I Just Went 8 Days Without Power

in the early ninetys it was common where i lived in the north of scotland for the power to go out for 3-5 days at a time sometimes 3 or 4 times in the winter . minus 30 was not unheard off i was prepared for any thing .i had 12v television coal fire 12v downlighting going .you would not tell the power was off in my cottage 2 generators in the shed . but more than once my door got knocked by angry villagers demanding to know how i still had power after 5 days most people were stinking men looked like cave men .i had everything close by water /fuel /food my neighbours had it easy with me being near everybody in the street came to my place . i miss those days now that i live in a big town pop 2500 a few hours without power is a disaster now

This is going to sound harsh OP but "whaaaaaaaaaaaa"

After living through the October Surprise in the Northeast last year (total days out 13 1/2) in freezing to sub freezing temps, having immense damage done to the property (insurance measured it at close to 35K) and no immediate way of getting propane/gas (we made a makeshift Hibachi, and ate just fine) and before you think food kept in that weather, think again, the daytime would warm up to about 40-50 and everything spoiled (in my case about 1000 dollars worth of food) but..

While we all waited and waited for CL&P to get help to restore our power, all of you mid Atlantic states REFUSED to send crews to CT to assist.... read again REFUSED to send help, your news media downplayed our suffering to the point of a notation, and even one DC radio jock made fun of us.

I understand how horrible it is to live without electricity, but I certainly would have preferred doing it in 100 degrees rather than 20 degrees.

Finally after your state's power authority claimed that "We can't send anyone, it's too far away" we were rescued by crews from Hydro Quebec... VERYSAD that Canada had to come assist us when states in our own region wouldn't... So I have very little sympathy for what happened, and the fact that they are treating it like a disaster, when in fact we went through he same thing and it was an anecdotal footnote...

Yes it's harsh, but I will continue to say it, until we realise that we are all interconnected, and we all have to send help when it's needed. Oh a final btw: Northeast Utilities sent crews to KY to help you out..

you're half way to what happened in CT last year !

we lost if for 7 days after Irene, and 8 days after the october snowstorm

the first night is just like camping indoors, it's fun you tell ghost stories no TV or computer to distract you.

by day 4 it's not so fun

I learned a simple lesson

"I'll get by with a little help from my friends"

we made it rather effortlessly, but I feel bad for the folks on oxygen, disabled, elderly, those who are in real danger in an outage

reply to post by vkey08


CL&P profit taking is too blame, they downsized crews to ridiculous levels after deregulation, and tree trimming was neglected horribly, it was 1 single tree branch on my block that took power down to 41 homes

and the governor didn't even start calling for help until the 2nd day I think. we all saw the leaves on the trees, saw the weather report and started getting ready waaaay before that

that day was my sons 5th bday party, we'll never forget that one !

Originally posted by syrinx high priest
reply to post by vkey08

 

CL&P profit taking is too blame, they downsized crews to ridiculous levels after deregulation, and tree trimming was neglected horribly, it was 1 single tree branch on my block that took power down to 41 homes

and the governor didn't even start calling for help until the 2nd day I think. we all saw the leaves on the trees, saw the weather report and started getting ready waaaay before that

that day was my sons 5th bday party, we'll never forget that one !

Agree except that it was Butler that didn't start making calls around until Day 4, Malloy was riding him starting on day 2, and Butler had all sorts of excuses my favorite was about the Helicopters flaying around everywhere

We have spent the past 4 days flying around and assessing the situation, we are not really sure where to begin - Jeff Butler

I was almost livid, computers I could live without, tv i could live without, i had a radio with batteries, it was cooking for 3 disabled kids (who have picky eating habits as it is) that became the hard part, that and keeping everyone warm.. I'll never forget the CL&P Supervisor sitting on my street that said proudly "If I hear one complaint about the time it's taking us, i'll leave and you guys can have another 48 out..."

Thanks for sharing your story with us. Many of you may not know but there is a preparedness network on the east coast called liberty and preparedness If you are anywhere in the US you can join the forum.

A USMC gunny shared his preparedness motto with me and I will share it with all of you.

"Failure to prepare is preparing for failure"

The jackwagons at FEMA (fudge everything move away) tell all of us to have 3 days of food and water. Then DHS says if you have a week or more of stores you are a potential terrorist. Well I can tell you surviving Katrina and leading Search & Rescue operations those who had prepared had few issues. My first shower in a week was because some nice people had a solar shower set up and invited me over for a shower. FEMA took 10 days to set up showers for the Military and civilians were not allowed to use them. Even those of us that were working the event with Emergency Management.

