In September 1998 we moved our family to Chesterfield, Virginia into a large farm house on four acres. This was the first house we had ever purchased after more than sixteen years of marriage and we were excited to have it. We had all seven of our children with us at this time, Gilbert our youngest having just been born in early August of the same year.
It was an idyllic house, especially for our large family. We were relatively secluded and out in the country. And we were more or less self-sufficient. We had our own well for water and a septic system for our sewage needs. The only thing we required from any utility was electricity. Life was going pretty well.
Until the Great Ice Storm of 1998.
This year, we worked it out with another large family to take and look after their kids for the night. A great sleepover. We did this on 23 December. Since 24 December is “Christmas Eve” we called this day, “Christmas Adam” because it is the day that comes before Christmas Eve.
Cute, huh?
The idea was to give the other set of parents a stress free evening together in order to prepare for Christmas. We would take this year. They would take the next.
Their kids came over and then the storm hit. At first, it rained. And it rained and it rained. Then, it froze.
Freezing rain is an interesting phenomenon. It occurs when there are two air masses – one warm and one cold – that collide high up in the atmosphere to produce rain. Because the cold always takes the low elevations compared to the warm air, the cold was nearer to the ground. As the rain falls to the ground it turns to ice and freezes, creating a magical crystalline wonderland with trees and, well everything.
You can read more about the storm here from the Washington Post.
I don’t remember exactly when we lost power. What I do remember is that we had a fun-filled night with both sets of children at our house. When we awoke the next morning, the ice had formed on the grass and the boys tested each other by walking outside on the lawn with their bare feet.
Yes, I did it too. It really hurt!
But, the ice was heavy on the tree limbs and caused several of them to bend so low that they touched power lines and “Pow!” the lights went out.
Normally, having the lights go out is no big deal. For us, with the children, we used candles and settled in. It was fun.
That is until we ran out of water. . .
Huh? How did the ice storm cause us to run out of water? You ask?
Remember that we had our own well. Wells require pumps to bring the water to the surface and pressurize the pressure tank so that it runs in the house.
No electricity. No water.
Well, that couldn’t have been so bad, could it?
Try no water for six days!
That’s right. We didn’t have electricity or water for six days.
During that time, there is no water to flush toilets. No water to bathe. No water to cook. No water to do anything and everything that you would do with water.
Fortunately, we had food supplies and were fine for drinking water and food. But, the rest of life was pretty miserable. Especially with seven kids and toilets that needed to be flushed.
Somehow, we managed through it and survived. But, we did not survive well, nor sensibly.
Lesson learned.
Recent Comments