Things I learned since Hurricane Isabelle

E-mail | September 30th 2003 | Unknown

[Mad Dawgg]

* Coffee and frozen pizzas can be made on a BBQ grill

* No matter how many times you flick the switch, lights don't work without electricity

* My car gets 23.21675 miles per gallon, EXACTLY (you can ask the people in line who helped me push it)

* Kids can survive 4 days or longer without a video game controller in their hand.

* Cats are even more irritating without power

* He who has the biggest generator wins

* Women can actually survive without doing their hair- you just wish they weren't around you.

* A new method of non-lethal torture- showers without hot water.

* Dominion Virginia Power and VDOT (Virginia Dept. of Transportation)are the same company- not really but their ability to plan are strikingly similar.

* There are a lot more stars in the sky than most people thought.

* TV is an addiction and the withdrawal symptoms are painful.

One day at a time, brother!

* A 7 lb bag of ice will chill 6-12 oz Budweiser's to a drinkable temperature in 11 minutes, and still keep a 14 lb. turkey frozen for 8 more hours.

* There are a lot of dang trees around here!

* Flood plane drawings on some mortgage documents were seriously wrong.

* Contrary to most Hampton Roads natives' beliefs, speed limit on roads without traffic lights does not increase.

* Aluminum siding, while aesthetically pleasing, is definitely not required.

* Just because you're 35 doesn't mean you can stay out as late as you want. At least that's what the Hampton cops told me during curfew stop.

* Crickets can increase their volume to overcome the sound of 14 generators.

* People will get into a line that has already formed without having any idea what the line is for.

* When required, a Lincoln Continental will float, doesn't steer well but floats just the same.

* Tele-marketers function no matter what the weather is doing.

* Cell phones work when land lines are down, but only as long as the battery remains charged.

* 27 of your neighbors are fed from a different transformer than you, and they are quick to point that out!

* Hampers were not made to contain such a volume.

* If my store sold only ice, chainsaws, gas and generators... I'd be rich

* Price of a can of soup rises 200% in a storm.

* Your water front property can quickly become someone else's fishing hole.

* Tree service companies are under appreciated.

* I learned what happens when you make fun of another states' blackout.

* MATH 101: 30 days in month, minus 6 days without power equals 30% higher electric bill ?????

* Drywall is a compound word, take away the 'dry" part and its worthless.

* I can walk a lot farther than I thought.

* Water will indeed fill the Midtown tunnel if the floodgates aren't shut during a flood. I was pretty sure that was true but it has now been proven.

[Mad Dawgg]

For all of you East coasters who suffered Isabel's wrath.

[JZoback]

Been there, done that.

I feel your pain! (Did I really say that?)

Hurricane Andrew

[snopercod]

Lotta' truth there.

...and for the rural people on wells, "Your toilet still works just fine if you pour buckets of water into the tank."

[gracex7]

It's frightening to realize how dependent we are on modern conveniences.

That being said, thankfully, necessity is still the mother of invention.

I wonder who was more annoying by day 4...the cat or the kids without their video games

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

Is the Midtown Tunnel still closed? Traffic's a mess even when it's open - I can imagine what it's like when closed.

I feel so lucky - only lost a foundation vent, no tree damage, power out for 24 hours. Life is good in Bumpass!

[CDHart]

"...and for the rural people on wells,"

One problem with that is that if the well doesn't work, where will you get the water to pour down the toilet to make it work? Luckily we have a big pond/small lake, also an Earth stove to back up our electric heat, oil lamps, candles and a small generator for the freezer & fridge. City people perhaps should prepare a little better and not be so dependent on civilization.

Carolyn

[DCPatriot]

* Cats are even more irritating without power

Excuse me? My ragdoll and I bonded just fine.

A week without electricity will do that.

[KarlInOhio]

* Cats are even more irritating without power

You should have gotten a couple battery operated cats for emergencies.

[judicial meanz]

My experiences:

* there is always an idiot trying to charge $3.00 per bag of ice when they know you dont have any electricity and FEMA isnt in the area with a disaster station.

* Some trees cost up to $10,000 to remove from your house ( didnt happen to me, but did to a neighbor)

* trailer parks like the one down the road ceased to exist after an hour of the storm. Almost every trailer had a tree through the roof.

* When the food distribution warehouses for your local stores lose power for a week and a half, they throw out the spoiled food, and food shortages will exist for several weeks. Bread and milk are the worst shortages.

* Your neighbors will help you dig out, and everyone pitches in to help eah other.

* If your house is damaged, your insurance agent will be in hiding for a week.

* If your car is damaged, see the above.

* There are some managers in the world who make their employees work right up until the hurricane starts and then release them, causing them injuries as they try to go home in the storm.

[Severa]

Yeah we got lucky here, no flooding or tree damage. Just a really nasty smelling fridge and freezer. We had stayed at a friend's mom's house (in FL no less!) with the kids while our husbands ships got shoved out to sea. My husband later tells me they actually SURFACED in the middle of the friggin storm. Asleep when it happened, he got one rude awakening as he nearly got sent flying out of the rack.

[GreyWolf]

Can anyone tell me why "pitcher hand pumps" are illegal (at least in Maryland)? A friend has a well with a hand pump for watering livestock. During Isabel a lot of his neighbors used it to get water. Word got out and he was cited for having the pump. Something about an unsafe wellhead.

[cooldog]

The issue is that they can allow flow of water back down into the aquafer, contaminating it, so that other wells in the area become unusable.

Most well regulations are sensible, if annoying to deal with.

When I installed some geothermal HVAC systems here, I needed to upgrade my well to deliver more water; although I did it myself, I researched the regulations, and followed them very carefully. With the exception, of course, of having a licensed well-driller do the work!

[CapandBall]

Hey Bumpass, you got a freeper neighbor in Reva. We lost power for 72 hrs.

[Corin Stormhands]

I wonder who was more annoying by day 4...the cat or the kids without their video games

First couple of nights, my wife would comment about how good our house looks in candlelight. Real romantic. All nice and colonial.

That was over on about day three (of 8).

[BubbaBasher]

Things I learned:

* There were no lines to fill my diesel truck.
* I need to have more than one gas can to feed my generator.
* Make sure the generator works BEFORE the storm hits.
* Dogs can in fact poop in 60 mph winds if they really have to.
* Having no trees on my property is a good thing.
* The people predicting a birth explosion 9 months from now have never lived a in house with no air conditioning.
* There are a lot of idiots in this world!

[coloradan]

Toilets will also work if you pour the water forcefully into the bowl, skipping the tank altogether. It uses less water, too, once you get the knack for how to pour correctly.

[ContemptofCourt]

Ditto. A great life lesson, though.....

[Psalm118]

" Kids can survive 4 days or longer without a video game controller in their hand".

Ohhhhh ?????


ON PLANET EARTH ????

[Deguello]

Bump.

[LTCJ]

..and for the rural people on wells, "Your toilet still works just fine if you pour buckets of water into the tank."

OTOH, if you're on a septic tank when the water table is 1" above ground level, extra water in the bowl is not your friend.