I digress...

I am involved with a citizen preparedness project here in Mississippi and I can tell you our members are some of the best prepared people in this country. We work together and educate each other with our 5 pillars of preparedness.

COMMUNICATIONS
WATER
FOOD
MEDICAL
SECURITY

Those are the essential basics with shelter covered under security.

I recommend to our membership a minimum of a 3 month supply of food and water for every member of their family. I have over a years supply for 4 people.

imagine the chaos of being with out power for 2 months or more. That was Katrina for many.

As far as your propane situation in a long duration event it will run out eventually. you need a solution to cook that is safe and simple.

The rocket stove is super simple to make with stuff you likely have lying around already.



Since you have lots of trees down there will be lots of fuel for your rocket stove.

No need to fight over propane. Plus the stove will last for a year or so with continued use then you will need to replace the inner components so make several setups and store them.

keep in mind you can scale it up by using stove pipe and a metal five gallon bucket. if you can find non-galvanized stove pipe that would be better otherwise you need to run the stove several times before you cook on it. Galvanize puts off toxic gasses when burned so be sure to burn it off good before cooking on it.

Here is a video of it in action.



I took an old grill rack I had and bent it to fit over the top of mine giving it about 2" of vertical clearance under the pot. It will boil a quart of water in about 7-8 minutes.

Originally posted by vkey08
This is going to sound harsh OP but "whaaaaaaaaaaaa"

After living through the October Surprise in the Northeast last year (total days out 13 1/2) in freezing to sub freezing temps, having immense damage done to the property (insurance measured it at close to 35K) and no immediate way of getting propane/gas (we made a makeshift Hibachi, and ate just fine) and before you think food kept in that weather, think again, the daytime would warm up to about 40-50 and everything spoiled (in my case about 1000 dollars worth of food) but..

While we all waited and waited for CL&P to get help to restore our power, all of you mid Atlantic states REFUSED to send crews to CT to assist.... read again REFUSED to send help, your news media downplayed our suffering to the point of a notation, and even one DC radio jock made fun of us.

I understand how horrible it is to live without electricity, but I certainly would have preferred doing it in 100 degrees rather than 20 degrees.

Is this a competition now as to who had it worst? Or maybe a finger pointing exercise then? I think you missed the point of the OP's post.

reply to post by SWCCFAN


Useful info thanks.
Someone gets it...

The loss of food was dramatic in this storm. Millions of dollars worth of food in refrigerators and freezers across the Midwest-NE.
Here, in Indiana, power was restored completely today. 8 days after the storm. There was another hard hitting storm in Ft. Wayne, that slowed down the clean up of the first storm, on Thursday.
My house and our community were spared, although the storm was all around us. Only a huge build up of wind and lightning, diminishing quickly.
It was called a Derecho, as mentioned in another thread, not sure whom to credit for that info, but thanks.
Winds of 91 mph were reported at the Ft. Wayne airport. That is hurricane force winds on trees that never get treated that way by mother nature, and in drought conditions.
Glad everyone has their power back on, hopefully everyone that was without power got together with family, and talked to each other face to face, ate good food so that it wouldn't spoil, and helped their neighbor. That is the way of peace and light.

reply to post by starchild10


Thanks.

"Survival is not mandatory, you can die when ever you like"

Cheers.

reply to post by Fylgje

Maybe the lady who hoarded the tanks felt she could not survive without them. Ya never know but supplies
do run out quickly and waiting in long lines can be hazerdous if you are standing outside in the heat. Some
of us don't have money for supplies unfortunately and for some the lights going out can be a death sentence.
Oh yeah, I recall the hot sticky days of my youth without AC..but that was then..not sure I could weather
it through now..pardon the pun. It's a no brainer..if you can supply yourself for emergencies you should and
you just may need to share a bit after the event.After a hurricane in this area I warmed the fema? supplied
instant coffee in a bottle of water by putting it in the sun..sort of like making sun tea. It was better than
having no coffee let me tell 'ya.

@ op

This is why one should almost always have a video camera in the car. If you had that whole scene on video then you would have earned yourself some descent and quick cash via the leading news networks. ( food for thought ...next time be ready )

It would take me forever to respond to each and every person, but I'd just like to say thanks to the people who posted such kind words. It really means a lot. To the people who are being hard, I appreciate that too because honesty is the best policy and I understand exactly what you're saying and appreciate it too. I also aprreciate the tips and pointers.

