Storm preparation: I don't get it.

[Mickey_Fx]

We always have food in the house. Try and have some spare fuel and always have fuel for the kerosene lamps. First winter we had maybe 3 power outages, longest was about 1 day. I bought insurance, now have a decent sized genny and bought and installed a transfer switch panel for the genny. Not an outage since. :laughing: Only hrs on the genny is a periodic run to make sure all is OK. This summer I installed a hr meter on the genny. When I installed the transfer switch I ran the genny for a short while to make sure all was connected OK. Total time this last yr on the genny, <1 hr. Don't keep fuel in the genny when being stored.

When storms are in the forecast, I'll stock up on gas, sooner than later. And as an old habit from pre-genny, fill the bath tub to insure there is water for washing and flushing. Now can run the well so water isn't the issue it used to be.

 

[dave1949]

I've seen the national news where they show folks up there actually boarding up like a hurricane is coming, is that normal?? When I was maybe 6-7, we lived in Battle creek Michigan for one winter, I remember lots of snow, but dont recall a frenzy to "button down the hatches"??

Maybe they were along the coast? If a storm coincides with the high tide and lots of wind, it can hit beach homes pretty hard. The waves throw rocks over the break walls into the roads, and houses get sand blasted.

 

[grsthegreat]

yup... agree with OP 100%.

I live in N idaho, and we are always prepared for the worse. dont wait for last minute.
Have propane standby generator on house, generator for well, spare diesel for tractor, food in pantry, etc.

We get 1-3 foot snow falls every year. shuts down town for....1 day. back to work the next day. Mind you, we dont get 60MPH winds with the storms.that WOULD suck.

But waking up to 36" of snow simply means running the tractor for 8 hours, and staying home from work for the day. The talking heads on the news dont get too crazy over it.

Now watch the Spokane WAsh news...their talking heads put out a WEATHER ALERT if more than 1" of snow may be heading their way. i think all their news casters are from California.:laughing:

 

[Western]

Maybe they were along the coast? If a storm coincides with the high tide and lots of wind, it can hit beach homes pretty hard. The waves throw rocks over the break walls into the roads, and houses get sand blasted.

Dave, that makes sense, I think I heard them saying something about the tide and surf up 7' in some spots. 75 mph winds, so yeah, I could understand it better ( been watching Fox storm coverage)

 

[unbidden]

I'm going to fool them all. Headed out now in the blizzard to get a jump on water and sunscreen for the August heat wave. I know that isle won't be heavily trafficked

 

[rmorey]

When I was 18, I joined the military. After training, I was transferred to Prince Edward Island, where I met my beautiful wife of 38 years.

In winter, we could get 18" of snow during a storm (back then we still used inches), but the wind would drift it much higher.

I remember the radio in the morning warning the kids to be careful walking along the banks to school and not to touch the wires! Never even made the news.

 

[dave1949]

We get 18" snows here, a couple of winters back, we got one every other week it seemed like. That gets old. Our two town plow trucks don't have any problem with those snows. Large drifts are unusual and everyone knows where they will be in any case. There are no narrow residential streets and plenty of places to push the snow off to. But, comparing a lightly populated rural area to metro Boston for example, is useless.

The traffic flow around Boston is very heavy, they drive like maniacs (they actually need signs saying no travelling in the berm lanes), and any mishap turns into a two or three mile long traffic jam real quick. Then the plows can't through to keep up with the snow turning a small mess into a big mess. Whole areas become grid-locked. The emergency vehicles and tow trucks have trouble getting through the jams. Closing the roads around Boston is just sensibly recognizing their limitations

 

[grsthegreat]

well, i will grant it that i have never lived in a large city that had to deal with lots of snow.. only my own back yard

 

[Ductape]

I went out yesterday and picked up my storm survival kit.

Tractor is fueled up ready to go...... same as any other day.

 

[Teikas Dad]

This is the general attitude regarding storm preps around here......

 

[grsthegreat]

This is the general attitude regarding storm preps around here......

thats great...... thats just what the newscasters want us to do

 

[dave1949]

well, i will grant it that i have never lived in a large city that had to deal with lots of snow.. only my own back yard

You haven't missed anything, half the people there would give their left *** to be where you are.
Beautiful shot of the elk going across the field. You do get some snow there.

 

[Locoweed]

Old saying that there is nothing common about having sense seems more true these days.

