Preparation for emergencies such as no power or flooding?

[recycled sixtie]

I have done a quick search for protecting your house in an emergency and did not find what I was looking for. My friend in the UK has no electric power due to the high winds. It got me thinking how you are prepared to handle emergencies such as no electric power or flooding?

Basic things like a chain saw to clear downed trees(assuming there are no downed lines)and a power generator I understand. But if you have a Honda generator then it needs to be run outside due exhaust fumes.

What provision have you made for upcoming storms? With more extremes in weather I am sure it would pay off as these occrurences seem to be happening more often..

[oldE]

A few years ago we decided our old generator, which would only power fridge, freezer and a kettle, was not enough. We consulted an electrician friend and he sourced a generator big enough to power most of the house. I built a small addition to the garage with external exhaust and force fed fresh air, with underground conduit to the house. My friend put in a new panel and it sat unused for two years.
In January we got to use the system three times for a total of somewhere around 60 hours.
I already have a power saw and we have our own water supply.
Aside from remembering to have cash on hand to buy extra gas, we were set.
Best
Les

[Bugsinrugs]

I have two generators that provide enough power to keep two refrigerators, lights and T.V. Running. In December it snowed almost two feet overnight. Trees all over the county had snapped. We were without power for eleven days. Only hassle was fuel for the generators. There was only one station open and the lines were ridiculous. I heat the house with a wood stove and have enough wood for two winters. I also have two chainsaws at the ready and enough food in the freezer for maybe 10 days.

[Seahawk]

I have lived here for over 25 years and have probably lost power for a total of 35 days or so. The local power supplier is excellent and they work their butts off before andafter storms. They are really good. Our problems is that we are at the end of the grid through a series of woods. Down trees are the biggest issue.

There are some pros and cons here:

- We have a well so I can have water
- We have a basement that will flood so I must keep the sump pumps going. I hate having a basement.

I did the small generator thing to start. After the first prolonged outage, 5 days, we got a bigger generator and a transfer panel installed to plug the generator into. Running extension cables around the house is nuts!

The larger gen powers the well, refrigerators/freezers and sump pumps as well as lights, internet and the TV. We recharge all computers, phones, etc. at night or as necessary. There are very informative charts available that show power draw for specific appliances.

The transfer panel has a number of discrete switches so we can manager the load with turning items off on the transfer panel.

I kept the small gen for years as back-up but then both another, larger gen. That was 10 years ago. They still run great but my wife has a hard time pull starting them so we bought an electric start gen last Fall.

I sold the oldest of the other two generators.

So power is good. I have to have it given the basement situation.

Make sure he uses non-ethanol fuel and keeps ahead of maintenance.

I have a lot of power tools (chain saws, pole saws, etc.) so I am good there. I keep 50 gallons each of both gas and diesel fuel (which I rotate. I have only 10 gallons of none-ethanol gas but in a prolonged outage the corn stuff works).

I also store a lot of batteries and flash lights dedicated to storms. They don't get batteries until we need them. I have rechargeable pistol grip lights in three places in the house for quick access.

Flooding is a concern since I am on the Potomac. We know well in advance if the hurricane is headed our way and the county does a really good job with providing sand bags, etc. just in case.

For comfort, we have fans and a 120v a/c unit on rollers. Not a big draw. In the winter we have three fire places that will heat the house. My neighbor and I have a lot of wood we cut and split.

We also have a Coleman camp stove for back-up.

Sounds like a lot but we have gotten good at it.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

I have a large 18th century fire place and lots of wood furniture, should keep us warm for a few days

Power outages are rare in the UK, we don't have extreme weather, just meh weather, can't remember ever having it out for longer than a few hours, even when the occasional storm rolls through

However I'm quite mindful this could all change as the power generation infrastructure lags behind the demand for EV cars and all things electric

Our heating is oil powered, cooking is electric, water is mains pressure, never needed cooling

I'm think it would be prudent to invest in a stand alone emergency diesel (could use heating oil) generator that would keep the heating going, cooking, and a few lights on in the event of a power outage lasting days

[Rusty Heap]

my 7500 watt generator sucks down 5 gallons of gas a day long running period. I keep 2-3 five gallon gas cans as backup. In a major power outage, the local gas stations were out of power too so you need backup gas.

[Superman]

Though we are in rainy W Wa, there is no flooding danger where I live. Unlike Paul, we are near the trunk of a robust power grid section, with underground power in our area. Power outages happen, but they won't last more than perhaps 3 days even if a serious wind storm affects all of W Wa. The nearest stand of trees is hundreds of feet away. We have only one fridge/freezer, but there is a good couple of weeks of food in it, at least, and a very significant dry and preserved food pantry. Gas range. Backpacking stoves if gas were unavailable.

But I would like to get a small generator and a switch box, for fridge, perhaps TV and we have a gas fireplace with a fan that could work if there was a bit of power for the fan.

Though our needs are simple and our situation fairly secure, the topic of this thread is certainly important. Lots of people are unprepared. We could do more to prepare. We have no "bug-out bags" and our vehicles could have more resources in the trunks.

Water. We have backpacking supplies so all we would need is a nearby stream. Also, and of course the police would need to keep order there, but Olympia has an artesian well. Gravity keeps it flowing 24/7. The spigot is about 1" diameter. Tasty too.

[Bugsinrugs]

In my area lots of people have stand alone generators powered from 500 gallon propane tanks. They soon found out that they were depleting their propane rapidly. With the snow and downed trees the propane companies could not get to lots of customers. I gave away a couple of cords of wood to friends that ran dry on their propane and could not heat their house.