*In March of '97 we had a major snow event, the heavy, wet type, and it knocked power off for around 15-16 days. The person who posted about hearing trees snapping and all that, I heard exactly what you're talking about. It was spooky. It was also as quite as I've ever heard--it was like we were the only people in the world. At the same time, it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

*Then the ice storm of '98, we lost power for 12 days. To the person in NY who lost it for 33: Man, I cannot imagine what you guys went through. I know this sounds stupid, but, be glad it was cold out and not oven temps. I would rather lose power when it's cold because I can create heat many ways but it's hard to keep cool. Still, cannot believe you guys went through that. Again, the way the ice was on everything--I drove down the road and the trees formed a frozen tunnel. It was one of the most bizzare and beautiful things I have ever witnessed.

*I appreciate the poster who put up the video of the rocket stove. I actually had something similar to that but we call it a salamander. That''s great info for people who don't know and can better prepare themselves when it happens to them. Again, thanks for posting that. Great info! This is a must-have for everyone.

*To people asking what they need for an event like this:
*First, I'd say water, and lots of it.
*Candles or oil lamps.
*You also need to think about if it's gonna happen while it's hot or cold. Cold, I'd just get a good wood/coal stove(the kind you can cook on) and keep it on standby because propane will run out after a while. However, If you have a big propane tank, it will last you for quit some time, but I'm thinking worst-case scenario. If the world stops today, you would have to have a wood stove. If it's just a temp power outage, you can get by on a wall mount propane or whatever.
*Lots of canned food
*Flashlights
*Weather radio and normal radio
*Batteries of all sorts
*A good back up of TP because leaves suck and you can only cut up so many socks and shirts.
*Figure out a close, safe place you can retreat incase you have to bug out. Me, I know where an unused, mile-long train tunnel is. That's worst-case scenario.
*Ammo. If the world stops, you will have to hunt. You may also have to protect yourself from the crazy nuts that I just encountered.

There are other things you will need, depending on your location. Figure it out. Sit and think about no power in the freezing cold. Go through all of it in your mind--what will make it easier. Same for if it's hot. I hope this thread helps better prepare people. I really do.

If any of you know survivalists here at ATS, please send them here so they can school all of us amatuers.

*Oh, and I wanted to add that I have a perculator to make coffee. That's what I was using on my Coleman camping stove. I've had that thing for a coons age. We cooked on it and our grill. We grilled more than I ever have in my life. We had to. We lost everything in the frig and freezer, and I mean everything.

Also, we have in our thoughts all the people who are still without. I wish there was something we could do and I have offered many people to come to my house for shower or just to watch TV and I meant it. The ones who aren't acting like crazy loon zombies anyway.

reply to post by Fylgje


Glad you got to experience this, really! I was the same way before but am now used to being wet/sweaty after a hard days work/walk and then bathing and cooking and relaxing for the night... with no TV hehe. Try it more often, it's good for ya and potentially life changing

Originally posted by ValentineWiggin
Brilliant move backing the car into the loading dock. A lot of people don't know what to do if they are caught in such a situation, good thinking! S+F

I agree I was waiting for this. I am a veteran of War and your fast acting move in this situation blows my mind. Amazing OP you had presense of mind to do such a thing! Wow!

Fascinating story and glad you got power back ok, I think you touched on what I'd worry about the most in that situation as living in an urban environment panic and stupidity of desperate people is what is the most risk to me and my family. I'm incredibly cautious not to mention our stockpile of water and food as in a real crisis that's the very thing that puts our lives at most risk - people would surely kill to get it eventually.

My wife's family is all in WV, they were without power for days as well. They live out in the hills, a few miles from the closest town. They have a well, but their pump has a start load that their gennie wouldn't handle. They had enough power for the fridge, a fan, a lamp, and the computer. They were cheking on the situation, and the local grocery had to throw out all their frozen food. They wouldn't even give it away, due to concerns over food-poisoning lawsuits. They had a hard time getting fuel, too, as the gas stations all ran dry, with long lines of people that locals didn't even know. Most important take-away they got from all this? Secure your water supplies! They had plenty of water, but it was inaccessible. They ended up going to the creek that runs across a corner of their property for bathing and supplemental water. Ice was non-existent, as was FEMA. After everyone was freaking out a while, my wife was able to get word to them that they absolutely had to help each other out. They're a bit spread out, but within 50 miles, with a majority of them in the same county. Wasn't practical for those "in the big town" to try to get out to the country, nor vice versa. The ones in the country got their power back yesterday.

