Ice Storm 12/07

[Rad Profile Private message]

Weather in Oklahoma can be harsh. We commonly have 100+ degree temps for several consecutive days in the summer. Droughts, floods and tornado's also come to mind. We've had storms with straight-line winds in excess of 70mph that damage property, but in my 16years here, I've never seen damage this widespread from a single storm. We still have over 1million people without power 3 days later.

This storm was a bit surreal as NO WIND was associated with it... it came in the form of a steady, drizzling, freezing rain that slowly and silently took its toll. Most of the damage was to trees and power lines. Most of the trees that were damaged were the ones that hadn't lost their leaves yet... Bradford Pears, Willows, Cottonwood, Birch... the weight of the ice on the leaves gradually brought the trees down piece by piece.

Yesterday I drove through the neighborhood and saw how extensive the landscape had been affected. Probably one in 3 yards have lost mature trees. In some of the historical neighborhoods, 100+ yr old trees were lost. They are projecting that power will not be restored for some for up to 7 to 10 more days.

Here are a few pictures from my yard. Nothing fancy here... just a few shots in the rain...
http://thevideoconnection.com/icestorm07.html

[cherub Profile Private messageWebsite]

Your show made me extremely sad. To see all this destruction, I can only begin to understand how you and all your neighbors must feel.
And how are you coping without power at this time of year?

[gpsmikey Profile Private message]

Sad to see the damage. We get those ice storms out on the west coast near
Portland Oregon sometimes -- you get a cold air mass moving down the
columbia river gorge from Eastern Washington and it meets the warm moist
air from western washington. Takes out trees, power lines,
turns the main freeway up the gorge into the worlds longest ice arena. Don't
see it often, but when it does, it is really bad news.

mikey

[zweck]

These ice storms are scary. We had one here in the mid 90s. The streets were like ice rings. Nonetheless, I tried to go work but could not make it. There were accidents all over and vehicles blocked the streets. Sad what happened to your tree. Without the leaves it probably would have lost only some of the smaller branches. Hope you get power back soon and you stay warm in the meantime.

[Jerry Cole Profile Private message]

Rad,
Living in San Diego, I have never seen or experienced an ice storm. We rarely even get rain. Now fire is something else.Thanks for recording this other side of nature for us to see. You and your camera did good!
Jerry

[briancbb Profile Private message]

I have only experienced one such storm here in the UK way back in the mid 1960's. It was beautiful to see until the amount of damage was realized. Remembering back trying to get into the car covered in 1/2" of ice after work was a nightmare.

Brian

[Lavina Molnar Profile Private message]

A very revealing set of photos. I felt very sad viewing your show - Nature can be SO cruel at times. It's difficult to imagine the extreme weather you have over there and how bitterly cold it must get - actually felt like putting an extra woollie on as I watched, even just a scarf! Trust everyone managed to keep well wrapped up and stay warm enough, that power was not off for as long as projected.

Lavina