[Evans, Marv]

A generator is a must for refrigerators, well pumps, lights, etc. A supply of wood is good if you have a fireplace. Flooding is a problem that might be mitigated by landscaping, diversion walls/berms, or excavating to create flood channels.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Bugsinrugs

In my area lots of people have stand alone generators powered from 500 gallon propane tanks. They soon found out that they were depleting their propane rapidly. With the snow and downed trees the propane companies could not get to lots of customers. I gave away a couple of cords of wood to friends that ran dry on their propane and could not heat their house.

Yep, it's back to basics for me when the power goes. Full woodshed to feed a wood stove, kerosene for lighting, hand pump at the well for water. Transistor radio for entertainment. It was interesting to play with the radio during Oregon's last big power outage. Could find out how the power crews were progressing towards my area as radio stations got back on the air.

Flooding? No real plan beyond evacuation. But that's never happened here during the 40+ years I've lived here.

[flatbutt]

Hurricane Sandy nearly did us in but it was bad enough. 15 days with no power and we are all on our own wells and septics. At the time i had a crappy B&S gennie that was not muffled...at all. Sucker was Loud!

I upgraded to the Honda and have needed it no more than 6 times since then. A lot of my neighbors went for the whole house Generac at the cost of thousands $$$$$. I store my Honsa it in the basement and run it outside of course but underneath a small "lean-to that I built for it.

As for downed trees I used to harvest my own firewood, so I'm well prepared for that.

I keep canned goods enough for a month or two and rotate them out based on dating.

[3rd_gear_Ted]

Rabbits, goats & chickens.

[look 171]

Kill all generators. Stop it, you people. Global warming is here so go electric and just get an electric generator already That's what all my lefty neighbor would say. If not, a battery power generator.

I live near the top of a 1000'+ hill so no flood here. I have been here for over 20 years. The power has gone out on me only a hand full of times and they come back on within an 30 min. to about two hours, 4-5 was the worst. If big siht hits the fan, I will go to my lefty neighbor who are always preaching to save the world, poor, homeless and everything else under the sun. I am going to their house and get whatever it is that they are giving away to the people in need. By the way, I aint giving 'em siht. No generator, just a BBQ with a couple of propane cylinders that are always full. Our BBQ is piped to our natural gas line. 20 gal of water that I rotate every few months. Plenty of Coyote for me to hunt if it became necessary then there's the neighbor's dog across the valley.

[Crowbob]

OMG another gererator thread!

In a long-term power outage, like a week or more, you can get by with powering up a typical home for 4 hours/day with a genset. Two hours in the AM for breakfasts, morning ablutions, freezers and fridges, etc. Two hours at night to charge batteries, lights, meals, freezers and fridges and whatever else is needed before lights out (pardon the pun).

It is, after all, an emergency.

I burn about one gal/hour of diesel in my tractor at full tilt to run an 8kw PTO genny. The tractor holds 5gals and I keep 15 gals on hand. So that’s 20 gals = 5 days in comfort enough for a family to stay clean, warm and fed in winter.

In summer, a power outage wouldn’t hardly be noticeable except for hot/cold running water, battteries and reefers.

[URY914]

Realize the South is different than winter storms but the first thing that happens in Florida when a storm or hurricane is coming is the stores get all the bottled water bought out. I've lived in Florida all my life and the city water has NEVER been out. OK, maybe if you have a well and lose power you need the bottled water but not in the city. So buy up some 5 gallon camping water storage containers to keep water in if you think you need it. Panic buying is stupid.

We always make sure the LP gas tank is full for the grill and stock up on simple canned stuff to eat. Don't have a generator and don't think we need one. Longest I've ever been w/o power was 4 days.

People need to think more about weather related outages.

[GH85Carrera]

We have lived in this house for 22 years. One winter we had an ice storm and lost power for a few hours, but the fireplace kept the house warm enough. The power came on and all was fine. One spring a severe thunderstorm blew over some trees onto a major power pole and caused a wide area power outage one evening. My wife's brother and sister in law were spending the night. It was warm, but not hot, and my BIL said he did not get much sleep because he had to get up and spin the ceiling fan over and over. Since the power was still off, for breakfast we ate the ice cream that was getting soft. My BIL could not wait to get home to tell his friends that know my wife that she served him ice cream for breakfast.

Every time we have a thread like this, I get the urge to get a generator. My neighbor has a whole house generator by Generac. He has had it for 12 years and it has run for 30 minutes total to provide backup.

We have city water, so the water supply is not an issue. We are never going to have a major flood like the residents along the Mississippi get regularly. Hurricanes and tsunamis are just not a possibility. A devastating earthquake like California has had and will have is not remotely likely. Mudslides and hillside slumps are not going to happen with no barren steep hills. At worst a tornado like the one that hit Moore, OK 30 miles from me with 300+ MPH winds devastated one very small area. Just a few block away was full civilization and help. The area hit was just debris and loss of power was not an issue when the house is gone.

I have enough friends that we could spend a few nights with if indeed our area had a real power issue.

We have a large upper end (expensive) long term assisted living home just 6 blocks from our house. I suspect we are on the same power grid as they are. The last major ice storm that crippled Texas was two weeks of cold and snow here, and we never had more than a momentary power blip.

[svandamme]

flooding preparedness is something you should do before you buy your house

[unclebilly]

Generator from my race trailer powers furnace, waterpump, and Rinnai.

We heat with natural gas and gave a gas stove.

We’ve only had the power out long enough to need to do this a couple times. Not a big deal.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by svandamme

flooding preparedness is something you should do before you buy your house

Yep.

[cockerpunk]

i have lived here for 34 years, and have never had the power off for any more than 2-3 hours, maybe a dozen or so times. days? never happened.

i am considering buying a generator though, mostly for the road racing rig so we dont have to run everything off the truck.