 

[whistlepig]

When hurricane Ike came through we didn't lose power. Neither did the place that I work that is an hour from home. But the majority of the area around where I work lost power for almost a week. These are city folks. Every day at work I heard horror stories about folks waiting in line for hours to get gas at one of the few stations that had power. Or driving for a couple of hours trying find ice for their freezer/refridgerator. I told them to drive an hour to where we lived and there was gas and ice a plenty. They wouldn't do that. To this day I haven't figured out why.

 

[Natureboy]

People are funny. Around here when a big wind or ice storm is predicted, they rush out and buy a generator. When the store runs out, they put their names on a waiting list for the next shipment. Two days later when the storm is over, guess what they are returning to the store for a refund- yep- the generator they would have sold their soul for 2 days earlier. And these are not people that could not afford them in the first place, they are bringing back in their shiny new pickups. If the store won't take them back because they have been gassed or damaged-guess what the local CL is inundated with. Do they think there will never be another ice/wind storm?

 

[DANOCHEESE]

Live in SW Minnesota. We are in a blizzard warning for Sunday. Guess what we are doing?? Going Ice fishing. THere is only so many day of Winter one should use them carefully

 

[rmorey]

Live in SW Minnesota. We are in a blizzard warning for Sunday. Guess what we are doing?? Going Ice fishing. THere is only so many day of Winter one should use them carefully

I assume you have plenty of "storm supplies" like ductape had in his post #29. LOL..

 

[3930dave]

Made a long drive today. Needed doing. 4 good snow tires, got 'er done.

Drove by a few of these (being attended by tow trucks); it was widely being reported.... "That people were running out of gas, ON THE ROAD". IE. not stuck in some remote area for a day or 2, running the vehicle for heat.

I'm talking about the Greater Toronto Area - the biggest city in Canada !

1) No gas shortages. (Knock wood).

2) No significant power outages.

I never saw one closed or out of service gas station, in about 4 hours of driving.

3) Lots of advance notice of the storm.

4) Even early/late today (ie. rush hour(s)), traffic (for Toronto) was extremely light. THESE PEOPLE WERE NOT STUCK IN TRAFFIC JAMS !

5) The ones I saw were driving (very) late model vehicles, not old clunkers. I'd have a hard time imagining a non-working fuel gauge in these vehicles - not that I'd offer that as an excuse, if I was driving it.

I used to wonder out loud "Are people getting stupider ?". I don't do that anymore.

I really hope that these people stick to major urban centres. Not that you can't freeze to death there too, but there are many remote parts of Canada where that type of careless attitude can get you and your passengers a fast education in the consequences of frostbite, or, much worse outcomes.

And... I don't care what kind of App you have on your smart phone..... in fact, these type of emergencies are a good example of why smart phones (power pigs) are a poor choice for emergency communication situations.

Be safe, be well, stay warm.

Rgds, D.

 

[QRTRHRS]

I think the weather channels have gone somewhat reality TV but the scary part is that there are a lot of people out there that apparently need to be spoon fed to get through these little "incidents".

Way back when I did three winters in a row doing highway work on i-80, a number more working a satilite salt dumps and clearing bridges, etc. with a loader. I have a number of years under my belt running the snow belt including 2-3 round trips plus per week running the eastern end of Lake Ontario. I don't think I could even imagine what fun it must be these days with so many incompetent people out and about that just don't get it that they cannot drive for squat on a good day and really should have stayed the heck home, lol!

 

[TCowner]

The local TV weather forecasters in SE Minnesota love the drama of a storm. These clowns make it the lead story on the 6-oclock news if there is the slightest possibility of a 4" snowfall. They even go so far as to coach us on how to dress. We are encouraged to wear scarfs and mittens to cope with upcoming potential disaster. They call it the "Precision forecast" and of course they are no where close to precise. They now try to forecast snow accumulations to the nearest tenth of an inch. Just last week we were told we could expect 3.8" of snow in our specific part of the county. Of course we got less than an inch. They get help from the National Weather Service as well. Those folks appear to like the drama as well. They issue "blizzard warnings" if there is any chance of a few inches of snow accompanied by some wind. Of course every school cancel classes for the day.

I was in northern Minnesota in 1975 when the Alexandria area got 17" of snow with 50 mph winds. Ladies and gentlemen, that is a blizzard.

I can't imagine how the local tv forecasters would deal with that storm. I would imagine that they would invent a new category of storm warning. Something like an "end of days warning". Seriously, I just don't know how the lead weather guy would react. But I will bet it would entertaining.