What is appalling to me is the lack of civility that was on full display, and yes, I heard plenty of examples of bad behavior from locals as well as non-locals up there. Here in Texas, we had Hurricane Ike hit and suffered without power for three weeks. My wife and I have a generator (the only ones on our street who had one!) and had enough snap to stock up on water, fuel, and extension cords prior to the storm hitting. We ended up being the neighborhood mayors! After the debacle of the Rita evac, in which many died, we had decided that we would "bug-in" for the next storm. I had 35 gallons of gas in 5-gal plasticans, my neighbors had small amounts for mowers and whatever in little cans, all-in count was 39 gallons in the neighborhood. I also have two chest freezers in the garage, and everyone came over and put their food in one of them. We ran the gennie from noon to 9pm every day, operating the freezers, the fridge, a fan, and ran a cord to our next-door neighbor to run his fridge, a light, and his fish tank. Everyone would come over for the 9pm news on the TV, which we ran off a UPS that we charged every day. It'd last for the newscast, then we'd talk for a few minutes and then go to bed. When FEMA showed up three days later with ice, our neighbors went out and stood in line, and brought a bag for us. When they got the WalMart gas station got a trucked-in generator to operate their pumps, they started selling their gas for $6.83/gal. They actually had lines, and something else to think about- no credit cards, cash only. ATMs were down all over, We started running low after ten days, and the decision was made to give 5 gallons to our next-door neighbor for him to make a fuel run. His cousin had told him they had fuel about 75 miles away for around $3/gal, and we all pitched in with cash to have him make the run. He took enough to replenish the 30 gallons we needed for fuel, plus an extra $20, and was back four hours later with 6 full cans, plus a nearly-full tank in his car. We used up nearly all that fuel in the next ten days, but by that time, we had gas stations open. Once power was restored in our neighborhood 23 days after the storm, my neighborhood went back to their old ways, people would wave when coming or going, that was about it. But at least we had 3 weeks of being a fairly tight-knit bunch, and we now have an idea of who is trustworthy in a bad situation. It wasn't "every man for himself" during the emergency, we actually functioned as a team, with different people cooking each day, everyone helping to clear downed trees, clearing the street the morning after, etc.

Cook all your meat the first day, and leave the cans alone. Use up all the perishables first. I know, it sounds like common sense, but you'd be surprised how many people were going for cans straight off. If you can, slow-smoke it, it'll last days that way without needing much refrigeration, just keeping it cool. Boil your water in large quantities if possible, and store in 1 and 5-gal jugs. They're a whole lot easier to carry and pour from than the 42-gallon water barrels my neighbor struggled with! They have bladders available online for putting in your tub, fill it with a couple hundred gallons if you know you'll be without for a while. We have a couple of them, they're the source for washing and flushing. Also, don't forget to lay in a goodly stock of toilet paper. Had to pass out more than a few rolls to neighbors who ran out.

Get to know your neighbors ahead of time, have a neighborhood BBQ, make a plan ahead of time. Assign responsibilities. Have a plan for looking out for one another. Share, if you see a need and can help. Pool your knowledge to solve problems. Don't act a fool. Stock up now on H2O.

I also live in West Virginia and was hit by the winds. My power was out around four days until Tuesday evening (July 3rd).

Its my opinion that we're facing extreme heat and weather conditions due to anthropogenic global warming. I'm not a typical West Virginian who blindly supports the mining and use of coal just to support the state economy. I'm also not sure if the damage we're doing can be reversed at this stage. I would prefer everybody who works in a coal-related field be immediately shuffled into a renewable energy job.

#1
With the price of electric, they should be able to repair damage faster (considering how rich they are they could hire tons of new workers to cover the load).

#2
Guess this means we should stock up before the storm hits us too, and we lose everything and are unprepared.

#3
If people are really going to act stupid in a crisis, they deserve every negative thing coming to them.

I am extremely disappointed with the manner of which other people will act.
Selfishness, greed, despair, these things combined make for a real nightmare.

WOW!!
I am so sorry your family went through this too. We unfortunately did have a funnel/tornado hit our house here in NC.....It WAS horrifying.

We went 1-2 days without electricity and it was horrible!

My story here: www.abovetopsecret.com...

Buying a generator to hook up to our water well is going to be our first next major purchase. We didn't have running water. My family on the West Coast felt bad so gathered up $$ and are sending us some since I am out of work. I am truly blessed......Its horrible how fast you realize that electricity runs our lives.

I did learn one thing though throughout it all: More supplies I need to stock up on!!!