there ya go...
Posted on 01/22/2012 8:48:55 AM PST by djf
I lived!!!
As anybody who doesn't live in a cave probably knows, the Seattle Pacific Northwest this week was hammered by winter storms - knocking out juice to what amounted at the high point to over 300,000 households, which affected around 1.2 million people!
In this case, it was actually predicted that there could be scattered power outages. News on Wednesday evening had pieces about people stocking up in stores. IN A NUMBER OF CASES< THE STORES WERE ALREADY SOLD OUT OF THE DESIRED ITEMS!!!!
Flashlights, batteries, generators, stuff like that were already either unavailable or a premium item.
The snow started falling late Tuesday evening, and continued into early Wednesday morning. Local news was predicting a wide variety of amounts, Seattle has alot of microweather because some areas are closer to the Sound which is warmer, and some areas are at much higher elevation, which (usually, but not this time!) are colder.
I made no advance preparations right then with the exception of digging out some small propane bottles and my little Century Primus single mantle lights. Well, except for making sure that my flashlights were out in the open in readily available places.
Now I say I made no advance preparations but in a way I lied. Because over the years, I have accumulated things, some because of immediate need, some as a planned activity in cxse of a SHTF scenario.
I have two generators, a Champion 3500 watter (quite new) and a Coleman 1800 watter. Every summer I move them to the front of the shed they are stored in and fire them up. Make sure the oil is clean and full. Put a bit of a load on them and let them run until they are warm just to make sure they are lubed good. Hit them with a touch of carb cleaner. General small engine maintenance things.
I also have LOTS of extension cords, not just household type cords, but serious shop type cords. And power strips.
Food and coffee. One of the things people were stocking up on were ingredients for soup. Soup is good food. In an emergency, soup can warm you and keep you alive!
Having been up almost all Tuesday night, with it still snowing, Wednesday morning I slept.
Later on that evening, it started getting bad (according to the news). I am at 600 feet, and only had had about 6 inches fall, now every single year I have at least once when I get way more than 6 inches - so I was concerned, but not overly.
I heard a few branches fall, but not many.
About ten PM, my lights flickered and went out. I started my propane lights and turned on my BATTERY POWERED!!!! radio of which I have about 3, but rarely use.
I didn't start the generator, it didn't seem so bad and my house was still warm (I had had the foresight to make a pot of coffee beforehand and put it into my thermos. My juice goes out enough that I've learned to do that, if the juice stays on, I just pour the coffee from the thermos and use it that way.)
A click and a ping and the power came back on about 2 AM. So I went on my porch. That was when I got scared.
Air temp was about 28 degrees. And it was raining...
Power was on, my heat was on, so I had a drink and went to sleep for a bit.
Awake at 6:30 AM Thursday, I went on the porch and was astounded. A lilac tree near my porch was covered with ice and bent over my porch. A cherry tree that grows nearby had it's limbs almost touching my porch. It was still pre-dawn, and I had a cup of coffee and a smoke, suddenly a big blue flash, and my lights flickered. They came back on. Second blue flash, they went out. Came back on once more and the final blue flash killed em for good. It really was spectacular standing on my porch and watching the flashes in the distance. And there was almost a roar of sounds of tree limbs and even whole trees coming down.
Now I'm not the greatest housekeeper in the world and I soon realized that you do not want to have alot of clutter lying around when you are in anything like survival mode! So keep the paths to your important items/resources CLEAR if possible.
My house was still warm so I didn't worry about the generator, but I could tell then that it was going to be an extended event.
About ten in the morning I got one of my shop extension cords and a power strip and headed out to start it. I looked at the road and just did a general look of the neighborhood and saw no lights, heard no generators, not even a car engine, everything was coated in ice.
I tried to start the small one, even gave it a shot of starter fluid, no dice. It was cold out. It is no secret that when you are cold to the point of being uncomfortable, you RAPIDLY lose your effectiveness. So I came back in and got gloves and a hat, went back out. Didn't want to waste time, so I moved the small one towards the back and rolled the other one up (the Champion), gave it a shot of starter fluid, and yanked on it.
First pull, it started.
Plugged in the cord, came back inside and plugged the power stip in, then from there I hooked up various items starting with my pellet stove to try to keep the place warm.
One of the lessons: Over the next few days I used 4 shop type extensions cords (two of them 50 footers), two power strips, and about five household type extension cords. Better to have too much than not enough.
My power finally came on 6:30 PM Saturday making for 60 hours without juice.
