Day 12.....Still no power

Tuesday morning January 27th 2009, at 3:30 a.m. our power went off due to a major ice storm hitting our entire county here in Kentucky. We had a couple of inches of ice and a couple inches of snow. We still do not have power. The first 2 days we used candles and oil lamps for heat. We used a battery power radio to keep up with the news. That second day we were able to borrow a kerosene heater. The ice broke limbs and crashed trees to the ground all around our house but we were lucky none landed on the roof. Limbs and trees blocked roads thru the entire county. Most were cleared by citizens who lived on the roads. We are very thankful to have some good men living on our road who worked in the freezing temps. to clear away trees. As they worked, more fell and this continued for several days. With so many falling, the road was just one lane most of the time. We live near a wooded area and for 5 days you could hear them crashing. Saturday, January 31st we were able to get from our home to the nearest Rural King. There were trees, limbs, power poles and lines, telephone poles and lines down everywhere. Limbs and trees were laying on houses and covering yards. The road was sometimes a one lane maze. We finally arrived at the store and stood in a freezing line with several other people hoping for a chance to buy our own kerosene heater. We did get one and were able to return the one we borrowed. We also went to another store and waited in line to get propane for our outdoor gas grill. We had a little but it was nearly out. We waited in another line for gas for the truck and still another line for kerosene for the heater. Very few businesses had power and most that were open were running on generators. The workers used flashlights to escort the customers a few at a time to pick up some items they needed. One of the days this past week some friends who live in another town did get power and they loaned us their small generator. I'm not sure what day it was. We are able to use a few lamps and our T.V. We also hooked up the laptop. Our phones have been off and on. The cell phone reception has been off and on also. With the generator, we are also able to use our coffee maker. I have been making coffee outside on our gas grill which has a side burner. It was very cold but that was my fault because I would get up at 4:30-6:00, just could not sleep. A couple of days/nights the temps. were in the teens with the wind chill below 0. We did get our water back a few days ago and that was great. We have crews working on the power lines from so many different states. I heard on the news there were 2500 power poles down in our county. The electric crews were working on our rural road yesterday. It was so great to see the trucks going up and down the road. We are hoping to get power back soon. The National Guard have been going door to door checking on everyone. The one who came here told me they have found people with no food/water/heat and some who needed immediate medical attention. Some were evacuated from their homes. We are blessed to be able to remain in our home when so many have gone to shelters. We have stayed warm and been able to cook on the gas grill. I have also used it to heat water for bathing and doing the dishes. Because the generator does not run the fridge, we have been eating alot of soup. We have a small cooler with ice where we have kept some lunch meat, hot dogs, milk and butter. We did get pizza and burgers two different nights. The dear hubby picked them up on his way home from work at a nearby town. He had a difficult time getting to work thru the maze of fallen trees and had to attempt several different routes to and from before he reached his destination. Most of the days have been freezing or below but yesterday high temps. were in the 40's and they will stay around there for the next few days. There is rain in the forcast but no ice or snow. School has been out since January 27th and we have already been told we will be out February 9th and 10th. We heard the school board is hoping everything will be back on for the 11th. We are blessed everyone has been well and we have what we need to survive this disaster. We were not exactly prepared for such a cold long term power outage but we are hanging in there. Prayers and thank you to the electric workers from our state and several other states who are working very long hours to restore our power. Also, prayers and thanks to the National Guard who are going door to door to check on the residents and all the other jobs they are doing.