Harvey News Cast shows store shelves

[gipsy]

I just caught a news cast from the Weather channel of a store inside. The shelves were bare. They also showed gas pumps with "No Gas" signs.

More of that "It can't happen here" mentality. This should be fun to watch.

[papaof2]

But it can happen "here" wherever "here" may be. We had straight line winds take the top 20 feet off a poplar tree and drop in the neighbors driveway. My 20 year old Craftsman chainsaw was up to the challenge ;-)

I drive by the "fill at half" rule. My wife is not consistent there but usually by 1/4 tank. We're 1,000 feet above sea level. While 30 inches of rain would swamp the rain gutters on the house - and probably find leaks in the otherwise secure roof - we would not evacuate for that much rain.

Having old, tall (50-60ft) trees on two sides of the house, we might for tornadoes although there's a section of basement that would likely be safe with some bracing under the floor above. However, the area has no history of tornado activity.

The pantry in the kitchen has food for more than a week and it's not the only storage. If we lost County water, we'd have what's in the water heater and three floors of piping. If we knew the storm was coming, I could fill barrels and a tank to have more than 300 gallons in the basement. I could also process some of the 300 gallons of rainwater that's collected for flowers and shrubs.

The solar generator I've been working on would provide limited power and the best usage would be decided when/if the power went out. It can provide semi-normal fridge and freezer operation for 8-10 hours (no going out in the rain to connect a gas powered generator) or 24 hours of running a small (4.4 cu ft) fridge and a few lights. The solar gen also has the positive quality of being silent. Extended power outages tend to provide a venue for looting and a running generator is an audible sign of light, warmth and food.

We cook with natural gas which should be available for some time after a major power failure and I have a couple of manual spark lighters. Fallback items include a propane grill, a Coleman stove (several gallons of fuel), two fireplaces (one with gas logs [it has a battery operated valve] and one still ready for wood) and a fold-up camping stove.

We don't have a fallout shelter or 5 years of LTS food for 10 people. We don't have a huge income but we know how to stretch a buck (you can spend the same $100 3 times - I should write that up). I've always been curious about how things work and have learned "how to" for many things - engine rebuilding from flathead V-8 to overhead cam 4, copper and PVC plumbing, electrical wiring, writing a book (royalties from "An Accidental Family" funded the solar generator and some other preps: thank you to my readers).

I'm very aware of the damage a hurricane can do. I was in Jackson, Mississippi, on company business when Camille came through. I spent that night in my hotel room trying to decide if I wanted to sleep in the bed or on the floor under the mattress - the storm was still that furious that far inland. The power stayed on but there was flooding downtown in areas below street level - including the local telephone office. Outlying areas had major wind damage.

Remember that almost anywhere south of the Mason-Dixon line, a forecast of any amount of snow instantly clears the store shelves of bread and milk. We've learned to have enough on hand (bread freezes well) to not be part of that hysterical crowd.