I lost Internet. the phone worked for a while, but after about 6 hours, there was no dial tone, just white noise. Phone system totally powered down about 3 in the afternoon, I concluded from that that many of the small phone substations you see around are running off of UPS's and if the local juice goes, they can only last for so long.
I was unable to get out because the snow was so bad I couldn't get my chains on. Next time, if I know or hear about this in advance, my chains are going on BEFORE it happens.
It was OK though because I have plenty of food and coffee and propane for my lights (when the generator was off). My routine was to run the generator for about 8 hours, warm my place up good, then cycle it down and let it cool off. Wait (sleep) for 5 hours or so, gas up the generator and restart it for another 8 hours.
It was Thursday afternoon before I heard anybody else running a generator, about 4:30, right before dark. After dark fell, it was totally obvious who was prepared and who was not!
Fewer than one out of six had a generator, most places were completely dark, or very dimly lit as if by candles.
Temps in my house would get up to about 63 degrees with the pellet stove, but after 5 or 6 hours when the generator was off, it would fall to about 55 degrees. I quickly learned that SOCKS ARE GOOD FRIENDS!!
I have a small propane cooking setup so was able to feast on scrambled eggs and ham, carbs will give you short term energy, but if you are going to do heavy work while trying to stay warm you need something more substantial.
Over the years when it gets cold (and it has gotten to zero in the Seattle area, I will fill up plastic bottles (like Gatorade bottles) with hot water from my faucet and put them at the foot of my bed. This worked very well for me this time, it's important to be warm when you sleep and not fight the cold, you will be much more rested and ready for the next day when you wake up.
So I used this approach, it's kind of a toss up because ny the end of the second day I really, really, really, really wanted a shower, messing with gasoline, oil, my tire chains, snow shovel, etc.
I was scared I wouldn't have enough hot water left, but turned it on and in a minute or so it was steaming so I relished what might have been the last shower I could ever take!
Saturday morning it had warmed significantly, and I was finally able to get the chains on my truck. I was approached by a neighbor and she asked if I could charge her cell phone, hey, no big deal so I brought it inside and put it on the charger. At this time, the power was still out and there were estimates that some limited areas might not have power until mid-week.
Talking to people on Friday I had heard rumors of some people being around who basically didn't live here or belong here. So I started on Saturday if I was outside carrying a small .22 mag revolver I have. But I want to stress I heard of no break-ins or gunshots or anything like that. I have ZERO doubt that if the situation went on like that for another three days or so, that would change, and desperate people would do whatever it takes.
Now at one point in time in the past I had told someone I had two generators. I bumped into him walking around, and he WANTED that generator! I'm not really sure what the solution to that problem would be if the outage was more long-term.
Another lesson: KEEP YUR LIPS ZIPPED ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE!
One thing that struck me is that if there was a general SHTF power outage type thing, do you know who would be the richest man in town? The guy who owns a LAUNDROMAT!!
Gas was already becoming an issue, fellow I know has a 4K generator and he flat out told me he would be out of gas today. Now does it make any sense at all to spend many hundreds or even thousands of dollars to have a generator and be OUT OF GAS on day 3?
Power came on here at 6:30 PM Saturday. Didn't hear any shouts or yells but I am sure everybody was relieved. I had a fairly daunting task of just cleaning things up (still need to wash the dishes I let pile up).
So, thought FReeper preppers might find this interesting. If somebody asked me what the most important thing was I would say "Keep it simple". Simple things like propane lights, canned foods that need little prep, stuff like that won't make you feel like the Waldorf Astoria, but it might keep you from getting so frustrated you don't go out and start shooting from your front porch!
I’ve seen that. It’s not much use in this state. The marinas aren’t always listed but they have ethanol free gasoline.
there ya go...
I would love to put in a Masonry Heater but they are pricey.
I love my pellet stove (only lug 40# of pellets a day) vs a wood stove. Masonry heaters use wood - but it’d be equal to hauling 40# of wood or less a day :>)- Fill it and forget it.
And they have bake ovens!
“LOL I know exactly what you mean. I love Sam’s club, my problem is where do I put all the stuff I want to buy when I go shopping there.”
You also have to not show the world (i.e., visitors to your house) your 4 years worth of non-food supplies. Not always easy. One thing to think about if one is really space-starved (which many of us are) is to store higher quantities of items that require a small volume, like batteries. Other things to think about is storing stuff in attics and outdoor sheds. You can put a lot of stuff in shed, providing your neighbors don’t see you doing it, and no one will ever suspect anything - so the stuff would be safe there. But also, always consider the local climate of where you store stuff - if the shed gets real hot, be sure not to put stuff that would be damaged in the heat (or freeze in the winter).
