I remember Sandy taking out this substation in lower manhattan in 2012. I had a friend who lived near it and used to jog right by there. Dramatic.
https://youtu.be/ZAqYZ433TeQ On Thu, Feb 18, 2021 at 7:40 AM Floyd Thursby via Mercedes < mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > Here in the Lowcountry hurricanes are our big problem, winter not so > much. I live kinda out at the end of the road and the power lines so > power can go out pretty quickly, a few times they have shut off power to > keep the system from being damaged if flooded by saltwater (arcing will > burn out the equipment but it can be washed off if just inundated). I > keep about 30 gal of gas in cans for the generator, plus full tanks of > gas in the trucks and vehicles. I can run the generator for a coupla > hours every 4-6hr and the fridge will stay cold, I have propane cooktop > (with grill but the fan won't run) and gas grill (with one burner) > outside too if I need to grill something. It can get kinda warm in the > house but a fan will be OK and I actually don't mind the heat too much. > I buy dry and canned stuff on sale at the grocery so keep the pantry > pretty full of that kind of stuff, and my neighbor is a farm stand so > fresh veggies are generally available, guy down the road raises lots of > chickens and sells eggs. I guess I could go for quite some time, coupla > weeks at least, probably longer. Hell might even lose some weight! If > worse goes to worst a fishing pole and kayak would keep me in fish so > there's that too. If it happens in the winter I have some firewood > stacked and the fireplace will throw some heat, but it doesn't really > get that cold or stay cold for long here so that is a benefit. > > The cold is much more difficult to deal with, and unpleasant. I have > friends in Houston who were without power for 2 weeks back a few years > ago after a hurricane, it got pretty miserable there after a few days > but at least they were warm. Tried to call a buddy there yesterday but > no answer, will check on him again today see how they are faring in the > cold. > > I guess you just get into the mentality after awhile of thinking about > what can happen, and experiencing it. Longest here without electrons > was 4 days after a hurricane, it got kinda monotonous but was > tolerable. I recall my grandparents when I was young, they would talk > about growing up with a wood cook stove and "coal oil" lamps and pumping > water from the well (which they did into the 60s before my parents built > them a new house). My parents even lived that way when they were > younger, growing up on the farm, it was just how it was. They were farm > folk, and poor (in money) and everyone around them was the same, so that > was the norm, family and neighbors helped one another and took pride in > that. Add in the Depression, they were pretty tough. So for them it > was just bidness as usual, they didn't think much of losing power, and > were quite adaptable to situations. I learned a lot from them in that > regard. > > --FT > > On 2/18/21 9:59 AM, Curt Raymond via Mercedes wrote: > > In 1998 I was living with my folks during an ice storm. They had a > propane cooktop and oven but the oven wouldn't work because the thermostat > needs electricity. A coal stove provided heat and we had flashlights and > candles for lights. When I got my own place I always aimed for that level > of preparedness or better. In 2008 we had an ice storm and came through > well with a Coleman stove, some flashlights and the battery out of the lawn > tractor with my 400w power inverter. > > These days we're good for at least 2 weeks, meaning I don't need to > leave the property for 2 full weeks at least. Probably we'd be fine for > more like a month although at that point our diet would be getting pretty > monotonous. Heck I'm pretty sure we could go a full week eating nothing but > wild foods. We've got, I think 5 ducks, 1 partridge, 3 pheasants and 10 or > more pounds of venison sausage. I don't know how much venison backstrap > we've got left, oh and theres some venison and some moose stew meat... > > Got about 7 gallons of gasoline without having to pull any out of > snowmobiles or the truck, 5 gallons of kerosene (and a couple kerosene > stoves, lamps and lanterns to use it in) and around 3 gallons of Coleman > fuel. Gasoline could fill in for Coleman fuel in a pinch. About 4 cords of > wood left, buddy Ben got an unexpected order for firewood this week so I > may go help him run some Saturday and get paid with a truckload. > > > > -CurtEagle Scout - "Be Prepared" > > > > > > > > On Wednesday, February 17, 2021, 10:58:01 PM EST, Allan Streib via > Mercedes <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > > > All of that said, there's a component of unreadiness by the individual > > citizens as well. We're always told to have blankets, water, food, > > etc. for emergencies. Most people don't. I'm as guilty as anyone for not > > thinking about this very often. I could survive a week at home without > > power, I have blankets, warm clothes, enough canned and dry food, and a > > camping stove, but that's more by happenstance than because of any > > deliberate planning. > > > > Allan > > > > > > > > _______________________________________ > > http://www.okiebenz.com > > > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > -- > --FT > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
