We just had a ice storm and I had no electricity for 22 hours. I
was mostly unprepared and didn't like the experience at all.

What are you doing to prepare for this?

Thanks.

--
Jonathan Grobe Books
Browse our inventory of thousands of used books at:
http://www.grobebooks.com

We usually fill the bath tub with cold water. Nearby for flushing. Handy for
cooking if you have a gas stove. I have one kerosene lamp. Flashlights and
batteries for a small portable radio.
I ususally light the oven and place a pot of water on top.. Stay out of the
freezer if possible. Know what you need from the fridge before opening the
door. Five years in AK will teach you all these things.

--
"Anybody can have more birthdays, but it takes balls to get old!"

BetsyB

"Jonathan Grobe" wrote in message
...
We just had a ice storm and I had no electricity for 22 hours. I
was mostly unprepared and didn't like the experience at all.

What are you doing to prepare for this?

Thanks.

--
Jonathan Grobe Books
Browse our inventory of thousands of used books at:
http://www.grobebooks.com

Why fill the bathtub? Does a power failure cause your water to quit?

--
Steve Barker




"betsyb" wrote in message
...
We usually fill the bath tub with cold water. Nearby for flushing. Handy
for cooking if you have a gas stove. I have one kerosene lamp. Flashlights
and batteries for a small portable radio.
I ususally light the oven and place a pot of water on top.. Stay out of
the freezer if possible. Know what you need from the fridge before opening
the door. Five years in AK will teach you all these things.

"Steve Barker" wrote in message
...
Why fill the bathtub? Does a power failure cause your water to quit?

If he's using a deep well pump he's relying on the electricity to operate
the pump unlike gavity feed for municipal (public) systems.


--
Steve Barker




"betsyb" wrote in message
...
We usually fill the bath tub with cold water. Nearby for flushing. Handy
for cooking if you have a gas stove. I have one kerosene lamp.
Flashlights and batteries for a small portable radio.
I ususally light the oven and place a pot of water on top.. Stay out of
the freezer if possible. Know what you need from the fridge before
opening the door. Five years in AK will teach you all these things.

"Steve Barker" ) writes:
Why fill the bathtub? Does a power failure cause your water to quit?

The pumps at the filtration plant stop working if the outage is bad
enough. At the very lest, it results in contaminated water.

Michael

--
Steve Barker




"betsyb" wrote in message
...
We usually fill the bath tub with cold water. Nearby for flushing. Handy
for cooking if you have a gas stove. I have one kerosene lamp. Flashlights
and batteries for a small portable radio.
I ususally light the oven and place a pot of water on top.. Stay out of
the freezer if possible. Know what you need from the fridge before opening
the door. Five years in AK will teach you all these things.

"Michael Black" wrote in message ...
"Steve Barker" ) writes:
Why fill the bathtub? Does a power failure cause your water to quit?

The pumps at the filtration plant stop working if the outage is bad
enough. At the very lest, it results in contaminated water.

Michael

I wonder what's in all those towers that look like giant golf balls.
If the outage is bad enough, will gravity stop working?

Don

On Mon, 26 Feb 2007 00:03:59 -0500, "Don K"
wrote:

"Michael Black" wrote in message ...
"Steve Barker" ) writes:
Why fill the bathtub? Does a power failure cause your water to quit?

The pumps at the filtration plant stop working if the outage is bad
enough. At the very lest, it results in contaminated water.

Michael

I wonder what's in all those towers that look like giant golf balls.

Regular size golf balls.

If the outage is bad enough, will gravity stop working?

No. That's why the driving ranges keep operating.

Don

On Mon, 26 Feb 2007 00:03:59 -0500, "Don K"
wrote:

"Michael Black" wrote in message ...
"Steve Barker" ) writes:
Why fill the bathtub? Does a power failure cause your water to quit?

The pumps at the filtration plant stop working if the outage is bad
enough. At the very lest, it results in contaminated water.

Michael

I wonder what's in all those towers that look like giant golf balls.
If the outage is bad enough, will gravity stop working?

Those "elephant balls" as they're known as around here are mainly fire
protection reservoirs for industrial and commercial sites. At a few
thousand to a few hundred thousand gallons' capacity, they're but a
drop in the bucket compared to the demand of even a small town.
Serious water storage tanks capable of supplying days worth of water
are measured in the multi-million gallon capacity. Our little town of
about 50k people recently built two 10 million gallon tanks that are
advertised to hold enough water for a few days. These tanks are
perhaps 50 ft tall and large enough in diameter to stage a dirt track
race in.

