Hurricane Wilma Aftermath

[TarpleyG]

I didn't see much on this. Guess we don't rate a NO-style minute-by-minute report down here since we have "been there and done that" so many times lately.

Anyway, a few things I learned about a WINDstorm vs. a WATERstorm (like Katrina):

1) While your house may very well stay in tact, you can count on a bunch of eletric infrastructure to go down leaving you in the dark. Have a generator, keep it tuned up, and have plenty of gas BEFORE the storm hits.

2) Get to know your neighbors. I have known my next door neighbor Charlie since we moved in and we have always been friendly. He needed some power and I needed some more gas. I had a genset and he had a bass boat full of gas. Back-scratching...plus, he had a freezer full of good meat we are still eating on.

3) We, as a society, are WAY to dependent on gasoline. For those not paying attention, gas was more valuable than gold about last Wednesday. I had the usual forethought to have as much on hand as I had (safe) room for but it still wasn't enough. It took until today (a full 7 days) before enough stations were back online that you don't have an hour wait for gas.

4) Trying to drive down here with traffic lights is challenge enough. Remove those lights and the frustration level goes into overdrive. People are stupid, inconsiderate, or both. No wonder I love my dogs more than most humans.

5) Make sure you neighbors are prepared for goblins too. (My neighbor Charlie isn't like me in that gunny sense). He was sitting in his garage and 4 disadvantaged youths came up and TOLD him they were going to take the gas out of his boat. He ran 'em off by calling the cops but what if they had escalated the situation? Oh, and this was in broad daylight too.

6) Thank God a cold front came through with this storm. Sleeping without air here is miserable at best.


We are still without power and running the generator twice a day to keep the fridge and freezer cold and to watch TV at night. Hopefully power will be restored before the November 8th target they keep yammering about on the news.

I will be so happy to leave this cesspool next summer that I cannot put it into words. Picture me dancing a jig if you will.

Greg

 

[Crosshair]

I have a pedal generator. Works good for little things like a laptop or a radio. Should come in handy this winter.

 

[Dave R]

Great advice, Tarpley.

Remember to put Sta-Bil in your stored gas unless you rotate it often. And fill your car when you get to half a tank.

FWIW, I went through the edge of Andrew. At Home Depot 2 days after the storm, the cashiers' lines went to the back of the store. Everyone from Homedale was buying 2 things--a propane grill so they coulod cook, and a generator to run the power tools, to begin making repairs.

 

[CZ-100]

We have been through 3 Hurricanes in the past 14 months.

The first two (Jeanne and Frances) we lived in our travel trailer, which is in the driveway for 18 days because of the above 90 temps, the generator ran the A/C which was nice while sleeping.

This last Hurricane (Wilma) after the storm moved out the temp. started dropping, it ended up getting down to 50 deg the next two nights and the upper 50s the two after that and than warmed up to the 60s. So we stayed in the house sleeping was no problem.

Power was out for 7 or more days for each of the 3 storms, a Generator is a must if you wish to live close to the way you did before, keep the food in your fridge cold, hot water for showers, lights to see at night, and of course to power the big screen TV and satellite and the use of the Internet if the phone works.

Last year because of the heat we ran the generator almost all day (20 hrs a day) which used ~10 gal of gas a day. This year it was cooler and was only needed about half that, but still you need a lot of gas. Before all of the storms I filled my generator 7 gal, boat, which holds 60 gals, a 28 gal tank with wheels and hose and 5, 5 gal cans, which equals ~120 gals. Another + was that my truck uses Diesel and while most stations that had electricity had long lines for gas, most had no wait for diesel.

Food was not really a big deal, it does not take much to have a week or two of food on hand, we did not have to change our eating habits much. We have plenty of propane on hand and the generator can power the microwave, and coffee pot.

We have city water and did not lose pressure in any of the storms and a septic tank, so flushing was NO problem, and if the city water quits we also have a well, and pool.

