Hurricane Power Advice

SeaJay · Sep 12, 2018

I’ve always gotten through outages on a generator without much thought about anything else. Having the aquarium and you guys posts has got me thinking. My Tahoe has a 120v outlet and Home Depot has these in stock.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-1000-Watt-Power-Inverter-DXAEPI1000/301887060

I’ve got a 48 volt golf cart with a 12 volt output, 2 trolling motor batteries, a winch battery and 4 cars in the driveway. I could probably go a couple days before I even need to fire up the generator to charge some batteries. This could be a game changer for me. Won’t need nearly as much gas.

cjd · Sep 12, 2018

Living in Florida and going through a number of devastating storms , just remember a tank can easily be replaced . You and your families safety first . When your neighborhood looks like tanks drove through and just destroyed everything , that site isn't something you can explain . Tv doesn't do it any justice . I went without power or a hot shower for a month . It was like camp from double hockey sticks . Gas is in short supply , food in short supply , just a cold beverage is like heaven. lines of people every where . fist fights at gas stations. Atm machines down so you have no money and its cash only everywhere you go. It's end of world things , everyone is in panic survival mode . Its pretty intense.
Things to take away from my rant :
Pull out money from the bank while you can ( you need cash)
gas up everything you have (gas cans ,all cars, boats ) you can siphon the gas from things you don't use. Just need to store gas. gas stations run out quickly and the lines are hours long wait > leading to the fist fights.
if you have a generator please for the love of god only run it in a well ventilated area . I cant believe this day and age there are still people that run theses in their homes or garage with the door closed . Out side only , away from the house. So sad hearing about families who parish due to generator fumes after surviving a devastating storm.
Water , as much as you can . Fill bathtubs , buckets , trash cans . Storm surge causes plumbing not to work , toilets don't flush . If you have a pool you can dump pool water in the toilet to flush it!
Food , any granola bars , protein bars , pop tarts any thing that lasts and doesn't have to be cooked or stored in refrigerators and spoil.
Hopefully you only have to worry about keeping your tank going and you are out of the worst part of the storm , but sometimes you have to make a decision and that decision should always be family wellbeing first.
Best regards and please stay safe .

Arcticfirefighter · Sep 13, 2018

cjd said:
Living in Florida and going through a number of devastating storms , just remember a tank can easily be replaced . You and your families safety first . When your neighborhood looks like tanks drove through and just destroyed everything , that site isn't something you can explain . Tv doesn't do it any justice . I went without power or a hot shower for a month . It was like camp from double hockey sticks . Gas is in short supply , food in short supply , just a cold beverage is like heaven. lines of people every where . fist fights at gas stations. Atm machines down so you have no money and its cash only everywhere you go. It's end of world things , everyone is in panic survival mode . Its pretty intense.
Things to take away from my rant :
Pull out money from the bank while you can ( you need cash)
gas up everything you have (gas cans ,all cars, boats ) you can siphon the gas from things you don't use. Just need to store gas. gas stations run out quickly and the lines are hours long wait > leading to the fist fights.
if you have a generator please for the love of god only run it in a well ventilated area . I cant believe this day and age there are still people that run theses in their homes or garage with the door closed . Out side only , away from the house. So sad hearing about families who parish due to generator fumes after surviving a devastating storm.
Water , as much as you can . Fill bathtubs , buckets , trash cans . Storm surge causes plumbing not to work , toilets don't flush . If you have a pool you can dump pool water in the toilet to flush it!
Food , any granola bars , protein bars , pop tarts any thing that lasts and doesn't have to be cooked or stored in refrigerators and spoil.
Hopefully you only have to worry about keeping your tank going and you are out of the worst part of the storm , but sometimes you have to make a decision and that decision should always be family wellbeing first.
Best regards and please stay safe .

Well said! We seem to be out of the direct path now; however, we are still supposed to get 15+ inches of rain... I went to 7 gas stations on Tuesday before I found one that had gas, then I heard about Gas Buddy, figures. Its just a waiting game now, we have made all the preparations we could.

cjd · Sep 18, 2018

Checking in ??? How are you doing ?

Arcticfirefighter · Sep 22, 2018

cjd said:
Checking in ??? How are you doing ?

Well we got lucky where I am at. We ended up with just over 10 inches of rain, and some wind. However, we never lost power. We were really blessed in this area, and really didn't suffer much damage. My niece and her husband live in New Bern, and they still cant get back to thier house. The authorities are telling them the earliest they can even try is maybe Monday. The devastation around New Bern and on the coast is catastrophic. Not so much from the wind, but from all the flooding. I appreciate you checking on us!