What elephant balls that aren't associated with fire protection are
basically surge tanks, designed to lengthen the cycle of pumps that
supply the water and help stabilize water pressure. One generally
doesn't want large pumps to cycle more often than once every couple of
hours, hence the surge tanks.

From very rusty memory, seems like the planners here use 500 gallons
per day per person as the design criteria for the water system. 500
or 100, can't recall which but I think 500.

John
---
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.neon-john.com
Cleveland, Occupied TN
Don't let your schooling interfere with your education-Mark Twain

Don K wrote:
"Michael Black" wrote in message ...
"Steve Barker" ) writes:
Why fill the bathtub? Does a power failure cause your water to quit?

The pumps at the filtration plant stop working if the outage is bad
enough. At the very lest, it results in contaminated water.

Michael

I wonder what's in all those towers that look like giant golf balls.
If the outage is bad enough, will gravity stop working?

Don


Gravity works just fine. But if they can't fill those
tanks they don't help much. Here in Eastern Oklahoma we
have had 2 major ice storms in 6 years. Many towns lost
water for several days at a time. Then water became a
jewel beyond price. It isn't fun living without lights,
heat, and water.

Lights tend to come back on much later than water. My
brother-in-law didn't get his lights back for 11 days.

Bill Gill

"Don K" ) writes:
"Michael Black" wrote in message ...
"Steve Barker" ) writes:
Why fill the bathtub? Does a power failure cause your water to quit?

The pumps at the filtration plant stop working if the outage is bad
enough. At the very lest, it results in contaminated water.

Michael

I wonder what's in all those towers that look like giant golf balls.
If the outage is bad enough, will gravity stop working?

So you get all your water from rain?

This is not a theoretical instance.

When we had an ice storm here in 1998, which brought down some of the
long distance power lines from the hydroelectric generators (and some of
the towers that held up those lines), it was said afterwards that we
were within hours of having no water. I can't remember whether they
were talking no filtered water or no water at all, but after the fact
they did say that if that had happened, an evacuation of this large
city was a possibility.

Michael

Yes it does. We live in a mobile home park, "God's Waitingroom"

--
"Anybody can have more birthdays, but it takes balls to get old!"

BetsyB

"Steve Barker" wrote in message
...
Why fill the bathtub? Does a power failure cause your water to quit?

--
Steve Barker




"betsyb" wrote in message
...
We usually fill the bath tub with cold water. Nearby for flushing. Handy
for cooking if you have a gas stove. I have one kerosene lamp.
Flashlights and batteries for a small portable radio.
I ususally light the oven and place a pot of water on top.. Stay out of
the freezer if possible. Know what you need from the fridge before
opening the door. Five years in AK will teach you all these things.

Then how do you fill the tub after the power goes out?

--
Steve Barker




"betsyb" wrote in message
...
Yes it does. We live in a mobile home park, "God's Waitingroom"

--
"Anybody can have more birthdays, but it takes balls to get old!"

BetsyB

On Sun, 25 Feb 2007 20:41:21 -0600, "Steve Barker"
wrote:

Then how do you fill the tub after the power goes out?

Good qustion. But I think they are referring to times that something
like a hurricane is predicted, and people can do last minute
preparations before it hits.

Steve Barker wrote:
Then how do you fill the tub after the power goes out?

The subject line of this thread is "Preparing for Power Outages", so
I guess that implies you have advanced notice. :-)

- Logan

I have my own well. When the power goes - so does the well pump. I keep 3
five gallon buckets filled with water (and lids on them) in the bathroom for
emergency flushing. since I live alone, that is ample unless the power
outage is a very long one. I also keep a minimum of 12 two liter bottles
filled with water for drinking and cooking and washing, teeth, etc. My
stove is propane and can be lit with a match for cooking.

My biggest problem, at this time of year, is heat. In the past - during 2
ice storms, a kerosene heater in the living room was adequate. Power out 5
days each time.

Keep a stock of canned foods and dry foods that take little water to
prepare. A few weeks supply of medications on hand at all times as well as
simple first aid and common OTC meds. Flashlights and batteries - and also
non battery type flashlights.

