Well, the Nor'Easter's comin', I think I'm prepared....

[MacTech]

Up here in New England (Southern coastal Maine in my case) we've got a massive storm system blowing in, should be bringing us quite the mix, rain, snow, ice, wind gusts up to 50-60 MPH, the classic Nor'Easter

got the tub full of water, a 5 gallon water cooler jug set aside, a decent supply of canned goods, a cellar with some nice dry firewood, oil lamps and candles

.....and more flashlights and batteries than i know what to do with

just sitting here within arms reach i have;

On the Wall;
Mag 2C MagLED (NIMH)
MagCharger (fully charged)
MagLED 3D (Alkalines ZTS'ed at 100%)
Coleman twin-tube flourescent lantern (hanging from a ceiling hook, fully charged NIMH batteries inside)

On the computer table/nightstand
SureFire 6P W. Lighthound Cree upgrade
A2 Aviator
L1 Lumamax
E1L-SR
Fenix L0P-SE

on the keyring, which is hanging from a Neodymyium magnet stuck to my "Luxo" style table lamp
CMG Infinity
Fenix E0
Red Photon Freedom Max

in the plastic storage bins next to the computer table;
MiniMag with red Nite-Ize upgrade
Minimag with 1W Lux Nite-Ize upgrade
Fenix L2T
Rayovac Swivelhead w/ Sears PR Lux
Brunton 4 LED camping lantern

hanging from the bedpost;
Inova X1 Reflector (gen 2)
Princeton Tec EOS
Ace Hardware rubber body light with MJLED

In the car;
Inova X5
MiniMagLED 3AA
SureFire G2 w/ P61
Thor 10MCP spot

and a few random Nite Ize'd Minimags and MJLED equipped plastic bodied lights scattered randomly throughout the house, mostly in the bathrooms

Batteries;
3 AAA Energizer Lithiums
9 AA Energizer Lithiums
6 fully charged 2500 MAh Kodak NIMH AA's
12 fully charged Ray-O-Vac 750MAh AAA's
6 fully charged Energizer 900 MAh AAA's
4 fully charged 2900MAh Rayovac C cells
4 pak of Duracell C cells
4 pak of Duracell D cells
32 SureFire SF123a cells
4 BatteryStation RCR123a cells
fully charged 800 Va APC UPS
hmm, looks like i could stand to get a couple more multipacks of Alkie AA, C and D cells, if CMP is as incompetent as i think they're going to be (read that as *very* incompetent) we may be in for an extensive power outage

right now it's raining and snowing at the same time, and this is just the front edge of the storm, it's just barely knocking on our door....

 

[light_emitting_dude]

Looks like your well prepared. Good luck!

 

[Darknessnomore]

Its been raining all day here in CT. Although it hasn't panned out to be what the weatherman said so far.

 

[yaesumofo]

This same storm blew through Southern California with HUGE 50 60 70 MPH winds. There are still people with no power. In fact the city of Los Angeles said that the winds caused as much damage as a moderate earthquake. Numerous people had their vehicles destroyed by falling trees and debris.
I find it amazing that we did not know the destructive potiental of the storm before it arived. At least you have had some notice. When it hit us we had no notice to speak of. We had the highest winds that we habve had in decades!!!
Good luck. Make sure that you have plenty of WATER and the means to make FIRE. Without it you can die.
Yaesumofo

 

[Flying Turtle]

The southern leg of this storm just came through. Seems to be clearing up now. Heavy rain, thunder, a bit of hail, and tornado warnings. Unfortunately no power outage and all my lights were ready.

Geoff

 

[MacTech]

We have *plenty* of water, just filled the bathtub just in case, we've been filling empty milk jugs we keep on hand for just these reasons, cooking up a hearty soup that'll be good warm or cold.

we have plenty of means to start fires, i have a Zippo lighter and two cans of fuel, a pressurized butane lighter and can of fuel, matches, and a magnesium fire starter

just got back from the grocery store, and as expected, the D cells and C cells were cleaned out, strangely enough, there were plenty of AA cells (grabbed a 16 pack, i figure if i use them in the CMG Infinity, i would have about 1,536 hours of light, or 192 DAYS (6.4 Months) of light if i used the CMG for 8 hours a day....

i think i'm all set for light, somehow

hmm, that's an interesting thought though, let me do some calculations....
using a green CMG Infinity and standard AA cels, i have about 6.4 months worth of light off of a standard 16 pack of AA Alkies
using my SureFire L1 on Low, i have 2880 hours of light, 360 days, almost a *YEAR* of light off my 32 123a cells, and that doesn't even take into account the pile of partially depleted 123a's i could use in the L1 as well....

if we do lose power, my plans are as follows;
use up the rechargables first, bring the chargers (Rayovac NIMH and BatteryStation 123a) into work and recharge them there, or use my voltage inverter in the car
turn one of my 2C Mags into a long runtime light by dropping in a MJLED PR bulb
wall-mount my 6D Mag with the Nite Ize PR LED bulb and 6 NIMH batteries as a long runtime area light
use the Rayovac Swivel with the Sears Lux as a general-purpose light
keep the SureFires in reserve until all my conventional lights have depleted, with the exception of the L1 on Low and my E1L-SR

of course, Murphy's Law being what it is, since i'm prepared for the inevitable extended power outage, that means it won't happen

 

[Lee1959]

Keep your head down, and your loved ones close to hand. Sounds like you have prepared as well as possible, I hope it is not as bad as predicted and that everyone fares well.

