Are You Ready For A Blackout In Your Area? (Vanity - Poll)

Aug 15, 03 | SLB

[SLB]

How many FReepers feel they would be ready for a blackout right NOW? What do you do that makes you feel like you are or are not? How about personal safety.

[Robert A Cook PE]

At work - the company has ZERO prep's - not even a good fault-interuption protection system! So, if power drops out, we've got no windows even to see the (rapidly-cooling) coffee pot.

At home, we're set, and have a battery+invertor backup for the furnace motor (we are on gas heat and gas water heater but have an electric blower) plus backup's for several lights. Not all, but enough to get by until power comes back up - even in winter.

My solar panels aren't big enough - and are too shaded to create enough power to actually step off the grid for "real life" - but we can manage in emergencies pretty well.

All bathrooms and the inside (no window) rooms and hallways have a wall-mounted battery light as well.

[nothingnew]

What you said plus my summer stock of firewood for the woodstove for the crazy weather at 6700', 4 cartons of cigs and many many beers. I think that covers it.

FMCDH

[harpseal]

Okay I will go into the other equipmnent.

Firearms - rifles pistols and shotguns ranging in calivber from.22lr to 45-&0 and a .416 rigby. Shotguns include 12ga and 20 ga semi auto and pump and even a coach gun. At least several hundred rounds of ammunition for each although i seldom shoot the .416 rigby anymore. OH I forgot to mention the .50bmg rifle stored out of state.

generator. with 85 gal of gasoline availbe and 300 gal availablein boat with boat's own separate gen.

Food good to go for months if need be.

Water boat's water maker and about fifty gal of potable in tank plus some bottled water here in the house good for a week.

assorted laterns and survival gear.

Fishing equipment (i live on a salt marsh)

Tents etc for camping.

[Conspiracy Guy]

My cardboard box under the freeway overpass is power failure proof.

[Pagey]

Ready in L.A.,fortunately I work a stones throw from my home.Extra frozen food and several 5 gallon Bottles of Arrowhead water, w/ a backup generator.(at both home and at the office)Acquired 'Freeplay Plus' Wind-Up radios last year for everyone in my family.Gun owner.There's no reason in 2003 for being unprepared for almost anything that may occur in a large city.Period.

[Gabz]

In April we moved to Virginia and our electric is from one of the same companies that serves parts of Delaware.

I've lost power once, on a Sunday morning for about an hour. Bad wind/rain storm brought down a tree onto a power line. But, considering it was a Sunday and we're out in the middle of no where - and hour wasn't bad.

[redheadtoo]

The worst part of it all is trying to sleep with no A/C, that was tough...

After a week without A/C I would be insane and suicidal.

[Prof Engineer]

My neighbor, a anti-gun demoncRAT will "donate" anything else I might need. ;o)

LOL ping

[TXnMA]

...the large number of trees, some as wide around as I am tall, which were uprooted or snapped off and blocked streets, landed on cars or homes, or otherwise caused additional difficulties

Yep, a hurrricane which downed lots of trees in MA taught me a basic fact: the most frustrated people in such situations are the ones with electric chain saws!

With my gas-powered Husqvarna and properly sharpened axe, (it polishes the wood where it cuts) I made lots of friends that week...

[Robert A Cook PE]

But, but , but ...

If there was another earthquake in AL, then you might slide down the slippery sloped concrete and bend the cardboard!

Oh the horrors!

(Quick, let's ask Hillery for a federal study to make a federal program to make earthquake-proof federally0inspected cardboard boxes!)

[mtbopfuyn]

Was better off last month before we had to put in an electric pump for the septic but there's always a bush. Have a well and plenty of water right outside the front door. The pantry is always stocked and the solar oven would come in handy. Have lots of candles, books, board games, and ammo. Enough homeschool stuff and crafts to keep the young 'uns busy. We're set for the long term except for a fireplace for the one week of freezing weather we get every year.

[Gabz]

I forgot about the cigs and beer - but I can't drink warm beer - so I would have to do a lot of fast drinking!!!!!!

We're planning on putting in a woodstove this fall and since we now live in the country, hubby is looking into getting a generator.

[archy]

Generator and plenty of gas for 3-4 days. Enough to run fridge, lights, TV, etc. A furnace in winter (gas heat).

Make that at least two generators so that all your eggs aren't in one basket, and three is not only better, but allows you to run each one for shorter periods, which contributes to their longevity. Too many users found out here in Memphis what happens when you run a 5KW or so genny for a week straight. And you'd better think three weeks worth of food, at a minimum.

Neither do I care to depend just on generators. My own next addition is going to be at least a pair of 100-watt *plug and play* solar panels, which should take some daytime load off my generators. And a pair of 12 volt dashboard solar panel battery trickle rechargers are on the shopping list for each vehicle I own, plus an independent solar power source for my ham radio rig and monitering equipment. I learned nmore from listening to the local taxicab dispatchers than I did covering the local police frequencies....

55 gallon water barrel, another I'm about to set up.

Good start, again, avoiding having all eggs in one basket. But don't forget some smaller containers for your vehicle/s as well. And I've also been racking up all the used 2 and 3-liter *disposable* pop bottles from the household, which stack nicely three layers deep with a sheet of light plywood across the tops. Having so covered one wall of my storage building, I believe I'll treat two more walls the same way.

[CCCV]

will "donate" anything else I might need
LOL!

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Boy was I off. Bad guess on my part!!

[ChadsDad]

If we have a blackout, is that a good excuse to stop painting my house? I'm really sick of painting.

[Gabz]

WOW!!!!!!!!!

I'm impressed with your preperations.

You've given me some really great ideas.

It's' amazing how the media has just seemed to not even know of the existence of Memphis, let alone tell anyone outside the area of the problems there.

[discostu]

There's something to be ready for in a blackout? I've got candles, I've got a water cooler, I've got a battery operated radio, most importantly I have credit cards if things ever got really nasty I'd go wait it out somewhere else.

[archy]

Yep, a hurrricane which downed lots of trees in MA taught me a basic fact: the most frustrated people in such situations are the ones with electric chain saws!

They're not totally useless, if you've got a 110 power inverter installed in the family pickup or SUV. I've not yet tried running an inverter on my motorbike's electrical system, but in any event, an electric chainsaw isn't way up there on my list of power tools, though a good 3/8th" or half-inch drill is. And a Sawzall isn't bad, and can double as a light-duty *chainsaw* in a pinch.

One of my two chansaws is a Husky, despite the grumbles I get from my neighbor who runs a chainsaw shop and pushes Stihls. But they have some nice ones a bit larger than my 32-inch Husky.

[glock rocks]

a few deep cycle RV batteries kept charged during good times will run yer shortwave and scanner, etc. for a long time during outages, and they can be recharged from your generator or vehicle. all my radio gear is 12v, and ready to throw into the truck w/ the BOB.