Blizzard of January 10, 1975
by Richie Davis
On the morning of January 10, 1975, we awoke at the usual winter time of 6 a.m. to do our routine chores. when we came in for breakfast, the radio informed us that there was a strong possibility of heavy snow and high winds of up to 70-80 miles per hour in our area. We had been in blizzards before and were not unduly alarmed.
As was the usual practice of farmers, we proceeded to make preparations for the livestock to make them as comfortable as possible during the upcoming storm. Lyle Schmidt and I ground feed for the cattle and hogs at our place, as well as at the Gale Davis farm as they were on their way home from a Farm Bureau convention in New Orleans.
Our daughter, Jane, boarded the school bus at 8 a.m. to go to school at the Nemaha Center of Crestland Community School. As soon as the buses arrived at the shcool around 8:30 a.m., they were ordered to return the children to their homes. By 9 a.m. the first large flakes of snow began to fall. The snowfall became progressively heavier, and by 11 a.m. the wind started to blow gently and then with increased velocity.
By 2 p.m. we had a full-scale blizzard. Lyle and his son, Mark, took a tractor with a cab to do chores at the Gale Davis farm. I proceeded to do the chores here at home even though the hour was early for evening chores. At 4:30 p.m., Lyle and Mark returned and reported that they could hardly see the road and could go only about five miles per hour on the tractor. The wind was blowing about 50 to 60 miles per hour and it was still snowing heavily.
Upon returning to the house, I discovered that we were without electricity. It had been going off intermittently all afternoon so we hoped it would come back on soon. Fortunately, my wife Phyllis had drawn extra water into the bathtub for future use in case the electrictiy did not return.
We had electric heaters on our diesel tractors and I knew that without electricity we had to warm up our tractors by runing them periodically so they would start. At 8 p.m., I took a fliashlight and wet to start the tractors and let them run for 15 minutes or so. I soon discovered that I was not in a normal blizzard. I had difficulty finding my way back to the house. Because there were no lights in the house, I had to be careful not to lose my way.
We retired to our beds quite early that evening. Our house was getting cold and the bed was the only place where we could stay warm. Sleep is the cure of many ills, but because of the strong and noisy winds and the cold house, sleep did not come easily. As the sleepless night wore on, I became more and more concerned about the livestock knowing that they were suffering and there was nothing we could do for them. We had prepared as best we could so now all we could do was hope and pray.
At 1 a.m. on the morning of January 11, I arose to go out to start and warm up the diesel tractors. I placed two candles on the kitchen cupboard, hoping they would shed enough light to be a guide upon my return to the house. I tried all three entrance doors to our house and found that the snow was so deep in front of each of them that I could not get out of the house. By lifting the door of our attached garage and crawling over a snow bank four of five feet high, I was able to get outside.
After traveling only 15 feet or so, I stumbled and fell. After picking myself up, I lost all sense of direction and location. Trying to keep my calm, I started walking, which was most difficult because of the deep snow and stong winds. I could see no more than two or three feet ahead of me. At last I ran into what I believed was the north side of Lyle's house. I was concentrating on finding my way back to our house knowing full well that I could not get to the tractors.
I ran into a tree which I finally determined was straight east of Lyle's house. I immediately retraced my footsteps, but by the time I got back to Lyle's house, my footprints and tracks were almost gone. I oriented myself at the north side of his house and tried to walk directly north to find my house. Again I missed and came upon a tree which is some 15 feet directly east of our house. I finally found our house. I was completely exhausted when I finally got back into my home. My nostrils were frozen shut and my eyes and face were covered with snow and ice. I said a prayer right there and then, thanking God for giving me the strength and the direction to find my way back to my home and family.
At 6 a.m. on January 11, we arose to find the storm more violent than ever. We continued to be without electricity, but we still had telephone service for which we were most grateful. We ended up with some 15 to 16 inches of snow and winds were clocked up to 90 miles per hour. Our farmstead had gained some five to six feet of elevation all in the form of snow. Some drifts were as high as 15 heet.
At about 11 a.m. that same day, Mark Schmidt crawled outside from a second story window, came over to our house and scooped out from in front of our west house door so that we could get outside. Then Lyle and I went together and tried to attend to our livestock. Snow had blown into cracks and formed drifts inside the buildings. The cattle sheds had deep snow in them and the cattle were crowded into tight packs inside the sheds. All we could do was to feed them some hay and hope that they would survive until the storm subsided.
When we returned to the house, Lyle's wife Mamie gave me a container of hot chili soup which she had prepared on their gas operated kitchen stove. How very good this tasted because this was the first warm food that Phyllis, Jane and I had tasted in 24 hours.
About 1 p.m. our son Vince called. It was good to hear his voice and to know that he and his wife Sue were alive and well. This was to be the last telephone conversation we had because our telephones ceased to work and we found ourselves completely isolated from the outside world, a very eerie feeling indeed.
Around 5 p.m., Phyllis, Jane and I tied ourselves together and trudged our way over to Lyle's house where we again savored warm food prepared by Mamie. The Schmidts had closed their kitchen off from the rest of the house, and by keeping all four burners on the gas stove burning, they managed to keep the temperature about fifty-five degrees. The heat from that kitchen range felt mighty good.
By the time we returned to our own home, the temperature was about thirty degrees so we slept in the basement that night. We went to bed with all kinds of clothes on, including a cap on my head. We laughed about how we would look if we were to die during the night and someone would discover us in bed with all of our crazy clothing on. Laughing did not come easily, but we tried to keep up our spirits. This had been a dreadfully long day.
During the night, the wind started to subside and again we hoped for a better tomorrow. By Sunday morning, January 12, the wind had gone down considerably and we could see nearly a quarter of a mile. During the morning the electricity came back on, for which we were most grateful.
We now faced the tremendous task of digging our way out of and around the farmsteads. Thanks to some good friends and neighbors, such as Roger Heuton, Boyd Sanders, and Scott Waldstein, we finally got dug out to the road on Wednesday, January 15. Each time the wind blew we found ourselves with the task of digging out all over again. Cattle and hogs started walking over the hard packed snow and they were forever leaving their assigned quarters. Many of the fences were completely buried under hard snow drifts.
Many cattle and hogs were lost in the blizzard. In March when the snow started to melt, frozen bodies of livestock began to appear. Some were found in open fields, many against a fence, some in ditches, in creek beds and in rivers. Some were still in a standing position.
There was a great financial loss to the agriculture industry in the area affected by this storm. Not only was there dead livestock, but there were cattle with frozen legs and feet. Flu and pneumonia took its toll; cows had frozen udders; and some bulls proved to be sterile from the effects of the storm. Loss in weight and poor gains were further losses to farmers.
With every adversity, there comes a new trend. Today it is not unusual to find snowmobiles at many farm homes. Along with this came such insurances as standby generators, snow blowers, and better equipment to face such adversity.
It is my hope and wish that I will never have to live through another blizzard such as the blizzard of 1975.
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