My theme for my 2015 A to Z Challenge came from my
Disaster Crimes series. Disasters are a theme in each story, so it got me
thinking about all the disasters that occur from natural disasters to manmade
disasters.
Today’s
disasters are...
ICE
STORM and ICEBERG
I know I just talked about hailstorms, but ice storms are
different.
An ICE STORM is
a winter storm producing freezing rain and ice that covers at least 0.25 inches
of exposed surfaces (also known as glaze event or silver thaw).
The weight of the ice from the freezing rain can snap
power lines, break utility poles and even steel frames, leaving people without
power for days to months. Without power, people can die from hypothermia and
even carbon-dioxide poising from burning fuel in enclosed areas without enough
oxygen.
FACT:
Damages from ice storms can shut down the power to an entire metropolis area.
Branches can fall and trees can even break due to the
weight of accumulated ice, landing on houses and across roads. Ice also slicks roadways, making travel
impossible and deadly if attempted.
FACT:
The
thickest recorded ice accumulation from a storm occurred in northern Idaho
(United States), which measured 8 inches in January 1961.
I know you must be thinking that an ICEBERG isn’t a natural disaster, but a notable iceberg did cause a
disaster.
On April 15, 1912 the RMS Titanic (a British
passenger liner) sank after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean
during her maiden voyage. More than 1,500 people died, making the sinking of
Titanic the deadliest peacetime maritime disaster.
FACT: The
iceberg suspected of sinking the RMS Titanic was spotted on the morning of
April 15, 1912, a few miles from where Titanic went down, and was photographed by
the chief steward of the liner Prinz Adalbert.
SHOUT
OUT:
PK Hrezo wrote an amazing book about a time traveler who ventures onto the
Titanic moments before it sinks in her book "Induction Day." Read it!
QUESTIONS: Have you ever experienced an ice storm? Are you fascinated by Titanic?
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| I'm a member of Tremp's Troops! |
We get ice storms here a lot. Thankfully spring has sprung. But those tornadoes last night! Too close for comfort. Yikes, I have a feeling that's just the beginning!!
ReplyDeleteYou had tornadoes in your area last night? Geez! Good thing you're okay!
DeleteThe sun is streaming through my window and I'm reading about Ice Storms.
ReplyDeleteAs always it is good to read about what kind of weather other parts of the world experiences. Great Post.
Yvonne.
The sun is streaming through my window too. :)
DeleteOur climate in the UK is too mild for ice storms - they sound incredibly destructive.
ReplyDeleteThey sure can cause a lot of damage.
DeleteI don't think I've ever experienced an ice storm. Just a whole lot of snow.
ReplyDeleteI haven't experienced either of those. lol
DeleteI have never been in an ice storm, thank heavens, it's not a phenomenon that happens around here. Our weather is too mild - we just get lots of rain :). I always liked the Sapphire and Steal episode where they hint they were on the Titanic.
ReplyDeleteTasha
Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)
I've never heard of Sapphire and Steal. Hmm...
DeleteIn college I left my dorm the morning after an ice storm. Nothing looked wrong, but the moment my foot touched down on the 1/2 inch of ice, I was on my butt. After dragging my sore self back upstairs, I found out the university was shut. I should have figured something was up since there were no cars on the roads! I'll take three feet of snow over a 1/2 inch of ice any day.
ReplyDeleteIce, because it's hard to see sometimes, can sure cause a lot of injuries.
DeleteWe've had ice a bunch, but never super duper bad. I'll take snow over that any day
ReplyDeleteSo would I.
DeleteIce storms are so much more devastating than blizzards. A few years back, Ontario had a horrible one and I had family without power for days. (Luckily they had gas heating!)
ReplyDeleteIce is a lot worse than snow. Good thing your family had gas heating!
DeleteI have never experienced an ice storm thanks to the temperate UK weather, but they look really, really scary, but also amazingly, dramatically beautiful.
ReplyDeleteSophie
Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles
FB3X
Wittegen Press
They can be both. Amazing contrast, huh?
DeleteWe experienced an ice storm about two years ago and it knocked out a third of our woods...scary stuff.
ReplyDeleteA third of your woods? That is scary!
DeleteThat's wild someone took a picture of the actual iceberg.
ReplyDeleteI've been through more ice storms than I can count. Eight inches though? I bet that took a long time to melt.
Probably took forever to melt!
DeleteNever an ice storm, but freezing rain.
ReplyDeleteYooooou're heeeeere...
Freezing rain isn't fun.
