I Just Went 8 Days Without Power

Originally posted by jheated5
How could you not be prepared without electricity in your house? Was there not enough food in your cupboards for a week? Not enough water? You needed propane? I guess our versions of camping differ, while yours isn't exactly roughing it....... I would welcome a power outage it would get the rest of my family to stop watching tv/computer and get them out to tell some good scary stories by a campfire while eating hotdogs and beans....

The biggest thing is the heat. It's at deadly highs right now. I have enough food and water for many months. Everything else I can make or whatever. It's just too hot said this little piggy.

reply to post by Fylgje


The thing is...it wasn't too hot. You just think it was. During this heat wave I stained my sister’s house and cleaned and inventoried her recently deceased husband’s storage barn. But I stayed hydrated throughout it all. And took breaks when I felt I needed them. 110 with the heat index.

I wanted to do more but she wouldn’t let me. Maybe I’m the stupid one. But I felt ok at the time, hot, smelly and sweating enough that I looked like I took a shower...but ok.

Our predecessors dealt with the heat and cold just fine. Those that prepared survived, those that did not…didn’t.

Kudos to you for keeping your wits about you. I know when family is involved, nerves get frazzled quite quickly.

Originally posted by Fylgje

Originally posted by jheated5
How could you not be prepared without electricity in your house? Was there not enough food in your cupboards for a week? Not enough water? You needed propane? I guess our versions of camping differ, while yours isn't exactly roughing it....... I would welcome a power outage it would get the rest of my family to stop watching tv/computer and get them out to tell some good scary stories by a campfire while eating hotdogs and beans....

The biggest thing is the heat. It's at deadly highs right now. I have enough food and water for many months. Everything else I can make or whatever. It's just too hot said this little piggy.

My mistake I thought you lived by a lake also??? I getsa confused sometimes

Originally posted by jheated5

Originally posted by Fylgje

Originally posted by jheated5
How could you not be prepared without electricity in your house? Was there not enough food in your cupboards for a week? Not enough water? You needed propane? I guess our versions of camping differ, while yours isn't exactly roughing it....... I would welcome a power outage it would get the rest of my family to stop watching tv/computer and get them out to tell some good scary stories by a campfire while eating hotdogs and beans....

The biggest thing is the heat. It's at deadly highs right now. I have enough food and water for many months. Everything else I can make or whatever. It's just too hot said this little piggy.

My mistake I thought you lived by a lake also??? I getsa confused sometimes

? I do live close to a lake. There is forest all around aswell. lol

Oh! You mean go swimming --yes yes. I'm not going down there around all those people. We do go to the lake and all that, but NOT during holidays like July 4th. Too many idiots. The last time I was there July 4th, there were people cussing as loud as they could and other foul, nasty crap goin' on. Not just one, but many and they didn't care if they were in front of little kids, elderly, or Jesus Christ himself. I have zero tolerence for those people and do not want to end up in jail. Our lake gets trashier every year and the people seem to get nastier and nastier. I would love to see it turn back to a private lake, but there isn't enough money in that. no what i meen, vern?

But I do agree with ya about connecting with family on a higher level when there's no power. That's one of the good things about it. I'm just complaining about some of the bad, so let me.

Originally posted by TDawgRex
reply to post by Fylgje

 

The thing is...it wasn't too hot. You just think it was. During this heat wave I stained my sister’s house and cleaned and inventoried her recently deceased husband’s storage barn. But I stayed hydrated throughout it all. And took breaks when I felt I needed them. 110 with the heat index.

I wanted to do more but she wouldn’t let me. Maybe I’m the stupid one.

But I felt ok at the time, hot, smelly and sweating enough that I looked like I took a shower...but ok.

Our predecessors dealt with the heat and cold just fine. Those that prepared survived, those that did not…didn’t.

Kudos to you for keeping your wits about you. I know when family is involved, nerves get frazzled quite quickly.

No. It was TOO HOT. I worked on the strip mines many years and I know hot, believe me. I can handle it, but not in my house and not exposing my family to it. We adjusted to it by the third day. We do need to get back to how our ancestors were in a lot of ways, but I'd like to do it in the air conditioning

reply to post by Fylgje

But I do agree with ya about connecting with family on a higher level when there's no power. That's one of the good things about it. I'm just complaining about some of the bad, so let me

hey. you've earned the right to vent.