JonquilJan

--
Learn something new every day
As long as you are learning, you are living
When you stop learning, you start dying
Steve Barker wrote in message
...
Why fill the bathtub? Does a power failure cause your water to quit?

--
Steve Barker




"betsyb" wrote in message
...
We usually fill the bath tub with cold water. Nearby for flushing. Handy
for cooking if you have a gas stove. I have one kerosene lamp.
Flashlights
and batteries for a small portable radio.
I ususally light the oven and place a pot of water on top.. Stay out of
the freezer if possible. Know what you need from the fridge before
opening
the door. Five years in AK will teach you all these things.

On Sun, 25 Feb 2007 23:02:00 -0500, "JonquilJan"
wrote:

Flashlights and batteries - and also
non battery type flashlights.


I assume you meant lights such as shake or crank lights that don't
require battery replacement. Let me expand a little on that.

Shake lights (the ones you shake back and forth to charge either a
small battery or a super capacitor) are the rage now but once you try
to use one for any length of time you grow to loathe them. Shake til
yer arm goes numb for a few minutes of light.

The crank lights - lights that have a hand-cranked generator - are
much more practical. Wal-mart stocks a nice little LED crank light
that sells for under $10. It is similar to this one:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=5026270

but is rounder and longer and is un-branded ChiCom product.

I'm somewhat of a flashahaulic so I bought one just to see how it
worked. I'm impressed. Three 7mm white LEDs in the front with an
alternating switch that turns on either 1 or all three LEDs. A
minute's worth of casual cranking produces 10 minutes worth of light.
Probably closer to 20 minutes but I got bored timing it :-)

I've put one of these in each of my vehicles, by each door and in my
bedside table. This is in addition to my other more sophisticated
lights.

For my regular lights I've converted over to either HID (expensive) or
rechargeable lithium powered LED lights. This is my favorite and the
one that stays on my hip at all times.

http://www.qualitychinagoods.com/1x1...ded-p-466.html

This light uses selected Luxeon 5 watt LEDs driven to 8 watts and
powered by the 18650 lithium ion battery. This is the same battery
that is contained in most laptop batteries. It's robust, reliable and
lasts forever. For emergency use, the approx 10 year shelf life is a
major benefit, unlike NiMH batteries that quickly self-discharge.

Here are the batteries:

http://www.qualitychinagoods.com/ult...ted-p-524.html

This flashlight only uses one battery so the pair provides one in the
light and one in the charger. Speaking of which:

http://www.qualitychinagoods.com/dsd...670-p-265.html

is the one I use. Under $10 and comes with both 120 and 12vdc cords.
Plus it'll charge the rechargeable version of the CR123 lithium
battery.

One note of caution - This store is in Hong Kong and stuff is shipped
directly from there. They have no warranty service that I can tell,
as they quit answering email when I tried to get a bad cell replaced.
OTOH, products are so cheap from here compared to US prices that for
me it's worth the risk. There are several other Hong Kong companies
on the net selling the identical product but I don't have experience
with them.

The light that probably gets the most use is a 3 watt Luxeon LED
headlight from Amandotech.

http://www.amondotech.com/index.asp?...ROD&ProdID=872

This isn't exactly like mine, as mine is waterproof but this is what
they stock now. It uses two LIR123 rechargeable lithium ion
batteries. That charger I mentioned above will charge them.

This is a superb light. Pure white light with a very well defined
spot. It beats the socks off my miner's light with the huge belt
mounted battery in brightness and with an extra set of batteries, in
battery life.

If you need to light up the whole end of the state, look at this:

http://www.amondotech.com/index.asp?...ROD&ProdID=872

This is one of the brightest handheld lights on the market. I love
mine. It uses the same miniature High Intensity Discharge arc lamp as
is used on high end cars such as Benz and Lexus. Despite the
brightness, the battery life is very good at about 2 hours.

It comes set up to throw a long narrow beam of light. For general
close in use over a larger area, a trick is to adhere some Saran wrap
to the lens. This diffuses the beam nicely.

What all of these lights have in common for emergency situations is
that the batteries have very long shelf lives. The lithiums will hold
most of their charge for 10 years, so it's claimed. I know that I
can't tell the difference in a just-charged battery and one that's
been in the light for a year. The SLA type battery in the HID light
is known for its long charge retention - several years at minimum.
Plus the light can be plugged into its charger and left that way
indefinitely.

