My Account of KY's Ice Storm 2009

Here's my account of the earlier parts of Ice Storm 2009. The times aren't entirely accurate, but are sort of close.

Tuesday, late afternoon and evening -

Classes officially cancelled for the night. I have a bad feeling about this one.

Wednesday - 4:00 AM

Barely got any sleep. Power's gone. Cell's gone. I'm going to scope out our setup at I&T building. Hopefully it is still operational and we have a place to go.

4:30 AM

Servers are all up, I&T is whirring. The power is on upstairs in the E-panel outlets and that looks like it will be our home base. Headed to dorms to see if GF is ok.

4:45 AM

Can't get ahold of GF. No land line, no cell, and desk worker won't let me in and won't go check. I don't think they realize how serious this situation has become. I am not amused. Headed back home to pick up supplies and JB, a co-worker who lives nearby.

5:30 AM

JB and I have set up at I&T. He has packed up a lot of stuff. Coffee is on. He is setting up some kind of stove that runs on gas used for camping. Internet is operational, but quiet. No one is online. Still trying to figure everything out.

Snow has started to pour down.

6:50 AM

We just ate some Ramen noodles. I called public safety, letting them know I can update www.murraystate.edu and wrote down a statement from our emergency coordinator. The university is closed today. Wow, this is bad. Called my manager - he will be heading this way. Can't get WPSD online, can't pick up any radio stations (or their websites) besides WKMS.

8:15 AM

Frantically trying to get ahold of someone who can inform us of our generator's power. How long will we be on until we fail to battery? More co-workers are here. We apparently have a water pressure problem. None is flowing. We are heading around campus to pick up friends and family that will be huddling up in the I&T building.

9:00 AM

Loved ones have been rounded up. They're a little confused (it's still early) but I think they understand what's going on. We have made contact with most of our group, but not everyone. I hope they're okay!

The new public safety building is called the Emergency Operations Center and is serving the entire area. Apparently the generator has 6 hours left unless it is refueled. We are starting to make a list of essential servers that have to remain up (and their dependencies) along with a server shutdown order. All I can think of is our DR meetings. And payroll.

9:45

Generator is being refueled. YES!!!!!!!! 350 Gallons of Diesel should keep us up for a good amount of time.

10:00

Making a run for more supplies now that we understand how bad things really are... we need food, trash bags, disposable utensils/plates, blankets, pillows, everything.

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We eventually headed to Owensboro (my hometown) and camped out at my mom and dad's house. Two weeks prior, they had skipped town and went to Florida.

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