Icetown

We've made it through the worst ice storm in Springfield in the last 20 years, maybe even worst in history. The roads were never very bad, but the tree damage was so severe that 75,000 customers lost power. We were lucky enough not to lose power for more than 10 minutes all weekend. The street behind us is out. Oddly enough our other house downtown hasn't lost power yet. The photos above show the damage caused by the ice at that house. The only house damage so far is a small section of gutter that was knocked off the house. We were lucky! As of today power is still out for 25,000 customers/households. They expect some to still be out through the end of the week, and it is cold–21 degrees today. The ice is even thicker just a few minutes north of Springfield in Willard and along I-44. Think 3/4 inch on the top of each branch. Not circumference, radius! Needless to say, the plumbing work has been postponed on the new/old house. You can't even drive all the way up the driveway. I think the trees at that house will live, but they won't be pretty. Some large trees in the area were uprooted or split flat into many pieces with a stump sticking up in the middle. Pretty surreal.
We are fine and Andrew doesn't know anything is wrong other than that Mommy is off another week of school. Missouri State canceled classes today. They are using one of the old arenas as a special needs shelter for city residents. Ken (my father in law) said it is a mess. One very overweight man broke a toilet by sitting on it. Luckily Jenny's parents didn't lose power either. People are buying generators for upwards of $2,000. Gas and kerosene are running out all over town and lines at all hardware and convenience stores are out the door and winding around the parking lots.
We are a very blessed family to have made it this long through the disaster!