John
---
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.neon-john.com
Cleveland, Occupied TN
Don't let your schooling interfere with your education-Mark Twain

I prefer the hand cranked ones - and have had 2 for many years. Carry one
of the shake type in my purse - just in case.

JonquilJan

Learn something new every day
As long as you are learning, you are living
When you stop learning, you start dying
Neon John wrote in message
news
On Sun, 25 Feb 2007 23:02:00 -0500, "JonquilJan"
wrote:

Flashlights and batteries - and also
non battery type flashlights.


I assume you meant lights such as shake or crank lights that don't
require battery replacement. Let me expand a little on that.

Shake lights (the ones you shake back and forth to charge either a
small battery or a super capacitor) are the rage now but once you try
to use one for any length of time you grow to loathe them. Shake til
yer arm goes numb for a few minutes of light.

The crank lights - lights that have a hand-cranked generator - are
much more practical. Wal-mart stocks a nice little LED crank light
that sells for under $10. It is similar to this one:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=5026270

but is rounder and longer and is un-branded ChiCom product.

I'm somewhat of a flashahaulic so I bought one just to see how it
worked. I'm impressed. Three 7mm white LEDs in the front with an
alternating switch that turns on either 1 or all three LEDs. A
minute's worth of casual cranking produces 10 minutes worth of light.
Probably closer to 20 minutes but I got bored timing it :-)

I've put one of these in each of my vehicles, by each door and in my
bedside table. This is in addition to my other more sophisticated
lights.

For my regular lights I've converted over to either HID (expensive) or
rechargeable lithium powered LED lights. This is my favorite and the
one that stays on my hip at all times.


http://www.qualitychinagoods.com/1x1...ded-p-466.html

This light uses selected Luxeon 5 watt LEDs driven to 8 watts and
powered by the 18650 lithium ion battery. This is the same battery
that is contained in most laptop batteries. It's robust, reliable and
lasts forever. For emergency use, the approx 10 year shelf life is a
major benefit, unlike NiMH batteries that quickly self-discharge.

Here are the batteries:


http://www.qualitychinagoods.com/ult...protected-p-52
4.html

This flashlight only uses one battery so the pair provides one in the
light and one in the charger. Speaking of which:


http://www.qualitychinagoods.com/dsd...er-16340186501
7670-p-265.html

is the one I use. Under $10 and comes with both 120 and 12vdc cords.
Plus it'll charge the rechargeable version of the CR123 lithium
battery.

One note of caution - This store is in Hong Kong and stuff is shipped
directly from there. They have no warranty service that I can tell,
as they quit answering email when I tried to get a bad cell replaced.
OTOH, products are so cheap from here compared to US prices that for
me it's worth the risk. There are several other Hong Kong companies
on the net selling the identical product but I don't have experience
with them.

The light that probably gets the most use is a 3 watt Luxeon LED
headlight from Amandotech.

http://www.amondotech.com/index.asp?...ROD&ProdID=872

This isn't exactly like mine, as mine is waterproof but this is what
they stock now. It uses two LIR123 rechargeable lithium ion
batteries. That charger I mentioned above will charge them.

This is a superb light. Pure white light with a very well defined
spot. It beats the socks off my miner's light with the huge belt
mounted battery in brightness and with an extra set of batteries, in
battery life.

If you need to light up the whole end of the state, look at this:

http://www.amondotech.com/index.asp?...ROD&ProdID=872

This is one of the brightest handheld lights on the market. I love
mine. It uses the same miniature High Intensity Discharge arc lamp as
is used on high end cars such as Benz and Lexus. Despite the
brightness, the battery life is very good at about 2 hours.

It comes set up to throw a long narrow beam of light. For general
close in use over a larger area, a trick is to adhere some Saran wrap
to the lens. This diffuses the beam nicely.

What all of these lights have in common for emergency situations is
that the batteries have very long shelf lives. The lithiums will hold
most of their charge for 10 years, so it's claimed. I know that I
can't tell the difference in a just-charged battery and one that's
been in the light for a year. The SLA type battery in the HID light
is known for its long charge retention - several years at minimum.
Plus the light can be plugged into its charger and left that way
indefinitely.

John
---
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.neon-john.com
Cleveland, Occupied TN
Don't let your schooling interfere with your education-Mark Twain

Neon John wrote:

"JonquilJan" wrote:


Flashlights and batteries - and also
non battery type flashlights.


