Well, this ice storm has really done a number on the mid-west. I'm in NE Kansas, there weren't official orders to evacuate, but we've been without power since about 2100 last night. We stayed at home until about 1700 today, but the electric company said it could be anywhere from 1 to 7 days until we have power again. There were NO hotels in the area, so we're about 2 hours away near Kansas City. When I talked to my boss he said most of Manhattan and KSU were out, I know most of my town is out, and Ft. Riley has a lot of outages as well. Topeka had power, but it's spotty. SIGH... I'm really glad I have the financial ability to get a hotel for us, I know a lot of people who are living paycheck to paycheck, especially around the holidays, I have no idea what they are doing at this point.
Anyone else from the mid-west online tonight??

By Debbie on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 11:57 pm:

Crystal, I'm not in the midwest, but Oklahoma(are we considered midwest?) We started getting ice on Sunday, we lost power all of Sunday night, but we were lucky to have it Monday morning. We were also without power this morning. I live outside of Oklahoma City, so we have a different power company, which I think has helped. I feel sorry for the people in Oklahoma City, they are telling them they could be without power for up to 10 days. There are over 250,00 people in the city without power. We were declared a national disaster area and got funding, so they have set up shelters. Supposedly this is one of the worst ice storms to hit here, we have only been here a little over a year, so I wouldn't know. The kids were out of school the last two days, but should go back tomorrow(crossing fingers) Now, they are predicting 4-6 inches of snow here on Friday.

Hang in there, and stay warm. I hope your power is on soon.

By Colette on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 07:18 am:

We had an ice storm a few years ago and people were without power for days. I hope your power comes back on soon and I am glad you found a hote..

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 08:14 am:

I'm in the upper midwest, north of Milwaukee, WI. I think the ice storm hit Milwaukee, but didn't come any farther north. We got 3 inches of snow, but no ice. I'm very grateful.

I'm glad you found a hotel, and I hope the power can be restored quickly. Those electic repair guys can be so busy sometimes.

I have an email friend, who lives in Lincoln, Nebraska and she works for a company that makes parts for electric lines. They are always busy.

By Mommyof5 on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 12:55 pm:

Hey Dawn..I'm in Lincoln as well. :-)

We had ice Monday night and a snow day off of school yesterday but it really wasn't too bad here. My kids were hoping for more snow or ice last night so that we would have another snow day but no such luck.

By Crystal915 on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 01:29 pm:

There are still 24,000+ customers without power in the two counties that make up the JC/Manhattan area, and no actual shelters, only "warming sites". We're still in a hotel near KC, and have no idea when we'll get back home. This is really stressful, not to mention expensive!!

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 02:55 pm:

Yikes!

By Bobbie~moderatr on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 06:56 pm:

Wow, Crys.. Hope you are home soon..

By Pamt on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 07:02 pm:

Stay safe!

By Tunnia on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 07:17 pm:

I'm glad you had somewhere to go, Crystal. I grew up in Kansas so I know what you are going through. Most of my family is in the midwest so I've been worried about them.

What I think is weird is that we are experiencing record highs in my area. We've been wearing shorts and tshirts for three days now and people were talking on the radio yesterday about turning their ac back on, yet just a couple of states away people are buried in ice.

By Wandilu on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 11:40 pm:

Has Wichita, Ks , been affected by the ice storm? My childrens' dad lives there.

By Tink on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 11:55 pm:

I hope you and all you love are safe, Crys. I can't imagine having to deal with all of that. You're in my thoughts.

By Crystal915 on Thursday, December 13, 2007 - 01:27 am:

Thanks, everyone. They are still telling us it could be 7-10 days, we're checking out of the hotel tomorrow, and headed back home, but I don't know what we're going to do. I'm going to try and ship the kids to their Aunt in Nebraska, they have power, and while I can suffer it out at home, I can't let them stay without power. We have more outages that MO, but they have not declared a Federal Disaster for KS, as they have in OK and MO. I'm hoping they do soon, we need the assistance with over 61,000 Westar customers still without power here, not to mention co-op company customers.
Wanda, Wichita was mostly spared in the storm, the call center for my electric company is there, and the lady told me they had 7 days without power in 2002, but they are pretty much unaffected by this storm.

By Crystal915 on Friday, December 14, 2007 - 12:46 am:

We are home, and have power!! We were expecting to come home to dark and cold, because the electric company was still saying the same thing, but sometime after 1600 (when a friend came by to feed the cats) the power came on. Unfortunately, we drove to Omaha via Topeka, then back to Manhattan, to drop the kids off with their aunts, which we didn't need to do, but better safe than sorry. I did a happy dance when we got home, as well as a mass text of joy. LOL!

By Annie2 on Friday, December 14, 2007 - 05:08 am:

That's great news, Crystal! Glad you are home; safe and warm

By Nicki on Friday, December 14, 2007 - 07:40 am:

So glad you have power, and everyone is okay!

By Dawnk777 on Friday, December 14, 2007 - 08:02 am:

Glad you have power again!