 

[Supernam]

Have you considered an automotive lead acid battery? You can rig up one of those fluorescent tube type lanterns that run off of 12V cigarette lighter plugs into it and light up the whole living room for a very long time with nice output. Although, it's not as fun. hehe

 

[Strauss]

We are getting pounded with snow as I type this. By mid afternoon tommorrow, we are supposed to have at least a foot or more of snow :thumbsdow I can't believe we are getting this big storm and it's the middle of April for crying out loud! Oh, and my batteries are all charged up as well

 

[Radio]

Ran the generator, filled the gas cans, Fire when ready Gridley!

 

[big beam]

I'm like radio.12 gals of gas for my generator and I'm all set.It is amazing what 4000 watts can do.

DON

BTW Mactech whats the THOR for ? HEAT

 

[LuxLuthor]

I get a kick out of people who take such dramatic steps in response to storms like this. This is the response that was needed in the 1700-1800's, but some people still think they are going to be stranded and isolated for weeks, and they rush to the grocery stores to buy 10 times more than they would ever need.

In the last 25 years, the longest power outage I have had is maybe about 12 hours during Hurricane Gloria. In the worst snow storm, the roads are plowed within hours.

About the only thing that will require this type of reaction is a MAJOR hurricane...such as the 1938 hurricane....but in that instance the only intelligent step is to evacuate the area.

This is a most curious behavior that I think must be genentically encoded, because there is little rational justification in modern times. Roads, trees, powerlines are mostly fixed within hours to a day. Even with Katrina where New Orleans whould never have been built in an underwater flood zone to start with, the only intelligent preparation was to leave the area. Stocking up on 20 million lights and batteries and filling the bathtub with water!!! LOL!

 

[big beam]

Hi LL
I went through GLORIA also( I lived on long island at the time).We were without lights for 4 days.I had a generator back then to but it was a cheepo coleman I think.It drank 5 gals of gas in 9 hours.The generac I have now uses .29 gals/hour at 2000W.

BTW I lived in Holbrook at the time and the eye went over us.Strangest thing I ever seen.Sky got blue the wind died down for about 15 mins. and then it all started again.

DON

 

[bridgman]

We were without power for a few days during the blackout in... what was it, 04 ? I had a generator and lots of gas, enough to keep everyones freezer freezing....

... except my generator was locked in my brother-in-law's garage and he was camping up north with his family for a week.

MacTech, it's good to see you have enough flashlights to cook with

 

[LuxLuthor]

Yeah, it was bad...and much damage was done by Cat 2 Hurricane Gloria in 1985. Despite all that, our power in CT was only out for about 12 hours. Phones never went down...plus had cell phone backup coverage. The grocery stores were open within hours after it passed, roads cleared within a day. I bought a generator after that, and have never used it.

I'm still laughing at this minor "Nor'Easter." The only thing it has changed in my normal lifestyle is I'm not walking my dog today.

 

[sawlight]

Well LL, I understand where you are comming from, but three years ago KS got hit with an ice storm, we were without power for five days, others in Wichita, were out for up to three weeks. These things still happen.

 

[Lee1959]

Well Lex, some of the preps are not as outrageous as you might think. If power is lost for an extended period, as was done as recently as this past winter in Colorado and other states, a water supply makes life a bit easier. Especially for those in rural areas whose entire water supply may depend upon their electricity and not what is going to the local water utility. Even if the power is out for a day, extra water is handy for flushing a toilet, and it takes a few gallons to do so.

Just because you cannot concieve of the need, does not mean it does not exist.

 

[bridgman]

My old house got cold REALLY quickly if we lost power during the winter. Apparently the builders had not heard of insulation. I was able to insulate the roof, but the walls were basically drywall over brick. I had a wood-burning insert and lots of wood but needed to keep the furnace fan going or the periphery would freeze quickly.

The new house is essentially a big open box built around a wood-burning masonry heater, so the generator is primarily to drive the well pump, the freezer, the home theater and the battery chargers

 

[Alteran]

This, gentlemen, is the horrifying outcome of global colding. *Shudder* Seriously though, you really seem prepared. More prepared than me. So far we've just had a lot of rain.

 

[riffraff]

That storm dropped 2 inches of snow here in the Midwest yesterday...of course, today it hit 65 degrees, so not much left. Good luck!