Missouri Ice Storm Thoughts

When the ice storm started, we stayed at home. The first couple of nights without power we slept by a gas fireplace. For some reason it quit working Monday morning. That night temperatures were predicted to get close to zero, which they did. We went to Lebanon that night to stay with my husband's parents. They had power in spite of the fact that many people there did not have it.

My husband's parents treated us very well. We had delicious meals every night and a nice warm bed. They went out of their way to make us comfortable. We had a good visit. One night we went to the Catfish House Restaurant. I'm pretty neutral on eating catfish. It is fine and I will eat it, but normally I will not choose to order it as there are things I like a lot more. (Kind of like I don't order hamburger helper or hot dogs if there are other choices) This catfish was delicious. I ate a whole bunch, as did everybody else. It was worth going to and I would go again.

My husband still had to go to work, so each morning at 7:30 we drove the 50 minutes back to town. I left my car at his workplace. While he was at work, I would check on the house and take care of things. The first few days I hung out at a Panera and at Barnes and Noble as they had heat and light and coffee for sale. Panera lost it's internet, which was disappointing.

By the third day, the church had power, so I went over there and spent my days. I stayed in the office a lot and sorted through papers, filed and cleaned up and organized. There was a coffee pot, which was kept going. A few people came by and would talk and have coffee. The church could not be used as a shelter because part of it smells bad when it rains a lot. We are working on the problem, but it isn't solved yet.

On Sunday, after we had our power back, we went to get the cats and our stuff. June had baked fresh, homemade cinnamon rolls and crescent rolls. They were delicious.

We had taken our two cats with us to Lebanon and they stayed in the utility room. One cat is old and very thin and feeble. He could not have survived the temperatures in the house of 36-37 degrees. They slept on a heater vent and were very content.

Toward the end of the week, as people started to get their power back and heard that we had not, we got some offers to stay in people's homes in town. The offers were very much appreciated. (And we would have gratefully accepted if things had worked out slightly differently.) We did accept an offer to stay at a house owned by Jim and Suzanne on Saturday night so we could be in town for church Sunday, but the power came on around 8pm Saturday night.

One son, who had stayed in town all week with a friend who had power, was eager to come home and sleep in his own bed. It turned out he had been sleeping on a concrete floor on blankets since the previous Friday (8 days) and he was ready for something more comfortable. He delivers pizza and was working almost every day. People without power could still order and get hot pizza delivered to their homes. I could not believe, on the second night of the storm, when so many were without power, the streets were dark, and the ice and snow were still falling (along with power lines and trees branches), 3 of the customers he delivered to stiffed him (no tip). I guess it didn't occur to them that most people won't continue working in a business, particularly under hazardous conditions, without reasonable compensation. (A lot of my son's fellow employees refused to deliver at all) I can only conclude the stiffers were selfish and had no consideration for their fellow man. My son thought it worth mentioning (being stiffed is rare, even in good weather) but was not unduly upset by it. Most people were thankful and tipped a little bit extra. For that reason, the considerate people, he kept going out and delivering pizza every time they called him, which turned out to be every day because other drivers called in instead of going to work. If you are reading this and you gave the pizza guy a good tip, any guy, you are the reason some kept working so others could get pizza. Thank you, for them. Pizza delivery is a job, not a calling like ministry or such. That goes the same for anybody who is a minimum wage type worker who served you and gets tips. Minimum wage is not an incentive to go above and beyond the call of duty in bad situations and natural disasters. Gratitude goes a long way too. A grateful person who can't tip much is also an incentive to keep going.

Most people during the storm were very kind and shared. One radio announcer, Vincent David Jerico, stayed on the radio 18 hours a day, taking calls from people. People would call in with questions, concerns or needs and others would call in with answers. He connected people to people that way. An elderly person trapped in their house, for example could get out because somebody nearby heard and went and helped (regular emergency and helping services were already overwhelmed). People who had things offered to share with those who did not. They called and told which stores still had things for sale that were needed, like kerosine or generators. So many businesses had no power, those that had it quickly sold out of stuff.

Gas stations developed long lines and often ran out. It wasn't because there was a shortage of gas. It was because very few stations had power to pump the gas. People leaving town, some who were simply almost out of gas, and people like my son, who needed gas to do his job were among those in line. Also people who were filling cans to run generators while their power was out were in line. In the future, many gas stations will have generators and such so this will not be an issue. Some people will also tend to be more aware of how much gas they have and not let it get so low. (There will always be those who never learn, but the smart ones will make sure their tanks always have some gas. Things happen.)