How do you prepare for an emergency?

[kschweer]

Great thread. Compared to others I am not very well prepared. I do have a couple battery powered air pumps on hand but I do not feel like this is enough (in my case). Between hurricane Irene and the recent storms to rip through southern new jersey I have seen that I am not prepared enough. During the hurricane I only lost power for about 2 hours (short enough for battery powered air pumps) and only 10-15 minutes in the last storm (again short enough for the air pumps). However my boss only 15 miles away lost power for about a week in each circumstance. Luckily he had a generator to keep his livestock alive. With these two events in less than a year I have been on the hunt for a used Honda generator. In my opinion a generator with a Honda engine is your best bet. I have seen 15-20 year old Honda generators out run band new ones first hand.

 

[kschweer]

Oh and very nice backup plan mike and terry. We recently added a generator and sub- panel at my grandmothers house. She lost power during hurricane Irene and wound up with 3.5 feet of water in her basement because she "didn't want us kids driving in the storm" (my parents had power and a generator).

 

[Electrobes]

For the people who installed a sub-panel for their generator.. what's the cost of something like this? I think it's such a great idea, and almost feel obligated to do something like this once I move to Florida next month. How do you secure the generator to prevent theft, curious critters, etc?

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Lots of great info here. Keep the ideas coming. I think a lot of new hobbyists will benefit from this thread.