Having lived in the southwest suburbs of Philadelphia as well as in Rochester, NY, I know what cold weather and snow and ice are. When the polar vortex visited the south, primarily Texas and Louisiana, it hit hard. With no snow removal equipment or salt or sand, we were at the hands of Mother Nature.
Family in Houston experienced the greatest impact with loss of power and water for several days during the cold. Here in Alexandria, we had almost a week of below zero temperatures, had intermittent power for a day, and lost water pressure for a few days with a boil advisory for a week.
Our house is raised, of pier on beam construction, so the pipes are exposed as they run under the house. To avoid frozen pipes which would burst and lose lots of water, we had to keep all faucets, inside and out, running for most of the week with a small stream.
On Sunday night, Valentines Day, it started sleeting and snowing. Then we had a good bit of icy rain. It was dangerous to go outside with risk of falling. I have heard many stories of friends who tried. I wanted to take some pictures of the early mess, but I didn't dare go out until Wednesday. The sun was doing its best to melt some snow and ice.
With a couple of poles in hand to help balance, I made it to the street. But no camera. Water was rushing down the middle of the street, probably 4 or 5 inches deep with numerous "ice bergs" floating along. I did some breaking of the snowy ice along the curb. It was probably an inch or two thick with several inches of water below. Finally the streets were clearing.
The steps leading to our front porch were coated with about 1 1/2" of ice. I used an edger to break the ice and slid the pieces down the walkway toward the driveway. Things slowly started melting.
The photos you see are from mid-week with the snow and ice, and from after the thaw when temperatures got back to normal in the 60s and low 70s. Our gardens are planted with mostly all greenery except for a few camellias which were blooming nicely before the freeze. There is much lost which will take awhile to grow back or be replaced. Nurseries down in Forest Hill southwest of here were hit extremely hard with greenhouses caving in and plants in the open being frozen.
So far, 2021 hasn't seen much change since 2020. But we received our 2nd vaccination yesterday, so in a few weeks some freedom will come. We plan to just gradually re-enter the social world. We don't need hugs and will use a mask and social distancing until many more are vaccinated.
The photos don't look like much of a storm, but it shut down the area for much of the week.
(select images to enlarge)
Back Yard:
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| Back patio and stone paths |
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| Back of house on right, looking toward sun room |
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| Looking toward back brick fence |
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| Camelia in bloom |
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| Along street after water and ice cleared |
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| Frozen Ligularia, normally green, now brown |
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| Japanese Holly Ferns and Liriope under Live Oak |
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| Frozen Ligualaria in front of Liriope and Autumn Fern |
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| Liriope in front of Jasmine under Live Oak |
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