[...]
The crank lights - lights that have a hand-cranked generator - are
much more practical. Wal-mart stocks a nice little LED crank light
that sells for under $10. It is similar to this one:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=5026270


The model I have also has an external power port and various adapters to
power and charge a cell phone - handy

AL

Neon John wrote:
If you need to light up the whole end of the state, look at this:

http://www.amondotech.com/index.asp?...ROD&ProdID=872

This is one of the brightest handheld lights on the market. I love
mine. It uses the same miniature High Intensity Discharge arc lamp as
is used on high end cars such as Benz and Lexus.

Looks like a 3W LED headband light to me.

--
Martians drive SUVs! http://oregonmag.com/MarsWarm307.html

Jonathan Grobe wrote:

We just had a ice storm and I had no electricity for 22 hours. I
was mostly unprepared and didn't like the experience at all.

What are you doing to prepare for this?

Thanks.

I have two deep cycle batteries with small inverters that will run the
TV and computer for several hours. I also have a 4 KW generator that
will take care of the heat, refrigerator, and freezer; as well as the
neighbors.
--
Jim Rusling
More or Less Retired
Mustang, OK
http://www.rusling.org

During the 2003 power cut, I found one of my major shortcomings
was air movement. The gas range did a nice job heating the
kitchen, but not any of the rest of the trailer. Since then I've
got a trolling battery, and an inverter. So that I can run some
low wattage lights, and also fans to move the heat around.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Jim Rusling" wrote in message
g...
:
: I have two deep cycle batteries with small inverters that will
run the
: TV and computer for several hours. I also have a 4 KW
generator that
: will take care of the heat, refrigerator, and freezer; as well
as the
: neighbors.
: --
: Jim Rusling
: More or Less Retired
: Mustang, OK
: http://www.rusling.org

On Feb 25, 5:29 pm, "Stormin Mormon" cayoung61-
wrote:
During the 2003 power cut, I found one of my major shortcomings
was air movement. The gas range did a nice job heating the
kitchen, but not any of the rest of the trailer. Since then I've
got a trolling battery, and an inverter. So that I can run some
low wattage lights, and also fans to move the heat around.

Kitchen appliances are not designed to heat houses. I hope you have a
CO detector and smoke detectors. That way, when your house burns down
you can get out safely, then stand real close to the fire to stay
warm.

On 2 Mar 2007 10:52:07 -0800, wrote:

On Feb 25, 5:29 pm, "Stormin Mormon" cayoung61-
wrote:
During the 2003 power cut, I found one of my major shortcomings
was air movement. The gas range did a nice job heating the
kitchen, but not any of the rest of the trailer. Since then I've
got a trolling battery, and an inverter. So that I can run some
low wattage lights, and also fans to move the heat around.

Kitchen appliances are not designed to heat houses. I hope you have a
CO detector and smoke detectors. That way, when your house burns down
you can get out safely, then stand real close to the fire to stay
warm.

OTOH, kitchen appliances are not sentenient beings and don't know what
they're heating. They'll no more burn down the house heating air than
they will heating water, roast beef, turkey, etc.

OTOH2, some DO produce a lot of CO. The propane range in my MH can
click off 100 PPM CO in under an hour with all three burners going.

---
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.neon-john.com
Cleveland, Occupied TN
Don't let your schooling interfere with your education-Mark Twain

On Fri, 02 Mar 2007 17:35:16 -0500, Neon John wrote:


On 2 Mar 2007 10:52:07 -0800, wrote:

On Feb 25, 5:29 pm, "Stormin Mormon" cayoung61-
wrote:
During the 2003 power cut, I found one of my major shortcomings
was air movement. The gas range did a nice job heating the
kitchen, but not any of the rest of the trailer. Since then I've
got a trolling battery, and an inverter. So that I can run some
low wattage lights, and also fans to move the heat around.

Kitchen appliances are not designed to heat houses. I hope you have a
CO detector and smoke detectors. That way, when your house burns down
you can get out safely, then stand real close to the fire to stay
warm.

OTOH, kitchen appliances are not sentenient beings and don't know what
they're heating. They'll no more burn down the house heating air than
they will heating water, roast beef, turkey, etc.

Strawman argument. Nobody has said that appliances might be sentient.
The argument is about wether or not they are designed to be used to heat
a room and they most certainly not.

It won't burn the house down, but you possibly might not live through the
night.

