A winter weather warning for Kentucky had been issued, and all the horses were in the barn for the night as a precaution. After all, how often have the weather forecasters been overenthusiastic about “catastrophic” storms?

Overnight the electricity went out; both landline and cell phones were dead. Trees, limbs and telephone poles were down, blocking roads and causing major damage to buildings, vehicles, and equipment.

Throughout the state 760,000 electrical customers were without power; some counties had water supply issues due to the power outage and broken water lines. People could not communicate with first responders; emergency rescue teams were unable to respond due to blocked roads. People learned that satellite telephones or ham radios (both battery-powered) were the only means of communication.

The average temperature was 20° F, and ½ to 1 inch of ice glazed everything in sight, including the underlying snow. On several nights, the wind chill was below zero