I Survived Snowmageddon (Part XVI)

Snow piling up against Julia's barn door Saturday.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING:  We East Coast Red are digging out of the remains of the Blizzard of '13 (no, I'm not going to call it by the weather channel's made-up name. Naming every snow storm in the northeast is like naming every tornado in Oklahoma - you'll be on Zelda Zachery Zanderbergen before the season is over.)

This was a well-hyped storm that lived up to it's publicity, especially in Massachusetts and Connecticut. It got me thinking about how my family deals with major weather events. Living as we do in the Maine countryside, we're used to both heavy winter weather and power outages. We always have batteries, several jugs of water, and boxes of emergency candles and safety holders.

RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison, CT.

Before the storm began, we loaded the log cradle with enough wood for three days burning, topped off the gas in the car, and made a couple big pots of soup and stew, food that is easily reheated atop one of the woodstoves. I got the dirty clothes washed and hung up and Ross ran the dishwasher, against the possibility that we wouldn't be able to for the next few days. We plugged in the phones and the laptops, and got out some board games. When you're well-prepared, there's a sense of fun and adventure in a storm (providing you're not dealing with anything genuinely dangerous, such as flooding or damage to your home.) It's kind of like camping, with furniture.

How did the rest of you East Coast Reds fare during the storm? Do you have a standard prep routine? And for Rhys and Debs, what, if any, weather events do you need to worry about in California and Texas?

LUCY BURDETTE: Oh you Mainers are so tough! CT really got hammered. The snow is so heavy in my hometown that the plows can't lift it. They've called in heavy construction equipment to try to clear the streets.

But I wasn't there. It's a little bit surreal to be in sunny Key West, watching the storm unfold on TV. I wanted to be there for about half an hour...I'll tell you one thing though, we are getting a generator when we get back north. Too many storms coming through our neck of the woods to leave it up to candles and flashlights.

Hallie's husband on snow clearing duty.

HALLIE EPHRON: I would LOVE to try snowshoeing - sounds like great fun, Ro.

We gassed up, shopped for basics, charged everything, and hoped for the best -- which is what we got. SO MUCH SNOW! Though not as much as Lucy got -- seems like this is the third storm that's drawn a bullseye on the Connecticut coast.

But we're dug out (picture shows our neighbor starting to dig out) and didn't lose power. In the neighboring town -- which is literally across the street -- virtually everyone lost power and many are still down. The sheer amount of snow is pretty incredible. Tomorrow's forecast: rain. So now we get to worry about ice dams and leaky roofs.

We'll hope this doesn't happen to Rhys.

RHYS BOWEN: It's funny but the temperature in Arizona, where we spend our winters these days, has dipped into the fifties and we're complaining that we're freezing. Sorry, you tough North-Easterners. We're wimps. And one good thing about Arizona is no weather events. It gets up to 120 degrees in summer when we're not there. There are occasional dust storms which are weird. But mainly in winter it's sun, an occasional passing cloud or cold night.

In Marin County California where we have lived for 40 years now we get torrential rain in the winters--flooded roads, mud slides and power outages all possible (which is why we escape these days). Summers are lovely. We are out of the fog belt. But I suppose one can't quite ignore a little thing called Earthquakes. We've experienced three since I moved there, but no damage to us. We're all ostrichs when it comes to The Big One.


HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Well, as a reporter, you know the deal. I was out in it, two days, and  (like most of us at Channel 7) stayed over at a hotel so I could come in to work  the early shift on Saturday.  I walked the silent and deserted Logan Airport, interviewed the last of the arrivals, watched the snow removal machines. Drove (with my photographer and a 4-wheel drive)) to northern Massachusetts on empty highways, amazing to zoom (is) up I-93 without another car in sight. white white white, and battering snow. At one point, I tried to open my car door, and the wind was so strong I couldn't do it. I walked in slush in flooded Salisbury, watching the raging ocean and saw the massive beach erosion, splatted in the thigh-high snow and had to be yanked to my feet by the homeowner I was interviewing.


(Not Hank. WHDH wouldn't leave her standing out in the snow this long.)

The key to storm coverage: bring almonds and celery and water, use whatever bathroom is available whenever you can, and keep your cell phone charged.
VERY happy to be home.  Very grateful for my hot shower.

Funny--my new book THE WRONG GIRL takes place in the dead of winter..and Jane has to battle the snow to get her story!

Remind us again why people live here, Deb.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: North Texas is major tornado country. Do you remember in Twister when the tornado chasers are driving along those country roads that are supposed to be in Oklahoma? If you look closely at the highway signs, many of the scenes were shot in north Texas. In fact, even though it's early for severe weather, we had a big front move through last night. No tornadoes, thank goodness, but it was bad enough that I spent the night on the mattress on the bathroom floor with the storm-phobic dog...

We can have snow and ice in the winter (our measly--by New England standards--six inches over Christmas brought everything to a standstill) and blisteringly hot summers. We are always prepped for tornadoes with bottled water, easy to heat up food, flashlights, and emergency evac kits. In really bad storms I huddle in the little downstairs bathroom (center of house, no windows) with both dogs, flashlight, charged cell phone, and walkie-talkie. Gee, can't wait till spring...)

JULIA:  How about you, dear readers? Tell us your storm stories! Have you dug out? Do you have power? Or are you someplace warm, laughing sympathetically at the rest of us?