DeleteI just cannot HELP but think of Titanic.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the 2015 A to Z Challenge!
A to Z Co-Host S. L. Hennessy
http://pensuasion.blogspot.com
Every April Titanic is on my mind.
DeleteWow! what a great photography that is of the pole lines. As sad as it was, it was a great shot. Titanic comes to mind also.
ReplyDeleteAs I See It Daily
It is a great shot.
DeleteNo, I've never experienced an ice storm. I remember a movie centered around an ice storm was quite an effective back drop. Titanic? Well, the movie sure made everyone interested in that disaster all over again. I would love to read the book you mention. It sounds fascinating. Nice work on these posts, Chrys! You've done a ton of research!
ReplyDeletePK's book is really good but it is the second her her series. I recommend both.
DeleteI don't think I've ever experienced an ice storm here, thankfully. It's usually too cold, but there was a nasty one in Quebec a few years back.
ReplyDeleteI am fascinated by the Titanic. Always have been. I'm not sure what it is about that ship that moves me, but when James Cameron included that footage of the real wreck in his movie? I was riveted.
James Cameron is brilliant. Just brilliant. He sure did spark more interest in the Titanic thanks to his movie.
DeleteMinor ice storms here in Wisconsin. I recall a big one the Winter of 1977. Rough year.
ReplyDeleteAs for Titanic? Have always loved reading about the Titanic. In 2012, my friend and I visited the Titanic Experience in Belfast. It was very cool. Lots of information, exhibits, walk-through replicas, videos of what it was like on the Titanic. It was awesome. I was gob-smacked by the entire experience. I'd definitely go back next time I'm in Belfast and have more time (we only had about six hours). I even bought a replica tea mug to bring home. To my recollection, I have photos of the trip on my blog. Label-Titanc. I believe I even posted the Titanic White Star Line mug on my C is For Coffee Mugs post. Yikes! Self promotion there. Sorry about that, won't happen again. But you got me excited talking about the Titanic. So yes, I'm fascinated.
I would love to go to the Titanic Experience in Belfast. I've always felt a strong pull to the Titanic. I believe in past lives so maybe I was on the Titanic?
DeleteNo worries about self-promotion. I'm going to have to look for that Titanic post on your blog. :)
Well then maybe I was on the Titanic too because I always get giddy talking about it. We had a mini Titanic experience go through our local Museum a few years back. I went to that too. It was cool and when you first walk in they give you a card with various numbers on it. At the end of the tour you matched it up with a board listing different passengers and what happened to them. I was on the list of those who died.
DeleteMaybe you were. :) Hopefully we both didn't die on it though. lol
DeleteI'd go to every Titanic exhibit if I could. I think it's neat that they gave everyone passenger numbers. That makes the experience even more intimate.
Ironically enough (or maybe not) I read as much information as I can get about the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. You may be familiar with it more from the Gordon Lightfoot song, but it's a local wreck that happened on the Great Lakes. A local brewery even has a brew called Edmund Fitzgerald.
DeleteI didn't know about that wreck. How cool that a local brewery named a brew after that ship.
DeleteI got the shivers just looking at those pictures of iced wires and that car. Can't imagine going through one of those.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine it either. Especially since I live in the Sunshine State. :P
DeleteWe have ice storms nearly every winter. Lost lots of trees to them over the years and my son wrecked his car this past year.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry your son wrecked his car! But I'm sure glad he's okay.
DeleteI've always been fascinated with the Titanic and was thinking about it before I even scrolled down! Thanks for the tip on "Induction Day" :-) Great post!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Diedre! :)
DeleteThat looks scary spooky.
ReplyDeleteI agree.
DeleteWe've had ice storms in our area and sometimes lost power, but nothing like the one in the picture. I'm freezing just looking at it. Great post.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Beverly. :)
DeleteI love a good ice storm. I've seem some real doozeys in Michigan where everything is shut down for days. You're better off staying inside.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine. I have family in Michigan. They tell me about their snow storms but not ice storms.
DeleteWe had three tornado warnings yesterday, and freezing rain the day before. The Midwest is starting to feel less and less inviting....
ReplyDelete@TarkabarkaHolgy from
Multicolored Diary - Epics from A to Z
MopDog - 26 Ways to Die in Medieval Hungary
The tornadoes that hit the Midwest last night were crazy. My thoughts go out to all who had been in the path of those storms
DeleteWe had freezing rain the other weekend. Hubby and I were planning on going to Toledo and had to wait for the ice to melt because we couldn't get out of our driveway. It wasn't a thick layer, but thin enough to make going anywhere impossible.
