Ice Storm - this is so not fun

[Neecy]

My neighborhood is suburban KC is becoming littered with tree branches and power lines are starting to sag.

This tree is in my neighbor's yard, and if it snaps it's going straight into their house:



My power line is getting heavy with ice:





Freezing rain is still falling, too.





Stay safe, midwesterners, and watch out for those falling tree branches...

[bdamomma]

1. beautiful scenes but dangerous

keep safe.

[NMMNG]

2. My thoughts are with all of you facing these storms

Stay safe. :pals:

[annabanana]

3. A terrible beauty.... bundle up and cross your fingers...

I hope you keep your electric!

[BOSSHOG]

4. We've been through a few icestorms

and they are no fun, very deadly, evil. I probably shouldn't say this but its 80 degrees and sunny in South Mississippi right now. Wish I could send some of our weather to you.

[madokie]

5. especially the falling tree branches

I let the pet out yesterday morning and about the time I was opening the door a big assed limb came crashing down right where me or her would have stepped if we were only a second faster in getting there.

[knitter4democracy]

6. Those pics remind me of the ice storm of '88 up here in MI.

It was terrible. We lost our power for two weeks and had to keep the fireplaces going 24 hours a day so the pipes wouldn't freeze. No water (no power for the well pump) and cold, cold, cold for too long. I never was so thankful for electicity in my life when that came back on.

Stay safe and warm. Up here, we're just getting rain for some reason. Did you fill the bathtub to have water to flush the toilets in case you lose power?

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. We aren't getting any rain here

I am in NE Jo Co. The streets are fine but the trees are covered - just like the ones in your pictures. My cell phone is not working and I am wondering if there is ice on the tower. My internet is also going on and off.

It's been a fun day - NOT.

At least we got out of school :woohoo:

[Neecy]

9. I was just outside and it's sleeting...

I'm sure we'll be sending it your way in a few minutes :)

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Where are you?

Are you north of me? They say the northern part of town is getting hit much worse.

Stay safe!! :hug:

[Neecy]

13. Prairie Village

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. You're my home girl!

I grew up in PV. Went to St Ann's. Now I live at 67 and Lamar.

[leftyladyfrommo]

8. I'm North of the River and my power is out.

It is just a huge mess here. I can get around on the roads but the trees are starting to come down - I may not even be able to get out later.

I have three insulated undershirts on plus a t-shirt plus a hoodie. Two pairs of socks. And a hat. But my house is getting so cold. I would just leave and go someplace warm but my dogs are in the house. I don't want to leave them.

One good thing - the rain and stuff should be over tonite.

[Blackhatjack]

11. Don't wait to seek out a source of heat... hypothermia is dangerous.

Make sure your neighbors know the situation you are in.

[leftyladyfrommo]

31. My whole neighborhood is out - for blocks.

I'm doing OK. Just have lots and lots of clothes on and stay under the covers where its warm.

I thought they were going to get the power on last nite - there were trucks outside. But no.

Maybe today. The weather has cleared up so the utilities should be able to get going faster. I don't know how many total outages we have here but there must be a lot.l

[Catherine Vincent]

10. I feel so bad for you people that are weathering this ice storm.

Be careful out there. What a mess!

[malaise]

14. Stay safe

Damn some beautiful scenes are deadly

[sazemisery]

15. From January 2007

We missed the ice this time but January of this year we were hit hard. No electricity for 12 days. Here's what our property looked like:
Here is the driveway leading from my house. The trees are in the driveway.

My power lines are under this mess

The once mighty willow

Lovely weather for geese

[Neecy]

19. wow....

Those are amazing photos. It looks like you didn't lose just branches but entire trees.

[sazemisery]

33. We lost mostly invasive cedars and soft wood trees

The cedars that grow here are an invasive species that kill other trees around them so to lose them was a blessing. But we had many large willows, cottonwoods and other soft wood trees that were felled by the roots. After we removed them we had large craters much like bomb craters everywhere. The pecan, oak and other nut trees survived with minimal damage. Fruit trees suffered greatly also.

