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Icy New Hampshire
Posted by Raven on December 13th, 2008
Yesterday NH got covered in ice. Literally.
I knew it was going to be a little rough. My shift at work doesn’t start until 7am; knowing how things are up here I left my house at 4:30am…usually it’s a half hour drive. It took me two and three-quarter hours, and I stopped counting downed trees at 56. Good thing I have 4 wheel drive, cause I had to drive over big ass pine trees and huge branches. A couple trees fell as I drove under them- you can HEAR the fall begin and speed up to get away from it.
Every road I was on was closed– but that’s never stopped a true NH citizen from getting around. The scent of ice and pine was invigorating!
The small section of town I live in is one of very few in NH that has power.
MANCHESTER – The historic ice storm that hit New Hampshire late Thursday night and yesterday left one person dead and hundreds of thousands without power.
At the storm’s peak, more than 400,000 homes and businesses were without power as freezing rain and high winds brought down power lines and left wide swaths of the state without lights and heat. Authorities said the scope of the disruption was unparalleled in recent history.
True. The last ice storm of this proportion dwarfs what I see now. But we’re hardy people up here and we manage quite well.
At the peak of the outages yesterday, some 320,000 PSNH customers had no power, while about 42,000 New Hampshire Electric Cooperative customers, 39,000 Unitil customers and 22,000 National Grid customers had no power.
PSNH said repairs needed to be made at about 3,000 trouble spots.
Power company crews and state transportation workers are coordinating efforts to remove downed trees and utility poles and to put electric lines back in service. PSNH will have about 300 line crews, some from as far away as Ohio and Canada, working to restore power; the state’s other utilities have also sought outside help.
Officials have asked residents to be patient as crews do their jobs.
At the local diner this morning (VERY early) we were busy cooking unlimited numbers of meals: Breakfasts, donuts, danishes and endless commercial sized pots of hot coffee. All for the PSNH guys.
They’ve opened up Emergency Shelters for people- at the schools- because it got very cold overnight and people with little kids need a warm place to stay.
The sun did manage to break out yesterday afternoon for awhile. Some pictures of my road on my way home:
In Hampstead, 36-year-old Mark Cegelis bought enough gas for his home’s power generator this morning, then tried to deliver more to some friends in Derry. When he couldn’t get through in his car, he invited them to stay at his home, along with his parents and another friend.
Though he was taking the storm in stride, Cegelis said he saw a lot of frustrated people at the gas station.
In Temple, a local family made only one trip in the storm. It was to get a much needed pick-me-up.
“We knew our son-in-law would have coffee, we decided that was worth our energy,” said Kalvin Tate.
Farther west, in Jaffrey, neighbors came together for more than warm liquids.
“My neighbor has a fire place, so we’re gathering firewood to start a fire with,” said Laura Gifford.
I have a house full of guests (26 to be exact!). Neighbors (the closest lives about 5 miles from me); friends, a couple co workers, friends of my daughters…times like these call for Neighbor-Helping-Neighbor and it’s the NH way. In between diner duty, we’re out chopping up trees in the roads, plowing them away and checking in on the elderly folks in the area. I think this evening I will be sitting in front of MY fireplace, resting up some sore muscles.
December 13th, 2008 at 11:35 am
That’s crazy up there. We’re possibly going to get some icy, wintry weather down here this week, but probably nothing like that. Besides, we don’t have big enough trees here in W. Texas to fall over the roads. We still have roads though, that get icy, and dangerous. But not alot of big trees. Glad to hear that you guys weathered the storm and still have power!
December 13th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Glad you guys are ok, we were thinking about you all. Our family is in NC and they are getting a bit of winter too…We here in the southern California area are just going through idiots in charge coupled with 50 to 60 degree weather. Oh and Possibly some rain in the forecast, rumor has the shelters will be open and all high schools can be used for feeding those affected by the rain…. :|
December 13th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
I remember a huge ice storm we had in Virginia (yes, that far south) in the late seventies. Ice-covered trees all over the place. Nice to look at, if they’re not falling on you or your house.
December 13th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Beautiful!!!! sure miss that stuff :(
December 14th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Tough Storm, be safe.
December 14th, 2008 at 11:22 am
by the way, that is quite a breakfast!
December 14th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Glad to hear you are ok, Raven. We had that kind of thing down here in NC a few years back, and boy howdy did that suck!
December 14th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
All is well up here.
Much of the tree ice has either melted, or been shaken off by wind and man. Many are still without power though, so the NHN is still in effect. The roads have been cleared, mostly, and mostly by citizens. Food is being delivered to the shelters and now, the shelters are starting to cook the meals (being schools with well appointed kitchens AND power)…the local businesses don’t have to shell up so much.
I’m thinking schools will be closed for some part of this week- lack of power and the use of the buildings is a reason.
It was wild. And fun. And very awesome to see- all this ice. I love New England weather for this reason: It’s always different!
December 14th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Glad you’re doing well, Raven. I’d been reading and wondering.
And it’s most true that the ice usually melts within a day or two (since they usually occur in conjunction with a warm front), but the tree and electical wire damage takes much longer to handle.
Ice storms are so beautiful and so damaging. A most graphic illustation of just how heavy water weighs.
December 15th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Glad you’re doing OK.
It’s Day 4 and I’m still rocking the generator, but it’s got more than what I need all powered up so it’s pretty damn cozy here. I’m surfing the ‘net, watching the MNF football game on the big plasma with the Christmas tree lights on.
December 16th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
LOL I knew you’d be all set Bruce. I just sensed it.
A lot of people aren’t. Thousands of folks in Antrim, Bennington, Washington, Hancock, Peterborough, Temple, New Ipswich and New Boston, as well as Weare and Amherst, have been told NO POWER until CHRISTMAS! That’s crazy. The thought it, put out the worst expectation and hope for something much better.
I let some friends borrow two of my generators- and mine is ready just in case. The forecast is calling for more snow and ice tomorrow so people are really worried.
The utility workers from Ohio and Canada are in my region: On my way to work I saw them yesterday and today- clearing trees, debris and then hooking up lines. I saw 7 crews. And they have removed over 300 downed trees on Rt 31 alone, from my town (Milford) to my work town (Greenfield)- a 16 mile stretch. It’s like a tornado went through the region the damage is so extensive to houses, roads and all that. I’ve never seen so much damage in my life from one storm.
Let’s all hope the 115,000 people still without power get it back before the weekend. It doesn’t look good for them though. They’ve closed schools in all these towns for the duration- after January the kids will go back.