Ice not nice

[Limomike]

Been without power now for 2 days (am writing this from work).
Ice damage to trees and fences has been extreme. There will be lots of firewood, thats for sure. Power lines are down all around our place, and might be a week before power is restored the power company says. Thank God we have a good fireplace and lanterns to keep warm and be able to see at night.
Cows been dodging falling branches/trees all day. Had to even move my creep feeder (first time in 5 years) so it would not get crushed by falling trees. So far, no damage to the house, vehicles, or sheds. Even have running water still, so I consider ourselves fortunate. Some around here in Oklahoma do not even have that luxury.
It looks strange at night to see everything just pure black... no lights within miles around.

 

[angie2]

How long will your water hold out w/o electricity? Is it melting or getting worse?

 

[Limomike]

Evidently the rural water company has power, because we still have running water. Ice seems to be melting..slightly.. its 33 degrees right now.

 

[rockridgecattle]

take care and be safe...

RR

 

[dun]

I saw some video today from around Tulsa. It looks like this area did in our January icestorm. I don;t have the words to express how badly I feel for the folks involved.

 

[Limomike]

yes dun, I know you can relate to our experience. Its just plain awful. How long did it take for you all to clean the mess up?

 

[dun]

yes dun, I know you can relate to our experience. Its just plain awful. How long did it take for you all to clean the mess up?

Haven;t finished yet. The first priority was getting the fences cleared. That only took a couple of months to get them cleared and rebuilt. There are still limbs and tree tops falling when ever we get a strong wind. Haven;t even gotten a good start on the timber areas yet. This piddly half inch of ice we got with this last storm brought down even more stuff.

 

[Limomike]

Yes, I had to corral my cattle in a 20 acre lot, just in case there are fences down around the property. (which I am sure there must be with all the damage around) Have had trees that were 30-40 ft tall, and big around as a volkswagon split completely in two... limbs big as 2-3 feet in diameter snapping like toothpicks.
Would have rather had 2 feet of snow then all this junk.

 

[dun]

Yes, I had to corral my cattle in a 20 acre lot, just in case there are fences down around the property. (which I am sure there must be with all the damage around) Have had trees that were 30-40 ft tall, and big around as a volkswagon split completely in two... limbs big as 2-3 feet in diameter snapping like toothpicks.
Would have rather had 2 feet of snow then all this junk.

One of the unexpected side effects was late term abortions. We only had one, others around here and several to many. The strange part is that they didn;t happen right when the limbs were falling but a couple of weeks later. The one we had abort wasn;t even a nervous cow, she's probably one of the most layed back girls we have. What was sort of funny in a perverse way was that they would stand around the water trap gate then one would run in and get a drink then run back out. The water trap is about a half acre of (whate were) 50-60 foot oaks. They had originally sheltered there when the storm started but ended up hanging aorund out in the middle of the pature where there wasn;t tree for a couple of hundred yards. Took almost a month before they were comfortable in the water trap again.

 

[Limomike]

Oh I didnt need to hear that.. but thanks, I will definitely be looking out for that.

 

[dun]

Oh I didnt need to hear that.. but thanks, I will definitely be looking out for that.

I know. The good news just keeps on coming doesn;t it?

 

[Limomike]

yes, since I have several cows in the last trimester.

 

[dun]

And there is a chance you may slip by with no problems. Of 20 some head that where due within a 3 week span only one of our aborted. Other cows the same age and disposition didn;t. The ice may have been just that final little bit that made a possibly marginal pregnancy no longer viable.

 

[angie2]

Just heard on the radio on the way home from work that there are approx 500,000 people in Ok without power, and there has been 18 storm related deaths so far in Ok ~ these attributed to traffic deaths. Drive careful out there!!

 

[curtis]

Helps on the way, i talked to some of my lineman friends last night, they are leaving for the Tulsa area this morning.

 

[dun]

Helps on the way, i talked to some of my lineman friends last night, they are leaving for the Tulsa area this morning.

When we had our outage we got crews from Alabame and Georgia. Those guys worked their butts off in conditions they weren;t used to. Bring them a thermos of coffee and some doughnuts or something, let them know that they're really appreciated. If the power goes on around you and you're still in the dark, don;t btch at them, just realize they're doing a great job and your turn will come.

 

[bigbull338]

i sure do feel for everyone thats in the icestorm.an i know what its like dealing with cattle in it.an its rough being without power.

 

[fit2btied]

yes dun, I know you can relate to our experience. Its just plain awful. How long did it take for you all to clean the mess up?

Haven;t finished yet. The first priority was getting the fences cleared. That only took a couple of months to get them cleared and rebuilt. There are still limbs and tree tops falling when ever we get a strong wind. Haven;t even gotten a good start on the timber areas yet. This piddly half inch of ice we got with this last storm brought down even more stuff.

Same here, only we got hit with the early Dec. ice storm last year and were only without power about 6 hours - people 2 miles away were without for 6 days. Lots of down stuff still to cut up. We only got about a quarter inch of ice this time and haven't found any significant damage. Temp this morning is 48 and high is calling for upper 50s. Those of you who got hit hard, have my deepest concern. Most of all, be safe!

 

[MistyMorning]

For all the yaking we do up here about the cold and snow, an ice storm is my really biggest fear. I would take -30 F before an ice storm anyday!

Be careful and stay safe.

 

[LimousinGirl]

Been without power now for 2 days (am writing this from work).
Ice damage to trees and fences has been extreme. There will be lots of firewood, thats for sure. Power lines are down all around our place, and might be a week before power is restored the power company says. Thank God we have a good fireplace and lanterns to keep warm and be able to see at night.
Cows been dodging falling branches/trees all day. Had to even move my creep feeder (first time in 5 years) so it would not get crushed by falling trees. So far, no damage to the house, vehicles, or sheds. Even have running water still, so I consider ourselves fortunate. Some around here in Oklahoma do not even have that luxury.
It looks strange at night to see everything just pure black... no lights within miles around.

Oh! This is so boring...we've been without it since yesterday about noon. We have a wood stove so we have heat and a generater for a few lights and water, but it just ran out of gas . So dad's going to town to get some gas. But we are very blessed considering some people! And we haven't had any trees fall over yet. they said it could be weeks before its restored to isolated area's...I guess that would probablly mean us. But hopefully it'll be sooner. Ya'll be safe.