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......