OT Arkansaw Ice Storm Back Online

Welcome to the Leverguns.Com Forum. This is a high-class place so act respectable. We discuss most anything here ... politely.

Moderators: AmBraCol, Hobie

Forum rules
Welcome to the Leverguns.Com General Discussions Forum. This is a high-class place so act respectable. We discuss most anything here other than politics... politely.

Please post political post in the new Politics forum.
Post Reply
JerryB
Advanced Levergunner
Posts: 5493
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:23 pm
Location: Batesville,Arkansas

OT Arkansaw Ice Storm Back Online

Post by JerryB »

We got power back today after the storm hit last week, most of north Arkansaw is with out power, power poles are down for miles at a stretch. We were really blessed with no damage just lost alot of trees, and power. Power still out at church so no curch service in the morning.
JerryB II Corinthians 3:17, Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

JOSHUA 24:15
Jaguarundi
Senior Levergunner
Posts: 1804
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2008 3:27 am
Location: Wiregrass Area,Alabama

Re: OT Arkansaw Ice Storm Back Online

Post by Jaguarundi »

Well congrats on the power return and lack of damage to the abode.
"Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not."
stretch
Advanced Levergunner
Posts: 2284
Joined: Wed Oct 03, 2007 7:15 pm

Re: OT Arkansaw Ice Storm Back Online

Post by stretch »

My heart goes out to all of the folks in Arkansas and Kentucky who have to clean up that mess.
It's no fun.

We had a huge ice storm here in Maine back in '98. I think we were without power
for 11 days. We had temps as low as 20 below zero. I remember breaking four inches plus
of ice off of the deck with a sledgehammer. We melted snow to flush toilets, barbecued
outside to use up meat in the freezer, drove miles to find a gas station that had power -
it was a real mess. I remember I had to chainsaw my way out of my driveway - something
I haven't done before or since. I didstinctly remember a transformer lying in the road for over
a week - it was that long before the electric company could do anything about it. I had four trees
leaning on the garage, and two on the deck. The first few days sounded like a war zone with
trees snapping and crashing all over the place. I heated the garage for a couple of years off
the deadfall from that storm. I still have the chipper I bought to clean up the brush in the spring.
I worked on that pile of limbs for two weeks straight after work every night. It was up to my waist!

So those folks are NOT having a good time! Say a prayer for them if you're so inclined - they need
all of the help they can get.

-Stretch
CBinNH
Levergunner 2.0
Posts: 380
Joined: Sun Apr 15, 2007 5:17 am

Re: OT Arkansaw Ice Storm Back Online

Post by CBinNH »

Glad to hear you have your power again. We went 9 days without it in this part of NH in Dec. I tried to drive to work but trees were literally falling across the road as I drove. Turned around only to be cut-off by one. I had a Swede saw in my trunk so I was able to limb it enough to drive under it. Glad I burn wood or we would have froze.
iceman
Senior Levergunner
Posts: 1706
Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2007 7:38 pm
Location: Canada

Re: OT Arkansaw Ice Storm Back Online

Post by iceman »

Glad to hear you are OK. Here in Quebec we had a good one in 98 also. There were steel transmission towers down all over the place. they were designed to withstand 4" of ice, we got 6" in places. I was relatively lucky only minor tree damage and never lost power for a very long time. My Dad was without power for a week but to him no big deal. Heated with wood and we brought over water etc. He wouldn't stay at our place he said it reminded of the good old days. Lanterns, candles and listen to the radio. Other places were without for 30 days. No fun.
Happiness is a comfortable stump on a sunny south facing mountain.
SmokeEater2
Levergunner 3.0
Posts: 753
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 3:02 pm
Location: North Arkansas

Re: OT Arkansaw Ice Storm Back Online

Post by SmokeEater2 »

Glad to hear Ya'll are all right in that neck of the woods JerryB! We were out of power here at the house from Jan.27th until Feb.12th, :shock: Just got the phone and internet connection back about 3 hours ago. I have learned a few things from this,mainly that a generator is worth every penny you spend on it and a wood stove and a kerosene heater are fine things to have too. I've got about 5 acres of Oak and Hickory down (and way too much fence) so I'll have firewood aplenty for the next couple of years. Luckily the house and barn and the livestock came through in good shape and I'm thankful they were spared.
I've also learned that I'm gettin' a little old to cut wood and haul brush from daylight til' dark without really feeling it at night. :oops:
User avatar
kimwcook
Advanced Levergunner
Posts: 7978
Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2007 10:01 pm
Location: Soap Lake, WA., U.S.A.

Re: OT Arkansaw Ice Storm Back Online

Post by kimwcook »

Prayers said for all effected by the storm.

I know that most in this part of the country, including myself, would have a rude awakening if we were without power for that long. Most people don't think past tomorrow for food stuffs, alternative heat and lights, etc..
Old Law Dawg
iceman
Senior Levergunner
Posts: 1706
Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2007 7:38 pm
Location: Canada

Re: OT Arkansaw Ice Storm Back Online

Post by iceman »

It is a real wake up call when something like this hits. Hurricanes etc are no fun but when the temperature outside is well below freezing it can get dangerous. I will always have a wood heat source and a good supply of wood. It will heat you and cook for you and give you at least a minimum light for you. Just something about a house heated with wood, feels different.
Happiness is a comfortable stump on a sunny south facing mountain.
JerryB
Advanced Levergunner
Posts: 5493
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:23 pm
Location: Batesville,Arkansas

Re: OT Arkansaw Ice Storm Back Online

Post by JerryB »

It is sure good to have power back after you lose it for a while.We don't heat with wood anymore, went on natural gas several years ago. I reckon that this was the worst ice storm in north Arkansaw in a long time. Three men from church work for Entergy and this Sunday was the first time back in church for them.
Smoke Eater2 are you up around Harrison?
JerryB II Corinthians 3:17, Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

JOSHUA 24:15
Lastmohecken
Senior Levergunner
Posts: 1970
Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2007 1:42 pm
Location: Arkansas

Re: OT Arkansaw Ice Storm Back Online

Post by Lastmohecken »

Yes, it's good to finally get power back on. I was out for 11 days here in Northwwest Arkansas. I was heating with wood this year, and had plenty of wood, thankgoodness. We cooked on the wood stove also. We used coal oil lamps, mostly for light and I had a lot of candles stored up. I always keep coal oil lamps and candles, just in case.

