In 1994, Memphis was hit with an ice storm — the Ice Storm, as many people remember it — that left many without power or a means to communicate. I was just a kid at the time, but I remember it well. My sister, my dad, and I spent most of the time huddled together under stacks of blankets and quilts. My dad told us stories and generally tried to seem as though he was unfazed, in an effort, I’m sure, to keep the kids from worrying. I mention this so the reader knows this is not my first ice storm rodeo.
Last Thursday, Memphis was hit with another ice storm. Tree limbs froze, strained, and broke, taking out power lines as they fell. Nearly 140,000 Memphis Light, Gas and Water customers were left without power. (And remember, a “customer” is a household or business, so we’re talking about far more than 140,000 people.)
I watched through a window as a sapling-sized limb gave up the ghost, shedding twinkling diamond-like shards of ice, and hit a power line. The lights went out. My fiancée had the heat turned up so that, when the power inevitably gave out, the house would be able to lose some warmth before it got unbearable. We hung blankets over the already-curtained windows to help trap our body heat. I dutifully texted the Flyer team to let them know the situation. But in an hour or so, the temperature dropped by about 12 degrees. I worried about our cats, about getting work done. It occurred to me, as limbs fell, pinging and thudding off our roof, that we live in a house with thin walls, many windows, and surrounded by trees. What if one came through the window?
So we grabbed the cats, some food, and our laptops and made for Sydnie’s mother’s house, which thankfully still had power. I had to swerve to dodge a falling limb that hit the road in front of our car. Our orange cat, Calcifer, meowed incessantly for the entire journey. I sang to him — Neil Young’s “Don’t Cry No Tears” — and told stories of winter storms past. Less than a minute before we pulled into the driveway, Cal pooped in his pet carrier. That pretty much set the tone for the next six days.
My sister lost power as well, but they have a fireplace and tried to soldier on. After a night with her sick and puking four-year-old son, dropping temperatures, and a panicked dog, I convinced her to make the trip to Syd’s mom’s place. At that point, we had seven humans, five big dogs, and three cats crammed into this house. It’s been a circus, and because I made distracting my nephew a top priority, it wasn’t long before I caught his cold. So I’m feverish and going on day two without sleep as I write this. I hope it makes some sense.
The amazingly resilient Flyer team put out this week’s issue, though nearly everyone lost power or internet. We pulled together work on the ice storm and managed to put out the stories we had already planned. I’m proud of the Flyer folks.
I recognize that I’m incredibly fortunate — I had somewhere warm to go! Not everyone in Memphis can say that. I know many have made tough choices just to get through this.
But as I write this, I am roughly 118 hours and 25 minutes into a power outage, and the MLGW website says that we are still “waiting on damage assessment.” Please understand that I can be in absolute awe of the MLGW linemen who are doing the dangerous and cold work of restoring power, while also frustrated that we have been blindsided by weather two years in a row. After last year’s freak February snowstorm, which led to frozen and ruptured water mains, a decrease in water pressure, and a boil water advisory, I’m beginning to think we really aren’t that great at weathering February here in the Bluff City.
So how do we fix that? As you peruse this issue, be sure to check out page 4, which is devoted to still more spurious bills targeting Tennessee’s LGBTQ community. If passed, the bills will be challenged in court, as they always are. So will the GOP’s gerrymandered redistricting plan, which splits Davidson County into three districts and which Governor Bill Lee signed on Sunday. One wonders what we would be able to afford if we didn’t spend state dollars on this crap.
What could we do with state and federal funding and a small MLGW rate increase? I believe MLGW president and CEO J.T. Young when he says the pandemic has hampered the utility’s efforts to work to prevent these kinds of disasters. But Memphis needs more warming centers, better tree-trimming, and work to bury or otherwise protect power lines.
We can’t expect not to be hit with winter weather. Isn’t being prepared for the worst the best thing about community?
