Icestorm 2000

We had a Mexican dinner for the Sunday School class at Mark and Sharon Bryant's on Saturday evening, Jan 22, and ice was forming enough on their steps as we left that it was hard getting down the steps. We still didn't properly appreciate the dangers until we woke up Sunday morning without electricity and heat. Mark came up about daylight, having seen a transformer on the next street burning. Then we heard the one up the street from us explode.

With no power to make coffee, Rod did the hunter thing and went out to forage for morning coffee. Power out and limbs down all the way to Martins, so they weren't open. All the way to Fulton Industrial where nothing was open, and back up Six Flags to buy coffee at the QT gas station. A successful hunting trip until a 15 ft long, 4 inch diameter limb dropped out of the sky on him on the way back down South Gordon, damaging the front of the car. Then South Gordon was blocked by downed pine trees, so he had to circle back around to get home. Some expensive coffee!

After our coffee, we headed out to see if we were going to have church, and found no one there. We went on up to the Martin's on Austell Road which was open. Rod waited in line 30 min to get breakfast, but it was interesting to talk with folks, and was an overall pleasant experience. Below are samples of the ice cover on the trees. At left a dogwood on South Dillon and at right a river birch next to the Martins.

After breakfast, Rod was keen on riding around to take pictures. At left below are typical pine trees down on the road - those were on Floyd Rd by the Mableton Walk shopping center. At right below is a sign in the Walmart parking lot.

We didn't get power back until almost midnight on Monday night- almost two days without electricity. It surely made us appreciate it when we did get it. We built a fire in the fireplace, and bedded down in the den on Monday night. The power came on shortly before midnight and I got up and turned off lights and reset clocks.