The ice storm

Limbs much larger than they appear. They blocked the road.

Smaller limbs from smaller trees.

Well. Water was struck at 89'. Depth of aquifer is 37'.

Thick ice everywhere. We each fell once. Steps and landing done.

Camper porch was totaled.

Devastation

Denny and Bonnie in background.

Roof

Awning punctured.

Camper roof punctured.

An ice storm hit the evening of December 18th. Our power in Ft. Wayne went out about 5:30 - 6:00 a.m. Friday morning. Luckily, Kathy had purchased a new alarm clock this year that was backed up with a battery. Even though the numbers were not lit up on the clock, the alarm did go off at 6:30. When the power did come on, the clock was the correct time.

Kathy had to be to work at 9 and sat around waiting for her manager, Lisa, to call to tell her to stay home. When she heard nothing by 8:15, she called the library. Tony answered after several rings and told her the library was open. Kathy really had to scramble to get to work on time. Her car was covered with a very thick layer of ice. With no coffee, she was not her usual, chipper self. The pockets of Fort Wayne with electricity were few. Most stoplights had to be treated as 4-way stops. Kathy slowly made her icy way to Georgetown and was delighted to see the nearby coffeehouse open. She stopped in for a huge coffee and ran into Lisa who was unaware that a Level 2 emergency had just been declared. Making her way into the library, Kathy found Lisa trying to find out if the libraries were closed. Lisa was told that, since we had made it into work, we would remain open. We were one of the few branches open that day. With a Level 2 emergency, we should have been closed. Georgetown received many visitors that day who were just trying to find a place to keep warm. The power flickered only once, going off for only a couple of seconds the entire day.

Our power at the villa returned about midnight Friday night. We had our gas fireplace going to keep warm and Bonnie brought Steak 'n Shake home for dinner. We were fairly comfy. Many people are still without power and may be without until mid-week. People have moved into motels or in with friends or family with power.

On Friday, Denny called Kathy to tell her he had walked through the campground and that our portable porch had been totaled and other damage done to the camper by falling limbs. Kathy and Bonnie both had to be places at noon Saturday, but drove to camp Saturday morning to assess the damage at both the cottage and campground. The cottage fared well though some of our beautiful trees along the road took a heavy hit. The camper did not fare so well, and Kathy has contacted our insurance agent and also placed an online claim. We will return on Wednesday, with Denny's help, to clean off the roof of the camper and put a tarp on it to prevent more moisture from getting into the interior of the camper.