Surviving a Long Term Power Outage - Hurricane Ike

This came from a volunteer who worked during Hurricane Ike. Apologies for formatting -- don't have time to clean up the document, but useful reading.

Post by KK5CA

Surviving a Long Term Power Outage - Hurricane Ike

A fundamental principle of CERT training is to prepare individuals to bemore self-sufficient and less dependent upon the post-disaster responses. Four weeks after Hurricane Ike made landfall, and two weeks after having commercial power restored, I thought I would document what helped me make it through this extended power outage.

This was the largest power outage ever in the state of Texas, affecting more than 2.5 million residential and commercial customers, and perhaps as many as 4-5 million people. It was wide-spread and profound. A CERT-trained power company employee said his employer was very close to beginning the process of shutting down the entire SE Texas power grid (whatever that means). We were fortunate to have mild weather following this hurricane, with a few nights in the 50s and 60s,d aytime highs barely above 80, and low humidity.

I arrived home from an out-of-town trip about two days after Hurricane Ike. I thought it too far after the event to spend time performing a neighborhood disaster survey and reporting it to the county EOC.POWER Most neighbors were using gasoline, diesel, propane, or natural gas, generators during some, if not all, hours of the day. I saw a few neighbor ssharing their power, evidenced by extension cords lying across streets. My5 kW generator hooks into the house circuit breaker box through a manual Connecticut Electric transfer box. < href="http://www.connecticut-elecric.com/" target="_blank">http://www.connecticut-elecric.comhref="http://elecric.com/" target="_blank">elecric.com > This provides generator power to five pre-selected circuits: water-well pump (220V), kitchen, 2 bedrooms, and the living room. In anticipation of the storm, I topped off the 6-gallon generator fuel tank,and filled two 5-gallon cans. An outboard motor type hand siphon bulb (Attwood, from Bass Pro Shops) makes filling the tank easier than liftingthe 40+ pound gas can. 2-1/2 gallon cans might have been a better choice. I used about 30 gallons of gasoline total during the two weeks without power, at $3.50-4 per gallon.I ran the generator for only 3-4 hours in the evening to chill the refrigerator and allow the water well pump to re-charge the storage tank. It did not seem prudent to allow it to run all night long just to keep the bedroom ceiling fan running while we slept. Several neighbors did run their generators all night, perhaps even 24-hours a day.I had several 7 and 11 AH gel cell batteries that were salvaged from non-working UPS units. These powered a 12 VDC B&W analog television/AM-FMreceiver, allowing me to get the morning news without starting the generator. Running an automotive 12 VDC fan (like used to be mounted ondashboards) drained these batteries before the night was over. My 1 A gelcell charger was inadequate to fully re-charge these during 8-10 hours atwork. With just 8 V at the terminals, the maximum charging current was 0.2A, probably indicating the internal resistance has increased and thebatteries are beyond their useful life.A battery powered alarm clock (single AA cell) was useful. Many cell phones and wrist watches also have an alarm feature. WATER All homes in our neighborhood are on at least two lots with individual waterwells. When necessary, a water hose with a female x female adapter allowsone neighbor's well to temporarily provide water to another. I did notobserve this practice this time, perhaps because so many residents hadgenerators. Some co-workers dipped water from their own or the neighborhoodswimming pool to flush solid waste out of toilets. A very quick cold showerevery other day was tolerable, barely. A heavy duty hook securely placedhigh up in the shower would have allowed a solar shower bag to be used.FOODI returned home 2-1/2 days after we lost power. I discarded everything inthe refrigerator and freezer, except bottled water, soft drinks andmargarine. When some commercial stores re-opened, I was able to avoid theurgent need to visit them by eating food we already had. After a few daysand the initial surge had passed, I missed getting in the door by 15minutes. My usually open 24-hours a day store was only open 7A-7P. I triedagain the following day. All frozen, bakery, dairy, and fresh meat productshelves were completely empty. My purchases focused on non-refrigeratedfood:* tuna in water - 3 oz size cans* low sodium Ritz crackers* bananas, apples, oranges - fresh and dried* Individual cartons of 2% white & chocolate milk; similar to juiceboxes, tastes better than powdered milk, and