Storms

[LauraCline]

Well Hurricane season officially begins in about 10 minutes, time to get your plans and supplies ready. Hopefully, we won't need them this year but it always pays to be prepared.

[fcm90]

hey im prepared for communication outage ! ive always wondered when my ham radio license would come in handy....any other hams also on RC?

[mflamb]

I have a large generator, 95 gallons of gas storage capability, and a window a/c unit for the gameroom.

[LauraCline]

oops, I had today's date wrong - one extra day to get prepared.

[colaman555]

Don't foget to stock the pantry, keep canned meats, crackers, peanut butter just to mention a few.. Make sure your medications are up to date!! Generator, extra fuel for a least 3-days and oil as it should be changed every 50-60 hrs of running time.. Important paper work in a water proof container.

[mflamb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15108631#post15108631 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by colaman555
Don't foget to stock the pantry, keep canned meats, crackers, peanut butter just to mention a few.. Make sure your medications are up to date!! Generator, extra fuel for a least 3-days and oil as it should be changed every 50-60 hrs of running time.. Important paper work in a water proof container. :D I won't be shutting that mule off for an oil change until the lights come back on....medications....are you talking about beer?

[stpauli914]

mflamb beat me to it :)

Make sure you have plenty of beer on ice. Although warm beer aint bad either. I remember back 8 years ago or so I flew down to Eleuthra(Bahamas) to help a friend repair his hotel after a devastating hurricane hit. Only a couple generators and they were needed for more important things than fridges. We drank warm Kalik and St. Pauli Girl for a week and a half. I can't explain it, but that first cold one when I got back tasted a bit like heaven:cool:

Point is, be prepared and don't do anything stupid.

Aaron

[g8gxp]

thanks for starting this thread. What does everybody use for backup systems for their tanks? This is the first storm season i'll have with an up and running tank.

[mflamb]

As previously stated, a large generator. I don't run the lights for the first two days that the power is out. I throttle the return pump (dart) back a little and the reactor pump (snapper) back a little to conserve power. I'll leave the 4 Tunzes on as normal.

[sivert55]

I had a friend build a battery backup with a deep cycle marine battery and a pure sine wave inverter for my return pump (barracuda). It only needs to power the return for the 15 seconds it takes for my generator to kick in. That genset runs the whole house.
Or if Teco shuts off the natural gas for some reason, then the battery can keep the return pump going long enough for me to break out the portable gasoline powered genset (up to 7hrs).

Pantry stocked with 90 days of food. And 2 100gal freshwater cisterns in the spare room in case the water gets shut off.
I'm not a beer drinker, but i have a 2 week supply of Diet Coke. :-)

Also, good idea to keep some emergency cash on hand in case banks and ATMs and credit card machines are offline for a long time.

[cwegescheide]

I've been planning to get a Honda generator this year. I've got a deep cell battery and an inverter but that wouldn't last long. I'd also like to get a chiller just in case as well. A little pricy I know but considering the alternative I think of it as insurance.

Of course I've got a butt load of batteries and the cabinets are full :)

[jbax]

the hurricane season makes me wish i had a house instead of a townhouse. my uncle has generator that kicks on right when the power cuts off and it runs everything central a/c,kitchen, tv for days if need be.

[sivert55]

Related:
sweet preparedness article on NBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31030689/