TEMPLE, TX — Forecasters called Temple ground zero when it came to the ice storm. The falling ice put a lot of people in danger, whether they realized it or not.
"I've never seen anything like this," said Joan Chaffin.
She stepped out of her house and into a world covered in about a quarter inch of ice. Since this kind of thing almost never happens in Texas, most of her neighbors didn't realize the danger they faced, but something told Joan she needed to do something and fast.
”I'm hitting ice out of my limbs, off of my limbs, so they don't bust,” she said with shovel in hand, banging against the tree.
The ice looked nice, but it wasn't at all. Ice piles up and adds to the weight of the tree, meaning limbs can come crashing down at any moment and do some serious damage. The more ice you get, the more danger and damage you face.
”My daughter in Academy, they have limbs snapping down there. They have no electricity, they haven't had electricity all day,” she explained.
Pictures only give you a taste of the damage there, leaving Academy a real mess.
So Joan will give it everything she's got to keep her home safe.
”I've never seen anything like this, and I've been around a long time,” she said.
She also hopes it's a long time before she sees anything like this again.
