Oh, the weather outside is FRIGHTFUL...Part II

**Read Part I of the ice storm saga.**

Tuesday night, January 27, 2009
Caruthersville had power for most of the day on Tuesday and continued to have water. Power went out for a couple of hours that afternoon, but came back on about 5 p.m. We all were so happy and the kids had informed me that they and Grandma had said a prayer before naps(I had been out for the afternoon helping out at the S.O.). So we watched TV, a little news, mostly Nickelodeon and ate a simple supper of sandwiches and chips.

Then Tommy came in from working and the kids got excited to their daddy. Then at around 9 p.m. we lost power again, this time for good. We got out the candles and lit them, the kids played their Leapsters for a little while, and we adults just sat and talked about the craziness of this storm. Then all of a sudden, we heard a thunderous noise right outside the living room window, where my husband had parked his car, thinking it would be safe. (Earlier in the day, he moved my truck to the church parking lot adjacent to my MIL's home).

I went outside with a flashlight to look around his car. I saw a cable line wrapped around his driver side rear view mirror which stretched to his antenna on the back of his car. Then I saw it...the cable pole at the edge of her driveway had completely fallen over, missing Tommy's car, yet again, by mere inches. I went inside to let him know, so he came out and looked at it. Since it was across the driveway, he couldn't back out, and due to the earlier fall of a tree blocking the other end of the driveway, his car was kind of stuck. Fortunately, someone from his office or CPD, I can't remember, came by and moved this heavy pole enough so that he could get out. Finally, we all just went to bed; I think the day just zapped the energy out of all of us.

The Cable Pole...Gone

Wednesday, January 28, 2009
During the night, there were many creaks and cracks and the sounds of crumbling ice falling to the ground. At 1:45 a.m. I awoke to a loud crash just outside the bedroom window, and I kept thinking was, "Please, Lord, don't let it crash into this room." I finally went back to sleep, but was startled awake again to another tremendous sound of a huge limb fall off of the tree and hit the front side of my mother-in-law's house. And this time, it woke up all of us! The kids were asking questions, especially Brennan("Is the tree going to fall in the house?" "No, son, it's just falling on the ground"), but secretly, I was praying that it would not damage the house or worse, fall in the house.

We all went back to sleep, but then I awoke again at 5 a.m. to loud noise behind the house. I'm telling you...it seemed like everything was caving in, surrounding the house in limbs. I went to the back door to check, but I couldn't see anything because there was no power. Our dog, who was on the back porch, was startled, so I let her sleep in the bedroom with us, well, what was left of getting any rest.

My husband left for work early again, but we slept in until 8 a.m. I got up ready to go outside to see what damage had been done. Boy, was it tremendous! I grabbed my camera and my coat and headed outside. Lo and behold, the sight I witnessed...

I was amazed, as I'm sure everyone else was. Carleton Ave. was blocked by downed trees, and yards were littered with limbs and branches and trees. But there was a certain beauty in this ice-covered mess. I walked around the area and started taking pictures--I was in awe because I've never seen an ice storm. Sure, it's really one thing to see it on the news in some northern state of our country, but to actually see it here? In Pemiscot County, no less? We're lucky to get snow most seasons, so to be a witness to this natural phenomenon in our neck of the woods, was awe-inspiring, to say the least.

I felt compelled to document every little detail that I could because the last ice storm that hit this area was in 1979; I was a year old and I didn't live here. My children will remember what they saw in pieces, and in the future when "Ice Storm '09" is recalled, but they will lose the dramatic effect and feeling it brought to this area. Having images for them to remember this week by is not only important for me, but also for them to remember that we can come out of great disasters unscathed, only by the Grace of God.

Because it could've been a lot worse.

The huge limb that fell on the front of the house