Hurricane Sandy

[never_retreat]

Anyone here in the path?
All ready?

I removed all the lawn projectiles.
Tested the generator.
Tested and sharpened mister still
Stocked up on 35 gallons of gas.
Bought a big ars tarp and extra sump pump <- most likely getting returned.
GF bought water (really don't need it imo, put a bucket outside if you want water)
Picked up more beer and vodka. <- most important.

Did I forget anything?

[zxcvbob]

151 rum, dark rum, passion fruit juice, and ice. (to make "hurricanes")

[RocketMan]

Did I forget anything?

Sammich fixin's?  Gotta have something for the girlfriend to do.

[Frank Castle]

Did I forget anything?

AMMO ?

[kgbsquirrel]

I suppose I should exploit this moment to point and laugh while I can, all too soon I'll be digging my way out of my home like a slightly peevish over-weight snow fox. Have fun out there! (And glad I'm not stationed in Virginia anymore!)

[never_retreat]

I true APS fashion ammo is to be assumed. But det cord always needs to be mentioned.
I think we should have a det cord and nuke it from orbit emoticon.

[HankB]

Just remember as you hunker down . . . It's Bush's Fault^TM.

Stay safe . . .

[never_retreat]

No this storm was created using harp to create a false economy from all the people buying tons of crap the don't need. Then the gov will declare a state of emergency and suspend the election so obummer can stay in office.

[RevDisk]

I'm setting up a generator for a customer at the moment. They bought it Friday night.  Near exact wording was "Here it is! Have fun, electrician will be here tomorrow at 7:30am!" Lots of fun getting it installed, buying all the accessories (yes, generators are not magic power boxes) and writing documentation starting with "If you do this incorrectly, you could kill someone." Do y'all have ANY idea how fun it is to hunt down gas containers right before a hurricane? They got a very nice handy guide explaining what goes where, in what order. Packed up everything nice and neat in a bag too. Spare oil, oil pan, fuel stabilizer, funnels (different colors for oil and fuel), gas cans, cords, cables. Plus inventory and documents.


For myself, I picked up some extra munchies. Tomorrow I will pick up two more cases of beer and a couple extra cases of water. I have plenty of water for drinking. This will be thermal mass. Toss two in freezer. If power goes out, toss one frozen case in fridge. Not ideal, but cheap and can't hurt. I've been eating everything in my fridge for the last week, and have enough dry food to last me several weeks if not months. Comfortably. Theoretically, between multivitamins, protein bars and dry food I could probably last a year at just above starvation mode.

Aside from that...  I dunno. Cleaning and organizing?  I have batteries, flashlights, food, water, lanterns, etc. I could survive off my hiking/camping gear alone. Only "need" is to sort and organize my gear into being more easily accessible and modular.


Couple more long term thoughts learning from Sandy. I want one small generator and maybe one larger generator. Moreso for winter snow storms. My external garage has a small bathroom that needs to be heated or pipes burst. It's somewhat insulated, but I'll be re-doing it hopefully next year. Doesn't need much. Might rig up a large UPS to run a small heater, use generator to charge batteries.

Main house is oil heated. I have enough oil filled electric heaters for an emergency, but no work with no electricity. Garage has a chimney, so I'll be tossing a wood pellet stove in there but probably not this winter. House would be expensive to rig in a generator. Mentally tossing back and forth on that. Probably just do a stand-alone for fridge and a handful of heaters (to save the pipes).

[never_retreat]

Electric heaters are a waste of generator power. you would be better off with propane.

[birdman]

Agree with the two gen approach, I have an EU1000is and an EU3000is, (got an amazing deal) which gives me lots of options and trades in terms of signature (though both are whisper quiet), fuel consumption, etc.

[Stetson]

kgbsquirrel, we haven't had snow worthy of 'digging out' in a few years.  I'd love one like we had during the winter of '82.  39" in 24 hours.  Then you can worry about digging out.

[kgbsquirrel]

kgbsquirrel, we haven't had snow worthy of 'digging out' in a few years.  I'd love one like we had during the winter of '82.  39" in 24 hours.  Then you can worry about digging out.

I heard 2006 was interesting. The duty section on watch in the ops center at Buckley was there for three days. I was pretty much living in the USO at the Phili airport because of it (4 days).

[Bob F.]

Blizzard warning here. Probably enough food, water, gas, generator, etc. Problem # 1: Cleaned pellet stove last week, not feeding pellets, gotta work on that tomorrow. Went to GSSF Match this weekend, 4x4 limped home, 2 Mustangs (not oat eaters) in driveway; SWMBO's gotta work in AM. Hhmmm, could get a little hairy. OTOH, plenty of ammo!

