The truth is non-partisan

http://www.fisherhouse.com/winter/wonderland/

Monday night our area was hit by freezing rain - something I don't
think I have ever really experienced. The rain was falling and
freezing as it hit the ground. It was 27 Fahrenheit, but still
raining. The rain froze to the trees and to the power lines. Trees
started cracking and by morning there was about 20% loss. Half of the
town, including us woke up Tuesday to no electricity.

University classes had been canceled Monday for Tuesday in
anticipation of the storm. Final exams were rescheduled for Wednesday
and Thursday evenings. Fortunately, my wife's brother had given us
instructions on how to override the electronic controls on the gas
fireplace so we had some heat, but no lights, no hot water, no
furnace. It dropped to about 10 Fahrenheit and so most people if they
could were moving in with friends who still had power. One of my
colleagues spent the week in his office. The Community Center and a
church were opened for people who had no place to go. The National
Guard started going house to house to be sure everyone had what they
needed.

Tuesday night we had potluck with two young families in our church,
both with five little children. While we were at their home the one
family lost their power. (They only got it back on Sunday afternoon.)
Wednesday night we had potluck and movies at the university with these
families and several others. Then Thursday night our power came back
on and we invited the one family with five young children to spend the
night at our home. Friday was commencement at the university and
Saturday was the Division II championship game in Alabama which
Northwest lost. Sunday we met in the Primary room because the chapel
had no heat.

All in all it's been an interesting week. We contacted everyone in
the church to be sure everyone's needs were taken care of. Mostly
people took care of each other without having to be assigned. We
discovered there were things we didn't anticipate in preparing for an
emergency. We had inadequate lighting. Coal oil lamps would have been
a help. We also discovered that we need a wood stove - not a
fireplace. We were concerned about our refrigerator and freezers. We
emptied the refrigerator into boxes in the garage and put the contents
of the freezer in containers outside. However, we were worried that
if the power was off to long that we would have to empty our two chest
freezers. On Thursday, the temperature rose to over 40 degrees in the
sunshine on the south side of the house. We really needed a compressor
and fuel. We didn't have a portable radio, just the car radios. We
bought distilled water Monday night at Wal-Mart. If it turned really
cold, the water in the house pipes might have frozen. Most people let
the water drip and that kept the pipes from freezing.

People in surrounding areas are still without power. Things could
have been worse, but the community pulled together to help each other.
It amazes me how good people can work together to deal with some
pretty hard times.

See a local story:
http://www.maryvilledailyforum.com/articles/2007/12/16/news/news1.txt

// posted by John Fisher @ 10:17 PM