How We Survived an Ice Storm

Ice storm - snowstorm - no electricity. These terms always evoked feelings of adventure and excitement for me - that is, until our family experienced 4 ½ days with no electricity during a snow and ice storm in December 2008. The experience quickly ended any romantic notions of family togetherness as we all struggled to stay warm and sane.

Ice Storm

On December 18, I awoke as usual at 6 a.m. A quick look outside revealed the beauty that an ice storm admittedly does bring. Each tree looked like it was made of crystal. The streets had a shiny hue.

Minutes later, the power went off. I wasn't too surprised, given the ice I could plainly see. I figured we would be briefly inconvenienced and decided to read for awhile instead of my usual morning fare of internet.

No School

The children woke up in a few hours, excited that school had been canceled, but a bit dismayed as well because this was the final day of school before Christmas break, and as such they would be missing their school party.

As the day wore on, the house became colder. Still, the daylight made it pretty easy to do most normal household activities.

Sleeping With No Electricity

We went to sleep that night, sure that power would be restored by morning. However, we awoke the next morning cold - no electricity. Battery-powered radios were our only means of information from the outside world, where authorities were reporting that they hoped to restore all power by Tuesday.

Tuesday was three days away! Surely it could not take that long.

Inconveniences

By the second day with no electricity, I knew that this was not "Little House on the Prairie." I was cold - eventually the temperatures in the house got down to 47 degrees. It was dark. In December, daylight only lasted from about eight in the morning until five in the evening. The rest of the time, we relied on flashlights and candles.

There was irony: while we were freezing in the house, it was still too warm for our refrigerated and frozen food. So, we began packing the food into boxes and carrying it into the backyard.

Pets

Our pet rabbit fared well. His fur coat was thick enough that the cold hardly seemed to bother him.

Our hedgehog was another story. If hedgehogs get too cold, they try to hibernate, which is fatal to them. So, during our 4+ day deep freeze, family members took turns holding Hedgie under our shirts to keep her warm.

Icy in Indiana

Most days, we went out to eat once each day. Think about it: most items you want to eat require heating in some way. As we drove to restaurants, we noticed that most all of the subdivisions around ours did have electricity. Their brightly shining Christmas lights seemed to mock us in our cold darkness.

Power is Restored

Finally, on Tuesday afternoon, our power came on at 2 p.m. It was such a happy moment, coming just two days before Christmas.

I will never again romanticize ideas about the pioneers toughing it out during tough winters. "The Long Winter" by Laura Ingalls Wilder has new significance to me as well, as I imagine the family waking up to snow on the blankets and frantically twisting hay into sticks for fuel.

Take it from me: electricity is a blessing, and it's not something I'd like to do without again. We have purchased a generator since that ice storm, and hopefully our days without energy will be a one-time occurrence when a snowstorm arrives this year.