Is it coincidence that today is the one year-anniversary of the Great 2009 Ice Storm as well as President Obama’s first State of the Smoldering Rubble Heap Union? Why, of course it is!

For a few moments, let’s hark back… back to a time when the city was crippled and buried under a foot of snow and ice, killed 36 people across the state, knocked out power in Jefferson County and beyond, and ultimately gave Louisvillians yet another reason to complain about/to Mayor Jerry Abramson.

Here’s the lead from WAVE3′s “nightmarish” storm retrospective:

It was a frosty nightmare and one we would all like to forget. One year ago, what forecasters described as a wintry mix fell upon Kentuckiana. As the freezing rain and sleet came down, one of the worst natural disasters to ever hit this area hit hard. While the ice storm certainly was tough for Kentuckiana families, there is no question power companies like LG&E got hammered.

As Kentuckiana slept overnight on Jan. 27, 2009, a frozen nightmare was building.

“It was the worst disaster that we had ever faced as a company and it doesn’t seem like it’s been a year,” said LG&E’s Chip Keeling.

In the areas they serve, Keeling said 760,000 customers were cold and in the dark.

I didn’t know nightmares were something you could build, but metaphors — particularly the frozen kind — are best when mixed and accompanied by a generous shot of grain alcohol.

Regarding the lengthy and expensive cleanup process that took place in the storm’s aftermath, FEMA announced just a few days ago that over $201 million has been reimbursed to “state, district, county and local government agencies, as well as some nonprofit organizations for their ice storm-related costs.”

For those of you visual-learners out there, here’s a YouTube distilling the entire event in 33 seconds:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmfnE4GHJCc[/youtube]