January 1978
The Flood of 1959 hit on Jan. 21. The Blizzard of 1978 hit us on Jan. 26, 1978.
This is still considered the worst storm to ever hit Ohio. Winds gusted to over 100 miles per hour, with sustained winds at 45-60 miles an hour. The temperature dropped to below 10 degrees with wind chills in the minus 60's. 35 People died in Ohio. The storm continued on to the east coast and caused damage in the billions and many more deaths.
As soon as the wind kicked up and rocked Beth's trailor, she and Eagle left and came to us. She was divorced and alone then. The power went off almost immediately, but we were ok with our heatalater fireplace. During the height of the storm, it was dangerous to even go out to the log pile. Beth and I tied a rope around W before we would let him go out the door. He was glad of it when he couldn't even see the house 15 feet away. You lost your bearings as soon as the wind hit you. Beth was lucky her fear brought her to us as early as it did. The drifting was so bad, no one ever got a real measure of how much snow fell. The drifts between us and the wood pile reached over 4 foot, but the driveway was even deeper. This snow didn't pack, it was cold.
I had an old cast iron dutch oven and a heavy roaster that we sat right in the fireplace to heat food. The bedrooms became chilled, but we were warm enough at the other end of the house. The dogs ventured to the basement for their business, but otherwise stayed close. We passed the time with card games and talk and games with TK. I had started to tell a few ghost stories from my childhood, but Beth didn't like them. We pretty much stuck to funny tattle tale type stories. And we had the battery powered radio. Beth and W were both smokers and they smoked a lot. But, it went up the chimney and I don't remember it as a problem. (I've still never had a cigarette in my mouth, but I've been around second hand smoke all my life.) W carried in snow to keep the toilet full so it could be flushed and things fell into a lazy routine. It just went on longer than anyone could have expected.
We were fine through the blizzard and those first days afterward. The road was still snowed in and the power was still off and the temperatures were still very low, but the sky had cleared. Then we ran out of firewood.
W went across the road to check on Mr. And Mrs. G. They had a woodburning stove in their basement where they had spent the blizzard. They told him to bring us over if our house got too cold. It did and we had to go over. Beth and Eagle, TK and our dog and two guinea pigs, along with W and I. I had rotated the dutch oven and roaster and kept them full of beef from our freezer. There was always one ready and one cooking, and with my potatos and the carrots Mrs. G was able to add it was the best meal the G's had had since the power went off. Their little rat terrier was mesmerized with our guinea pigs and spent his time in the box with them. I think it was the only time he ever saw anything else close to his size. Beth and W had to go outside to smoke at their house and the big dogs were made to stay in the garage. We spent a half day and full night with the G's before the road was cleared past our houses and the power soon followed. W had already spent the days working in short bursts, due to the cold, on our driveway and the G's drive and Beth's. We had been marooned 8 days but the party was over and it felt good to go back home. I thought things could now return to normal. But, life would never be normal again. By brother J was dead. We just didn't know it yet.
This is still considered the worst storm to ever hit Ohio. Winds gusted to over 100 miles per hour, with sustained winds at 45-60 miles an hour. The temperature dropped to below 10 degrees with wind chills in the minus 60's. 35 People died in Ohio. The storm continued on to the east coast and caused damage in the billions and many more deaths.
As soon as the wind kicked up and rocked Beth's trailor, she and Eagle left and came to us. She was divorced and alone then. The power went off almost immediately, but we were ok with our heatalater fireplace. During the height of the storm, it was dangerous to even go out to the log pile. Beth and I tied a rope around W before we would let him go out the door. He was glad of it when he couldn't even see the house 15 feet away. You lost your bearings as soon as the wind hit you. Beth was lucky her fear brought her to us as early as it did. The drifting was so bad, no one ever got a real measure of how much snow fell. The drifts between us and the wood pile reached over 4 foot, but the driveway was even deeper. This snow didn't pack, it was cold.
I had an old cast iron dutch oven and a heavy roaster that we sat right in the fireplace to heat food. The bedrooms became chilled, but we were warm enough at the other end of the house. The dogs ventured to the basement for their business, but otherwise stayed close. We passed the time with card games and talk and games with TK. I had started to tell a few ghost stories from my childhood, but Beth didn't like them. We pretty much stuck to funny tattle tale type stories. And we had the battery powered radio. Beth and W were both smokers and they smoked a lot. But, it went up the chimney and I don't remember it as a problem. (I've still never had a cigarette in my mouth, but I've been around second hand smoke all my life.) W carried in snow to keep the toilet full so it could be flushed and things fell into a lazy routine. It just went on longer than anyone could have expected.
We were fine through the blizzard and those first days afterward. The road was still snowed in and the power was still off and the temperatures were still very low, but the sky had cleared. Then we ran out of firewood.
W went across the road to check on Mr. And Mrs. G. They had a woodburning stove in their basement where they had spent the blizzard. They told him to bring us over if our house got too cold. It did and we had to go over. Beth and Eagle, TK and our dog and two guinea pigs, along with W and I. I had rotated the dutch oven and roaster and kept them full of beef from our freezer. There was always one ready and one cooking, and with my potatos and the carrots Mrs. G was able to add it was the best meal the G's had had since the power went off. Their little rat terrier was mesmerized with our guinea pigs and spent his time in the box with them. I think it was the only time he ever saw anything else close to his size. Beth and W had to go outside to smoke at their house and the big dogs were made to stay in the garage. We spent a half day and full night with the G's before the road was cleared past our houses and the power soon followed. W had already spent the days working in short bursts, due to the cold, on our driveway and the G's drive and Beth's. We had been marooned 8 days but the party was over and it felt good to go back home. I thought things could now return to normal. But, life would never be normal again. By brother J was dead. We just didn't know it yet.
posted by LeeAnn | 2:27 PM
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