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Picture it - December 4, 2002. A bitter cold ice storm blew into the Raleigh, NC region. Over 1 million people lost power while the temperatures were below freezing. We thought it would just last a little while. But it got worse. Overnight, there was so much ice on the trees that they started falling down all around the city and suburbs. Some of them fell over power lines, causing mini-explosions. It looked like the 4th of July as sparks flew outside our window. Now we were stuck. Nobody had power. And of course the phones were out too. We had 1 cell phone and we had to conserve the battery as much as we could. Hotels were so overloaded that people were sleeping on the floors of the lobbies. And with all the broken powerlines, it was a big task for crews to fix the lines. Since temperatures remained so cold, the lines kept going out even after they had been repaired. The temperature inside our apartment dropped to 40 degrees. Rodney was creative with our food options. He took soup and put it in a pan, then heated it by holding a candle underneath the pan. It took 1 hour just to get the soup lukewarm. But it was good enough for us. We lived off lukewarm soup and junk food. To stay warm, we got in bed and piled blankets over us. Our poor baby cat Purr Purr was cold too, so I held her in my arms most of the time to keep her warm. We finally got power after 4 very long days. Some people went a full 7 days without power. It was a mess. So as winter falls upon us, I really can’t complain about the cold. After that experience, I know it could always be worse. [ Photo taken from The Rodent’s Gallery ] 
A while back, I was living in Highlands, NC and remember one monster snowstorm that seemed to go on forever. That was all it took for this Florida native to move back home. *sending warm thoughts* Posted by Steve on Wed, Nov 30, 2005 @ 1:23 pm Thanks for the warm thoughts, Steve. Was it the snow storm the first weekend of January 2002? Posted by Nathan on Wed, Nov 30, 2005 @ 1:41 pm My step dad died, and mom almost died, in the ice storm that hit New England in 1998…yes - it can really suck. They were running a mis-ventilated generator that sent carbon monoxide into their house while they slept…that’s why I want to move back to California. Even New Mexico is too cold for me. Nephew Dan Posted by Dan on Wed, Nov 30, 2005 @ 3:40 pm I’m really sorry to hear about your stepfather. Actually there were some deaths related to the carbon monoxide in North Carolina too. I’m glad your Mom is still around. I highly recommend a carbon monoxide detector if anyone doesn’t have one. Posted by Nathan on Wed, Nov 30, 2005 @ 3:48 pm While you’re going through snow storms, we’ve been getting heaps of thunder storms and hail. Thank god my car was under cover. Posted by Sunshine on Wed, Nov 30, 2005 @ 4:20 pm Not trying to one up you at all, but sounds a little like getting slammed by 3 hurricanes in a row, loosing power all three times, from 1 day to 10 days and putting up with the heat, standing water, blue tarps and bugs. Mother Nature plays cruel tricks on us all… I guess it just makes us appreciate the electricity, the heater AND the A/C when it all comes back. Being born in NC, I do miss the snow and the ice and the cold - but not to that extent - no one should have to deal with that. Posted by Spider on Wed, Nov 30, 2005 @ 9:58 pm Wow, all these people from NC! Yeah, I agree a hurricane would be awful. I’m just sayin’…it was cold Posted by Nathan on Wed, Nov 30, 2005 @ 10:45 pm Ive never seen snow so I cannot imagine the cold you are talking about. But sounds so cold to me!.. at the moment we are swealtering here with daily thunderstorms which only add to the humidity. Posted by Phoenixboi on Thu, Dec 1, 2005 @ 5:39 am Leave a comment
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