Lessons learned from a short power outage

I live in an RV on my grandson's property in the Pacific Northwest. We recently had an unexpected snowstorm and lost electricity for about 4 days. I was comfy in the RV, because I had drinking water stored, battery power, flashlights, candles and propane lanterns for lights.
Propane also for cooking and heating.

Grandson's family was miserable in the house. It's all electric. They had flashlights for lighting, but if not for son in law having a grill with a side burner they would have been sol for being able to cook anything. Before too long, they had to melt snow for drinking water, and to flush toilets. Thanks to SIL, they did have some food stored.

If it were a life-threatening cold, I could pack them into my place, but it would be nasty with 4 adults, 2 teens, 1 preteen and 2 dogs in here.

The kids biggest complaint was lack of internet. They had a few board games to play, and dogs to play with and care for. I mostly read books in the daylight hours and slept at night. I'm out of range of my cell phone service provider's tower, and dependant on the house Wi-Fi for cell phone service. With power off, I had no phone or internet, strangely enough, text worked. So that was how I was able to communicate with distant family and friends to let them know what was happening.

Great grandkids kept going out to their mom's electric car and using it for heat and to charge electronic devices!

I tried giving them advice, in this instance as well as in the past, but to them I'm just an old fart, so my input is heavily discounted, so I decided to let them be miserable.
I did take pity on them and baked a couple of homemade pizzas for them to boost their morale a little, and a few hours later power was restored

I have to wonder if they will learn anything from the experience.

 

Hehe, a great learning experience, IF they take the lesson.
Down here in Florida, hurricanes and tropical storms are a way of life. Back in 2018, Hurricane Michael knocked out power over a huge area. Mine was down four days. I have several LED lanterns, flashlights, battery powered small fans. My stove is gas. I did lose some food in my fridge/freezer, but not a large amount. I have two smartphones, my only comms. I have several charger bricks, and a bigger Shumacher charger pack. I have since added a bigger charger brick, a marine battery in a box with inverter, and a pair of lightweight folding solar panels (100w).
I keep around 15 gallons of stored water, and plenty off canned and LTS food.
Like I said, it's a way of life here.
I do find it fun to go to the local Wallymart just before a big storm hits, to watch "the floor show". College kids, soccermoms and softball dads all literally fighting over bottled water, batteries, canned food, etc. Sometimes literal fistfights! When the storm is gone, some of them will try to return what they'd bought. Sheesh.

 

That was my question also. I wonder if they are now thinking, what if...There are so many things they could do that would simply and easily help then next time the power goes out.

Due to the high fire danger, the electric company has been turning off the power. They say there is a repair issue but power always flicks off when the winds pick up. One thing I noticed is people and their addiction to their electronics. On no power days, I see a lot of folks sitting in their cars in the strong wi-fi areas.

 

Was this their first power outage?

 

Human nature is that if there is a safety net, it is there to be used.

 

No, power goes out a couple of times a month, but is usually restored within a couple of hours.

 

We had constant power outages--finally I had enough and got a gas generator big enough to run the well, refrigerator, freezer, microwave, TV and light in the living room, and two up stairs bed room. Keep a supply of gas to run 4 days, pending hurricane stock up on more gas.

 

LOL when you have my electric co-op power outages are expected at least monthly if not weekly and last from a few hours to a few days with the longest outage being 3 weeks 4 days back in the 2009 ice storm. Thus the reason I have two sources of heat and 3 sources of grid independent power. Hmmm actually 4 sources of power if you count being able to jump my truck batteries to the solar batteries and charge them..........

 

A couple hours..... Hehe, I just kick back and take a nap.
I have my local power company in my contacts. I give a call, and the truck arrives pretty quick. I am the only home on my street on city power. The others are on the co-op. They just got done replacing the old watermain along the main road. Again I am the only one on my street on it, as my old family property is on the corner where the two roads meet.
I should be good for another fifty years.

 

We learned when power was out on and off for a week during Hurricane Florence that cell phones were going dead quickly because they were constantly hunting for local towers that were down. We could get brief texts to go out in the order sent while longer ones would arrive days later in random order. By keeping texts short, and eventually numbered, we solved much confusion.

Good times. I survived the storm shortly after knee surgery and found my sand crutches worked everywhere, wet or dry.



We developed a staggered four hour check-in routine just long enough to send and receive texts before switching back off. I had one radio station still on the air to keep me updated on weather, and kept my tide table handy since I could only make it across the bridge at low tide after clearing the debris piles out of the road with a rake. I'll always remember sitting in my car, parked in the neighbors driveway, so I had a better view. I'd run the car, enjoy the A/C, get what spotty weather reports and news I could and check the status of my multiple chargers on flashlights, phones and power sticks. I never lacked for 12V power and had several cars to utilize for charging.

Without power, this was my Air Conditioning. Big fan power.



It was a learning experience. Water was out at one home, but the only water need was for toilet flushing. Dipping the leaves out of 5 gallon buckets of storm water runoff to fill the toilet tank made us feel comfortable. Freezers maintained safe temperatures until power was restored.



We lost one family home, a rented townhouse that we thought was perfectly located to survive storms. We found out how valuable a kiddie pool, plastic sheet, step ladder and a construction stapler could be in keeping the house habitable after the roof was compromised. Ours was the only townhouse that didn't become severely water damaged. Because we were stuck there, with water up to the mailbox, we were able to deal with the four foot patch of ceiling drywall and wet insulation that fell on the bed. We stayed in the townhouse until we were forced out by the county. Original building code violations caused the outside units such severe damage the entire building had to be gutted and rebuilt.



