Laughingstok

So anyone in the Kentucky area may remember back in 2003 when the "Ice Storm" hit that pretty much set the standard of natural ice disaster in the United States. We were right on the line between freezing rain and ice and it devastated the area.

Anyways, looks like it's about to happen again. Warnings all over the state, etc.

My question is if it's anything like last time, the only people moving were off-road vehicles that spent time moving debris like tree-branches off of roads and delivering food. Most people were without power for up to a week.

A buddy of mine has a Silverado and we've discussed possibly lending a hand if possible, pulling each other out if we get slid off or stuck somewhere.

The question is: Anyone ever done something like this?

Any recommendations?

skibum

My club is looking into doing this kind of thing after the huge ice storm we had here in Nov. We have contacted the state equivalent of FEMA and are going to be undergoing some training with them prior to actually being deployed during and emergency. A few of the guys who have done this with other clubs, have suggested that anytime you are hooking up to another vehicle to pull them out of something, that you have the owner of that vehicle actually attach the strap on their end so that your liability is limited in the event of damage to their vehicle. Makes sense to me. I'd hate to be doing the nice guy thing and then get sued for it.

Littlejon

Often times if you are part of a local 4x4 or off road club they will be able to sign up to be volunteers with the city, state, county, etc... in emergency situations bringing food and supplies to those who need it, and taking emergency workers to and from work when they can't make it on their own.

Yamaha90

we have something similar here in ohio when we get a ton of snow and the roads are reallly bad and some even closed there are alot of big trucks and off road vehicles that help the doctors and nurses get to work it's cool to help out like that by picking people up and that but to pull people out, some of them may be sue happy so you must be careful, and that sucks because all we are out to do is help others than they stab us in the back. but it's a warning i have been told time and time again, so i'm just sharing. good luck with your storm

doc307

This is not an answer but I lived in Lexington during that ice storm and my wife worked in Nicholasville. It was horrible but at least we never lost power at our house. I had a good friend a couple miles away that did lose power and was afraid to try to drive over to our house. Hopefully it doesn't get as bad this time.

fish

that sounds like a great plan
be safe and hopefully it does not get too bad.
i hated those ice storms more than anything when i lived in ohio

homer

try contacting the local civil defense / emergency preparitness team to see how you can help out. Lacking that organization, the fire chief.


Another angle is call the local hospital. They will need to ferry nurses in at shift changes.

the senior citizen center may need to ferry about the person who delivers meals.

Be sure you do not make things worse by getting stuck yourself. Carry bags of sand, a jerk line, flash light, blankets, and a saw as it likely you will have ice damage to trees to get through.

And understand, it is highly likely you will get your paint tore up by branches. No way around it if you are really in the doo-doo. Also fill your jeep up now. No power means the pumps do not work.

If you can get them, put on winter blades. The factory wipers ice up within 2 minutes and are a hassle. Winter blades eliminate this

Of course, bring a camera and post your photos.

Good luck.

We are due for a 12" dusting from that storm. We had our ice storm last month. Wiped out a quarter of the hardwoods around here. I was on generator power 4 days, while most my neighbors were dark for 11 days.
JK made it a piece of cake to drive 20 miles to find gas for the generators.

MOWrangler

We've got the same thing here. Two pieces of advice

1. Fire up the chain saw - Often time you will want to be able to cut the large fallen trees in half before you...

2. Winch 'em to the side of the road.

I also fired up my tractor this evening to make sure it is read to roll in case I need to push a little snow up the road. (but it looks like this is going to be all ice hear. around 1/4" and still accumulating)