Stay safe, and warm.
Bob

[Stetson]

I heard 2006 was interesting. The duty section on watch in the ops center at Buckley was there for three days. I was pretty much living in the USO at the Phili airport because of it (4 days).

I had moved by then to TX, wasn't here for that.  Ask folks who have been here a while what used to happen around Halloween....

[RevDisk]

Electric heaters are a waste of generator power. you would be better off with propane.

Agreed.

Our construction crews use these. I'll look into them further, but I gather they should not be left on unattended. I am fairly confident that the fairly quality brand oil filled electric heaters I have will not burn done the place if left on overnight, assuming they are being used properly.

Still, large UPS and electric heater seems like a good way to keep the pipes from freezing if I'm gone for the day and power drops out unexpectedly. Especially when the critical areas are small and enclosed, and the electric heater has an anti-freeze temperature setting.

Can you tell I get REALLY annoyed when my pipes burst, and this has happened before?

[Hawkmoon]

Did I forget anything?

Food?

I stocked up on canned Dinty Moore stew. We already had a decent stash of canned soups. Wife loaded in a bunch of fruit. The goal is to have enough to eat that can be heated up with minimal fuss, and that doesn't require water for cooking. (Wife was going to load up on pasta ... until I reminded her that it uses two gallons of water every time she cooks pasta, and water my be in short supply.)

[zxcvbob]

In an emergency, you can eat the dried pasta raw.  It has a nice crunch.  (my dogs love dried lasagna noodles)

If you do boil the pasta (soak it first so it doesn't take so much energy to cook), the water doesn't have to be poured out.

[makattak]

I bought some extra water last week, some instant oatmeal, and some chef boyardee-type stuff.

Also, we just bought a loaf of bread and some milk. (We were running low, not as part of the "FRANKENSTORM!!!")

Should have bought some toilet paper to fit in.

[geronimotwo]

we are forecast for 50 mph winds, with gusts to 70.  fortunatly coming from the north-nw which gives our home some shelter from the mountains.  the biggest problem may come from losing electric for a couple of days.   we have spare water, and enough food for a week or two.  also a couple of kerosene heaters, with extra fuel.  no generator, but plenty of flashlights, batteries and candles. 

[K Frame]

Raining pretty hard here and the winds is picking up.

I was going to try to go into work today, but my options for getting there dwindled to driving in as the Metro has been shut down. Thanks, no thanks.

I made a couple of shopping trips the last couple of days, so I'm set on food. Water I'm not really worried about. I keep a small jug of Clorox on hand for situations where the water supply might turn feral. 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water and leave it sit for an hour, and you've got good water.

I've also gotten all of my batteries charged, have several flashlights, have a couple of mini LED lanterns that put out an amazing amount of light for the power consumed, a propane lantern with a couple of bottles of gas, and I even have a couple of kerosene lanterns.

For cooking I have a quart of alcohol for my Pepsi can stove, and I have about 20 cans of sterno and a sterno stove. I can also use the flame spreader tip on my blow torch to heat soup and the like.

Heat I'm not worried about, as it's not going to go below 45 here during the storm. I have a big dog who will keep me warm if the power goes out and lots of fleece blankets.

[birdman]

If you do boil the pasta (soak it first so it doesn't take so much energy to cook), the water doesn't have to be poured out.

True, and assuming you don't use oil, you can let the water cool, settle, (skim off any floating oils) and just filter it for re-use.  Skimming any oils will prevent filter issues as most filters don't like substantial oil in the inputs.

[MechAg94]

I hate to even ask this for folks that are in the path, but why is the media calling this a MegaStorm and stuff when I am seeing sustained winds of 75 MPH?  It is a hurricane and very dangerous, but some of the headlines have been a bit crazy.


That said, Ike wasn't so powerful, but it had 100 MPH winds I believe and caused a lot of damage at the point of impact in Galveston and power outages all over.  I think it was almost a month before everyone got power back.  Good luck to you and yours. 

[K Frame]

It's a megastorm because of its size and the fact that it is combining with one or two other storm systems.

Because of that, it will have a reach and impact far greater than most hurricanes that make landfall in the area.

[grampster]

Could it be that there is no storm?  That it has been photo shopped onto radar and the media has been compromised by the pilots of the Black Helos and the engineers of the Black Train?  Could it be this is Obama's October surprise to take folks mind off of the election?

I'm warning you to be alert, don't be fool.....who's knocking on my door?  Hey, what are you doing here?  Leave me alo