First Posted: 1/2/2015
Residents shared their memories of the 2005 ice storm on The Lima News’ Facebook page:
Terri Lynne Blosser Morris: “We were without power for seven days and couldn’t get out of our garage because of tree limbs. We closed off the living room and kept a fire going constantly. The couch was the cozy place to sleep. Eventually, most of the food in our fridge was cooked over the fire. It was an adventure that, truthfully, we look back on fondly.”
Irene Studer Alderman: “We read and played board and card games until dark. When the power finally came back, we were in the middle of Monopoly. My 10-year-old turned the lights off… and we finished in the dark.”
Tara Anderson Corso: “That was the first winter. We moved here from Arizona. Welcome to Ohio. Worst thing I’ve ever experienced… EVER.”
April Pellegrini: “Five days without power. Thank goodness we have a generator that powered a few things, but it was still rustic living. The first two days were an adventure. After that, it just got real old quick!”
Richard Stewart: “I got a call and ended up at a location where a 3-foot diameter tree had fallen on Dave and Connie Brown’s house. Connie’s son was pinned so completely in his bed by a limb of that tree that the floor was deflecting down about a half a foot. My nephew was doing all he could to reassure that kid that things were going to be all right. And it ended up they were.”
Gregg Bader: “I had a generator, and many neighbors moved to hotels out of town, so the area was somewhat deserted. I remember coming home the night night and no lights in the neighborhood, the headlights reflecting off the ice on the trees. I turned onto our street, and in the distance I can see smoke from the flue and lights, and I can see my son who was 2 years old dancing to a DVD of a children’s show since cable was out. I remembered thinking our house looked like an oasis in the desert.”
Jane Wilcox: “Five days without power… Awful! I don’t know why they didn’t just bury the power lines after that, instead of repairing lines and replacing all those poles.”
Michael Haycock: “I got my driver’s license that day. It was unnerving being tested on my driving skills while seeing parked cars smashed by trees!”
Chris Riley: “That was my most vivid memory, lying in bed listening to tree limbs fall, wondering if they were going to hit the house.”
David Lee DeLashmutt: “Being without power for a week, one of the most helpless feelings I have ever had. I bought a generator so I would never feel like that again.”
Jayson Mullett: “Remember going outside to move vehicles around to save them from falling limbs. Also, getting firewood to the fireplace since we had no power, the whole time tree limbs exploding and crashing down.”