OTOH2, some DO produce a lot of CO. The propane range in my MH can
click off 100 PPM CO in under an hour with all three burners going.
Clearly yours has affected you judging by the quality of your post.

I just don't know what we'd do without acronyms. KWIM?

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Neon John" wrote in message
...
: On 2 Mar 2007 10:52:07 -0800, wrote:
:
: On Feb 25, 5:29 pm, "Stormin Mormon" cayoung61-
: wrote:
: During the 2003 power cut, I found one of my major
shortcomings
: was air movement. The gas range did a nice job heating the
: kitchen, but not any of the rest of the trailer. Since then
I've
: got a trolling battery, and an inverter. So that I can run
some
: low wattage lights, and also fans to move the heat around.
:
: Kitchen appliances are not designed to heat houses. I hope
you have a
: CO detector and smoke detectors. That way, when your house
burns down
: you can get out safely, then stand real close to the fire to
stay
: warm.
:
: OTOH, kitchen appliances are not sentenient beings and don't
know what
: they're heating. They'll no more burn down the house heating
air than
: they will heating water, roast beef, turkey, etc.
:
: OTOH2, some DO produce a lot of CO. The propane range in my MH
can
: click off 100 PPM CO in under an hour with all three burners
going.
:
: ---
: John De Armond
: See my website for my current email address
: http://www.neon-john.com
: Cleveland, Occupied TN
: Don't let your schooling interfere with your education-Mark
Twain

"Jonathan Grobe" wrote in message
...
We just had a ice storm and I had no electricity for 22 hours. I
was mostly unprepared and didn't like the experience at all.

What are you doing to prepare for this?

I prepared for this by living in California.

Gil Faver wrote:
"Jonathan Grobe" wrote in message
...
We just had a ice storm and I had no electricity for 22 hours. I
was mostly unprepared and didn't like the experience at all.

What are you doing to prepare for this?

I prepared for this by living in California.


Right, because California is the least likely state to have a natural
disaster.

Karen, who lived in the Bay area for 13 years

In article
. net,
says...
Gil Faver wrote:
"Jonathan Grobe" wrote in message
...
We just had a ice storm and I had no electricity for 22 hours. I
was mostly unprepared and didn't like the experience at all.

What are you doing to prepare for this?


I prepared for this by living in California.


Right, because California is the least likely state to have a natural
disaster.


Maybe "prepared for this by living in California" meant
developing a general attitude of preparedness.

It sure helped me. Especially being there during a major
earthquake.

And I live in another earthquake risk zone, even now.


--
Get Credit Where Credit Is Due
http://www.cardreport.com/
Credit Tools, Reference, and Forum

dkhedmo wrote:

Gil Faver wrote:
"Jonathan Grobe" wrote:
We just had a ice storm and I had no electricity for 22 hours. I
was mostly unprepared and didn't like the experience at all.

What are you doing to prepare for this?

I prepared for this by living in California.

Right, because California is the least likely state to have a natural
disaster.

We rarely have lethal weather, at least for humans. Quakes happen every
once in a while, as do snowstorms, but so far most have provided personal
entertainment rather than terror. Electricity was off for a number of hours
while they spliced the mall across the street into the system. Cable has
been out longer than that. Biggest nuisance is the goddam Rose Parade,
which lasts for DAYS.

Karen, who lived in the Bay area for 13 years

SoCal for 65.

--
Cheers,
Bev
================================================== ====================
"Steve Balmer, CEO of Microsoft[0], recently referred to LINUX as a
cancer. Unsurprisingly, that's incorrect; LINUX was released on August
25th, 1991 and is therefore a virgo." -- Kevin L

The Real Bev wrote:
dkhedmo wrote:

Gil Faver wrote:
"Jonathan Grobe" wrote:
We just had a ice storm and I had no electricity for 22 hours. I
was mostly unprepared and didn't like the experience at all.

What are you doing to prepare for this?

I prepared for this by living in California.
Right, because California is the least likely state to have a
natural disaster.

We rarely have lethal weather,
Five months of non-stop rain = mudslides blocking roads for weeks at a
time (ever been to Big Sur?) and houses slipping off hillsides yearly.
I'm sure plenty of people experience flooding, as well. The city of Napa
comes to mind.

Five months of non-stop rain + seven months of hot, dry summers =
wildfires/firestorms, which threaten/damaging multitudes of homes
yearly. The firestorm in the East bay was deadly, and the hillsides are
still scarred with areas that haven't yet been rebuilt.

