In a Blackout (Share some campfire stories)

[freax]

*Censored*

[Luigi]

I do not like power outages and blackouts. Commercial power is much less expensive.
We went without power for a week two times in the last 10 years. It is not uncommon here to go a at least a day without power each winter. This is due to wind and ice storms in the Pacific Northwest.

We ordered a generator a month before our very first major outage in 2006 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah_Eve_wind_storm_of_2006). It arrived a few days before the outage. I was hooking up the connection when the power failed.
We had power during that outage. I invited some of my neighbors over so they could stay warm. These power outages and storms are what prompted me to get amateur and GMRS licenses.

During an especially bad ice storm a few years ago, I had to venture out on foot to buy some food. The storm came on pretty quickly the day before we normally go to the store. Getting out was nice after being inside for a long time. There were no cars on the road. Lots of cars were in ditches. The road was covered in tree branches. Several power lines were down. You have to be very careful about wires on the road. Most of the power lines that I saw were laying off the road in a tangle of trees. During my trek I checked in with my family every 10 minutes over radio. At the store, there was no power. The owner was glad to sell some of the more perishable items because his refrigerators were not running. I bought a lot of eggs and some meat with cash that night. Being on foot saves a lot of issues. You do not get stuck like cars do. If you are dressed right there should be less issues. Be sure that you are visible (lights and reflective clothing) and stay away from busy roads. Walk though neighborhoods if you can rather than main roads. Again, stay away from power lines. Watch for overhanging branches too.

During our most recent storm, many of the repeaters were not running or they were on emergency power. One system here in my area was running. It has worldwide coverage (Key up and 70 repeaters around the world are transmitting). This system is called the WINS system. I was able to get some detailed information about the storm from some folks outside of the area. This all happened before I was using Winlink for emails.

Here are a few observations:
A power outage can bring people together. No facebook crap or people sitting around looking at their phones all day. This can be good (time to bond) or bad (getting sick of each other). Spend the time enjoying your company. Keep the stress levels down.
Diesel generators are better than gasoline generators.
Fuel should be stored outdoors.
Have a check list for the generator start up and shutdown. It is surprising what you can forget when ice is falling out of the sky and it is 4 am.
Camping stoves (used outdoors) work very well during a storm. Propane or butane works well for a camping stove. Kerosene stoves work well too, but they are harder to start.
Propane tanks should be stored outdoors.
A bbq grill can be used to cook a turkey. I had to do that one Thanksgiving when our power was out for a day.
Have a good CO detector on hand when the generator is running. Exhaust can blow back into your home.
Running a generator can be expensive. Perhaps 2 hours on and 4 hours off might keep food cold in a refrigerator. Normally we run during the day and shut it down for the night. During the day we recharge batteries and keep the furnace (natural gas) running.
Kerosene heaters can provide a good source of heat. Wick lanterns can keep a room warm. Remember that CO detector. Have a fire extinguisher on hand as well.
A deep cycle marine battery in a proper battery box with a smart charger is an important part of your power needs. We used ours at night when the generator was turned off. It can be used to run a radio for send a message or to run a medical device when there is no power.
Cars: You should try to keep your vehicles fuel tanks topped off as much as possible. If you get stuck on the road, it is better to have a full tank. Sitting in severe traffic with an almost empty tank on a cold day really is not fun.

Venturing out in a car: When the weather starts to turn, do not rush out to get supplies. This is when the traffic is really bad and people do not know how to drive. I was stuck on the road because the road conditions changed rapidly. People were sliding into each other and blocking the roads because they have little experience with icy roads. Please stay off the road. I was amazed at the stupidity of people in 4x4 vehicles. I had to stop on a road because a truck had jackknifed on the ice. The truck blocked the entire road. I stopped on the road and left an open area in front of the truck. I was positioned so that I could drive down a hill and back up the next one when the road was clear. About 10 drivers behind me got impatient. They attempted to go past me even though they would not be able to get past the truck. All of them ended up on the guard rail. People could not wait. Once the truck was cleared, I drove down the hill and used momentum to get up the next hill. I had no issues in a rear wheel drive vehicle. People following, got impatient and they created a traffic jam when they failed to gather enough momentum to get up the next hill. They stopped on the upward slope of the hill and created another mess. Please, do not stop on a hill. If you have to slowly run a stop sign, that is better than getting stuck going up a hill.

Those are my experiences in bad weather and dealing with a grid down situation. You are going to see more natural disasters than man made disasters. Be prepared for the natural ones. Be prepared, and help others when you can.
Luigi

[RadioRay]

Before moving into our present home, we were in a rental for a  4  1/2 day power outage caused by a hurricane.  My Wife and I used to live on a small sailboat and had only recently moved ashore.  The boat was set-up for long range cruising, so no problem with water, power , food & etc.  It was however, not nearby.  In the rental, when the lights went out the first night, the oil lamps proved to be a problem.  It was too windy to open a window - even a little (hurricane!) and the odors of oil and the heat were not welcome.  I dragged a lead/acid battery and some 'boat junk' into the bedroom and clamped a 'trash 12 vdc boat fan to one of the bed posts so that my Wife and I could lay in the narrow column of moving air for comfort.  That made a huge difference in comfort. The American South is hot and humid anyway, add a hurricane, and it's miserable. IT also gave us electric light, using my LED trouble light from the Bronco.