Last year I did wake up in the middle of the night and looked out the window of the travel trailer to see a car with two miscredents in it driving by very slow with NO lights on casing out the neighborhood, but if they stopped anywhere in my area they would of found trouble, cause most everyone loves guns and is armed to the teeth.

All and all WE are prepared to hold out for a little while, but it still amazes me how many people after only one or two days were complaining that they had no food or water and were out of gas.

 

[pax]

Crosshair ~

Tell me about your pedal generator. Where did you get it, about how much did it cost, and how hard is it to use?

pax

 

[oh blanky]

Get me the hell out of here.

Now there's heavy rain and the roads are flooded too.

 

[NMshooter]

There must be a few companies still making pedal generators, but I think you will have to look outside the US.

They were used as recently as WW2 for field radios, and still used in third world countries to power radios in remote locations.

Might want to check out Bruniton solar chargers, and similar products. No pedaling required.

The more anyone can do to reduce their electricity needs the easier it is to get by when the power goes out.

 

[Crosshair]

My generator

pax

Crosshair ~

Tell me about your pedal generator. Where did you get it, about how much did it cost, and how hard is it to use?

I built it using an exercise bike I got at a yard sale and a 24 volt DC motor I picked up from the local surplus center as well as a few odds and ends I picked up here and there. It is quite easy to get 12 volts to run an inverter, but it takes quite a bit to get it up to about 14 volts to start charging a 12 volt battery very well. I am thinking about getting two 6 volt batteries and charging them in parallel, then wire them in series to run an inverter. All total it probably cost me about $40-50 to build it.

I would say I can get about 60-90 watts of power out of it. (IIRC the maximum mechanical output a human can sustain is about 150-200 watts.) Not enough to run a fridge, but enough to run an inverter, power lights, radio, charge a laptop/cellphone battery, etc. I use rechargeable AA and AAA batteries alot so I can run my charger as well. Having power to charge you're MP3 player so you can have music when you are cleaning up can be a real boost. Having some lights at night can be nice as well. It is in the basement next to the water heater right now, but it is ready to go if I need it.

If you are going to built one, remember to put in a diode or else the battery is going to try and run the motor.

 

[pax]

Might want to check out Bruniton solar chargers, and similar products. No pedaling required.

Excellent products for New Mexico. Lousy for Washington.

Crosshair, thanks. I'll do some research. Got plenty of young active bodies around here, and might be able to fit something like that into our plans.

pax

 

[AStone]

3) We, as a society, are WAY to dependent on gasoline.

I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade, but if these folks are right - and after a lot of reading, beginning as a very hard core skeptic, I'd say they are right - then I'd say we're soon going to experience life with a lot less gasoline.

(If one begins to follow this issue closely, one finds that even "Big Oil, Inc" admits that the days of easy oil are over. There's little left. For the first time in 100 years, demand is exceeding supply. The Saudi fields are dwindling, ANWR is a drop in the bucket, and we are fighting for the scraps. Best to get ready for a lot less in the not too distant future...Can you say TEOTWAWKI?)

As for lights, may I suggest the following: make like an ancestor and get yourself a few ol' fashioned hurricane lamps that run nearly forever (ok, ok, only 12 hours or so) on lamp oil. No generator needed. A lot less expensive, much quieter, but still put out plenty of light to identify a goblin (v. the girlfriend or the family dog) coming in the kitchen door.

Nem

 

[72Rover]

Another 2 cents....

After Isabel when the power out for about 10 days, I purchased a, 8,500 watt tri-fuel generator from Northern. It'll run on gasoline, propane or natural gas. Water and natural gas don't go out around here, so once the generator is running, there is no refueling. One of the problems with gasoline is long-term storage - even with Stabil or some other additive, it 'goes off' quickly. Propane doesn't.

As for lighting, the Aladdin line of mantel lamps is the way to go. These produce about 60 watts of light silently and a significant amount of heat.

Cheers

 

[JamisJockey]

In two years I'm moving back into hurricane country. Not a severe strike zone, but still an area that gets hit from time to time.
72Rover, I'm real interested in that generator. Got a link? Can you directly fuel it off your natural gas line?

 

[Tall Man]

We are still without power and running the generator twice a day to keep the fridge and freezer cold and to watch TV at night.

Sounds like you have the standard issue 3.6K rpm gas genset. Did you use a line (voltage) conditioner between the generator head and your TV? Given the sensitivity of electronic equipment of televisions and the like, I'm curious to know if you ran your TV directly from the generator's dirty electric signal. Thanks.

TM

 

[hso]

Nem,

And where does lamp oil come from? If you're concerned about lights as the petroleum fuel runs out you might consider solar and 12volt system using LEDs. You could use solar collectors and/or low head hydro together through a power center to a battery set to power low voltage LED lamps. You can't run your standard 110V systems so you'd have to wire parallel to it, but over short household runs you can run low voltage DC. This way you're not dependent on anyone supplying the resource to provide low levels of eletrical power.

http://www.realgoods.com/

http://www.albeotech.com/talea-led-lights.htm

http://www.capeinnovation.com/12volt/

http://superbrightleds.com/led_prods.htm

 

[TarpleyG]

Sounds like you have the standard issue 3.6K rpm gas genset. Did you use a line (voltage) conditioner between the generator head and your TV? Given the sensitivity of electronic equipment of televisions and the like, I'm curious to know if you ran your TV directly from the generator's dirty electric signal. Thanks.

Nope. Just plugged it in and watched away. So far so good. I think generators have come a long way in the past few years. I am even running my laptop and DSL modem off it. I do know a guy that bought a new no-name genset and blew up every light bulb in his house. He connected the 3-prong, 240V, outlet to his house wiring. Something about a floating ground . Anyway, if you buy a Troy-Bilt 5550 with the 10 HP Briggs & Stratton you should be okay. That's the one I have. If it blows something up (TV, computer, fridge, etc.) Troy-Bilt will be getting a phone call. IIRC, no where in the owner's manual does ot say you cannot/should not run this type of equipment.

Here it is in it's temporary house...

Greg

 

[AStone]

oil, lamp oil & solar

Nem,

And where does lamp oil come from? If you're concerned about lights as the petroleum fuel runs out you might consider solar and 12volt system using LEDs.

Hso, thanks for the ideas. I'm bookmarking the links.

As for the lamp oil, even the most hard core pessimists in the "peak oil" camp are sure that we're not going to "run out" of oil for decades more. There's still a fair amount out there, it's just neither cheap nor easy to extract.

Their issue is, as I understand it, that we've reached the point in petroleum extraction that: 1) what's remaining is expensive to get up; 2) for the first time in human history, demand is exceeding supply. As long as the "supply line" (on a graph) was running above the "demand line", everything was fine. But when demand exceeds supply, and supply continues to drop (because we're now, or soon to be, on the far side of "Hubbert's peak", the max in oil extraction capacity), then economic & social disruption begins because modern civilizations run on oil. We haven't worked quickly enough to restructure our economy around alternative energy sources, so they expect a crash driven by petrol prices going through the roof, followed by - some argue - large scale anarchy, i.e., SHTF/TEOTWAWKI.

(Trucks, cars, trains & planes don't run on solar or coal, and getting them to do so is going to take more time than we've got to stave off a crash, or so the argument goes. Of course, it's a testable hypothesis, and we'll know soon enough. Personally, I'm not dismissing it. Socioeconomic systems are complex and nonlinear, so predictoins about what exactly will or will not occur are impossible. Still, I'm prepping for such an event just like a NO resident should prep for a hurricane.)

So, back to my point: lamp oil may indeed be expensive, but not unavailable.

Still, your point about solar is well taken. I'm planning on installing solar panels on my studio and my bug out trailer (retrofitted cargo trailer set up as a mobile camp, and already wired for 110 & 12V with an inverter; it's described in more detail in other THR threads.) Problem is, you'll note that I live in the Pac NW, on the west side of the Cascades, so solar is not viable for me except in summer. Still, I'll take what I can get.

Nem

 

[Tall Man]

Anyway, if you buy a Troy-Bilt 5550 with the 10 HP Briggs & Stratton you should be okay. That's the one I have. If it blows something up (TV, computer, fridge, etc.) Troy-Bilt will be getting a phone call. IIRC, no where in the owner's manual does ot say you cannot/should not run this type of equipment.

Hi Tarpley -

I have a Briggs-branded 5.2kw gas genset. It's engine and generator head are identical to that which is in your Troy unit.

I just reviewed the instruction manual for my genset, so that I don't need to fall back on "IIRC". The manual does in fact contain language that specifically warns against the use of electronic equipment with the genset, absent a line (i.e., voltage) conditioner. This includes TVs and computers, but excludes more hardy motor-driven equipment such as a refrigerator, etc.

The aforementioned proviso is valid for virtually any genset that does not have built-in inverter technology (such as what is found in the EU-series gensets manufactured by Honda.)

I would respectfully suggest that if you continue to run your electronic equipment directly from your genset, you do so at your own peril and at the peril of your TV and PC. If I were a Troy rep, I would probably deny any claim that you attempt to present to the company.

Here's a link to a great page that will put you on the straight and narrow: http://pp.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/pp.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php?p_prod_lvl1=10&p_cat_lvl1

TM

 

[TarpleyG]

You're probably right but the truth of the matter is that we were without power for 9 1/2 days and I ran everything at one point in time in my house without issue (including my 27" tube TV for several hours a day). Acceptible risk I suppose given the situation. That site you referred me to says that the voltage variation is +/- 5% and that the sine wave is not square to achieve a cleaner electrical output. If it were not acceptable to run this stuff on, you'd think they would build in some sort of conditioner for these generators. How much more could it cost?

Greg

 

[pcf]

Tarpley, you can use an uninterrupted power supply (UPS). There are some drawback that a generator mech tried to explain to me, but it was way over my head.

http://powerquality.com/mag/power_working_harmony_generator/ maybe this will make sense to you.

 

[Tall Man]

If it were not acceptable to run this stuff on, you'd think they would build in some sort of conditioner for these generators. How much more could it cost?

Well, a good line conditioner will set you back by several C notes.

Understand that the gensets sold by the Big Box stores are designed to cater to those folks who want to run well pumps and freezers during extended power outages. Water and food is life. TV shows and web pages are not. The gensets sold by Lowe's, etc., reflect this pragmatic reality. Such machines therefore have a reasonably attractive price point, by virture of the absence of built-in voltage conditioner equipment.

Honda builds in inverter technology in their EU-series generators precisely because there is a market that needs truly clean power for PCs, TVs, and the like. RV owners come to mind. You will literally pay twice as much for half the wattage rating here, but these specialized units aren't designed to run a house during a blackout, either.

TM

 

[Nimitz]

hello everyone!

just got power back today as well as phone lines and cable

im located in cooper city and we got hit pretty hard, I face a lake and the flat roof got ripped off, leaving it bare wood and in other parts you could see the concreate block...

my mothers bedroom and office flooded from the leaking roof, we lost are pool screen enclosure, 2 trees a fence and my mom's bfs car got hit by the roof as it flew off and into the front yard and shattered the back glass.

no street signs anywhere, downed trees everywhere...

we had plenty of water and food and a generator with PLENTY of gas...never once did we go in gas lines, ice lines, or food lines...its sad to see these people that are so helpless by choice and arrogance...its not hard to save up food and water people.

sean (my mothers bf) works at a local hospital so he had means to get gas if needed...which we didnt.

what saved us was the Beatiful weather after the hurricane...around 75 during the day...thank goodness!

one thing that did surprise me however was how the hurricane kept its strength during landfall...I know it was moving fast (around 25mph) but from naples to the east coast it never degraded in strength....

