Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Midwest Ice Storm. So who's digging out? (w Pix)

So, fellow Axiomites from the Midwest, who's getting hit with this ice storm? I know there aren't many of us, but I wanted to see if everyone else is ok. My town in western Illinois received about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of ice. I live in a part of town with many old-growth trees, and sadly, almost all of them are heavily damaged. We lost a nice old 50 or 60 year old oak tree when it fell into our front porch and ripped the power line down (though we never lost power, don't know how that happened and not great having a live power line down across your driveway, sidewalk, and front yard!) A neighbor had a huge, 4-foot diameter tree literally rip out of the ground and fall into their home.


I've been through a couple of big ice storms in my 30-years on this planet, but nothing like this. Woke up at about 5:30 in the morning to the sound of the power line being ripped away from the house, ice falling on the roof, lightning and thunder, trees snapping and breaking, and transformers exploding. The power of mother nature can be incredible!

How's everyone else doing?

Here's a few photos I feel like sharing for those of you who have never been in an ice storm....






My front yard...

Wow Peter that's terrible. We have been lucky so far here in Wilmington (60 miles south of Chicago) as we have had only rain so far. They are calling for freezing rain later on today.

Take care in that mess down there.

Wow, hang tight Peter. That looks like a real mess.

A snowy blizzard you can cozy up inside your home but nothing makes a mess of things like freezing rain.

I know I don't have to tell you but stay away from those power lines.

I live in Quincy, IL and we did not get it nearly as bad as you did in Jacksonville! At least not yet. I hear Pittsfield/Griggsville had some problems as well. I work in Kinderhook, IL and the power is still on here.

Oh yes, I stayed far away from the line. The local power company has already been by. They disconnected the line, pulled it out from under the trees, fixed the power coupling to the house, and reconnected the line. So it's no longer a safety hazard. We've already had the broken branches cut down (90% of the tree), and are in the midst of chopping up the limbs.

Lots of folks without power. At the peak, 75% of my town of 20k was without power. Though today you can't go more than two or three blocks without seeing a power company truck or two. They are really working hard, even while more tree limbs fall. Kudos to AmerenIP. Still, even more lines down today. Looks like a warzone. While home at lunch I watched our neighbors tree lose a big limb right on top of their car. Ouch.

While at Home Depot buying chainsaw oil yesterday, I witnessed a group of people almost fighting over a truckload of generators. Spooky stuff. Like something out of a movie.

Yeah, ice sucks. I love a good snow. I don't mind it at all. I just hate this ice! Luckily it's 34 degrees (F) out now and everything seems to be melting. According to the National Weather service, it looks like my area is mostly out of danger now. I feel for those folks further north and west of where we live that are getting hammered today, especially NE Missouri and Eastern Iowa, as well as big chunks of Kansas and Oklahoma.

I see that Quincy is still under an Ice Storm Warning until tomorrow with .1 to .4 of an inch of ice accumulation expected. I'd encourage anyone in the path of this system to go out now and get plenty of rock salt and whatever else you need (chainsaw oil, gasoline, food, etc) to prepare. Take this one seriously. 1/4 inch seemed to be the point at which many trees couldn't take it anymore, so get ready!

Good luck to everyone still fighting this mess!

On an audio related note... It's been fairly interesting to watch my Belkin PF60 power 'cleaner' work. It has a line voltage readout. You should see it fluxuate! I've seen it as high as 135V and as low as 105V. It's usually around 122-124V. That can't be good for equipment!

You folks are in my thoughts. Be safe.

Same looking stuff in the Des Moines, Iowa area as well. Outside my window at work, there is a tree with at least 3/4" of ice around everything. That makes little 1/8" branches now 1 5/8" ice branches. Pretty to look at, a pain to clean off of everything.

Holy .... Wow. I'm glad nothing major happened to you and hope that your neighbor's house wasn't too badly damaged. Hang in there and thaw quickly.

Wow, that's some nasty looking stuff Peter ... y'all be safe up there.

We have a similar situation in Wamego, kansas. I'd guess a half inch or so of ice. The power was off from 9:30 am to 5:15 pm. The boss sent me home at 11:00. My dad has a generator rigged to run the heat, fridges, microwave, and tv. We spent the afternoon watching star trek tng.

Looks the same just west of you in Des Moines.

some pics from PSO's website for Tulsa