- Today: after exactly 1 year, 2 months and 19 days later, my roof got fixed from Hurricane Wilma. Now my house has been completely repaired, and all that there is left is fixing some cosmetic problems caused by water damage after the roof caved.

[creilly]

OMG amazing.. and nothing is wet!! That road is clear and bone dry.

I am in Awwwwe

[murphy]

Black Ice on the road or is it clear?

[coop]

From Chuck's description with two inches of ice on everthing, even the gravel road can be ice skated on. It was like that in Iowa several years ago. You had to walk as it was too slick to drive. We took out our sleds and slid down gravel roads cause there was no traffic. You couldn't even steer the sleds and when you went off the road and hit the weeds, you left a trail of shattered grass/weeds. They shattered like glass and lay flat to the gound everywhere you ran off the road. Not a pretty thing to live through, but looked unique.

[Steven]

That sure looks bad but I don't think it's over. Looks like snow coming in to top off the ice tommorrow.
Steven

[Steven]

For more ice storm photos:

http://www.wunderground.com/wximage/imagesearch.html?citybox=on&city=Springfield&statebox=on&state=MO&submit=go

Steven

[Bob P]

All I can say is WOW! I hope and pray that all of you make it through this OK. Reminds me very much of the Montral Ice Storm of 1998. Very beautiful...but deadly.

[coppercoins]

The roads were wet through the rain, but dried off before they could freeze. If there had been ice on the road that day it would have been shiny.

Today, rain/snow/sleet, roads are already slushy, and we expect up to half a foot of snow today. Still many including my mother without power. Over 65,000 in the area going on their 8th night without. Power company expects it could take a week longer for some to get theirs back on.

[coppercoins]

Yours truly after cutting the favorite back yard tree down yesterday...a very sorrowing time.

Tonight...more of the same, rain mixed with sleet freezing in the trees. New power outages, more ice accumulation, just a really crappy situation for all.

[coppercoins]

A couple more images I took. The first one is in my mother's neighborhood, which still doesn't have power. The second is a block from my ex's house, which also still doesn't have power:

[coppercoins]

And, at last, yes there is beauty in this whole thing...

[Robert]

Wow, amazing ice storm pics. I hope everyone has access to warm rooms/water/meals.

[Robert]

Those last two pics reminds me of part a Robert Frost (no pun intended) poem caled "Birches". Lines 5-20.

http://www.bartleby.com/104/66.html


In Oklahoma, I remember one ice storm in particular. I was driving on I-240 where it overpasses I-35. There was a wreck ahead (probably several wrecks) and traffic stopped. I was right in the middle of the overpass, which has a slight bank to it. I was completely stopped when all of a sudden I started slipping to the right. Not slipping forward or reverse, but to the right as in 90 degrees from forward. I couldn't move forward or backward due to traffic. I had my foot on the brake and my car was still was sliding to the right. I looked in that direction and there was a car next to me. The driver's eyes were wide open as my car slid ever more to the right. I looked over there and shrugged my shoulders as if to say there's nothing I can do. There wasn't. Fortunately the car stopped mere inches from the other car's door and traffic began moving.

Everyone should experience an ice storm if just to have the experience of driving in it. You become a better driver by learning how to start/stop/steer on ice. Plus the aftermath is something to see when the weather clears. Don't get me wrong, they're dangerous and the power outages and falling branches can be fatal. But from a "naturalist" perspective it's amazing.