Davey Crockett
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10 of the Worst Ice Storms in U.S. History
Here's a look at 10 of the most damaging, crippling ice storms in U.S. history.www.wunderground.com
3. Jan. 26-28, 2009 (Arkansas and Kentucky)
Days of freezing rain led to heavy ice accumulations of 1 to locally more than 2 inches in northern Arkansas and portions of Kentucky in late January 2009.
The heavy icing caused widespread damage to trees, power lines and power poles. Trees fell on homes and cars and blocked roads.
The storm was so damaging that the National Weather Service in both Paducah and Louisville, Kentucky, rated it as the worst weather event of the decade for their respective areas.
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear described it as the biggest natural disaster the state had experienced in modern history. Beshear called in National Guard troops to help clear roads and go door-to-door to check on families in the western part of the state, the worst-hit area.
In Arkansas, Mel Coleman, CEO of North Arkansas Electric Cooperative described the scene: "In all of my years I have never seen anything that compares to the damage this storm has caused. I have yet to see a mature tree standing that was not severely damaged. Just opening the door to the outside sounds like a war zone, with the continuous sounds of trees and limbs breaking."
2009 ice storm facts
- At its peak, 1.3 million customers were without power.
- It was Kentucky's largest power outage in history at the time, with 609,000 homes and businesses in the dark.
- Over 200,000 customers lost power in Louisville and it took as long as 10 days to get all customers back online. Area schools were closed for up to a week.
- Necessities such as food and water were difficult to obtain and lines for gas were hours long.
- Heavy sleet accumulations across much of southern Illinois and parts of southeastern Missouri caused dozens of roof collapses.
- At least 30,000 power poles were downed or snapped in Arkansas.
- More than 145 miles of high-voltage transmission lines were downed in southeastern Missouri.
- Debris cleanup from the storm lasted into the summer.
- The storm claimed 24 lives in Kentucky and another 18 in Arkansas from a combination of traffic accidents, hypothermia and carbon monoxide poisoning.
Damage from the 2009 ice storm in Kentucky.
Feb. 9-13, 1994, Southern Ice Storm
The ice storm caused extensive damage totaling $5.7 billion (CPI-adjusted) in portions of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.1994 ice storm facts
- Of all the states affected, Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama saw the worst impacts.
- More than 2 million lost power. A half-million were still without power three days after the storm. Some residents in Mississippi were without power a month after the storm.
- More than 80,000 utility poles were pulled down by the weight of the ice.
- Downed trees and limbs caused widespread damage to homes, businesses and vehicles. Many roads were blocked as well, making travel nearly impossible in some areas.
- In Mississippi, 3.7 million acres of commercial forests were severely damaged.
- At least nine deaths were reported from the storm
