Safety guide
Ice storm safety
An ice storm looks quiet. It kills silently. Trees collapse. Roads become skating rinks. Power fails for a week. Here is how to survive.
What an ice storm is
An ice storm is defined by NWS as a storm dropping at least 1/4 inch of freezing rain accretion. Freezing rain occurs when a warm layer aloft melts snow into rain, then rain falls through a shallow cold layer near the surface and freezes on contact.
The physics: temperature must be above 32°F above the surface for a layer thick enough to melt snow, and below 32°F at the surface. This is a narrow atmospheric setup — but it happens every winter across the eastern US.
The threat categories
Freezing rain
Rain that freezes on contact with surfaces. The main ice storm threat.
Sleet (ice pellets)
Rain that freezes before reaching ground. Less dangerous than freezing rain.
Black ice
Thin transparent ice on roads. Frequently unseen.
Glaze
Solid clear ice coating on all surfaces.
Rime
Feathery frost from fog. Not typically an ice storm.
Before the storm
- Have 2 weeks of drinking water (1 gal/person/day).
- Stock non-perishable food.
- Fill vehicle gas tanks.
- Charge every device.
- Buy portable phone battery banks.
- Fill bathtubs with clean water.
- Locate flashlights, batteries, candles.
- Test the fireplace / wood stove.
- Bring firewood inside.
- If you have a generator: test it BEFORE the storm. Fill fuel cans.
- Bring pets inside.
- Do NOT run generator inside garage or near windows — CO kills.
During the storm
- Stay off roads. Even 1/8 inch of ice makes roads deadly.
- Stay away from windows if trees are near — branches snap without warning.
- Do not touch downed power lines.
- Do not use gas stoves for heat — CO risk.
- Do not burn charcoal indoors — CO risk.
- Keep faucet at slow drip to prevent frozen pipes.
- Close off unused rooms to concentrate heat.
- Layer clothing.
- Sleep with pets, family together.
If power fails
- Move to the warmest interior room.
- Hang blankets over windows.
- Eat food from fridge first (4 hours), then freezer (48 hours full, 24 hours half).
- Melt snow for drinking water — bring to rolling boil.
- Toilet water can be flushed with bucket.
- Warm phone in inner layer to preserve battery.
- Check on elderly neighbors — hypothermia risk is highest for them.
- Watch for CO poisoning symptoms: headache, dizziness, nausea.
Notorious ice storms
- 1998 Great Ice Storm (New England / Quebec) — 5 days of freezing rain. 3.5M without power for weeks. 44 dead. $6B damage.
- 1994 Ice Storm (Southeast US) — 9 dead, 2M without power.
- 2007 Great Plains Ice Storm — 3 dead in Kansas and Oklahoma. Extended outages.
- 2009 Kentucky ice storm — 55 dead. Widespread infrastructure collapse.
- 2021 Winter Storm Uri (Texas) — 246 dead. Grid collapse. Frozen pipes destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes.
- 2023 Southeast ice storm — Nashville, Atlanta, coastal Carolinas paralyzed.
The generator problem
- Portable generators can cause CO poisoning — always run 20+ feet from windows/vents.
- Never run generators indoors, garages, basements.
- Battery-powered CO detector saves lives when power is out.
- Whole-house standby generators (Generac, Kohler) require professional install with transfer switch.
- Never backfeed a generator into house wiring without transfer switch — kills lineworkers.
- Solar + battery systems (Enphase, Tesla Powerwall) can outlast ice storms.
After the storm
- Don't drive on any ice you can't verify melted.
- Watch overhead for falling ice.
- Downed power lines assumed live for 72 hours.
- Trees at 45-degree lean may fall days later.
- Fill portable containers with water in case another storm follows.
- Report power outage — automated systems sometimes miss individual homes.
- Photograph damage for insurance.