That must have been a long grueling week, but gave you some insight and wisdom on what to expect.

I'd like to give you kudos on hightailing it to safe spot , with your family so quickly. If you'd have been my dad, I'd be damn proud of how you handled things, and I would have wanted to make sure you got your coffee every morning.

They are blessed to have you .

I went through that 7 years ago mine was the first week of a new job 300 miles from home and I knew NOBODY!! Rode bike around till I found a bar that had a generator going and was trying to keep it's cooler going. Somebody asked if they brought in their food from the freezer if they would cook it and give it away. Beforw you knew it everybody that didn't have a generator was bringing in their food and gas and the party started. The storm hit Friday about noon and the next Friday morning at 2AM the power came back on. Bathed in the lake and sinks at work ate at the bar and helped cook every night. Brought them gas every day on my way home made lots of good friends.

S&F for what you went through, getting to see people at their worst. You got a taste of what the unraveling of our society would be like if TSHF.....

Glad you're all safe.

I think people should ease up on beating themselves up on how much they rely on modern conveniences. You are not a bad person if you would have difficulty surviving in a state of nature with nothing but your wits. Sure, you could spend attention on being able to deal with any scenario that you could come across in your life, but you have to weigh the worth of doing so. For some people, that's playing the zombie survival game; for others it's something else. Whatever floats your boat, but you're not bad because you choose one or the other.

We have modern conveniences, so it's OK to utilize them. Being prepared to deal with the loss of them is only important to a small segment of the population. As you prove, most people can get by the amount of time that they will ever have to.

reply to post by Fylgje


The key word is that you "Adjusted".

That is the key to survival. Good on you.

well done on keeping a level head and keeping your family calm and safe through all that ...

as to hot thats average temps in these parts no big deal no aircon never use it - always get sick when go into places with aircon ...

s&f

Here in Northern VA I lost power for 2 full days, but lucky I got it back early Sunday morning. Most places in Alexandria didn't get their power till Tuesday. Oh boy the heat is a killer today. It peak out at 106 for few moments.

I live in Western Kentucky. I think it was 2007, we had a horrific ice storm, worst natural disaster in the state of Kentucky. Our situations were similar, but different also. Your storm happened quick and was gone and you dealt with heat. My storm was continuous, creepy and freezing. By continuous, I mean the trees and power lines were snapping over hours of time. It was creepy to stand outside and hear trees snapping. And you were in constant worry that the tree limbs above your house were next to go, which did happen to us. We were scared to drive anywhere because one could snap at any time and fall on your car. Very nerve wracking. It is definitely easier to get warm than it is to cool off. We were without power for two weeks. It opened my eyes though and now I am definitely prepared for this type of inconvenience again. Who knows....a big CME or solar flare from the sun could take us off the grid for months. The way this weather is behaving you never know what your going to get. We had flooding last year and now we have a severe drought. I guess all I can say is BE PREPARED! Crazy days are ahead.

Originally posted by Fylgje
A major storm hit my little town here in W.va. last friday at about 7:30pm with hurricane-force winds.

Me, my wife, and our three kids were stopping by Gino's to pick up pizza's that we ordered, when all of a sudden, the sky turned black as soot.

We get this all the time in the Mid-West. I love these storms. They are a sight to see. That black line in the sky when the front blows in is always impressive. This is when the winds hit. Did you notice the "green" as the storm approached? When the world gets a greenish hue then you know it is going to be a hum dinger of a storm.

The jet stream is all jacked up and it is pushing our storms to the N and E of where they should be. Here it is hotter than Hades with no rain. Man I wish those storms would hit here. Could sure use them right now.

reply to post by Fylgje


I'm glad everything worked out. Praise God for that.

reply to post by Fylgje



Here's some ideas now that you've been through that.

First: stop depending on propane. If a disaster worse than what y'all went through were to hit, you might not get access to it again.
Plan ahead. At the least purchase a cheap charcol grill, bags of charcol and some charcol lighter fluid. At the most, build a brick oven outside or some means to actually use fire. As long as you tend the fire, it shouldn't get out of hand. Just use common sense, even if it's not rained for weeks. I live smack in the woods down here in SC and we do fires all the time even when everything is dry as a bone.

Depending on the propane is not a good idea.

