How did everyone fair the Ice Storm?

[princessjen]

My power went out last night at 12:00am and didn't come on until 11:00 am today. (so 11 hrs) Getting ready for work in the pitch dark around candlelight is hard work!! I wasn't able to wash my long hair, because I had no way to blow dry it, and I didn't think it would air dry since it was down to 60 degrees in my house.

Everyone at work today lost power at their homes for several hours during the weekend. Some still don't have power and came to work to get warm. One girl said the temp in her house is down to 45, she had to turn off her water, because shes worried her pipes are going to freeze. She slept with the blankets over her head while snuggled up to her dog.

[frugal50]

if i had no power
i would never go to a warming centre
with a bunch of strangers
you never know what kind of germs or viruses you can catch
better stay home in the dark and cold

[cliff]

still no power, its on going from Saturday evening. This is ridiculous, they should have called in help much earlier. Luckily I have another place to go but many do not

[Natalka]

Natalka, does it make sense to take help from the US rather than your own Province? Not really. Why be in talks with another country when your own province will help you?

Either way I do hope that those needing help in Toronto have someone to assist them.

There are reciprocal agreements in place, though I know they are getting help from surrounding municipalities and from other provinces as well.


... and somehow, the Kanye West concert went on...

[MortgageQueen]

Did anyone see the report about New York city being 71 degrees yesterday??!!!! Unbelievable!! They all seemed pretty happy about it!
I live in the country north of Barrie and although lots of ice, no power outage. I'm paranoid about that. One of the reasons we heat with wood and have a generator as stand-by

[Lynn49]

I'm worried about Walks and her family...she's not here and with our friend's daughter living very close to where she is, and is out of power, I'm wondering what Walks, hubby and kids are doing to keep warm....

[janetta]

For those who have memberships to the gym (and have a universal pass), find one that's open and get your hot showers etc. there.
That's what some of my friends have been doing. Sometimes they'll provide a guest pass for a friend.

[TaraF]

As long as they are getting the help. I don't care from where. I just would hate to see them not get their power on sooner when they could have.

And the concert when on? lol Nice.

There are reciprocal agreements in place, though I know they are getting help from surrounding municipalities and from other provinces as well.


... and somehow, the Kanye West concert went on...

[TaraF]

I'm worried about Walks and her family...she's not here and with our friend's daughter living very close to where she is, and is out of power, I'm wondering what Walks, hubby and kids are doing to keep warm....

I was wondering as well Lynn. I hope she has friends/family in the city with power that she's spending time with.

[gryphon]

I got my power back last night after 40 hours

[Shwa Girl]

Its pretty bad when I am, just north of Milton on the escarpment in Halton Hills. No power since Sat night but we have a generator so heat, fridge and internet-no water, lights or stove. So many trees came crashing down yesterday and the power lines are down all over the place. I feel for all the older people who have no heat!

We have a land line phone at home. It has been out for 24 t hours. So no internet too.

[Lynn49]

For those who have memberships to the gym (and have a universal pass), find one that's open and get your hot showers etc. there.
That's what some of my friends have been doing. Sometimes they'll provide a guest pass for a friend.

That's what my niece in TO has been doing; showering at her gym then heading to work for warmth..She'll be going to her parents' home today, then they'll all be here on the 27th to the 31st....poor people...why on earth did this have to happen this time of the year; I know no time is a good time, but geez...Christmas? All those turkeys that won't get baked, feasts at the ready, presents to be opened, and no heat or power....so sad.

I hear that 2 people have already died from running their generator in their garage; apparently carbon monixide fumes leached into their home...I believe two others survived....so tragic...

[toban]

I came across this.. http://t.news.ca.msn.com/canada/dos-...-power-outages

[Ciel]

Had a second power outage from noon yesterday to about 9:40 am today. Candles only give so much light and heat-kept something on the go on the gas stovetop for extra warmth (and for soup).

But at least the candle purchase in August came in handy!!! Need to restock on butane fuel for bbq lighters and pocket hand warmers.

Has anyone seen roving woodchippers in their area yet? Moved some branches by the road for the eventual collection. Larger branches have to wait for milder weekend temps to try to dislodge them.

[walkonby]

I'm worried about Walks and her family...she's not here and with our friend's daughter living very close to where she is, and is out of power, I'm wondering what Walks, hubby and kids are doing to keep warm....

who is the sweetest smartcanucker?? Lynn49!!!!

Well we did in fact lose power Sat night around 10:00 p.m....then it went off and on 2 more times, before permanently dying around 2:30 a.m. on Sunday. We just slept thinking it would be on when we awoke.....NOT!
Then we found our battery powered radio and heard the grim predictions...possibly 72 hours till we get our power back?? Oh no!!! My gorgeous Christmas dinner we had planned. The extra food!! Yikes.
So we went and purchased a full Propane tank, then we scrambled around the house looking for all our batteries, flashlights, candles, bought extras too....to prepare for nightfall. We giggled nervously under the blankets wearing layers of extra clothes...each of us fighting to snuggle with one of the dogs, they knew we were just using them for warmth!

By Sunday night we decided to transfer food from the fridge into the coldest room attached to the garage, beats tossing it out.
We were thrilled to still have hot water, we could shower and wash dishes at least. Nobody freak out when I say we dragged our BBQ inside. We DID NOT BBQ, but used just the end burner flame as a heat source and to cook on, and to toast marshmallows over ( remember we had no You Tube or nothing to entertain ourselves )
We then found a thermometer and were thrilled to see the house temp was now raised to 60 degrees!! ( almost bikini weather!), so we all took turns keeping watch in the kitchen where we had that burner on low almost constantly when we were not actually cooking on it. We were out of salt for the driveway now, and every store was sold out. Trees branches were down and in the road on both directions from our street ( btw one is STILL there! frozen to the ground )
By Monday night the thrill of camping indoors was gone, no one wanted another marshmallow, everyone was sick of listening to 680 news, we were jealous of the neighbours just a few blocks away who had power. Still even then we managed to make some laughs and create some funny memories ( like DH and I taking a " selfie " with our camera because neither of us own a cell phone )
then we dragged the 2 burner camping stove inside and planned on how we would make Xmas dinner with these 3 burners??
Was it wonderful when the power came back on Christmas Eve around 5:30 p.m.?? ( was that 63 hours??)

Yes....and no. We were happy to put all the propane gadgets back where they belonged, happy to have the heat back for sure, but we were all just a tiny bit disappointed that just when we had figured out how to tough this out, suddenly we did not have the chance to prove it. Oh well...this is just the beginning of winter 2013/2014. We may still get the chance.

I am very sad for everyone else in Scarborough that STILL have not had their power restored, especially in high rises with no hot water either! That has got to be hell.