HOLLY NOTE: Remember this scene from last winter? The heads lines screamed: Midwest Paralyzed: Storm Approaches 'Biblical Proportions'; More Ice, Snow Coming. "What we have here is a storm of biblical proportions. This is a Category 5 hurricane in Oklahoma." More than 1,000,000 were without power – some up to several weeks and 30 died.

Here we go again. Arkansas is coated in 3 inches of ice. Kentucky and Oklahoma are also ice-covered, which has taken down power lines. This massive storm, which stretches to Maine is blasting Northeast. At least 42 have died. It may be a long time before electricity is restored.

Pictured at right is Lance McClintock of Long, Okla. He's working on a fire to cook chicken. The couple was among the hundreds of thousands who lost power in the Midwest ice storm of 2007. If these and the other 1,000,000 people without electricity had purchased and knew how to use home generators safely, they would be warm and comfortable, cooking inside. Know how to keep your food safe when the power goes out. Knowing how to survive frigid tempertures without power may save your life.

n times of prolonged power outages – especially in winter – there are always deaths and carbon monoxide poisoning due to improperly used generators. At no time should they ever be operated indoors!

Generators are literally life-savers in bone-chilling winters and life-sapping summer heat. But, you need to know you to use them correctly and how to select the right one for your needs.

READER COMMENT: I live in Fayetteville, Ark, which was the center of the ice storm. Many people without power. I had purchased two of your Dare To Prepare books and have prepared for what hit us. I have a generator and invertors that have supplied lights and heat with our wood stove. It is very bad here with temps at night in the teens. Power out for many more days possible. Those who have not prepared are stuggling. Many people I have talked to in the past are now listening about preparation. Thanks again for your books. —Ron R.

January 30, 2009

AP

MURRAY, Ky. - Residents displaced by a winter storm rested in every corner of a university theater, about 100 of them sprawled in aisles, propped in chairs, curled up on the stage. Some watched a movie while others settled in — but all could sleep soundly with the heat blasting, the assurance of food and water nearby.

Photo: A toppled utility pole and transformer lie on a road in Mountain Home, Ark. on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009. Ice and snow pelted northern Arkansas on Tuesday, causing widespread power outages. (AP / The Baxter Bulletin, Kevin Pieper)

Among the battered crowd Thursday night were brothers Jim McClung, 42, and Dale Earnest, 38, forced to hole up in the makeshift shelter at Murray University in southwestern Kentucky. They, and many like them at hundreds of shelters in several states, ran out of food and water at their frigid, powerless home in the wake of an ice storm.

At least 1.3 million homes and businesses were without power across a wide swath of the country. Utility companies struggled through ice-encrusted debris into Friday morning as they worked to restore power, but warned it may not return until Saturday at the earliest. It could take until mid-February for some to come back online.

McClung and Earnest, both originally from Chicago, have seen their share of harsh winters. But they said this was the worst. Kentucky and Arkansas were among the states hit hardest by the blast.

"This is our first natural disaster," Earnest said.

"I had no idea the storm was going to last this long," his brother added.

They made it to the shelter only after hiking to a nearby police station and asking. Deputies trekked door-to-door in many communities to let people know where shelters were, forced to spread the word the old-fashioned way because cell phone and Internet service was spotty. In some towns, volunteers checked to make sure their elderly and disabled neighbors were all right.

HOTELS OFFER 'POWER OUTAGE RATES'

Photo: Hundreds of people wait in line for gas powered generators Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009 at Home Depot in Mountain Home, Ark. A winter storm moved through the area on Tuesday causing widespread power outages. (Kevin Pieper / AP)

Many Kentucky hotels offering discounted "power outage rates" reported being fully booked with people escaping frosty neighborhoods. Those who hunkered down in their homes face long lines to buy generators, firewood, groceries — even bottled water because power outages crippled local pumping stations.

Truckloads of ready-to-eat meals, water and generators from the Federal Emergency Management Agency were expected to arrive Friday at a staging area in Fort Campbell, Ky., said Mary Hudak, a spokeswoman for FEMA's southeast region.

In Paducah, Amber Fiers and her neighbor Miranda Brittan tried a half-dozen filling stations before finding one where they could buy kerosene. The two were in a line that swelled to 50 or more at the 13th Street Station, which began pumping kerosene after its owner set up a generator.

"We got food, but I'm just worried about staying warm," said Brittan, who lives in Mayfield, adding she was frustrated by the search for supplies.

"By the time you hear about a place that's open they're out when you get there," she said.

Roads were still littered with ice-caked power lines, downed trees and other debris. Help from around the country was arriving in convoys to assist the states with the worst outages.

'ATTACKING IT HEAD ON'

At a mall turned into a staging area in Barboursville, W.Va., crews in hard hats met Thursday alongside piles of poles, generators, wire and other supplies to find out where to go first.

"We're attacking it head on," said Appalachian Power spokesman Phil Moye. "As long as the ice is still on the trees, the storm is still here."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28931648/

www.standeyo.com/NEWS/09_Earth_Changes/090130.1.3M.no.power.2wks.html