are available in 1% and 1%lactose free. < www.farmlanddairies.com/Little%20Milk.htm >* 8 oz Minute Maid orange juice* granola bars* almonds, walnuts, trail mix* instant oatmeal* instant coffee - Nescafe Tasters Choice - 2gm packet (also availablewith cream and sugar; not tried)Once opened, food that was not immediately consumed was kept in the freezersection of the refrigerator, even if some of it occasionally became frozen.COOKINGWhen the generator was running, I had use of the microwave oven. Mostoften, I cooked on the side-burner of the propane BBQ grill, on the patio,just outside the kitchen door. I did not find it necessary to pull out the2-burner propane camping stove. One day, I grilled fresh chicken, and weate that for two consecutive meals, kept in the freezer from one meal to thenext. Most of our meals were eaten on paper plates and with plasticutensils.LIGHTINGWhen all the lights are completely out and your eyes have adjusted to thedarkness, a very bright light isn't necessary, you just need a little morelight. I do not like any flashlight which requires two hands to turn on andoff (sorry Maglight). I found a 2 AA cell flashlight with a switch and on aneck lanyard to be very useful. I purchased a Ray-o-Vac industrial model atLowes shortly before the storm. My old REI 2 AA cell headlamp was helpfulwhen cooking on the BBQ grill.Single LED stick-up lights (3 AAA cells) can be found at CVS pharmacy,around $10 for 3. Inverting a white paper or Styrofoam cup over theseproduces a nice area glow that is less annoying. I found the white lightfrom these to be more useful for reading than other light.In the bathroom, I found nothing better than a TapLight. These use 4 AAcells, and are available at many stores (Target, CVS) for $10 ea. They canbe found on many internet stores at 6 for $20-30. Buy these before thepower goes out, because they can't be found on the shelves afterwards.HOUSINGNot many modern houses are designed for temperature control without thecentral heating or cooling system. Not many even have screened windows anddoors. Temporary screens can be added to doors, allowing them to be openwhile excluding mosquitoes. Often called walk-through door screens, theycan be purchased from internet stores. < www.ecobottoms.com/category/.1/ > Installing one on our double-wideFrench door onto the patio allowed the cool night air to flow through ourhouse. I intend to purchase another one for the front door.COMMUNICATIONSThis falls into two categories; getting information from commercial sourcesand maintaining contact with family. I previously mentioned using a batterypowered analog TV and AM/FM radios. In February 2009, all non-digitalover-the-air television broadcasts will cease. Post storm, I found theequipment which might allow my battery powered analog television to beusable in the digital broadcast era. < www.ezdigitaltv.com/Artec_T3A_Pro.html >< www.winegarddirect.com/cview.asp?c=Digital%20Converter%20Boxes >Our under-ground telephone lines continued to work uninterrupted, andgenerally not overloaded. Cell phones were mostly usable, with textmessaging more reliable than making a voice call. Some people reportedhaving to drive a few miles to get a signal. My closest cell site had agenerator for the duration of the outage. My cable television and internet service was completely out for the sameperiod that I was without commercial power. Being cable-based, they do notoffer dial-up service. Once power was restored to my employer, I could readmy E-mail there.My HF and VHF/UHF equipment at home was unaffected. Not even the antennaswere damaged. This allowed voice and radio-based E-mail using the Winlink2000 system. Having redundant VHF/UHF gateway stations in the area helpedensure at least one of them survived the outage. I found several VHF 1200bps usable during the outage period, so it was not necessary to use Pactor 1(200 bps) on HF and go out of the area or to one of the in-area RMS Pactorgateway stations. That was always an option if needed.SUMMARYPre-disaster preparation can make a difference in the quality of life duringthe recovery period. I did not find it necessary to purchase ice or water.I did not need to stand in line at a POD. I did not eat MREs or otherlong-storage (and very high sodium) food. I avoided the longest gasolinelines. I think the dogma of preparing for 72-hours before help arrives iswishful thinking and the barest minimum. Rational people should think aboutbeing prepared to be on their own for at least a week after a wide spreadincident. People in the affected area are unable to do little more thanhelp themselves. Assistance must come from those who are unaffected or fromoutside the affected area; and self-sufficient and organized teams aregreatly preferred over individual responders