I'm sure the people in the Sierras have few tales to tell about massive
snowfall and its effects.

Just to name a few.

Karen

Oh, and of course they NEVER have power problems in CA. LMAO!!

--
Steve Barker




"Gil Faver" wrote in message
...

"Jonathan Grobe" wrote in message
...
We just had a ice storm and I had no electricity for 22 hours. I
was mostly unprepared and didn't like the experience at all.

What are you doing to prepare for this?

I prepared for this by living in California.

Steve Barker wrote:
Oh, and of course they NEVER have power problems in CA. LMAO!!


for some reason this isn't including the rest of the thread ...

is beside the point.
Most parts of California don't get very cold, at least as compared to
the upper midwest. Different areas require different praparation.

We have a lot more power problems here in Hawaii than they ever had in
California, but we never got cold ...
(and our water is really gravity fed. I do keep some bottled water
around in case the filtration fails).

disaster preparedness to me includes:
- food that can be stored without refrigration and (at least in a bind)
be eaten without cooking (you propane stove doesn't help if your house
was flattened by a hurricane or earthquake, but you may still be able
to find the cans or boxes)
- enough batteries of all sizes we use
- enough tarps to cover the house (or what's left standing) including
bungee cords to secure them - as I mentioned, we don't usually get
cold here, but we can get very very wet. Wet can easily cause
hypothermia even here, and in very little time.


Maren, Hilo, HI (do you have any idea what 40"/rain in a day is like?)

Palms, Etc.: Tropical Plant Seeds - Hand-made Jewelry - Plants & Lilikoi
http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/~maren/palms_etc/
- Job's Tears/Coix Lachryma Iobi available -

Gil Faver wrote:
"Jonathan Grobe" wrote in message
...
We just had a ice storm and I had no electricity for 22 hours. I
was mostly unprepared and didn't like the experience at all.

What are you doing to prepare for this?

I prepared for this by living in California.

When I lived in California (the Bay Area, specifically), we had a
power outage that lasted well over 48 hours because of a "storm".
In this "storm", the winds got up to a whopping 20 miles/hour, and
we received maybe 2 inches of rain in a 24-hour period. It turns
out PG&E had just cut a bunch of jobs in order to save money a few
months earlier, and the jobs they cut were the people who were
responsible for maintaining the lines (making sure trees were
trimmed and so on) and repairing them. So a bunch of tree limbs
fell on the lines and cut out power, and it took forever to
repair them, so we were without power for days even though nothing
big had really happened.

Luckily we had a natural gas water heater which did not need
electricity to start, and it was January so it was not too cold
outside, and we did fine without heat. But it was still stupid.

- Logan

In article , Logan Shaw wrote:

When I lived in California (the Bay Area, specifically), we had a
power outage that lasted well over 48 hours because of a "storm".
In this "storm", the winds got up to a whopping 20 miles/hour, and
we received maybe 2 inches of rain in a 24-hour period.

I experienced the same thing -- probably not the same storm
though! In any case, living without power for 48 hours
is really quite miserable.

I just got up early, went to the office and shaved and
showered there. Worked late, ate out and went home to
sleep.

Home really was nothing more than a place to sleep.

Now that I work at home and have three kids, it would
suck very much indeed!

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Malcolm Hoar" wrote in message
...
In article , Logan Shaw
wrote:

When I lived in California (the Bay Area, specifically), we had a
power outage that lasted well over 48 hours because of a "storm".
In this "storm", the winds got up to a whopping 20 miles/hour, and
we received maybe 2 inches of rain in a 24-hour period.

I experienced the same thing -- probably not the same storm
though! In any case, living without power for 48 hours
is really quite miserable.

Oh, the first 48 hours is almost (and, in some respects, literally) a
picnic.

It's the second and the start of the THIRD 48 hours when it beings to get
"old."

That's what happened to us in the "Northern Neck" of VA when Isabel hit the
fan.

We get 4-6 hour outages every time there are high winds or significant snow.
Ice storms can put out "off the grid" for a day.

Unfortunately, our generator is just about impossible to start when it's
below 32F.

And yes, we need electricity for our water and heat. We have "back up" LPG
heaters. Next on the "wish list" is a kerosene heater that will also
provide some light.