ReplyDelete~Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
Member of C. Lee's Muffin Commando Squad
Story Dam
Patricia Lynne, Indie Author
Driving on ice is definitely not recommended. Good thing you waited for it to melt.
DeleteNo, thank goodness. Just looking at those pictures just makes me want to grab a sweater.
ReplyDeleteNever been in an ice storm. One of the perks of SoCal weather. And the one thing that fascinates me about the Titanic is Violet Jessup. Although that's a who and not a what.
ReplyDeleteOne of the perks of Florida too. ;)
DeleteI don't think I've heard about Violet Jessup. Or her name is ringing any bells at the moment.
Great post, Chrys!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jemima!
Delete8 inches of ice! That just chilled my spine. Ice is my least favorite environmental element. I moved to CA to avoid having to walk and drive in it. I'd love to go to Alaska to see & hear an iceberg break off into the ocean, but that's it :)
ReplyDeleteYou can find me here:
ClarabelleRant
Ice can be cruel. Oh, hearing an iceberg break would be something!
DeleteUgh, ice. I've had enough of that for a lifetime. Those pictures are incredible. That truck looks like it's made of ice!
ReplyDeleteIf only that was a sculpture of a truck, huh?
DeleteNever been in an ice storm and I hope never to be in one; they sound so destructive! I am fascinated by the Titanic. I did go to a traveling display at our local museum a few years ago (must have been the 100 year anniversary of Titanic) and enjoyed the display. When you started going through the display, they gave you a name of a passenger and then at the end you found out if you survived or not. I did, but hubby sadly perished. I'm sure statistically probably more women than men might have been saved?
ReplyDeletebetty
That's what another commented mentioned. I think it's so neat that they give you a passengers name. It makes the experience more intimate.And it's surely something everyone would remember. Since they were saving the lifeboats for women, I do think more women were saved.
DeleteThe closest I have got is at Paris in December, our flight was the last to leave for 3 days, people couldn't get home for Christmas, ghastly for everyone around. But that was a snowstorm
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a disaster alright!
DeleteDixie was obnoxious in her reply (note the TONS Of space above my comment? :P )
ReplyDeleteI am fascinated by the Titanic. I am saddened by it, too! Dx
I have not been in an ice storm and hope to never be in one, either. While I've been enjoying Unicorn Bell, I was missing out HERE!
I must check out PK Hrezo's book! I've always loved time traveling books, funny how I've not written one! I so should, hu? :)
Elizabeth Mueller
AtoZ 2015
My Little Pony
Ha! Unfortunately I had to delete that because I don't know what happened there. It made a huge empty block in the middle of comments.
DeletePK's book is awesome! I think you'd like it. :)
I've experienced snow storms and hail storms, but not ice storms I think. Next week I travel to the Arctic so I may get to see some icebergs >:)
ReplyDeleteCold As Heaven
You're traveling to the Arctic? That'll be in interesting trip.
DeleteYes, it is. I will post a picture or two afterwards
DeleteGreat! I am looking forward to it. :)
DeleteI've never experienced an ice storm, though we often have snow storms where I live.
ReplyDeleteThat's common for most areas.
DeleteThankfully I've never been in anything like that. Hubby has thought. He grew up in New Jersey and worked in New York for a while and said when the tree's ice over it can be scary to walk anywhere near them when you hear them cracking.
ReplyDeleteHow eerie to hear trees cracking because of ice.
DeleteThat's some serious ice. We've had some bad winters in Scotland recently, but nothing like that. PK's books are excellent.
ReplyDeletePK's books are excellent. I didn't know you lived in Scotland. Neat. :)
DeleteAll things happen for reasons... and what that plan is not for our eyes at this time..
ReplyDeleteI agree!
DeleteI find Titanic very interesting, because of the social behavior that came out, and the arrogance of the ones in charge of the vessel. So many lives lost, due to incompetence and lack of planning for a disaster. I've experienced ice storms in Georgia, it looks beautiful, but is not fun to deal with. Never have seen them in Vancouver, however. Who would think that further north I'd get better weather? (just a little extra rain on the west coast, that's all)
ReplyDeleteYou're right about the incompetence and unpreparedness.
DeleteThat is pretty unbelievable.
Ice storms are no joke. They definitely wreak havoc on the power and roads, causing accidents as well as cold homes. Seattle had one a few years back that had the power out for about 10 days in some areas.
ReplyDelete10 days? Wow!
