As my friends and I joyously celebrated the starting of the Chinese New Year on January 26th, the Mid-west Ice Storm began to take over the countryside. Kentucky, Southern Indiana, Missouri, and Arkansas residents, including 1.3 million homes and businesses, were affected by this crazy storm! Thousands have been without power or potable water since the end of January, and it is very slowly being restored. Lots of families have to wait at least a month before getting their electricity restored. President Obama declared more than 90 counties a major disaster area and ordered federal aid to supplement local recovery efforts. They are saying this has affected more families now than Hurricane Katrina.
The storm has been blamed for 27 deaths in Kentucky, mostly from carbon monoxide poisoning from generators. More than 175,000 homes and businesses served by 55 water systems remained under orders to boil water. I hadn’t even heard of a boil order until I came to the mid-west! I was spoiled in California in more ways than one!
More than 4,500 National Guard troops have continued clearing debris and going door-to-door, checking on families in the western areas of Kentucky where the storm hit hardest.
Praise God, here in Oakland City, IN we have had power the entire time! However, just 30 miles south of us, the damage begins to be devastating. Many Oakland City University students and staff’s homes have been hit very hard.
Earthlight was supposed to sing in Greenville, KY this weekend, but we had to cancel because the church has no power! So instead, I’m going to Princeton, Kentucky with my friend’s Amy and Andy to her parent’s home. Their 60 acres of woods is now just tree stumps, her mom said we’ll hardly recognize the place. The ice was about 5 inches thick on all the branches, so heavy that it apparently broke all the limbs off the trees. The ice was also powerful enough to take down all the power lines, hence the loss of power everywhere. So, we’re going to begin clearing the debris around the house this weekend.
Please pray for the families still without electricity and water!!!
The amazing thing about disasters is it seems to bring a sense of reality to people. You begin to remember what matters most; WHO matters most. Families have been forced to stay home from work and school, which has created time for bonding, loving and supporting one another. Old board games are pulled out, family stories are pulled out of the brain that haven’t been remembered in years, and more time is devoted to loving and serving one another. Helping neighbors becomes a way to actually meet your neighbors, and communities have actually begun to remember what community is all about! Sometimes getting back to “level one” survival helps us remember what life is all about.
More importantly, families who have put God on the back burner have been on their knees in prayer! The body of Christ has had an awesome opportunity to serve, and it’s been an awesome thing to witness and hear stories about.
I have a feeling this world race trip is going to have lots of that, as well.
Other than several injuries from people slipping on ice, Oakland City University is very blessed to have suffered only minor inconveniences. For example, my poor little Lola (my car, Lola the Corolla….) was stuck in ice for a week (ice half-way up the tires). That was probably for the best, though: I wouldn’t have wanted to drive on those icy roads, anyway! We loaded up our backpacks and hiked to the grocery store twice for some basic necessities. Not that we really needed to, but it was mostly a fun thought to be able to tell my kids someday that “I hiked a mile into town to the grocery store in a foot of ice and snow to get groceries during the 2009 ice storm……TWICE!” It was a good excuse to get out of the apartment, too. I was getting cabin fever by the 4th day of work being cancelled. That was the first six-day weekend I’ve ever had!! We went sledding the second night, which was probably not the brightest evening to try and sled because everything was iced over by then, and we could barely walk UP the hills to slide DOWN them! I’ve definitely slipped 3 times. I realize this blog is already long, but I feel I MUST share with you how I slipped.
1: During our sledding adventure, January 27th. There’s a small hill by our student life center on campus that we decided to give a whirl. I thought I could probably pull off a “softball slide,” which is kicking one leg forward and pulling the other one underneath you. Well, my boot got stuck in the ice on the way down and it flipped me hard core, bruising my knee REALLY bad. That was the largest bruise I got.
2. Pushing the 15-passenger Earthlight van out of the ice. After having A.J.’s 4×4 truck try pulling it out with a rope and the rope snapping, we called in the forces and had about 5 guys and 3 girls pushing and shoving with all our might…we eventually got it out. However…. With the last big push, both of my feet went out from underneath me, and I not only face-planted, but I made the lovely bruise on my right knee even larger. was right behind the wheels as they kept skidding, slinging ice and snow in my face like crazy until Chelsea rescued me and pulled me up and away from the tires. That was about a 10 second ordeal, but it apparently was hilarious to watch. I had my arms flailing in front of me attempting to keep the ice from my face, but the wind was knocked out of me and I couldn’t get up. Classic Urkel Moment.
3. On the way up to my apartment, with my hands full. Get the full visual: I had a gift bag full of WR 2009 bracelets, a tri-fold board that I’m getting ready to create into a lovely display for fundraising, along with my purse, backpack, and two bags of groceries. I’m VERY slowly walking from the SLC parking lot to my apartment. It took about 5 minutes to walk 80 feet, it’s flurrying again and I’m already past feeling in my fingers and nose. I think I’ve finally cleared the bad part of the ice when my foot slips, and the board I’d been trying SO hard not to get wet goes soaring across the street, and world race bracelets go flying EVERYWHERE. The plastic packaging around the bracelets made for perfect little ice saucers, and they beautifully glided across the ice in all directions. It was the moment where you see everything go in slow motion and the background music goes to the classical medley, “do-do-do-do DOOO! (doo doot, doo doot)” You know the one. So, I set down everything but the gift bag and began gathering bracelets like they were Easter eggs, all the while laughing at myself and hoping no one drives by.
Okay, enough about my icecapades. Today we had a high of 49 degrees!!! The sun is shining and ice is melting, and I’m overjoyed of the fact that I didn’t have to wear a scarf and gloves today!
