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Remembering The Ice Storm of 94

It was the worst ice storm to hit the Tennessee since 1974.

By Rebecca Lynn IveyPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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Ask anyone who lived here at the time and you can bet they have a story for you. This month marks 27 years since one of the biggest ice storms in Tennessee history, which caused many residents to go days without electricity or heat in the cold of February, some for weeks. Trees and powerlines were downed by the ice causing thousands of power outages across Tennessee.

As the weather forecast calls for a possibility of freezing rain and ice I cannot help but remember and cringe as those words always bring back terrible memories. I will never forget being terrified as several large trees surrounding my family's home continued to crack and break throughout the day. I will never forget hearing my grandmother pray when our electricity and heat went out. I will never forget spending 3 1/2 days without electricity and having to cook on a kerosene heater throughout that period of time. That is one storm that I will never forget as long as I live, and I hope I never see another one as long as I live.

I don't know how she done it but I remember my grandmother cooking a pot of homemade chili on top of her kerosene heater. We also heated water to wash up. We hung blankets over the doorways and the entire family stayed in one room to stay warm. Survival instincts had kicked in and we made ways to survive the storm just like everyone else.

On Feb. 9, 1994, the temperature dropped from near 74 degrees to 23 and precipitation began to fall across Middle Tennessee as sleet. The sleet switched over to freezing rain, clinging to trees and powerlines, as a deep layer of warm air pushed in over the shallow layer of sub-freezing air.

The electrical power grid took the biggest hit during the ice storm not just in Tennessee, but all across the mid-south where some an estimated two million people were left without electricity. An estimated 100,000 people in Tennessee were left without power.

With so many downed trees and powerlines in Tennessee, electrical linemen worked 16 hour days to bring the power back to everyone. Due to the 1994 storm, TVA actually altered its guidelines for emergency power loss situations.

The freezing rain continued into the afternoon, evening, and overnight ending shortly after midnight. By that time, there was a one to two inch coating of ice on everything in parts of Tennessee. By the wee morning hours of the following day, tree branches began to snap giving way to the tremendous weight of the ice that coated them. Huge limbs, even whole trees, began to fall all across Tennessee and brought down power lines as they fell. The power lines that didn't give way to trees and limbs fell due to the weight of the ice that had accumulated on them.

The national guards were deployed to assist in some parts of Tennessee. They done everything from removing icy tree limbs, providing food and water to walking door to door to check on people. Sadly, many people did not survive the ice storm of 94. Many people in Tennessee were found dead and hundreds all across the South. I recall hearing about a lady being found in her basement, kneeling in front of her furnace in a praying position. Another Tennessee couple was found in their bed cuddling tight together. These are thoughts and images that we all encountered when the electricity returned and we watched the local news.

It was the worst ice storm to hit the Tennessee since 1974. I still hear stories about that storm in 74 from time to time, but I hear more stories from those who lived through Ice Storm 94.

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Rebecca Lynn Ivey

I wield words to weave tales across genres, but my heart belongs to the shadows.

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