Our 500 gal propane tank lasted 40 hours of continuous use on a 22KW Generac generator. We had to install a second one.
ouch, Sounds like I need more propane then! I haven’t done any calculations, so thank you for sharing that information.
Thank you for an excellent post on prep, the experience, and aftermath. My son and family who live in Guaynaba were without water and electricity for a number of weeks. It took almost a week for my other son and me to make contact (living in mid Atlantic area). My son was managing a large condo building with absentee owners and his wife worked in a large government building so they were able to do laundry almost immediately. The most unpleasant thing he reported was having to empty all the condo refrigerators after a week or two rotting, and no bicarb anywhere to deodorize. They live in a 3 story concrete building on the ground floor. There was rain blown under the door but other than a wet floor no significant problems inside. The trouble with housing is that especially outside of cities and towns, so much housing was wood and tin roofs. See what I found when Googling: Images, Puerto Rico Hurricane Maria.
For many years I have tried to have at least a 2 week supply of non perishable food. When I was caring for my late husband as he slowly died of Alzheimers, I built up more like a 3 month supply as I did not know how long he would be bedridden and me with only rare help so I could go shopping. Traveling in Central America 50 years ago, I learned that you could put a drop of iodine in a glass of clear water, let it sit for 30 minutes, and would not get the trots from contaminated restaurant water. Ever since, I have always kept a bottle of iodine at home. You can also use original Clorox, not the new fancy variations. “2 drops of Regular Clorox Bleach per quart of water, 8 drops of Regular Clorox Bleach per gallon of water, 1/2 teaspoon Regular Clorox Bleach per five gallons of water. If water is cloudy, double the recommended dosages of Clorox Bleach.”, also from Google. In addition if the water is dirty, filter through clean cloth before adding iodine or Clorox. Years ago as I cowered at home in a big riot torn city after MLK’s assassination, I filled my bathtub with water in case there was a fire. Other areas were burning. If the water had gone out it would have been good for toilet flushing, cooking, and water purifying for drinking.
I will send this post to my son in PR and see if he has new information to tell me which I will post here.