Oooohhh The Weather Outside is FrightFul

[CarolC]

Another tip on staying warm is, take an iron supplement. (Connie, especially you if you're a vegan, it is a noticeable difference.)

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

Wow! Really! I am anemic, so I keep a bottle.
I am in day 7 with no hot water and freezing temps. We were threatened with snow on Thursday, THANK GOODNESS the temps rose before the wet stuff came. We don't have a single snow plow in the low country and despite living on the beach, we have no sand!

[critters]

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Just as important is being hydrated. A de-hydrated body gets cold! Simple as that. Drink plenty of water all day and (especially important) before going to bed. Being dehydrated can lead to a cold nights sleep..

Oh no, NOT me! I start drying out at 3 to avoid either getting up in the middle of the night to pee and/or waking up in a puddle of my own making! I can't help waking up in a puddle-not-of-my-making once in awhile, and there's NOTHING worse than hitting a freezing toilet in the middle of the night. Nuh uh!

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

there's NOTHING worse than hitting a freezing toilet in the middle of the night. Nuh uh!

Well, there is one little thing you can add .. then you have to wash your hands in freezing cold water

[Christine]

I know....I am back to drinking a gallon of water a day, but I try to get it in before 7 pm.....I HATE having to get up in the middle of the night!

[kodiblue]

Wow!! I feel for all you guys in the south.Saw on the news cars sliding all over in Georgia. We have another ten inches of snow on top of the 2 feet we had. Last night our wind chill was -30 degrees. My dogs are goin stir crazy. Thank god for kind neighbors, when i got up, my neighbor from across the street was snowblowing my driveway. I will make homemade cinnamon rolls for his family cuz they wont take payment. We should all visit my mom in Wa. state. Seattle has mid to upper fifties this week. Take care and keep warm.

[puremutt]

space heaters are sold out here, a lot of homes and NEW condo's have no heat!
poor Iguana's are falling out the trees and the manatees and turtles are dying.
wonder where the squirrels are hiding,,

[CarolC]

Mmm, cinnamon rolls. Did the dryer blankies for my dogs, they liked it, they were still a little warm by the time I got them up the stairs. I don't mind getting up in the middle of the night, I have Runaway Rabbit bunny slippers, the toastiest! Karen, turn on the hot water before you sit and let it run, works for me--second floor bathroom on an outside wall.

http://www.runawayrabbit.com/

I read manatees stay around the outflow current (from something...industry?) to stay warm?

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

I don't have any hot water. The water heater exploded last weekend.

Going to my friend's house this afternoon to take my first shower in a week. She moved up north and house on market. I PRAY TO GOD no one comes by while I'm bathing.

We have had so many space heater fires here in the low country. So many deaths.

I was almost panic struck last night when mine was making funny noises. I havent been downstairs to see the damage caused by the water heater (I am terrified to) I pray it didn't hit the heat pump (which is all we have in the lowcountry).

Finished the dishes in freezing water, have to conserve the gas for the stove & cooking & bathing.

Donna's ex told me he had a big clam steam pot. Told him if I got in it, I'd never get out again. Wouldn't be pretty.

[CarolC]

Yeah, I have 2 space heaters (and flyaway hair, chapped lips and cracked hands), they make me nervous, too.

kodiblue...where are you? (Scooby doo, where are you?!? )

[kodiblue]

I'm in central Iowa.(yukkk) Karen why on earth do you stay there. I will be moving back to the great Northwest as soon as I can get out of here. It was so cold that when I tried to drive my trail blazer, I heard a godawful noise and the braking system light came on the dash. The chevy service dept said they had a lot of cars with system freezeups this week and I have to wait till next Tue. to get it fixed. Last august we had a wind and hailstorm (so called by the town cuz they didn't put on the siren, it was a tornado) that wrecked our house and car. I had good insurance so it was all replaced but I only had the truck since Oct. and now it's broken. I live in a small town 35 miles from a big enough town to shop. (walmart). If we had an emergency in a blizzard we'd be out of luck.

[kodiblue]

Oh yeah, we have a fireplace which is handy if the electric goes out. At the time of our storm, I had gotten off work at 6am, put my McCaw, Rocky in his outside cage on the deck (he loves to be outside) and laid down on the couch for a nap. I was awakened at 11am by the wind. By the time I found the keys to the cage, It was hailing with 70 mile an hour wind and I had to leave him to get everyone in the basement. The windows were all blowing out and we were scared. After it was all over, I went out to see the damage fully expecting to find Rocky dead, but he was hanging at the corner of the cage thats under the roof overhang looking at me. He was really wet and shook up but ok.

[Jane Scott]

Just thought everyone would like to see what it was like up here 12 years ago - most people I know are still real nervous when the weatherman states "freezing rain"!!! The article below, really just touchs on just how massive and destructive it was; believe me alot of people wore t-shirts "I Survived the Ice-Storm" with pride.