DeleteI'm fascinated by the Titanic, and We've had a few Ice Storms here in Buffalo, NY. Ice Storms, I believe, are the worse....Even after being stranded under 7 feet of snow this past November, I still think an Ice Storm is more deadly.
ReplyDeleteIce can definitely be more deadly than snow.
DeleteThankfully our ice storms are pretty weak compared to places further north. Even so they are no joke and make our roads impassable. Love your theme for the challenge.
ReplyDeleteSean at His and Her Hobbies
Thanks, Sean! And thanks for stopping by! :)
DeleteYes I have experienced an ice storm but not as bad as what is pictured but enough where everything was frozen solid and a number of branches, trees and hydro wires came down. It is pretty but it is deadly. I fell in love with knowing everything about the Titanic. I have read on almost all the bios that I found on the internet. I have several books and my favourite movie, and the best film is "A Night To Remember" made in 1958. It really does show everything that happened.
ReplyDeleteI think it's neat that you read bios. I haven't done that.
DeleteIcebergs are permanently linked to the Titanic, even though that wasn't the only ship to run afoul of them. It was the biggest, though.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Cherdo.
DeleteI've been through freezing rain and sleet but never an ice storm. But wow 8 inches...on the side note I love the movie Titanic. I don't think any other actor could've played Jack Dawson and Rose than Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Their love story was so....there's not a word that I can think of to describe it. And the story of the ship was so tragic too. If only the ship wasn't going too fast, if only more emergency boats went to rescue the people in the water, if only...
ReplyDeleteLeonardo and Kate were phenomenal! We could say so many if only's about the Titanic...
DeleteCould you imagine your car like that? Dang!
ReplyDeleteNope! lol
DeleteIcebergs are tricky, what you see isn't what you get
ReplyDeleteExactly. There's so much more to an iceberg beneath the surface.
DeleteHi Chrys ... icebergs have not got a good name after the Titanic .. and those ice storms .. having seen some tv programmes about them .. i'm glad I live in the warmer climes of the Gulf Stream and the British Isles .. cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteIcebergs do have a bad rep now.
DeleteWow, I've never really heard of an ice storm before, and now I wish I never encounter one! I love how icebergs can look beautiful, but they're actually incredibly deadly. I love reading about the Titanic.
ReplyDeleteIcebergs are beautifully deadly. ;)
DeleteMy first ice storm occurred when I was a kid in North Carolina and we "camped out." I've experienced a few more since then--another in high school that shut down school for a few days, one on an interstate that doubled an 8 hour drive and one each in NY and MI that left me powerless for a few days... But the beauty of the sun when it rises after the storm has passed and it reflects off the ice is incredible.
ReplyDeleteI can image the sun reflecting off that ice. :)
DeleteI storms are very scary because trees start snapping and lines start coming down. We have had some where I live and they are usually much worse than snowstorms. The ice coating everything does look beautiful- but boy is it dangerous!
ReplyDelete~Jess
Ice that can snap trees and power lines is sure dangerous.
DeleteEight inches of ice in one storm. Wow.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that incredible?
DeleteI've added a bunch of Titanic survivors and victims to Find A Grave, courtesy of the information I found in an awesome book called The Irish Aboard Titanic. Several of these people are buried nearby, and one of them is one of the only known unborn survivors. I refuse to see the 1997 movie adaptation of Titanic, since there are so many historical inaccuracies and anachronisms, not to mention forcing modern-day sensibilities into the world of 1912.
ReplyDeleteAw, an unborn survivor? That's so sad.
DeleteThere may be a lot of inaccuracies but I still love it. The story is awesome. My mom hates the mention of Nickelodeon. lol
Just last year we got hit REALLY hard by an ice storm here in PA- took down power lines and tons of trees for miles around shutting down nearly every road to and from my office and knocking out out electricity for a solid week. We weren't smart about it- we figured the power would come back on soon enough so we waited. By day two with no heat and freezing temperatures it wasn't really safe for us to stay in the house anymore so we tried to book a hotel- they were all booked up because other people hadn't waited as long. Thankfully we found a room at an extended stay about 45 minutes away. We got lucky in that we were only there for two days- a lot of other people we talked to were there for more like 10. In terms of the damage done and the amount of people without power it was about 3 times worse then superstorm Sandy. Scary stuff.
ReplyDeleteThat sound intense, Beverly! I'm glad you found a hotel room to stay in.
DeleteMontreal had a long-term ice storm in the winter of 1998. I loved it at the time because we got a month off school and with our gas oven, even if the power went our, I could still bake cookies!
ReplyDeleteA month off from school? Wow!
Delete