Heat: this is the tough one, and as everyone has said, most of us are very spoiled by the use of air conditioning. However, as it's been pointed out, our grandparents, their parents and so forth going back dealt with the heat just fine.
Take a look at your house and areas around it. How much sun is it getting during the summer days? Think of planting fast growing shade trees to help keep it mostly in the shade during the day. Power companies will tell you to do this anyways to help cut down the cost of your electric bill during the summer.
Porches and window awnings are also great ways to cut back on the sun light beating down on the house.
What color is your house? Lighter colors reflect sunlight where darker colors absorb the heat more (and can conduct it into the house).
Look at your windows too. Are the positioned well enough to provide cross breezes? Any wind will help.
Attic exhaust fans can help to (but use electricity of course).

However, there are days that are just brutal and nothing helps really. Being used to the heat (IE your job has you outside all the time, or you spend your time outside all the time) helps. All that fancy electronics that we have (TV, Computer, xbox, etc) don't like the heat and is another reason AC has become essential.

Now, I know it was a relief when the power came on and the AC was working. But 8 days is a long time too. Ask yourself: How were you dealing with the heat on day 2 as compared to day 8?
I'll bet you'll find that it didn't bother you as much (it most like still bothered you, but you were starting to get used to it).

Oh, and the coffee: I had a friend that was going frantic with no power. She couldn't get coffee made, and no where to buy coffee. I told her to use a pot on the grill.
No coffee pot (the old perculators).
I sighed and told her to just use an old pot and boil the water on the grill and add the grounds to it. Strain it through a filter to her cup.
No grounds! I only use whole beans and no way to grind it now!

I felt like smacking her. Instead I told her: put the beans in a zip lock baggy, lay it on the counter top, and use a rolling pin on the beans.


sheesh.

and this is why we 'need' FEMA in disasters....people freak the hell out.

lol...nice story. thanks!

Originally posted by benrl
Look at it like a test run for if SHTF, now you know what to excepect from your fellow man, and what to have on hand at the house just in case.

imagine in Katrina type scenarios where people went months or more with out power in some areas.

I learned last year after the storms that knocked out power in the south that if the shtf like that (or worse) again that most people are screeeeewed. My hunband, kids, and I were so lucky to have my parents (still are) near us lol. We also learned even if it seems nothing is wrong we need to be at least a little prepared.

I like how one member made a comment of looking at your event as if it were a "test run" of SHTF and how people would react. From your story is sounds as if they were acting exactly as I imagined they would; like a bunch of stupid, greedy sheep without a care or concern for anyone but themselves.


It's funny but in a way it's also not funny, that these type of people who go to storm the grocery store and gas stations will be the first to die. When the S really does hit with full force and not just a storm, people will be acting much crazier. I look at this as a good thing; basically ignorant oxygen thieves will exterminate each other as they fight for twinkies, gas and bottled water. The smart people, who are already prepared for it, will sit and wait out the chaos and come together when the time is right and begin to work on survival and the next step.


Be smart people, don't put off getting supplies together for a just in case scenario, just do it!

Originally posted by Fylgje

Originally posted by jheated5
How could you not be prepared without electricity in your house? Was there not enough food in your cupboards for a week? Not enough water? You needed propane? I guess our versions of camping differ, while yours isn't exactly roughing it....... I would welcome a power outage it would get the rest of my family to stop watching tv/computer and get them out to tell some good scary stories by a campfire while eating hotdogs and beans....

The biggest thing is the heat. It's at deadly highs right now. I have enough food and water for many months. Everything else I can make or whatever. It's just too hot said this little piggy.

I have lived on a reservation without power smack dab in the middle of the hottest parts of the summer with temps 100 +. Depends on your heat indices. When I was growing up, we shut off the electricity in the summer so that we could pay it all down and get it back on for winter to stay warm.

We learned some tricks to staying cool. Sleeping on, or wrapping up in a cold wet sheet will cool you down and keep you cool. You were smart not to dig a hole and cook from that. That's how people get forest fires up here going during the dry season. We did that, but we weren't surrounded by forest, just prairie and we were careful.
At night, we set out our jars of water with tea bags, and brewed them in the morning for sun tea. We made big batches and stored them out at night and they would keep cool to drink for the good part of the day.
You did a great job reacting so quickly to protect your family in the storm.