Winter Storm Fern
Photo by Meagen Rosenthal.
Author note: a slight diversion this week for weather.
Let me begin by saying, weather wise we’ve been very lucky since moving to Mississippi. There have been a few tornados and hurricanes, but we’ve always managed to miss the brunt of it. We’ve been snowed in before, but have managed to keep the power, water, and gas on. Well, that streak has been ended by Winter Storm Fern. I didn’t even know winter storms could have names, but if any deserved that notoriety I think it should be this one.
It officially started on Saturday, but it felt mostly benign. Windy? Yes. Rainy/sleety/snowy? Yes. But mostly fine. That changed Saturday night into Sunday morning when we were treated to “Thunder Snow” and no power, which as the name suggests is a thunderstorm with snow. So, we got to hear thunder and see lightening in January. To top it all off we also got to listen to trees and tree limbs popping and cracking all over the place as the weight of the ice just snapped them apart.
Then we lost the water.
As we were preparing last week getting groceries, filling bathtubs with water, buying candles, making sure we knew how to light the fireplace, locating flashlights and batteries, and making mental plans for where the food from the fridge would go If we lost power, I couldn’t have anticipated where we are today.
But still, we continue to be luckier than many. Our new neighborhood doesn’t have very many trees near houses, so we didn’t have any of that kind of damage. We also managed to keep the gas going, which means we can light the fireplace and stove, to say warm and have hot meals. We have also learned way more than anyone should know about toilets and how septic systems function and how to work around them when you don’t have power. We will also be better prepared for the next storm (hello generators and paper plates – if you know you know).
I’ve never been part of an event like this before. It’s weird to have to think about all the ways you use power and water without thinking about it every minute of every day. It’s weird to have to think about whether we will have enough clean drinking water or power in our cell phones to call for help if needed. It’s weird to hear official say “shelter in place” and be prepared for cleanup and power restoration to take weeks. It’s weird to do the mental math of staying in place or getting somewhere with power and water.
In a couple of weeks, we will be back to a new version of normal and I am sure I will have learned something important from this experience. People often do. But in the meantime, we’ll be melting ice from the storm to flush toilets and hoping for the power to turn back on.
The last big ice storm in this area was in 1994. When I first moved here locals often shared their experiences from that time. Losing houses and going without power for weeks. At the time I didn’t think too much about it, ’94 was a long time ago. I guess I’ll get to be one of those people now.
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