AND we found out that hard way that LPG comes in a "winter mix" and a
"summer mix." The difference is that the "summer mix" only provides
enough gas pressure to make the regulator work when the tank is over 70F.

NB: LPG isn't necessarily pure propane. It's often a mixture of propane
and butane and "whatever."

I'm with you, that the first two days of my power cut were an
adventure in camping in. By the third day, the coldness had
soaked into the very center of my trailer, and it was really
getting miserable. If I'd not had the generator to run the
furnace, I would have had to move my matress into the kitchen and
live there.

Interesting about the summer and winter LPG. Much the same with
diesel road fuel, I've heard. A trucker going north with a tank
full of summer fuel might have jelly in the fuel lines when he
gets to some place cold.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"John Gilmer" wrote in message
...
:
:
: Oh, the first 48 hours is almost (and, in some respects,
literally) a
: picnic.
:
: It's the second and the start of the THIRD 48 hours when it
beings to get
: "old."
:
: That's what happened to us in the "Northern Neck" of VA when
Isabel hit the
: fan.
:
: We get 4-6 hour outages every time there are high winds or
significant snow.
: Ice storms can put out "off the grid" for a day.
:
: Unfortunately, our generator is just about impossible to start
when it's
: below 32F.
:
: And yes, we need electricity for our water and heat. We have
"back up" LPG
: heaters. Next on the "wish list" is a kerosene heater that
will also
: provide some light.
:
: AND we found out that hard way that LPG comes in a "winter mix"
and a
: "summer mix." The difference is that the "summer mix" only
provides
: enough gas pressure to make the regulator work when the tank is
over 70F.
:
: NB: LPG isn't necessarily pure propane. It's often a mixture
of propane
: and butane and "whatever."
:
:

This is exactly what NJ did last year to Save JCP&L money.

--
"Anybody can have more birthdays, but it takes balls to get old!"

BetsyB

"Logan Shaw" wrote in message
...
Gil Faver wrote:
"Jonathan Grobe" wrote in message
...
We just had a ice storm and I had no electricity for 22 hours. I
was mostly unprepared and didn't like the experience at all.

What are you doing to prepare for this?

I prepared for this by living in California.

When I lived in California (the Bay Area, specifically), we had a
power outage that lasted well over 48 hours because of a "storm".
In this "storm", the winds got up to a whopping 20 miles/hour, and
we received maybe 2 inches of rain in a 24-hour period. It turns
out PG&E had just cut a bunch of jobs in order to save money a few
months earlier, and the jobs they cut were the people who were
responsible for maintaining the lines (making sure trees were
trimmed and so on) and repairing them. So a bunch of tree limbs
fell on the lines and cut out power, and it took forever to
repair them, so we were without power for days even though nothing
big had really happened.

Luckily we had a natural gas water heater which did not need
electricity to start, and it was January so it was not too cold
outside, and we did fine without heat. But it was still stupid.

- Logan

"Jonathan Grobe" wrote in message
...
We just had a ice storm and I had no electricity for 22 hours. I
was mostly unprepared and didn't like the experience at all.

What are you doing to prepare for this?



I keep some candles, flashlights, kerosene lamps around, I keep the propane
bottles filled so we can grill if we want, but since we have a gas range,
only the oven is affected. City water is not a problem either. If I lived
in a very rural area I'd have a generator. In my entire life, only after
Hurricane Gloria were we without power for about 30 hours. Longest time
otherwise is maybe an hour. Give that 60 year history I can't justify
spending a lot of money for equipment.

I have a drawer full of high powered flashlights and batteries
including two that plug into outlets go on when the power stops.
Also two battery powered radios, one a headset, the other with speakers.
As for food, plenty of canned food,water and dehydrated stuff.

I'll admit to being surprised. After reading your common sense
posts for so long on this group, I would have figured you for the
most prepared guy on the list.

OTOH, knowing your priorities demonstrates wisdom, which is a far
greater trait.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
...
:
: I keep some candles, flashlights, kerosene lamps around, I keep
the propane
: bottles filled so we can grill if we want, but since we have a
gas range,
: only the oven is affected. City water is not a problem either.
If I lived
: in a very rural area I'd have a generator. In my entire life,
only after
: Hurricane Gloria were we without power for about 30 hours.
Longest time
: otherwise is maybe an hour. Give that 60 year history I can't
justify
: spending a lot of money for equipment.
:
: