Part Three: WE SURVIVED.

Day four continued with more reports of stupid. It seems that people are attempting to snuff themselves out with carbon monoxide poisoning and some are getting rid of unneeded body parts with chain saws while others are abusing the ground with their bodies by falling off roofs or being hit by falling debris. One guy was cutting a tree that was under tension and it released that tension on his lower jaw. My wife works in the biggest hospital on this side of the state so she’s up to speed on injuries.

Two things really stand out during this crisis. 1. The sheer number of lineman working to restore power. 2. The speed at which trees are being cleared and cleaned up. We have lineman from just about every western state and Canada. The guys working my neighborhood are from Idaho. We’ve tried offering them coffee and a home cooked meal but they seem to have it covered. I think the best thing we can do for them is just to keep clearing trees and roads so they can do their thing.

The tree clearing seems to be getting done by joe citizen for the most part. Everyone is pitching in and doing a great job. This lets the pros get into the area to remove the more difficult trees that are still leaning on the power poles and lines. The city has apparently mobilized their entire rolling stock fleet and all able bodied employees as they are now picking up all the debris and hauling it away. The water department was about to load up one of my loads of wood chips but the wife stopped him in time. He was even kind enough to use his front end loader to spread them out for us which saved a bunch of shoveling.

It’s still a crap shoot traveling by car. So many trees and power lines block the way at every turn. Due to numerous rock outcroppings and cliffs on the south side of town, many streets do not go through or travel circuitous routes so that finding your way can be difficult even without the extra storm caused impediments. Even locals tend to get lost when straying from the main arterials. Going to work Thursday was indeed a chance to rest but I was anxious to get on with the cleanup.

I loaned out another heater on Friday, helped with the neighborhood clean up, raked out wood chips and ran the dogs again. The power is on three doors away but the lines in our alley are a mess. The crew from Idaho says tomorrow will be our lucky day.

Saturday I fired up the generator and used the furnace to warm the house. I finished the McGyver shower and my wife got to do the honors that morning. I was giving it a go when the lights came on. Yippee Skippy!

My wife headed out to finish up the wood chip spreading while I re-wired the furnace and started wrapping up cords and putting the camping gear away. I went down to get five gallons of non-ethanol gas to fill the generators with. It was $3.77 a gallon when the ethanol contaminated crap was $2.26! I offered my bigger generator to a neighbor who is still without power but he had just returned from Home Depot with a brand new one. It seems they brought in a truckload of them and he was one of the lucky ones to get one.

We spent the rest of the day doing laundry and relaxing. The power company did an OUTSTANDING job (still are too) in sorting this mess out. In talking with their guys I learned that for the ice storm in ’96 they relied on their own crews to get power restored and this time they brought in crews from ten states and Canada. They also had a stockpile of parts on hand.

My wife and I have always tend to be more or less prepared for life’s little disasters. She’s from cold ass WI and her pappy was a very intelligent and resourceful man. He taught his daughters quite a bit including how to hunt. I’m from all over the place and was once a Boy Scout and their motto is Be Prepared. I could be accused of taking that too seriously and I have a father that is like McGyver. We’ve been tested a few times and always did well but we learn something new each time.

This time we learned that age is more of a factor. When I got out of the McGyver shower Saturday morning I had to smile when I saw my wife writing something. I asked what she was doing and was told she was making a list of things she wanted to do now to be more prepared for next time. I had to smile because I had already started a list the night before. We make a good team.

We’ve decided to install a gas hot water heater and stove and stub a natural gas line out to the back patio to connect our gas grill and a generator of as yet unknown size but I do want it to be set up for tri-fuel mode. We certainly don’t need to run the entire house off of it but being able to do laundry, run the furnace, fridge and freezer and a few lights will simplify things tremendously.

I’d like to lay in a slightly larger supply of lumber and a few more tarps. I already have a modest stash but a little more can’t hurt.

In the case of a global or national emergency I’d like to have the ability to set up some discreet perimeter alarms of some kind. The dogs are good for this but my adult dog is going deaf and the pup lacks discipline and barks at friend and foe. Fishing line with noise makers attached will work in a pinch. I was already aware that thieves would be out in force stealing generators and anything else of value so my fuel and equipment is always chained and locked or behind locked doors. In the Big One, crime will be a much bigger concern not only from the usual suspects but by normal sheople losing their minds. This will be especially true if they cannot raise any radio or iCrap signals in the entire region.

Many will go hungry and thirsty early on. In this event I heard that the few open restaurants were standing room only and fights were even breaking out when those waiting hours to get in perceived that those already seated were taking too long. This was happening on the second day or so I’m told. Going to a restaurant never even entered my brain so that gives you and idea where the sheople’s minds will be. I believe it will be critical to avoid leaving your Doomstead during the first few weeks. On the other hand, in the Big One, the first few weeks might be your last opportunity to get something you really need. Plan wisely!

I was disappointed in myself this time because I felt like I was using too much gasoline. In a natural disaster like this one or a man made event, conservation and rationing of preps should start on day one. Even things like going in and out of the house can be important for heat conservation. Plan ahead to take things out that need to go out and bring things in that need to come in before making those moves. Plan your meals, cleanup and hygiene too. Instead of lighting two burners on your stove, use a bigger skillet to cook potatoes and meat in the same pan simultaneously with one burner. Using lids on your pans will hold in heat and help cook things faster. Dirty or grey water from doing dishes and bath water can be used to flush toilets or water gardens. Waste nothing!

Maintain OPSEC at all times. Offer help discreetly to those you trust. Don’t go telling everyone how you’ve prepped for years and now you get to test your preps. When sheople start complaining about being cold and hungry, complain right along with them. Act ignorant, oblivious and bewildered around strangers to fit in.

Keep shades and curtains drawn at night to maintain warmth and privacy. Open them on sunny days to let a little warmth and light in. Don’t use multiple light sources at the same time, it’s wasteful. Don’t try to keep your house at 70 degrees. Put on more clothes and use blankets. Close off rooms that don’t need heat and close the vents in those rooms. Camp out in one room instead.

In the Big One I’ll likely reconsider this but in a minor disaster like this one, check on your neighbors with young kids and the elderly often. The elderly especially can be little goldmines of knowledge and even old school equipment and supplies. Be patient with people too. Everyone will be stressed including the preppers. Keep a level head stay sharp.

Be prepared for dark like you’ve never seen before. In a big city like mine with no power and a light cloud cover or fog it literally gets as dark as the inside of a cow at night. At three in the morning I literally could not see the hand in front of my face while outside. It’s unnerving. The good thing is that the thieves can’t see either without a light of some kind which gives them away.

I thought a lot about “What if this was the big one?” during this event. Truth is, preps, no matter how good or plentiful are only going to get you so far. I’m not 100% certain my wife and I could survive an entire winter even if crime were not an issue. Staying warm would be a major concern. Fossil fuels will run out. Tribing up and moving in with another family to conserve heat and supplies would be essential. By spring I’d be ready to move to a warmer area if a return to normalcy were not on the horizon.

The best I can offer is to prep like demons. Anything you can do to carry you to the next day will be invaluable. Oh yeah, save that last bullet for yourself……..just in case!

Read Part One & Part Two.

 

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Araven
Araven

If you really get SHTF a gas water heater might not do you much good. Firstly depends on whether you have running water, which will likely be a no-go unless you have your own well and pump, and a generator big enough to run it. Second, it depends on the gas supply. A propane stove is good until your propane runs out. Natural gas stove, it depends on how bad the situation is how long it will keep running. A wood stove is your best bet for continuing heat and hot food and hot water. When necessary there are lots of things you can burn in a wood stove and as long as you have a local water source you should be set.

I’d be nervous trying to weather any SHTF in an urban or suburban neighborhood, too much stoopid too close by. Whenever I call to report the electric out one of the first questions is whether my neighbor’s electric is still on. I usually have no idea, can’t see them from here!

Westcoaster
Westcoaster

Superb series, IS. I enjoyed hearing how you deftly maneuvered through the emergency and your advice is spot-on. I doubt that many people with gas furnaces even realize they can work with aux power.

KaD
KaD

Most people these days haven’t spent a night in the country and consequently don’t know how dark dark really is

Capn Mike
Capn Mike

If he had run his genset DRY after his last use, it wouldn’t matter WHAT kind of gas he used.
So, HEY!!! Indentured, run the fukker DRY before you put it away!

ASIG
ASIG

when the power goes out these things are worth their weight in gold. If you want something of value to barter with this would be one good thing to have, have lots of them.
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Lysander
Lysander

@ IS….Thanks again for this info. I’m pretty much done prepping and buying stuff for The Big One. If I don’t have it by now then screw it. The main things are food/water, weapons and shelter. Everything else is icing on the cake in a really tough situation.

My view on neighbors is that they will be more of a burden then an asset. If you feed them or help them they turn into cats and will never go away and will blame you for anything that happens. I have one neighbor who has his shit together and two others who have guns but virtually no ammo, just a box or two at most. Neither one has any significant amount of food stored.

This is a predominately older White crowd here, but there are two families of Dominicans who moved into multi-family homes nearby. They are apparently clueless, with their constant beer guzzling and salsa music playing all the time. In any case, if TSHTF I wouldn’t trust them as far as I could throw them.

I wasn’t always an ornery bastard. It took decades of self-education to reach this point.

AC
AC

You’ll want to introduce your water heater to a wood stove (as Araven suggested) in any long-tern problem.

Using Your Wood Stove to Heat Water

AC
AC

You can even run that generator on wood . . . sort of . . .

http://web.ornl.gov/info/reports/1989/3445602994393.pdf

Archie
Archie

Nice set of articles, IS. I enjoyed them. Although I am puzzled by your statement that you’re not sure you two could survive the winter of winters. You seem to have a pretty good hold on things. But I have thought of this too, living in frigid maine. What if the power goes out tomorrow and never comes back on. You mention blankets. Yes, and down sleeping bags, and heavy duty long underwear, and lots of wool socks. Lots of wool socks.

I like your idea of one pan cooking. Poaching is a great way to cook your veggies and meat or fish in one pan. Everyone should have a cast iron skillet. After cooking, you just wipe it out with some coarse salt and oil.

Anyway, thanks for the articles IS.

Gator
Gator

Good articles, IS. Interesting reads. I love in Florida so the ice storms aren’t a problem, but hurricanes can be. I’ve just always been lucky. I am curious- how much gas did you use total in those days? And on how big of a generator? I’m glad you found some ethanol free gas, like I said yesterday, look for areas with a lot of boaters, outboards hate ethanol.

Muck About
Muck About

@IS: Obviously you must live somewhere between Seattle and Montana and Mother Nature Kicked the Over the Comfort Bucket on you !..

I once (in my younger days) homesteaded in N. Idaho (HooDoo Valley, just North of Spirit Lake, ID), building a home by hand on ten acres of Red Fir and jack pine.

We had several occasions where the grid went dead in the depths of winter due to snow or ice tearing down power lines, but we built to live 360 days a years and – I think the longest time without power was 3 weeks – never had a problem except for having to run into the fire station in Spirit Lake to fill up the water trailer (no power – no well pump- no water!)..

I remember it as a cozy time with kerosine lamps, a carnivorous air-tight wood stove and a several solar re-charged battery driven fans and one small pump to circulate hot water from the air-tight into the greenhouse rock bed.

I absolute remember there was no discomfort, some good reading, at least one mule deer doe got shot and butchered and stored outside (in a secure shed) until the power came on for the freezer!)..

Still, having power at the outlets has a lot of advantages but living without it (if you plan ahead) is not that hard. At my age now — I’d hate to have to do it over!!! Love my Central Florida weather (which will not kill you when/if the power fails), so good luck and more power to you!

MA

MuckAbout
MuckAbout

Where did meh icon go? Try again..

MA

Winston
Winston

I was in Silverdale for the icestorm in 96. No power for 3 weeks..

suzanna

Mr I/S
Your series was great reading! Thank you.

Suggestion, (if you want to stay in your locale/home)?
Get a nice big wood stove. Yes, you will sacrifice
precious space in your living area…but you get to live.
The loud “vroom vroom” ongoing of the generator
will tear your nerves up. I know they are useful for short-
term. But, I wouldn’t want to depend on anything but
wood heat over a long term.

James the Wanderer

I have thought about some of these, and missed a few. Here’s one for you: got a charcoal grill? You can store a lot of charcoal (bought a bag or two at a time when they clearance out for winter) and use it to grill, heat water in a pot, fry in a pan over charcoal, etc.
RIght now I have a small propane grill, a charcoal grill and Sterno. If it lasts a long time it could get tough to find fuel in the city, but I keep buying charcoal (got a trash can full of it now), occasionally pick up a propane cylinder as well. They’re stored high up and away from any heat source so should be OK.
We are looking at the first real winter storm coming up over the mountains starting tomorrow. Hopefully my experience will be tamer than yours, but if there’s anything to learn I’ll pass it along!
THANKS for the series – I hope it woke some people up, and gave them something to think about. We all can prepare better for the problems we see coming – I just filled up the car tonight to help wait out the storm starting tomorrow. You can do it!

Nedludd
Nedludd

IS and anyone else who will listen- Today’s gas is crap!!!! Do not pass go do not collect anything. It’s crap, crap, crap. With added stabilizers and so-called ethanol treatments it has a storage life of six months max. Always run dry lawn mowers, generators, snow blowers and anything else you will not be using again for a while and then remove the spark plug squirt a little oil into the cylinder and turn the engine over a few times. Then drain the fuel tank and carburetor bowl. Rotate gas stores every week, last can in goes into the truck gas tank and then gets refilled. Yes it’s a lot of trouble but as IS found out rebuilding a carb in dying light is not fun. Fill car gas tanks when 1/2 full and have a way to get fuel out of them that does not involve sucking on a hose.

Nedludd
Nedludd

Eventually things will get better, or they won’t. If they don’t the last thing you want is a running generator giving away your position. Which brings me to a question I’ve thought about a bit. The people who will hunker down in bunkers for one or two or five years just who and what do they think will be on the other side of the doors when they open them up on day one or two or five year plus one?

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