Lessons Learned From An Ice Storm

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My husband and I drove 9 hours to visit our daughter. It was a beautiful early winter day, when we left West Virginia. It was still beautiful weather when We arrived in South Carolina. We had a nice visit for a couple day and began our journey home. The weather channel was calling for rain and freezing rain all the way up the east coast. No problem, we thought, we had good tires, plenty of time and we had our 72 hour kit in the back of the van. It rained on us from the time we left but by the time we hit North Carolina, the roads were ice. People were wrecking and conditions were terrible. Virginia was even worse, freezing rain mixed with snow and roads were ice. We stopped at every rest stop from the time we hit NC..the ice was freezing on the headlights and windshield till we could not see. I am not exagerating. We finally made it to West Virginia to find a total mess. The roads were closed. The news said taht the interstate was closed. We were on the interstate...barely moving. People were trapped miles from their homes in cars.There are not alot of services along the interstate in Virginia or West Virginia . Services were quickly unavailable. Power lines went down. Roads to pharmacies were impassible. Trucks could not make deliveries, therefore food store shelves went quickly bare, and heating oil tanks quickly went empty. Suddenly most people in West Virginia had no access to food, electricity, heat, or medical attention for a week. At this point, there was no traffic and it was scary. By the time we reached the county bordering our county, the power was off all over the city. Trees had so much ice on them that they had uprooted and fallen across the road. Not just a few but it was impassable. We followed an emergency vehicle that was cutting trees out of the road to get through. It was an hours drive home still and we were wondering if we were going to make it. It took us 5 1/2 hours to travel that last one hour drive. When we arrived home, we had no power,no phones and the cell phone towers were down also. Services were quickly unavailable. Power lines went down. Roads to pharmacies were impassible. Trucks could not make deliveries, therefore food store shelves went quickly bare, and heating oil tanks quickly went empty. Suddenly most people in West Virginia had no access to food, electricity, heat, or medical attention for a week. Power was off for 2 weeks. Schools were closed. At the end of the 2 week period, many of the roads were still impassable and many were still without power. We learned not to put our trust in the weather. We learned how important our 72 hour kit was to our survival. We were fully stocked but many traveling was not. The rest areas were full of people not knowing what to do. People were stranded along the side of the road everywhere.Here is directions a simple kit to carry in your car. It does not nearly have everything that you will need but it is better than having nothing. If you dont have a fully stocked kit, you may begin with this basic kit. This kit would make a great gift for others that you care about also.It just has the basics and we carry more than this but the kit will benefit you if you are trapped in a storm while on the road. This kit can be packed in a shoe box 2 Flares heat blanket water-proof candles or can of Sterno water-proof matches flashlight with extra batteries first-aid kit poncho aspirin corn nuts and beef jerky -bottle of water (16 oz.) emergency sign: NEED HELP CALL 911 (in red lettering) Fix-A-Flat tire sealer duct tape bungee cord or heavy rope ice scraper We learned to keep at least 1/2 tank of gas in car. We could not even get off the interstate. All the exits were pure ice. We always carry a wool blanket in our trunk. We had everything that we needed to stay warm and be comfortable in our kit. We were thankful that we had it with us. Emergencys are not planned. We think they will never happen to us. we think the storm will pass us over. We arrived home to a fully stocked food storage and oil lamps, coal heat stove and we were comfortable.. It was what we had to eat for the next 2 or so weeks. We cooked for others during this time also. We were lucky, we used coal to heat our home and to cook on in winter. Our home was the home of others for the next 2 weeks. We cooked for families who had no way to cook and delvered soups to others. I was thankful We truly learned how nature can ulter our lives quickly.