Given the arrival of The Heat Dome that’s all over the east like stank on a monkey, it seems a good time for a PSA of sorts.
You know that as far as ACs go, some people are going to be cranking up the ol’ Kaiser all the way to “Blitzkrieg”, and transformers popping like popcorn is a very real possibility. Given that, it’s certainly a good time to top off all flashlights, phones, lanterns, powerbanks, etc.
Of course, this also applies to winter storms, or any storms, for that matter, anything that can disrupt the electric grid, whether from downed powerlines to overtaxing the system.
Plus, gas in the car, knowing what’s in the fridge/freezer for quick access, etc., all that emergency kind of stuff.
Growing up in the Midwest way back in the 60’s and 70’s we got used to the power going off periodically, especially those of us that survived those last 2 winters of the 70’s. It taught us to be ready for life without power for a while, something that made us look like preppers for a while and now back to the average Joe. One thing I learned then was we could put our food (and beer!) outside in the cold.
The condo I lived in for a while lost power for 3 days after a big storm and half of my neighbors left. The flashlight and battery shelves were as baren as the snack aisles before the Superbowl but a few of us were ready then. Last time the power went out here I had enough lights and radios to last for a week, plus a generator to keep the fridges chilled.
Two days into no power with hurricane Sandy, all the shelves at every supermarket were empty. Sams Club as well. Gas stations had no gas.
You definitely need some extra gas, some extra food, especially canned and dry like beans, of course flashlights, batteries, and a generator of some sorts.
BTW, the pandemic made hurricane Sandy look like a passing shower on a sunny day.
Yeah, on a ski-trip in college we quickly learned to keep our real Canadian Molson (something like 7.5% EtOH v/v?) outside, buried in the snow.
Here, other than The Great Eastern Seaboard Blackout, and 2 other incidents (truck takes out a pole-pig 2 blocks down; Christmas tree keels over and takes out our block’s powerlines), we’ve got pretty damned reliable power.
Still, any approaching storm, I’ve made it a point to be prepared. Even just predicted high winds, etc., you never know what’ll come down.
The Christmas Tree incident, I had one of those OG Zanflare lanterns stuck to the doorbell frame on about medium. Lasted all night when it happened (0300 – dawn), then the next night (dusk – 2300), and it was stikk kicking, albeit almost run down.
In fact, that’s one of the cells that I’m testing now just for the lulz, and it’s a pretty sad 1700mAH. Stick in a good 3400mAH cell, and it’d last twice as long. I wouldn’t waste a 30Q on it, but a lower-current, higher-capacity cell.
We went through The Super Sandy pretty much unscathed. Some streets in Manhattan were flooded, but here (still NYC, just not the concrete jungle) it was a big nothingburger.
Hmm, now I’m getting hungry…
Lotta wind, lotta nervous anticipation, but it… get ready for it!.. Just Blew Over.
Along with the usual blackout stuff be prepared for heat related medical issues, know about electrolytes and homemade recipes for them, be aware of the cooling effect of a damp sheet or a bathtub of water, even laying on a slab floor, consider a solar fan to help the cooling effect of a wet sheet.
Be aware of cooler places in your area, even under a bridge on a stream or in a neighbors heavily treed yard.
Consider your elderly or disabled, or ignorant neighbors, if things get dire in regard to the heat and no electricity, visit them and check out their situation and awareness of cooling solutions.
Yep, I go for nice long hot soaks in winter, and nice cold soaks in summer.
My #1 is smart enough to park his ass either in the bathtub or on the bare tile floor to stay cool, especially lately.
My #3 parks his ass right here on my table so he’s sitting right in front of the fan, blocking my breeze. He’s got that thick luxurious wool, so for him it’s like wearing a fur coat, so I can’t blame him.
And for the love of B’harni, I wish people would NOT take their critters out for walks in this hot weather. The scorching hot sidewalks and especially streets must cook their little tootsies and be pure torture for them.
If you ever scorched the bottom of your feet walking on the sand on the beach going back to the boardwalk at the end of the day, you’ll know exactly what I’m referring to.
I got my little Birb Water-Park set up for their amusement. Inverted lid from a huge tupperware coffin, filled with water, solar fountain floating around in it. Funny to see the little beasties land on it to get under the shower…
Also gotta hose it out and refill pretty much on the daily, because they use it for a toilet, too. Just like hyu-mons and public pools, too, I imagine.
How many of you have tried those fabric necklace things filled with desiccant silica gel?
You just soak them real quick in cool water and they grow like crazy.
Used them quite a few times and until they dry to the point where they are not transferring heat they work very good. Just keep pouring some water on every hour or so and it helps.
Takes forvever for them to totally dry back to pebble form but they do eventually.
Also have a couple of those small fans you wear around your neck. like this;
I know someone who lived there and told me of being cooped up quite a while 'til it all drained away. (And the flooded underground power-stuff replaced.)
Still, it’s not like most of NYC was flooded, like you see on videos around NOLA and the like, or where people have to go around in rafts and canoes vs driving, and people have to be rescued offa rooftops.
That’s what I was comparing it to, that NYC was largely unscathed, relatively speaking.
I don’t “get” living in places like Wayne NJ, where they pretty much get flooded out every coupla years, and still come back, rebuild, and do it alllllll over again a coupla years later.
Those listed neighborhoods? Overstuffed developments, wall-to-wall apartment houses, everybody’s got the AC cranked up to 11 to the point they wear sweaters indoors, so yah, that’s gonna pop transformers left’n’right.
Here is mainly 1-2 family houses with actual yards. Not huge, but comfortable. Power density is way way less, so unless a truck takes out a powerpole and either fries the lines or takes out the pole-pig, the power generally stays on 24/7.
I got a bunch of these monitors plugged in, both phases feeding the house, and right now this second it’s reading 112V, so pretty stable. It usually bounces between 112V to 118V or so.
I’ll admit most of my knowledge of New York City real estate came from watching the Warriors, I didn’t expect that for NYC.
Years ago I was in upstate New York for work with a guy from the city and I said I didn’t expect the upstate part of the state to look like that and everyone got upset. Just like with Illinois and Chicago except it’s downstate.
I keep this plugged in in the kitchen all the time. I have to move it to the other outlet to monitor the other leg. It’s typically at 123 sometimes up at 125. I never see it below 120. I’m not surprised it’s that low right now though. It’s about 26 years old. Having the needle lets me see it bouncing around if the lights start flickering or when it comes back on after a power outage. If I see it bouncing around a lot I run down and start flipping breakers off. That way circuit boards on various appliances are not damaged.
I zoomed in on some of the outages on the Con Edison map. Some of them list the complaint as, “No lights”.
Yeah, that’ll happen when there’s no power.
After thinking about it a minute, the, no lights, is probably an option that people have when they call in to self-report.