We spent ten months with half the family living in hotels before we found a home that wasn't in a flood zone. (these were all advertised as "newly remodeled" - that's realtor code for "The water was up to the gutters.") It was tough to find a house with a floor that didn't have a crest in the middle. Almost two years later we were offered first right of return to the old townhouse after the damage was repaired. By then we'd found the new place with a mortgage that was far less than we'd been paying in rent for the townhouse, so I was happy to tell them NO. The new house also fit all my hurricane and flood survival criteria and more.

Our power problems in both homes could be linked to power that came in on above ground wires. Not even to the house in one case, but to a pole down the street. This is definitely a consideration when looking for a coastal home, or one in a wooded area.

 

One thing I will never understand is the shear stupidity of the wet coast and it's insistence in running the entire letric grid above ground! The absolute worst forest fires in the last 200 years have happened the last 5 years, all because the god damn power companies insist on running power over head! The largest fire is state history murdered more then 80 innocents and was the largest fire in the state of Californias History, guess who got off with out any thing more then a slap on the wrist!!!
Same in Oregon, last year was the second worst in the states entire known history just shy of setting a new record, and guess who is to blame for it all, yup, the power companies!
Let's not even start on the crooked gov'ners if both states and their absolute corruption that allowed this all to happen in the first place, and do you think they will ever be held accountable Fuck no!

 

Ah coffee in the am, Life giver for the cobweb's of thought.
Power outages, Ya'll remember my tale of the neighbors lack of preparedness for hurricanes and their need to borrow one of my generators for Delta, Well they are stepping it up this year to the extent of putting in some bag/bucket veggies and the real winner, 8 chickens!
I'm convinced there is no-place in the states where one is safe from hostile weather events, Throw in dunder-headed company decisions with a topping of brain dead politicians and you have the perfect storm!
Now if I can convince them to put in a generator as their next prep then my life's work will be complete!
I'm kidding, The work will never be complete, There's always someone who will come knocking wanting to use or borrow something.
But to give the neighborhood credit at least 5 or more have noted how I run my large generator on Nat.gas and several have stepped up their game plan's!
Always room for improvement when it comes to mama's creature comforts.

 

One of the best things I did was have the mile from the main road down to us ran underground. It was expensive about double what poles would have cost but less expensive than cutting the hundreds of trees that over hang the road and make the tree cave down. Before us everything is above ground and where all of the malfunctions occur. Number one reason for power outages here...... Fried Squirrels in the transformers. Number 2 wind damage. number 3 farmers hitting the field poles with implements in particular the giant disc and planters. Pretty amazing how just a bump from one of giant field tractors and what ever it is pulling will snap a electric pole like its a toothpick.

Then we have the odd ball outages like when one of the local concrete spinners flips on its side with 7 yards of concrete on and slides into one of the big transmission lines. In his defense that is tight road and the front right steer tire blew and it flipped on its side fast. Driver only had a few scratches from the broken glass and a lot of poop in his pants. Retrieving the spinner I guess proved to be a real challenge since the 7 yards set up inside of it.

 

Power outage? What if it didn't come back for a week, a month, or ever? Most people are not ready for even a couple of days. Calling 911 is not the answer.

 

My property is fortunately well located to avoid flooding. Hurricane Michael (Oct. 2018) knocked a big tree down, flattening my front chainlink fence and taking down my power line, causing my four day outtage. I never lost cellphone service. The radio kept me up to date on news.
Back in the 1980s after another hurricane, my parents went eight days without power, same property. Dad always kept plenty of food stored, though stuff in the fridge and freezers went bad.
Over all, the Tallahassee area is the best place to be in Florida during hurricane season. The large landmass south of us jutting into the Gulf tends to deflect storms east or west of us. Getting hit full on is very rare.

 

Ha me and the tractor knocked out power along the hwy across the road as I hooked the anchor cable with the bucket backing up.
As I turned the wheels to free myself the wooden pole started violently shaking itself and POP went the fuses? across the hwy.
My power lines crossing the hwy and rr tracks came to see me.
As like this is an Oh sheet moment and I'm covering up the tractor behind the old house up drives a power company truck.
Dude gets out and asked me if my power is out, I'm like Hell I don't know since I rarely use the stuff.
He looks around and determines a train must of come along and clipped the wire.
I'm like Hell I reckon so I've been down in the woods checking cameras and putting out corn.
Sometimes I get a kick out of acting as dumb as I look.lol

 

I would say I'm coming you're way to outrun a storm but every time we get one here it pretty much comes your way so that ideal of mine sucks eggs, lol

 

We have a pretty big Genny here, so power outages are not going to be that big a deal for us! The longest we had ever been down was about 5 days, and that was due to a major ice storm that took down trees and lines all over the northern part of the state!
In Colorado, you have to have a Genny or you will have to do without power, some times for quite some time. A big pair of 26k gensets keeps everything running nice and easy, and being diesel, we can keep the lights on for months, not hours or days! Winds up at the ranch are an every day kinda deal, some days it's flat nasty, but mostly just a good blow. Winter time is always when the shit gets real, so, gotta keep the power up and heat going or else! We also put up a bunch of firewood every season, saves a ton in fuel if we do loose power!