Inside the living space and garage, one can add cabinets and free-standing closets, to the extent that volume permits.
Things like that...You have to get creative.
And it doesn’t take a huge volume to be well-prepared. In my case, my 4 years worth of paper towels is huge...toilet paper maybe 1/3 as much - but other stuff not so much. If I had less room, then less paper towels, and maybe more cloths, or something like that.
LOL. You have some clueless neighbors. Is she also an obama voter?
We are in south King County in a heavily wooded area. Our power went out Wednesday night. It isn’t expected to come back on until late Tuesday night. We just moved into this house two weeks ago. A generator is on our list but we hadn’t gotten to it yet. Luckily the previous owner left us a cord of wood and we have our camping gear. Good opportunity to try the freeze dried food I’ve been stock piling.
Florida hurricanes have shown it doesn’t even take 24 hours for some people.
I was lucky, only went without electricity for 12 hours two different times. Quite a few friends were without power for up to 3 weeks. the day right after one of the storms we went out to see if we could find anything. Found 1 restaurant open, with no AC. They were selling the heck outta shrimp which had thawed due to the lack of power. The shrimp might not have been spoiled but I chose not to take a chance. Other people weren’t so picky.
No cops were around either so forget calling them.
Fortunately it’s warming up - not much, but some. I’m sure they are making very good progress now, if you go to WWW.PSE.COM there are some Javascript driven maps that will show estimates.
You offered many good tips. Here are a few more:
- paper plates, plastic cups, plastic utensils
- camp stove (e.g., Coleman) (use outdoors)
- camp-style percolator
When we lose power, we also lose water because we have a well. I immediately filled my tub, so that I'd have a supply of water for flushing the toilet. (I have an additional emergency supply of water for drinking.) I have been washing my hands regularly--even with snow or roof run-off--so I don't get sick.
BTW, the forecast is for heavy winds today and Tues., so we're not out of the woods yet.
Thanks djf, PSE is saying late Tuesday. The hard part was listening to all the branches breaking off around us. One fell on our son’s truck and missed the windshield by an inch. I haven’t had time to unpack everything so I can find all my supplies. But we are doing well all things considering. Thank goodness for my iPhone and car chargers! I enjoyed your post.
You will never regret installing a simple wood stove. This 80year old woman has never resided in a home without some form of wood heat. Currently, we have an old fashioned cast iron cook stove and I love it!! Every summer when it is too hot to run the wood stove, I can’t wait til weather cool enough to stoke it up.
Although we have forced hotwater heat, I always have two huge teakettles boiling on my cook stove. Like you, we have a large generator and a smaller one we use for camping, but we use the generators almost solely for refrigerator and freezer. Kerosene lamps are very cozy, nothing worth watching on TV and we have plenty of battery operated radios.
Box stoves that we have had in the past give more heat but are not so practical for cooking and do not provide an oven for baking.
Glad to hear you’re ok! Thanks for posting about your experience.
That's a shame. Works well for us around here. (Pascagoula)
It's an Aladdin Oil Lamp. In addition to being very bright they put out about 2500 BTUs per hour. They're not inexpensive but they're very well made and, if you enjoy that sort of thing, quite beautiful as well.
There are many sources on the web but you can get them here:
I have no commercial association whatsoever with this company by the way.
Those are good and are well worth it, a couple quarts of lamp oil could literally last you months.
When I was a kid, if the power went out, we didn’t have fancy generators or propane lamps, we had flashlights and oil lamps.
Not as fancy as this one, but hey, they did the job.
Just a chuckle, though. You still kick yourself in the rear every time you go into a dark room and hit the light switch...
;-)
I'm going to get a couple of them when finances allow.
How is it that they run an oil lamp on a mantle? I don’t get it...
BTW, it would be totally asinine of me to tell this story and not give my (and all, I am sure) thanks to the crews who are out there fighting the weather and conditions and traffic jams... etc. I know nothing about power lines and would probably get killed in the first five minutes if I tried to fix something. We hear about all kinds of heroes, airline pilots, doctors, firefighters, truly many of them are. We curse when the lights go out, curse when we get our power bills, but rarely think about those guys out there in the wind and the rain and the snow and the sleet and the dark fighting something that could kill you in the blink of an eye!
PSE crews!!!
Thanks!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.