Ice Storm ‘07
It started out low key.
On Friday night I was doing some photoshop work on my pictures when the power suddenly went out. Not a big deal, it was storming and this kind of thing happens. Looking outside my window I saw that the ice was making for some interesting scenes so I thought it was time to make a journey with the ol’ camera. What I found was shocking…
Trees coming down, lights out, transformers blowing, sirens everywhere. It was like Lord Of The Flies. Luckily the roads were not bad so I kept on going to some different spots that I thought made for interesting photographs focusing on campus. The good part is I got some solid shots. The bad part is it didn’t seem like things were getting any better. I made my way back home soaking wet and cold.
Gathering a very nice comforter I made my way to bed. I awoke Saturday morning to find nothing had changed. I went to the mall with a friend of mine just to get out and do something. Time passed and 24 hours after Springfield’s power outage most of the street lights were not functioning let alone lights in homes.
The sun went down Saturday evening leaving me to sit around in a lifeless home. Thank god Casey came back. He had to work at the radio station that night. We got a bite to eat and drove around to see just how much wasn’t done. Broken trees are littered everywhere. Power is very minimal in the city. The situation is hit and miss. There are no lights on Sunshine street. And no lights on Glendstone from Sunshine to Elm. It is an eerie thing to see.
I am staying in a hotel for tonight because there isn’t really anyone around who has power. There is a lot of stuff I need to get done so it will be a good chance to catch up.
It could be Tuesday until I get power…and that is about as optimistic of a prediction as anyone can find.
News bits (Via KY3)
Gov. Matt Blunt declared a state of emergency Saturday and mobilized the National Guard. Blunt says the situation is “definitely a crisis” and conditions will get worse before they get better. Blunt activated 350 National Guard members to help in the areas that he said are the hardest hit. Most are headed to Greene County and the rest to the St. Louis area. The governor says across the state 200,000 customers have no power including 65,000 to 70,000 in Greene County. Guard members should be on duty sometime Saturday afternoon.
Saturday afternoon, Blunt confirmed four deaths across the state due to the ice storm, three being from traffic accidents and one from carbon monoxide poisioning.
Another (Via KY3)
Massive power outages and downed trees covering the roads all contributed to Springfield’s qualification as a local disaster area early Saturday morning, according to the Greene County Emergency Management agency. Officials say Springfield is 60 to 70% without power, while some of the other towns in Greene County are 90 to 100% out of power. Qualifying as a local disaster area happens when a city or area is using all of its available resources, and still needs additional help. Officials have now opened up Schweitzer United Methodist Church, 2747 E. Sunshine, in Springfield as an emergency shelter.
This entry was posted on Sunday, January 14th, 2007 at 1:41 am and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
