The Great Ice Storm of 1973 

The pandemonium created by the prediction of a historic ice storm, or maybe it just rains, in Middle Georgia reminds me of the craziest winter storm of my life. And no, I didn’t live in Middle Georgia in February of 1973 during the last historic winter storm.

On Sunday, January 7, 1973, a freezing rain began to fall in picturesque Avondale Estates. Pine needles began to take on ice like I’d never dreamed. As the afternoon wore on, tree branches began to sag as the ice piled up. But there was no threat yet, I was just hoping that school would be canceled on Monday.

I slept on the top bunk in my bedroom. I watched as the night sky lit up with blue light from the exploding power lines as the freezing rain fell all night. Trees and limbs came crashing down for hours. It was fantastically incredible to this 14 year old; not realizing that my lovely home would be powerless for a week.

We had a fireplace that was largely ornamental because when the mean temperature is 95 degrees, what’s the point of a fire. But the fireplace came in handy as the only source of heat for our family of five. We cooked meals over the fire and heated the living room where we all slept for the next week as temperatures never broke freezing. The pioneer aspect of cooking over a wood fire was fun. Scavenging for wood was an adventure too.

Monday morning’s early light showed the devastation in my neighborhood. DeKalb County police estimated 90% of the county residences were without power. Trees were down everywhere. The roads and yards had inches of ice on them. Our pool froze over. Everything looked like a Crystal Palace. It was magical to kids.

For more than a week, no school, no work, no going to the store to get groceries. We lived off what we had. If anything in the frig or freezer needed to stay cold, we just put it outside. We drank powdered milk. Yuck. But my dad loved that stuff.

We loved exploring our neighborhood. We played hockey on the swimming pool. Of course this was before everyone walked around with cameras in their pockets. I remember the beauty of the ice encrusted trees and bushes. How the air was so clean. Other than the chainsaws, there was no noise as there was nothing moving.

As power was restored to the main lines, the issue for us was that a falling branch had pulled our power lines off the house, so we were several more days without power compared to some of our neighbors.

The resulting thaw made the Great Ice Storm of 1973 but a brief time. My magical story doesn’t do justice to the scores of people who helped neighbors, carried meals to others, or even behemoth Georgia Power helping families with food losses that were beyond their ability to cope. We were fine. We stayed warm, had food, no one was injured, and we were blessed.

Atlanta has had Snow Apocalypses, but the Great Ice Storm of 1973 remains unrivaled as ice storms go in Georgia.

Kelly Burke was born in Knoxville where he spent his younger years, followed by high school years in Atlanta where he graduated from Georgia Tech, and Mercer Law School. He has been in private practice, a magistrate judge, and an elected district attorney. He writes about the law, politics, music, and Ireland. He and his wife enjoy gardening, playing with their Lagotto Ramanolo named George Harrison, and spending time with their grandchildren. To see this column or Kelly’s archives, visit www.kellyrburke.com. You can email Kelly at dakellyburke@gmail.com.