[DemBones DemBones]

16. Hope you have a generator and that it works! nt

[in_cog_ni_to]

17. It's awful! We have been lucky so far today...rain only, but sleet is expected tonight.

Yesterday we thought school would be cancelled today. My son's wrestling coach told the kids that "even if school is canceled tomorrow because of icy roads, you are STILL EXPECTED TO BE HERE FOR PRACTICE AT 9:00 AM." :grr: I was SO not happy to hear that! They still expect wrestler's parents to sliiiiiiiide to the school? Freakin' idiots. I don't think so!

Those pictures are beautiful, but it's getting dangerous out there! Stay safe!

[plcdude]

18. It's raining

now in Oklahoma and thawing the ice hopefully the warmer weather is coming your way. Good Luck

[HereSince1628]

20. At least yer internets are up!

[pansypoo53219]

21. so far

only fluffy snow here in milwaukee. BIG fluffy snow.

[MuseRider]

22. Power out here

thank goodness we put in a generator. It took me several hours before I realized I could hook my computer to it :).

Frozen in here 60 miles east of you. Trees bent double, tops on the ground. An inch of ice on everything, still raining. 2 1/2 inches of rain after the ice and freezing weather tonight with an inch or two of sleet predicted. Oh yes, the wind is supposed to start blowing. That will help the trees :eyes:, it is nasty. The creeks are coming out of their banks too out here in the rural areas flooding the roads with ice. Nasty stuff. I could not recommend enough getting a generator. I told my husband when we were building out here that the electricity goes out every time it looks like rain, he was reluctant but we did it.

Take care Neecy and everyone else out there. Anyone from Manhattan or Wamego? They got it worse than we did here, major problems there. Anyone nearby, I have heat and lots of food and lots of room.

[madokie]

24. we just got power back on from a couple or three hours ago

we lost power last night and today. I could imagine what it must be like for the Iraqi who only get power intermittently if at all. Wish I hadn't thought about that now cause it bums me out what is happening over there in our name and theres not a damn thing we can do about it or so it seems, no one in our government listens to our crys anymore.

[bobbolink]

25. How many homeless people are out in that?????

Anyone watching out for them?

[Neecy]

27. sadly...

One homeless person froze to death last night in midtown.

[bobbolink]

29. Sadly, that's not a surprise. Too bad DUers weren't willing to call

today to prevent more housing cuts.

So, next year, there will be MORE people out in the storms.

What does it take???

[Posteritatis]

26. Those can be pretty impressive things

I live in Atlantic Canada (aside from this year where I'm stuck in Ontario) and we'd get a few every year. Not quite so disasterous as in the States right now, because we're more used to them, but they can still be messy.

At the same time, there's something cool about a cloudless, sunny day following a storm like that. (Well, aside from getting retinal burns.)

[alfredo]

28. A suggestion: Don't do acid during an ice storm.

the trees act really weird. They creak and snap. When branches hit the ground it gives you such a rush. They do look pretty with a street light behind them.

[leftyladyfrommo]

32. OK. I won't. Thanks for that advice. LOL

[alfredo]

35. Wasted youth took on all new meaning.

[Bluebear]

30. I vote the last one definitely!!! Oh wait, this isn't the photography contest....

:blush:


(Stay safe, all!)

[ThomWV]

34. Let me give you a safety tip

I live out in the country and on the western side of the beginning of the West Virginia mountains. Because of our location we get heavy icing more often than surrounding areas and this area is almost completely forested.

If you have to be out walking do not walk in the roads or on the road sides. It is safer to walk in the woods back away from the road. This is not because a car may come sliding out of control and hit you, though that might happen too. The problem is with falling limbs. Many more limbs fall in the road than fall in the woods. Let me say that again, many more limbs fall in the road than fall in the woods, even in the woods just a little way back from the road. The reason is that the limbs that hang over and down into roadways extend farther unsupported than those in deep woods do and so they break off more easily. Falling limbs kill people; it doesn't take the who tree to do it. Of course there is also the problem of power lines and they more often follow the roads than run through wooded country.

At any rate please be safe. Ice is horrible to deal with and unimaginable for someone who hasn't been caught in it but the good part is that all it takes is a a little heat and couple of hours of sunlight and it all goes away.