During the late afternoon of January 26, it began. Arkansas was hit with one of the worst ice storms it had ever experienced. When I left work, I headed south down the highway to go cover a city council meeting in another town, and it had started to rain. I didn't think the roads were all that slick, but the bridges were solid ice. I passed an accident involving six vehicles, one of which was literally bent in half. A Sheriff officer on the way to assist in that accident hit ice and rolled his SUV.
The next day, the storm continued dropping ice across the majority of the state. Ice hung from everything, weighing down tree branches that pulled down power lines. Strangely, the area I live in had no ice at all. Just about two miles west of me, you could see a literal line of ice. I think the only area not affected, the only school system that didn't cancel classes, was the one in my town.
That storm lasted for three days and left over 300,000 without power. Today, more than a week later, half remain without power, and the electric companies anticipate at least another week's worth of work before the power will be restored. The National Guard is working in the northeastern corner of the state going door to door, checking to see if everyone is ok. One soldier found a 93 year old man living in a small shack that had survived the disaster.
These photos were taken by a friend who lives a few miles beyond that ice line. It's shocking to see since the only thing I had here was ice on my fence line and stairs. I'm amazed by how beautiful and how devastating this ice storm was.
