That’s good to hear, that in spite of government ineptitude. you managed to persevere. Hopefully, things will work out well in your favor.
Very interesting. Thanks for the first-person reporting.
I wish all the people blaming Trump and US govt. in general for a poor response would choke on it - especially the politicians and celebs.
Prepper Ping.
Thank you for your insightful perspective from your vantage point. Indeed we are on our own when it comes to disaster. First comes family, then neighbors, then neighborhood, then community, then town, etc...it all starts in your living room.
Very happy that your business was relatively unscathed albiet maybe there are no customers/clients...but the building and infrastructure is there anyway.
It is amazing what we take for granted...the little luxuries of life, like electricity and refridgeration. Some would argue that refridgeration is the greatest invention of mankind. To be able to preserve food from spoilage for a great period of time.
Bump for an excellent report.
Great report. Thanks!
My nephews and their mom live in the high-rise condos by San Patricio Plaza. They huddled in the central stair well during the storm and they told me that they were between the 3rd and 4th floor, yet could still feel the building trembling and swaying from the power of the wind.
My nephew told me that once Maria had passed and he was able to look around from a higher vantage point in the building, that it looked like the worlds biggest weed eater had been taken to the landscape, as there was not trees or vegetation higher than 10 feet to be seen.
Glad to hear you are doing OK. Pa’lante Boricua!
Thank you for that.
Your article absolutely mesmerized me. I grew up in the Philippine Islands. Between the hurricanes and earthquakes it was a dicey existence after the war. Your well written and heart felt article brought so many memories back...it gets sort of crazy as people try to re-order their lives into something resembling normalcy.
You did a great job for your family and business and all the families involved with that.... I admire you for all of that. And thank you for mentioning Trump and his crew. As you know we seldom hear a good word about that fine man.
Thank you for the honesty of your presentation and the descriptions of your compassionate responses and the responses of others.
Hugs.
Yep, well written. The only thing that saved me after Katrina, and I live 90 miles north on New Orleans, was the pool in the back yard. The temps were in the 100’s, and the humidity factor was close to that number as well. We too were without power for over a month. We still got a bill though, and that bill was double what are bill normally was. About a week after the storm we were able to get over to an open Lowe’s and purchase a generator. Still have it and it still cranks up when called upon. It is certainly no fun living without electric for many many days on end. Anyone who thinks hurricanes are an exciting event full of fun, have never been through a bad one, obviously. Also, those who get upset about it missing them and their efforts being wasted, should instead be thankful. Because a bad one means that the effort wasn’t in vain, and a miss means that you have less to do when the next threat presents itself.
Thanks for posting — many LESSONS LEARNED.
It sounds like you probably don’t need that whole house generator for at least 9 more years. You probably need to buy and install it in about 2025 just to be conservative.
I am surprised those Honywell generators lasted that long. Pure mad in China junk. I bought one for my daughter for emergency use. I test run my generators a couple times a year. I test ran hers and it burned up at idle. Took it to the qualified shop (70 miles away)for repair under warranty. There were no repair parts.
They were made in China and that was all there was, no parts available at all. They had to give me a new one. The new had a warranty only till the end of the original warranty.
I couldn’t even start the new one. Donated it.
Our Irma experience was almost painless though it hit us dead on, it had been slowed down by you. Thanks.
Great post, cll, Thank You!
Ten years ago I had a friend from Connecticut who was working in San Juan. He was in a high rise and had never been through a hurricane but he imagined it would be like a Nor’easter. He bought some beer and was going to watch it happen on the weather channel in his 17th floor apartment.
In the first hour, the power failed. No weather channel. No A/C and no cold beer. Then the building began to sway. Oh, no elevator either. Shortly, his balcony’s sliding glass door blew away...
People think we preppers are weirdos. Until you have cold beer!
I have to say, I was surprised at the problems in PR... in my mind, everything is built out of concrete, and they get hit every year, so it should be no big deal to them.
But you point out that, in actual fact, they get missed most years... still, I’m surprised that the power grid isn’t built for life in the hurricane zone. Though, like you say, how do you prepare for two Cat 5 storms back to back...
Bookmark for later.
I know my Harvey, Rita and Ike experiences likely don’t come close to what you went through.
“Diesel, gasoline or gas, which is better? In our case, the supply of gasoline and diesel became critical immediately after the storm. Only propane and natural gas were immediately and widely available. But propane burns a lot faster than diesel or gasoline. So you have to make a choice, or come up with a combination of sources. In my case, my plan is to buy a whole house gas generator which I intend to use only overnight, and then have my two little gasoline generators as back up, at least to run the fridges.”
Propane burns faster? Do you mean it doesn’t produce enough energy or does it too quickly? I had no idea. We have a propane-powered whole house generator, and a 500 gal tank. But I don’t want to get complacent and think that’s all we need.
Diesel does store a long time, doesn’t it? We have some of that, for the truck and tractor and mule (a little 4WD thingy). Those vehicles will be a lot more useful than the Prius and mini-Cooper, LOL!
Thank you so much.
L