1.  It was HOT and extremely humid inside!

2.  Our ship's lanterns we had from the boat gave a 'warm-yellow' light, but the odor and heat was not welcome in the house by either of us.

My Wife had taken the precaution of filling-up containers and the bathtub with water. I had filled both cars and some fuel cans. We had gas and food lines 2 1/2 days BEFORE this hit. Being ex-cruisers, we had no shortage of food, so avoided the markets in the lead-up to the hurricane impact. The next morning, the local ham radio repeater was working and I learned that most of the area was without power, the few exceptions bring those who were on the hospital power line, which is a hardened system. My Wife is a nurse, and her workplace was open. They needed her at work, so using the Bronco 4x4, we picked our way toward the main road, through downed trees, power lines and debris.  Being in farm country, local farmers used tractors to haul the big stuff off our main (2 lane - no line) road.

I pulled a shift at the emergency operations center, getting comms running and when I returned home, the hurricane was gone and the weather was bright and sunny! I began digging through the 'junk' in the back of the Bronco, left over from cleaning out the sailboat. Fortunately, I had tossed a bunch of 'boat stuff' in the back of my Bronco a few days before: 40 watts of assorted folding solar panels, 1 deep cycle marine battery, one 'dual purpose' battery, misc wire , Anderson Powerpole connectors, assorted LED light clusters, my tool kit and the MOST welcomed piece of all from the night before:  that small 'junk' 12 volt fan!!! 

Weather following a hurricane is often excellent and sunny.  So, I was able to solar charge batteries, including the Handi-Talkie used for 911 (no cell phones), string 12 VDC wire harnesses in the house and because all of my 12 vdc gadgets use Anderson PowerPole connectors, we could add/remove lights, the fan & etc. at will.  An LED 'trouble-light' kept us happy in the living room.  Every morning I'd haul the batteries outside and hook them directly to the solar panels (no charge controller) , then monitor the voltage to prevent overcharge. With only 4 amps of charge current, it's HIGHLY unlikely that I was going to overcharge a medium sized marine battery, but at least I knew what my charge current/voltages looked like each day.  One battery was so low at one point, that I installed in into the Bronco, jump started it with the good battery and drove into town for more LED lights from the auto parts store - which I had learn by radio, was open. Of course,  keeping the GOOD battery with me - JIC was a good idea. Cars are great battery chargers, though not very efficient unless you actually need to drive somewhere anyway.

Water: the people who owned the cluster of rental homes around their ranch put a generator on the groups' well head and ran it a couple of times each day.  They did this at their own expence. For three days, we were all doing fine, using the pressure in the surge tank between generator runs for what little water we NEEDED.  Then 'they' returned.  You know the type: LOUD, stupid and self centered.  Within an hour of their arrival home, the pressure was all gone, no water and the generator died as well. In short, the entire family must have decided to take 'Hollywood showers', wash dishes and all that crap, rather than conserving.  The generator was over tasked and fried. I was proud that my Wife had maintained our reserve of water in tubs, jugs and jars.  We shared water with neighbors who were less fortunate and hoped that 'they' would just go back where they came from.

Day three our cell phones began working.

Lessons: 

1.  Information was almost entirely lacking from commercial radio stations.

2.  Ham radio was a great way to do reconnaissance without exposing yourself by leaving home and served as 911 - if required.

3.  WATER!

4.  A folding solar panel, battery (can be your car battery)  are very handy for small lights, recharging e-readers and phones.

5.  The 'wind-up radio was very good for music while around the house.

6.  Our camp stove placed on the 'normal' stove-top was wonderful.

7.  In HOT/HUMID conditions it is VERY tough to sleep without moving air.  That little 'junk' fan was worth it's weight in gold - right behind having water - really!

8.  In town, members of the usual 'you owe me' crowd were showing-up even before the hurricane hit and afterward at almost any building with lights on, demanding that they be taken care of 'cuz they ain't no lights at my house.'  or for no 'reason' at all.  The city was offering shelter at the YMCA, but that was not what they were demanding.  The town police were busy.
8.1  No problems like that out in the country... ;)

9.  Neighbors and land owner shared with each other, worked on solutions for problems and the farm tractor(s) were VERY handy to reach town - eventually.


At our home now, we have systems in place that would make this much easier, assuming they do not become damaged.  However, 'all that junk' in the back of my old Bronco came in VERY handy during that hurricane! 

It's not a messy car: it's a SURVIVAL KIT!


de RadioRay  ..._  ._

[Luigi]

Sometimes having the only house with lights is not a good thing. The "you owe me" crowd. I like that. Funny. Not so funny, but I like your phrase. Classic ant and grasshopper.

Humidity and heat can be unbearable. I am glad that you made it through the heat.
You make a good point. Having 12 volt appliances is very important when the power is gone. Water is important. People do not realize that they have an entire water heater full of water. That is also a good source of water.
Luigi