About the Ice Storm of 1998:
For six days in January 1998, freezing rain coated Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick with 7-11 cm (3-4 in) of ice. Trees and hydro wires fell and utility poles and transmission towers came down causing massive power outages, some for as long as a month. It was the most expensive natural disaster in Canada. According to Environment Canada, the ice storm of 1998 directly affected more people than any other previous weather event in Canadian history.

Date:
January 5-10, 1998

Location:
Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, Canada

Size of the Ice Storm of 1998:
The water equivalent of freezing rain, ice pellets and a little snow was double previous major ice storms.

The area covered was massive, extending from Kitchener, Ontario through Quebec to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and also covering parts of New York and New England.

Most freezing rain lasts for a few hours. In the ice storm of 1998, there were more than 80 hours of freezing rain, nearly double the annual average.
Casualties and Damage from the Ice Storm of 1998:
28 people died, many from hypothermia,

945 people were injured.

Over 4 million people in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick lost power.

About 600,000 people had to leave their homes.

130 power transmission towers were destroyed and more than 30,000 utility poles fell.

Millions of trees fell, and more continued to break and fall for the rest of the winter.

Estimated cost of the ice storm was $5,410,184,000.

By June 1998, about 600,000 insurance claims totalling more than $1 billion were filed.
Summary of Ice Storm of 1998:
Freezing rain started on Monday, January 5, 1998 as Canadians were starting back to work after the Christmas holidays.

The storm coated everything in glassy ice, making all forms of transportation treacherous. including walking!

As the storm continued, layers of ice built up, weighing down power lines and poles, and causing massive power outages.

At the height of the ice storm, 57 communities in Ontario and 200 in Quebec declared a disaster. More than 3 million people were without power in Quebec and 1.5 million in Eastern Ontario. About 100,000 people went into shelters.

By Thursday, January 8, the military was brought in to help clear debris, provide medical assistance, evacuate residents, and canvass door-to-door to make sure people were safe. They also worked to restore power.

Power was restored in most urban areas in a matter of days, but many rural communities suffered for much longer. Three weeks after the beginning of the storm, there were still 700,000 people without power. we managed to get my friends children into Ottawa two weeks later so we could care for them while our friend kept the woodstove going to keep their dogs and house alive!!

Farmers were especially hard hit. Nearly a quarter of Canada's dairy cows, a third of the crop land in Quebec and a quarter in Ontario were in the affected areas.

Milk processing plants were shut, and about 10 million litres of milk had to be dumped.

Much of the sugar bush used by Quebec maple syrup producers was permanently destroyed. It was estimated that it would take 30 to 40 years before syrup production could return to normal.

We still see the remains of it while walking the trails all these years later.
I pray no one ever has to go thru this again.
Jane

[puremutt]

unbelievable, very scary I won't complain about our "cold" anymore.
so what's about the global WARMING?

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

My well-endowed friend on Hilton Head Island went to a HS reunion and reconnected with a man who now lives in the upper peninsula. Married him. THE COWS HAVE TO WEAR UDDER SHEILDS because of cold! I told Carol, OMG! Make some for YOU! It could be devastating in her case!

Ice storm of 71. I had spent some time in hospital with broken everything. Was released home to an ice storm. Was sched. to have jaw wires cut during worst of it. INSISTED my bro-in-law drive me to doc, as I hadn't eaten in a couple of months. We had to dodge jumping live wires. Went home with him and my sis, they had a fire place, I had no electric was wrapped in plaster, no heat and pretty bad shape. I ALSO insisted we stop at Friendly's so I could eat food! I had wires clipped under anesthesia. When we got to restaurant, I could not open my MOUTH even trying to pry it open with a finger to squeeze a fry in (don't want to know what I had to eat for 2 months, it wasn't pretty, including semi-raw eggs for my protein craving and putting spagetti into the blender, well, just ICK)! Had to watch my bro-in-law eat my burger & fries. I was in tears. But he mroe than earned it. People were STEALING firewood in middle of night, their house had a fire place. Guns were drawn. This ws in CT where cold is really cold.

I went to FL for a week to recover with my dad. Still wrapped in plaster, stood in front of a space heater not realizing my polyester gown I had bought for new years was melting onto my two casted legs.

Winter to remember.

But the blizzard in OH, where I hung onto a bus stop sign for dear life, will also stay in my mind. Me and this poor old guy hanging on for dear life. When I got to work downtown, boss calld to say office closed for ice storm. I cried. A bit. My car was buried under 3 feet of snow and snow plow ice. When I got it started 3 weeks later, the carburator started an engine fire. I got out with my life.

I HATE SNOW and will never live in the north again. Ever. When Andy said he was moving to VT with the Miata I had given him for his B-Day, I laughed out loud. Said that Miata will never make it through the snow, but it WILL be easy to push.

I DID ask him If heminded if I moved too, he was getting married and having a baby. Back then I would have GLADLY stepped back into the cold. His answer: "SURE!" with a great big smile on his face. 3 days later, of course, he was dead. Nobody movin anywhere. Now? NOT A SNOWBALL'S CHANCE