Ice storm cuts power across Georgia, Carolinas

[Spazito]

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A jolt of freezing rain and ice across Georgia and the Carolinas early Thursday closed schools, snarled traffic and caused power outages to more than 350,000 customers.


The outages were caused by ice that formed on tree limbs and fell onto power lines. About 160,000 were without power in South Carolina's upstate, 102,000 in northeast Georgia, 57,000 in the Atlanta area and 40,000 in western and central North Carolina.

"The trees and power lines are down everywhere on the road. It's just dangerous to be out," said Rebecca Neal, who was using blankets to keep warm in her powerless Greenville home and thinking about finding a hotel for the night.

snip

The National Weather Service said the freezing rain was expected to continue in the region through Thursday evening and overnight temperatures were forecast to dip into the 20s. More power lines and tree limbs could snap under ice layers expected to grow to up to three-quarters of an inch thick.

more

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051215/icystorm_USsouth_20051215/20051215?hub=World

I hope all DUers in the way of this storm are safe! I hope Mike, his wife and baby girl are also safe.

[CatWoman]

1. Atlanta here

:hi:

did'nt go to work today; woke up to no power.

Called into the office around 10, and was informed that most of the office park was without power, too.

[Spazito]

3. I remember how devastating the last ice storm was when it hit

the east coast of Canada and the north east coast of the U.S. I hope you get your power back very soon and stay WARM!

Edited to correct typo

[driver8]

8. My parents were right in the middle of that one!! The devastation

was unbelievable. My parents had four huge trees in their backyard -- the ice took them all down. It also took down most of the power lines and telephone lines. They were without electricity for five days or so.

[Spazito]

10. I remember some more remote areas were without power for

weeks and had to stay in shelters.

[A Simple Game]

11. I was 15 days without power in central St. Lawrence County.

I was working midnights 25 miles from home and to the south. Not a bit of ice at work in the morning when I left work, by the time I got home, with the help of 4 wheel drive, there were trees down everywhere and over 1 inch of ice on everything.

Many people were worse off than we were, going well over a month without power.

On edit: Good luck to our Southern friends, many electrical workers from the south came up north to help us during our ice storm.

[driver8]

14. My parents live in St. Lawrence County...

I went to Potsdam High School.

[A Simple Game]

16. I'm about 25 miles west of Potsdam.

[Saintgermane]

17. Fredonia, New York, here

Missed the ice storm that year, but I was stationed in Watertown, NY - and we were hit hard. 60,000 power poles down, as I recall.

Hope the folks in this most recent storm fare better....

[driver8]

18. Oh man...I graduated from SUNY Fredonia!!

I was just there in September.

[RebelOne]

7. It was fine here in Woodstock.

I didn't lose any power. There was quite a bit of icy rain during the night. I left for work at 6 a.m. and everything was just fine. The important thing was that there wasn't any ice on the roads, since I had to drive to my office in Marietta.

[napsi]

19. Generators

Our office has a backup generator.....no shot at missing work ever..... but alas I can always use the money.

[DELUSIONAL]

2. Mike Malloy won't be live on air tonight

[tridim]

5. Yep, that's the worst news of all

Stay safe down there folks.

[Spazito]

6. I have to admit that was one of my first thoughts when I saw the

article because they had shut down the live show early last night so they could get home safely.

[slackmaster]

4. Woo-Hoo - Four-day weekend!

</Homer_Simpson>

[Pastiche423]

9. Anyone in Charlotte, NC

know what it's like there?

[DemNoir]

12. Gee thats tough

I'm sure those red staters can count on Lord Bush for help.

[asjr]

13. Ah, boys and girls, I well remember the

ice storm in 1973 in Marietta. Without power for 5 days. I cooked on a Coleman stove and we played board games by a Coleman lantern. Ice storms can be deadly, but beautiful. I never want to go through it again though.

[ngGale]

15. Just sitting here hoping my power doesn't go out....

northern NC. Gosh! I hate ice storms...they are pretty, but dangerous.:scared:

[Lugnut]

20. It's here now

I'm in NE PA and the power lines are now ice coated. It's too cold to not have a furnace that's running so my fingers are crossed.

[tinymontgomery]

21. Cherryville NC

power out till 0530 2nd day of work canceled. 4 day weekend here I come