What's your areas most likely disaster and how are you prepared?

[Nuggetsowner:)]

k0xxx - Wow! You are very prepared! We have also went through a tornado. Lost everything, had to rebuild, the whole nine yards. That is when we purchased our generator and began to really become more prepared for anything that might happen. To be honest with you, when we look back now the tornado was one of the best things that has ever happened to us. Sounds strange but it is funny how tragedy changes your life!

 

[me&thegals]

Tornadoes. When we built, we were very lucky to have had someone recommend we drop our frostwall below our porch down even further. So, we have a cement-enclosed cellar. Great place to hang out during a tornado--lights (until the power goes out) and lots of food

 

[unclejoe]

Snow and ice here in south Pa.
We pulled the oil and installed a wood furnace 3 yrs. ago. When the power goes out we open a window in each of the upstairs rooms and let convection take over. The furnace is located close to the plumbing so we don't worry about freezing pipes. 10 cord of wood to keep us warm all winter with a little to spare. About 3 months of food from our ( new this year ) 2000 sf garden. Most of it is canned or dried. Some frozen. Chickens and goats for meat as well as an abundance of deer although I haven't hunted in 25 yrs. Our well is an old hand dug, stone lined one that we can hand pump if we need to. I do want a generator and I got a little help here in the ss forum finding what I want. Thanks k0xxx. All in all I guess we would be ok for an extended emergency.

 

[k0xxx]

"If you don't mind me asking what kind of generators do you have?"

The gas generator is a Coleman 6KW (from WalMart) and the Propane is a 7kw Briggs and Stratton (from Northern Tools).

The propane generator was expensive, compared to the gas, and we are trying to wean ourselves off of propane so that the only thing on the 250 gallon tank will be the generator. We're in the process of replacing the propane stove and that will leave the water heater to be replaced next year.

 

[VT-Chicklit]

Our main concerns would be ice storms or blizzards in the winter and straight line winds or tornadoes in the summer. We lost our power for 4 days this summer because of straight line winds. One half of the island had power the other half had no power and a lot of dammage due to that storm. We fared OK.

We have a Briggs and Straton generator and our house was wired with a panel that we hook into so that we can select what the power will be used for at any one time. We can run the furnace, which also provides the hot water for our house, or the well pump at one time. In addition to either of those items we can run the refridgerator or the freezer and one light and a wall outlet in the kitchen. We moved the mini TV into the kitchen to get the latest news while I cooked on my gas stove. We alternated running the well and furnace so that we had adequate water and hot water. The neighbors set ups were not as versitile as ours. The most any of them could get was an outlet or a light. No one had running water but us. The all drew off their pools to flush and wash. I took my little lawn tractor and wagon and filled it up with bottles from my basement that I had filled with water and drove it around our street giving drinking water to those who needed it.

We also keep a store of gas on hand in jerry cans. We started this after Katrina,when the gas prices started to jump. I am always concerned that there will come a time when they will ration gas, like they did during the Jimmy Carter era. Up here, on the island, you were only allowed to get 2 gallons. That wont get you far, especially when most people drive 60-80 miles round trip to work each day. Besides the jerry cans we have 2 pick up trucks, 2 cars, a boat with an internal gas tank, snow blower and lawn mower. I look at each of these as a gas storing unit and we try to keep them full as well, just incase.

 

[attack-cat]

We have ice storms and snow and then the spring storms ... all of them can leave you stuck at home with no power! Not fun!

We just had almost three days with no power. Now we have a generator but dh had to drive to the next state over to get one. We got it up and running in the middle of the night and the nest day the power was back on. But we're ready for the next time!

 

[dzook]

Hi all, In SoCal here it's earthquakes and wild fires that we have to worry about but it's the Santa Ana winds that usually contribute to the occasional power outages. We have a pop-up tent trailer that is prepped for us. We recently bought a Honda generator from a construction company that is selling off equipment.
My hubby and I are also CERT trained. We just bought two 55 gal water barrels for a good price with the preservative that holds it for a 5 year period.
Our little community has its own wells and most of our home is gas. So we can still have hot water and cook and heat without power. My parents are LDS and she is in charge of her churchs food storage program and she has taken me in hand and helped with that also. We garden and my husband and I took the classes to become Master Food Preservers and teach others at public classes. I try to keep 50lbs of dog food and 25 lbs of chicken feed on hand at all times. As I open one bag I buy another. I try to keep it quiet that we are prepared while still encouraging neighbors and friends to prep.
I also keep puzzles and dominos, cards and books on hand to keep ourselves and four kids occupied.

 

[MorelCabin]

For us it is icestorms and blizzards during winter and micobursts during summer. We lose our power often, and usually for a full week at least once per year. We have learned to be prepared. Our oven is propane, so I can cook without power. I am a lantern collector so we have lots of lighting. We live on the lake and have a power auger so we always have access to water. During winter we would drink it straight from the lake but during summer I would boil it first. Our bathrooms are easy, we just flush with a bucket of water...thank the Lord for simple gravity septic systems...although the ones they try to sell you now are useless pump assisted systems...why I don't know:>)
I keep a full pantry as well so we usually deal with it quite easily

 

[shareneh]

We have to deal with tornados, freezing weather and blizzards here.

I have a section of the basement for tornado warnings.

I also went from heating just with a propane furnace to woodstove heat and bought kerosene lanterns and a camp stove for when the power went out.

This weekend I had the opportunity to try the blizzard material out and it worked like a charm. The power went out and we were just as comfortable as we could be. My family was all calling (from their cell phones) and saying how smart we were to switch back to simpler things. I think they just wanted some of my camp coffee.

I was just defending myself during canning season because they teased me about being "Laura Ingalls". Look whose laughing now


I'm so proud of us!

 

[roosmom]

Snow and ice storms. Then the power lines get hit. We are sc***** . Yes we have food, yes I can cook it, but we would freeze to death. Oh no , I just remembered the sauna, we could stay in there. whew, scared myself.