Ice Storm Paducah, Kentucky update

The ice is melting.

This should be nothing but good news. Well, it is good news, but it's bad news, too. 30,000 customers that had power are now out. The falling ice is so heavy that it is bringing branches and power lines with it. More than 650,000 customers in Western Kentucky are without power.

Courtney, Karen U. saw Andy and the dogs, and they and your Mom are fine. No power yet, but fine.

For those of you who are worried about the safety of elderly relatives, the Salvation Army is taking calls. They are at (270)443-8231. I know no one would abuse this service.

There are plenty of warming centers. Several counties (including, but certainly not limited to Graves, Carlisle, Calloway - now, they did have power, but the falling ice shorted out all of TVA's main power lines and the Murray Calloway Hospital is back on generators) are completely cut off from any power. All JPEC customers in Paducah, which had been able to restore power to 6000 customers, are now again without power, from the melting ice problem.

They are announcing stores which expect shipments of generators on the TV and radio. Paducah's two hospitals are at full capacity. The National Guard troops arrived. There are fights breaking out at the few gas stations that have both power and fuel. Cars are streaming into Paducah from surrounding counties looking for food and fuel.

AT & T got its tower back up and running. But they are imploring people not to use their cellphones or land lines except for emergencies. They are not at full capacity, and the circuits stay jammed.

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It sounds like an earthquake in a crystal factory here. The ice comes crashing down from trees, and those spiky rows of icicles soar down from the power lines. It's truly dangerous to walk outside, so the photos today are from just around our house.

The whippets are getting outdated meat from the freezer tonight, with rice and veggies. We're out of dog food and milk, but I don't feel right going to the grocery store for that. We have PLENTY to eat, and can do just fine without. (The dogs will be beyond thrilled!) Folks are lining up for hours to get diapers and baby formula and prescriptions filled; we don't need to add to that.

I do worry for the animals of Western Kentucky.

hug your hounds

Some Photos, Ice Storm Paducah, KY

(click to enlarge; use your back button to return)

To folks worried about family here, I will post any news I get. I have not heard of any deaths, although we have been totally incommunicado. We just got TV service back, so I will post anything relevant. There are warming centers and folks are really trying to look out for neighbors. There is a 5:15 curfew in the region. Both hospitals are up and running.

A light wind is supposed to come tonight and that is not good, since there are so many, many limbs just hanging.

We are FINE, and so fortunate!

hug your hounds

Paducah, Kentucky Ice Storm Thursday

Thank you all!
It is stunning to hear a city without power. All of the background noise is gone. But there is relentless cracking of trees, followed by the sickening impact CRASH. And then the sirens. And the transformers exploding, like the kettle drums in Peter and the Wolf. Boom. Boom. Boom.
We have power as of this morning, but no Internet or cell phone service. (I am at our dear friends' house, Lee and Dee, as they can access the Internet.)
We are unable to make long distance calls on our land line, but have received two. Jake, Sara, Beth, and Amy - we are FINE!
You would not BELIEVE the devastation here, and I can't wait to share photos with you. For the reader who asked about their mom at Jackson House, I heard on the radio that they have it running on generators, and the residents are in good care. The hospital where I will be working has been without power since Monday, but they closed I-24 in both directions to get a line back up, and my understanding is that the hospital now has power. They got power to the other hospital yesterday.
Apparently over 90% of the area is still without power, and some of the rural areas aren't predicted to be restored until mid-February. Gas stations are without gas, or without power to pump it, and so folks are unable to run their generators too.
There is not a tree with its top limbs. And this was a city of big, beautiful old trees. The power poles in front of our house are at 60 to 70 degree angles, so I doubt that we'll have power forever. Oh but that shower felt good this morning! We have gas logs in our front guest room, so Bill and the dogs and I moved in there. Heather, Jason, baby Ben, Lindy Loo's brother Emmett and his old whippet buddy, Edgar spent the night with us. Because the other front room also has a gas fireplace. Last night it was 42 degrees downstairs! That is NOT whippet friendly.
I also have photos of Bill making pasta by candlelight, wearing a hat and gloves! Pasta will prevail! I beat him in Scrabble.
The dogs are having a hard time peeing. Imagine every blade of grass covered with 3/4" of ice. It's like walking on stalagtites or mites or whichever points up. The neighbor's cable line is luing on our front yard, and the big tree which was over Bill's studio is now lying on the roof or in the back potty yard. But OHH oh oh I am grateful for those gas logs!
They are saying we need to start boiling water, as the water treatment plant is down.
If I never ever hear the sound of branches cracking, ice showering down and then the sickening boom, it will be too soon. And though it is beautiful to see the shower of blue sparks lighting the sky as transformer after transformer blows, I can live without that sight as well.

hug your hounds

Paducah, Kentucky Ice Storm Photos

The Internet connection comes and goes, so while it's here...

All those wires. The Comcast store is 3.5 blocks away. I didn't know my lens was so good.

out the front door

No walks today

Winter Rose of Sharon

Every two to ten minutes we hear a crack followed by the hiss and sizzle of ice and then a BOOM, as the branch hits the ground. The branches of that tree over Bill's gallery are usually about 20 feet above the roof.