It wasnt fun....anything more than Wilma and im Bugging Out...for sure.

ETA: we had a flashlight for each person in the household as well as lamps to use the restroom and such...we had running water.

we have a propane grill and 4 tanks of propane...so plenty of gas to cook with for a Looooong time...

didnt have any issues in the neighborhood...were a plenty close knit community, and they call cooper city "copper city" with how many cops live here from Broward sheriff's office, ft. lauderdale, hollywood, etc...you'd have to be a dumb SOB to try rob here...

ETA2: hey Tarpley when did you buy your generator? we have the same one and FEMA will pay for your generator if you bought it on or after the 19th....btw its a gem of a generator we didnt run much...the freezer and refrig a few hours a day and 1 light bulb at night...we have a portable tv and tv radios....

Chad

 

[NMshooter]

Let me repeat what several others have already said:

LED lights are a wonderful thing.

Get several, a couple flashlights, a book light, a "lantern", all sorts of lights out there.

Some rechargeable batteries and a solar charger (or manually operated generator for those living in the North Wet ) and you have light when you need it.

Nite-Eyez even makes an LED conversion for that old standby the Mini-Mag Lite.

 

[Tall Man]

.

 

[TarpleyG]

ETA2: hey Tarpley when did you buy your generator? we have the same one and FEMA will pay for your generator if you bought it on or after the 19th....btw its a gem of a generator we didnt run much...the freezer and refrig a few hours a day and 1 light bulb at night...we have a portable tv and tv radios....

No such luck...as usual, those who prepare for a disaster get penalized for being prepared while those who wait until the last minute get rewarded. I bought mine at the beginning of last year's season and ran it for the recommended 5 hour break-in cycle and changed the oil. Never used it until the day of Wilma but that doesn't matter to FEMA. Same with bags of ice, gas, MREs, water, etc. Those that had none got theirs for free--I had to pay for all my stuff. Oh well, I suppose I really don't want any handouts since I am overly critical of that sort of thing anyway.

Greg

 

[Mannlicher]

We are down in South Miami/ Kendall area. We were thumped pretty good also. I live in a gated zero lot line community. Almost every home suffered damage. Katrina destroyed 165 feet of wood fence. Wilma took out the part that did not go down with Katrina.
No power for 6+ days.
During Hurricane season, I keep a watch on what perishable foods I have on hand, and have ice on hand to keep it servable until its used up. One thing I use is bottled water and coke bottles. I fill them about 3/4 full, and freeze. The freezers are packed with these, which helps hold the cold, and if they thaw, they are drinkable
I use Coleman White Gas lanterns, and propane lanterns. I also have some old oil lamps. This gives all the light I need. I just go to bed earlier than normal when the power is out. I cook with a Coleman two burner propane stove, and the gas grill. I keep flats of propane cylinders.
We never touched the Hurricane food supplies, or the MREs. By the time the fresh meat was cooked, the power was back.
LED flashlights are nice, as well as the ones you just shake to power. I have a battery TV, and two hand cranked radios.
Good neighbors are indeed a blessing. We have a good group here, and we all help each other. No one was in distress.
I gassed up the car and pick up the Thursday before Wilma got here. I filled several 6 gallon gas cans, and the three gallon mower can. Never did a min. in a gas line, even with driving up to Doral for work Tuesday through Friday.
Since, I have rotated the gas through the vehicles.
One thing I am a believer in, is storm shutters. Mine sure saved the windows this time.
In our neighborhood, there was never any looting, guys crusing throuogh, or gun play. I did have the 870 handy, and the AR180B with the red dot sight.
The worst for me was the traffic lights being all down. Getting to work particuarly on Tue and Wed was a nightmare up 87th.
All in all, it was not fun, but as I have said to others, we had some inconvienence, but no hardship.
I have learned more, as I do with every time I go through one of these.