Wind storm

slimmer13 · Nov 18, 2015

Nasty storm last night. 170k ish without power in Spokane/Stevens counties. They are saying 3 to 5 days before power is restored. Driving around I've seen down lines in a dozen or so spots. At least two fatalities.

Pretty well set up around here, I have plenty of fuel for the generator, plenty of propane for the fireplace (only heat for the house), plenty of wood for the wood stove (with cooktop) in the shop, plenty of batteries/flashlights etc. Plenty of water on hand to flush toilets (on a well).

What I would like to have that I flaked out on, but should always have on hand is briquettes and a campstove for speedy hot water (takes awhile on the wood stove).

All in all should be fine hunkered down for a few days.

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v0lcom13sn0w · Nov 18, 2015

always good to have a generator. when my dad and i wired his new house last summer/fall we made sure to add a seperate panel that switches to back up generator power. he'll have water, heat, some lights, refrigeration and tv. cant miss football.

SHPD_Retired · Nov 18, 2015

If you don't have electrical skills and do not want to put out a bunch of money many utilities have a device you can rent for about 8 dollars a month that allows you to hook your generator up to your house with only a single plug. It is called Generlink.
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308 · Nov 18, 2015

SHPD_Retired said:
If you don't have electrical skills and do not want to put out a bunch of money many utilities have a device you can rent for about 8 dollars a month that allows you to hook your generator up to your house with only a single plug. It is called Generlink.
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A transfer switch is easy it install. I have one setup to work with my Honda Super Quiet generator. Also just recently converted to gen to run on propane/natural gas and back to gasoline if desired.

slimmer13 · Nov 18, 2015

^^^nice setup.

I will have something similar before this happens again....I hope

mjbskwim · Nov 19, 2015

You are talking about 150 buck at the most.
Get a 100gal propane tank and a nice stove. I have a few camp stoves and a double Camp Chef propane stove. And a turkey cooker,lol
A 100gal (pound?) tank will last a long time.It would last me over 6 months in my RV for cooking and water.Never used it for heat as RV furnaces aren't very efficient. Oh yea and the refer.
So using a 100 gal tank for emergency cooking,it would last a year.Even with a BBQ hooked up it should last close to that.
Now as far as your genset working on NG or propane? Always propane. If SHTF real bad then no electricity means no Natural gas,eventually. The main lines are still controlled by electricity

slimmer13 · Nov 19, 2015

Well I'm running a Honda eu3000 with a double male cord to run a circuit. Having no problem with a tv, a couple lights, fridge, space heater, and the fan on my propane fireplace.

Just remember anyone who runs it this way to turnoff all your mains so you don't shock the lineman and all your 220 circuits because 110 will fry them. Also don't fry yourself on the exposed ends of the cord so probably get it plugged in before you fire up the generator.

slimmer13 · Nov 19, 2015

And it is gonna be frigid tonight. Feeling bad for the folks with no heat source. Still 100k customers without power.

slimmer13 · Nov 23, 2015

Well I got power back on Friday but there is still around 50,000 homes in the area facing their 7th night without power. Temps have been in the teens at night. The crazy thing is when talking to people at work who are visibly at their breaking points because of zero preperations, I ask if they plan on being better prepared in the future. Some still say "it's not like this will ever happen again".

Also reports of looting and a spike in burglaries.

Anyway this is a picture representative of hundreds of locations.

Capn Jack · Nov 23, 2015

Don't burn Brick-etts in the house. You may not wake up tomorrow.

slimmer13 · Nov 23, 2015

Should fall in the no shot catagory. I bbq over charcoal year around outdoors, and with a freezer full of prime beef, I was craving a carcinogens rich bbq steak the other night.

RicInOR · Nov 24, 2015

What I used to be amazed at, was how every year there will be some weather event, which we see coming and people are still all caught out unprepared.

Back in the early 90s - I was doing my service to the country one weekend in Yaquina Bay.
My LT was a planner and emergency prep guy from TekTronics. He was pissed. Not at us but at Tek. There had been a windstorm - and the brilliant minds at Tek released the workers so they could hunker down at home. The storm was hitting the Portland metro area at about 1 in the afternoon, so they released the workers at noon. So they were sitting in cars on the roads as it hit! Perhaps the worst situation. Other employers did the same.

I can't be certain, but this may have been the storm:
http://www.climate.washington.edu/stormking/November1994.html