We lost most of our frozen food and some of our fresh from the fridge, but I was able to set some of it outside, or ice it down. I almost purchased a generator on a couple of occasions, but after a few days, it really didn't matter that much. The main thing I missed was hot running water. We have an electric hot water heater.

I am now in the process of developing a battery bank with an inverter and charger for short term outages and I will be getting a generator, eventually. I have even been thinking about maybe getting a solar pannel or more to charge the battery bank, but I have not yet decided on how far I will take it.

I was in better shape then most, anyway, for an outage, but still, I believe I will get a little bit more self suficient, who knows what the future might bring.

One thing I knew, but was driven home to me, this time, was the fact that in a wide spread outage, disaster, etc, if you don't already have it on hand, buying it can be difficult, as lots of things like gasoline, common D size batteries, even ice, etc can get bought out, very quickly. A week into the outage, finding batteries was tought at times, and even several of the local gas stations couldn't even pump gas, no power for the pumps. I had to start carrying gas cans and when I found a station, I stocked up.
NRA Life Member, Patron
JerryB
Advanced Levergunner
Posts: 5493
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:23 pm
Location: Batesville,Arkansas

Re: OT Arkansaw Ice Storm Back Online

Post by JerryB »

We used a kerosene heater and a gallon of that stuff got pretty high too, anywhere from 5.75 to 9.00 bucks a gallon around here.
JerryB II Corinthians 3:17, Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

JOSHUA 24:15
GoatGuy
Senior Levergunner
Posts: 1002
Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2007 1:28 pm
Location: Arkansas Ozark Mts

Re: OT Arkansaw Ice Storm Back Online

Post by GoatGuy »

Yeah, we were out of power for 10 days as well. Didn't have a phone line working for another 6 days, so no internet service, home phone, etc. Never did lose our cell phone service altogether, but it was spotty. Our provider had 4 of their 7 cell towers damaged. Lots of ice damage to our woods and main pasture had 6 spots where either whole trees or tree limbs decided to take it down. Had planned to fence another 4.5 acres of grass and woods this March, but don't think I'll get to it by then as it sustained major tree topples and heavy limbs all over it. Looks like the woods were hit by aerial bursts on most of our wooded acreage. What a mess!!!

We got by with kerosene lamps and our wood stove, but confined ourselves mostly to the den where the stove is. All electric house, so no hot water except that which we heated on the stove. My wife got a kick out of cooking on that stove for the first few days. Pancakes, bisquits, spam, scrambled eggs, and even a particularly tasty stew one day, but by day 5 it wasn't so much fun anymore. A neighbor who works for the VA had finally snagged snagged a hotel room for a short period so that she could make it to work clean and fresh. She offered the use of the bathing facilities to us and my wife was able to get a shower on day 5. It took me another 3 days to get me one. Talk about needin' a bath! Anyhow nothing left to do now but keep working to clean up all of the mess around the place. Got does kidding now and over the next few weeks, and with all of the other things of a day to day nature, I'm guessing the clean-up will take us another couple of months or more to get the place back to normal. I'm not as young as I use to be and my old 028-WB Stihl get mighty heavy after a few short hours. Glad to read that our other N Arkansas levergun neighbors are also back up and runnin'.
"If a man does away with his traditional way of living and throws away his good customs, he had better first make certain that he has something of value to replace them." - Basuto proverb.
Lastmohecken
Senior Levergunner
Posts: 1970
Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2007 1:42 pm
Location: Arkansas

Re: OT Arkansaw Ice Storm Back Online

Post by Lastmohecken »

We have been fixing fence. We have about 10 miles of cattle fence, with a lot of it being in the woods. I hate woodland fences, it seems there is always a tree down on it somewhere.
NRA Life Member, Patron
SmokeEater2
Levergunner 3.0
Posts: 753
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 3:02 pm
Location: North Arkansas

Re: OT Arkansaw Ice Storm Back Online

Post by SmokeEater2 »

JerryB wrote:It is sure good to have power back after you lose it for a while.We don't heat with wood anymore, went on natural gas several years ago. I reckon that this was the worst ice storm in north Arkansaw in a long time. Three men from church work for Entergy and this Sunday was the first time back in church for them.
Smoke Eater2 are you up around Harrison?


Jerry, I'm in Mountain Home.
SmokeEater2
Levergunner 3.0
Posts: 753
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 3:02 pm
Location: North Arkansas

Re: OT Arkansaw Ice Storm Back Online

Post by SmokeEater2 »

Lastmohecken wrote:We have been fixing fence. We have about 10 miles of cattle fence, with a lot of it being in the woods. I hate woodland fences, it seems there is always a tree down on it somewhere.


You and me both! A lot of my fence borders woodland and I've got a lot left to fix myself.
Post Reply