Stay safe and warm

So far

One of the things that is very different about living in Western Kentucky is that the weather forecasts are most often correct. This was a revelation. In Maryland, I scoffed at weather reports. If the weatherperson said, "Rain, heavy at times, with temps dipping into the low 40's," and you thought you shouldn't take the dogs to a field trial to stand outside getting drenched to the skin, the weekend would unfailingly dawn sunny, bright, and pleasant, and you would be home with dogs casting disgusted, accusatory, "we could be coursing" looks your way.

I learned.

Pay no mind to the silly weatherpeople. Just wake up and go.


But here, they get it right. My scoffing days are done.



This was at ten o'clock last night. It is looking out the east foyer window. If you click to enlarge (use your back button to return, please don't get lost out there!) You will see the ice on the window sill.



Again at ten. Isn't it strange how the ice collected at the base of the flower pots? The sidewalk was ice, smooth as glass, but much more treacherous.


This morning at seven.



Our arbor benches which got shmooshed when the tree fell on them in the wind storm.

The power went out somewhere around three this morning. We woke up because the bedroom was chilly, and the clock on my bedside table (which so happens to be Fat Charlie's crate) was dark. Each dog has four or five blankets in their crate this time of year. I cover each of them up after they get their bedtime biscuit. I checked, and they were all invisible. Only Sam I Am had his head out of the covers. His sire was from Massachusetts; that explains it. I recovered Very Old Dog, who lay between Bill and me. His ears felt chilly.

Oh that sweet soft sigh.

I'm listening to our NPR station, WKMS, online. That comfortable space on the radio is only rude static. Something about no power for their main transmitter.

Our power came back on at around 5:30. We woke to the sound of the furnace revving up. As I snuggled up to Bill, I thought of the poor people who were outside in this freezing rain and sleet, in high bucket lifts handling electricity. So that our heat would come on.

Yowsa.

How do you thank the nameless folks who do that?

They're saying that there's lots more ice to come. It is scary for Very Old Dog.

hug your hounds

The Ice Storm Cometh

(clockwise from TOP: Luciano, Fat Charlie, Giacomino aka Very Old Dog, Sam I Am)


Oh brother. Looks like a doozy. We're going to hunker down and hope the power stays on.



Hug your hounds and stay safe

Walking the Waggle

Walking in the city doesn't rival the beauty and adventures of walking in the country, but we do have some fun.

Yesterday it was cold. The temperature was in the high 20's, but the humidity was over 60%, making the bonechill factor somewhere in the miserable range. I know, I know, I'm a wimp, but this is supposed to be the South. Capital S.

I put two coats on Very Old Dog, and Mama Pajama's warmest coat on, and off we started. Or, more accurately, off we startled. As we arrived at the corner of our fence, up flew a ginormous red tail hawk. Lordy they grow them big in these parts! He flew up from behind the other corner of our fence, on the neighbor's side, not fifty feet from us. I looked where he had been, and I saw some horrid bloody carcass. We looked closer:

Our neighbor had recently removed the other part of the tree that fell on our house, and there was a pile of shavings from the stump grinding, next to our fence. Thereon lay the bloody carcass.

Very Old Dog, Mama Pajama and I crept closer and saw:

Oh it was too gruesome to look. But wait! It was none but our own Sssssnake toy! Eviscerated months ago by the whippets. It had been inside our fence. The hawk must have suffered a bitter disappointment. Like biting into a chocolate and expecting [insert your favorite filling - mine would be marshmallow with caramel] only to find [insert your least favorite filling - like, say, okay, I don't have a least favorite]. The big old raptor must have braved dropping into our yard to make the grab, and then must have spit the thing out just as fast as I would a chocolate covered cat turd.

I grabbed my camera and on the next walk I took a photo of Delia smelling Mr. Redtail on her Ssssnake.

And then, since I had my camera, I took some photos of (drum roll) Francie the Wonder Corkie! Here are Francie and Tracey coming out of their house.

Tracey is tall and beautiful. She is a PROFESSIONAL writer and has just started a VERY funny and highly recommended blog: Tracey Buchanan Studio. You can read more about Francie and our walks there. If she looks a little like a bag lady in this picture, remember, I look like this:

It's cold and we are walking far and wide, on our mission to pick up our dogs' poop. This mode of dress is not only appropriate to the task, we feel we are stylin'!

Here is living proof that the whippets are walking with a Hairy Dog. Granted, this is the Shark Group, consisting of Delia, Fat Charlie, and Luciano. They do attempt mini attacks if Francie Invades Their Space at any point during the walk. Invading Their Space includes, but is not limited to:

1. making eye contact with a Whippet or its Servant
2. being on the same sidewalk at the same time
3. brazenly daring to breathe the air, which everyone knows is for Whippets only.

In the photo above, do you see that brown lead, which is stretched so tight? That is Luciano, who is Special in his Head. He exercised his right to refuse to be held by the same human what was holding a Hairy Dog, photo be damned, and plastered himself to my leg.

Francie is a good sport about it all. She does an occasional fly by, breaking all of the Rules. She stares into Delia's furious eyes, zips up to her and breathes her air, and then darts out of harm's way. "Take that you snotty skinny dog! Ha! My warm hairiness laughs at you! Ha! Ha!"

The whippets on the final walk, the young 'uns, Sam I Am, Swede William, and Lindy Loo, grew up in the city and aren't so snotty. They figure since Francie walks with us, she is part of the pack, and they even are glad to see her! After only two or three months or six, they can be trusted not to eat her in our house. Good young 'uns! I wouldn't trust the three of them out in the yard with her, but they've come along way.

hug your hounds and enjoy the beautiful day