Hurricane Irma!!

[SmokinAl]

Well I just got electricity & internet back.

Our house didn't get any damage, but all the trees around it did & I have been cleaning  up the mess for 3 days. We had no elec, gas, food,or water. But Luckily I had a stash & just about the time my generator was going to run out of gas a friend of mine over on the West coast showed up with 20 gallons of fuel. When that ran out we went up to Winter haven, about 45 miles, because we heard they had fuel. I had enough to get there but not to get back if we didn't get any. We passed a bunch of gas stations that were closed, & finally found one with fuel. So I filled up the car & gas cans & we were set for a couple of more days. So it's all good now. 

Thanks to all you guys who were thinking of me & all my Florida brothers!

Al

 

[tropics]

 
Well I just got electricity & internet back.

Our house didn't get any damage, but all the trees around it did & I have been cleaning  up the mess for 3 days. We had no elec, gas, food,or water. But Luckily I had a stash & just about the time my generator was going to run out of gas a friend of mine over on the West coast showed up with 20 gallons of fuel. When that ran out we went up to Winter haven, about 45 miles, because we heard they had fuel. I had enough to get there but not to get back if we didn't get any. We passed a bunch of gas stations that were closed, & finally found one with fuel. So I filled up the car & gas cans & we were set for a couple of more days. So it's all good now. 

Thanks to all you guys who were thinking of me & all my Florida brothers!

Al

Glad to hear you and Judy are okay and minimal damage

Richie

 

[fliptetlow]

I feel you about the cleanup work, we have about 30 - 4' x 4' 4' piles stacked up and 2 large oaks to still deal with. Rocking on a generator 24 hrs a day is work on it's self. But have the well pump up and running, router for the net, DTV, 2 refrigerators and some fans. Crazy hot so the outdoor shower we have id fine without the hot water hooked up. Looks like we are still a few days out but our other house on the corner of our property which we have been remodeling came back on line yesterday, brand new A/C on both floors so we have nighttime sleeping anyway. Gas has been OK for the most part be we started out with 40 gal and by the time that was running out more was flowing in. Using about 10 gal every 24 hrs on a 6500 gen.   

 

[pc farmer]

Glad to hear all is ok.

Glad to have you back.

 

[chilerelleno]

He lives! Welcome back Al.
Good to hear it's just annoyances and inconveniences.

 

[troutman]

Remember, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.  Been through too many storms but after a while you forget and move on.  The important thing is your safe, your house is in tact and now you can look forward to a long, slow smoke.  Glad to hear you came through alright.

 

[tropics]

We don't get mush from a hurricane here,other then Sandy took out power for a few days by me.The Jersey shore got pounded I have a generator that has not seen a drop of gas in it.Waiting for things to get back to a little norm. then going to Ga.& Fla

Richie

 

[crazymoon]

SA, Glad to hear you are safe ,patience will be needed to get life back to normal !

 

[Bearcarver]

That's Great, Al !! 

We were hoping it was only your electric that kept you from logging on!! 

Hang in there Buddy!!

Bear

 

[noboundaries]

Yeah! Great news Al. Hope you and Judy can feel the love.

 

[gmc2003]

Glad you and the misses are ok. Cleanup must be a blessing considering the alternative. 

Chris

 

[daveomak]

Al, I knew you and Judy were survivors...   Happy to hear from you...

 

[johnmeyer]

Al, welcome back to some semblance of civilization.

I have a word to pass along to everyone about generators. After our big earthquake in 1989 (the "World Series" quake), we lost electricity for a few days, followed by a longer outage after a 70+ mph storm a few months later (that giggling you hear are all the FL people reading that last line).

So I got a small generator which has been wonderful in the various 1-3 day outages we've had since.

However ...

In the time since I got that in 1991, there are now much better options. For people like those in Florida, the cat's meow would be a gen that works off not only gasoline, but also some form of gas, either propane or natural. These multi-fuel generators didn't exist back then. Not only does this give you another choice for fuel but, as you all know, gasoline cannot be stored indefinitely. Even is you add Stabil, you have to remember to use up the gasoline every few years and get some fresh stuff. By contrast, the gas in propane tanks is good indefinitely so, unless the valve corrodes or leaks, you can use stuff that's been sitting around for decades.

But here's what I'd really recommend: get a generator that will work off natural gas. I have not heard whether any Floridian lost natural gas service, but I'll bet no one did. With a natural gas generator, as long as you have gas, you have electricity. Ideally you'd want one that could be stored indoors, away from the elements, to make sure it survives "the event."

The other option, of course, is solar. I haven't seen any articles yet on how many solar installations got ripped apart by the winds, so I don't know if they can be relied on for hurricane aftermath. However, if they survive, they can make you quite independent.

Unfortunately, they still cost a fortune to buy and install, and they are not maintenance free (although neither is a generator).

Just a few ideas. I'm sure the survivalists among this crowd may have a few other suggestions.

 

[griz400]

Yes, been waiting to hear from you Al, great to hear all is well ... did it move the lang???  

 

[xray]

Glad to hear you made it through!

 

[jokensmoken]

Great to hear Al. Glad you and Judy escaped with no heavy losses. We've been praying for y'all.

Walt.

 

[GaryHibbert]

Good to have you and Miss Judy back safe and sound. With your house in great shape a few trees is nothing--probably not much that you can use in the Lang though.

A few days without power and fuel is a good trade-off for coming out alive and healthy. Ha, lots of oeoole pay good money to live like that--they call it camping. LOL

Gary

 

[BGKYSmoker]

 
Glad to hear you and Judy are okay and minimal damage

Richie

 
Well I just got electricity & internet back.

Our house didn't get any damage, but all the trees around it did & I have been cleaning  up the mess for 3 days. We had no elec, gas, food,or water. But Luckily I had a stash & just about the time my generator was going to run out of gas a friend of mine over on the West coast showed up with 20 gallons of fuel. When that ran out we went up to Winter haven, about 45 miles, because we heard they had fuel. I had enough to get there but not to get back if we didn't get any. We passed a bunch of gas stations that were closed, & finally found one with fuel. So I filled up the car & gas cans & we were set for a couple of more days. So it's all good now. 

Thanks to all you guys who were thinking of me & all my Florida brothers!

Al

Good to hear Al.

Lots of power still out down south further, cell is spotty. Fuel is avail.

Good to hear y'all are ok.

 

[hardcookin]

Al
Thanks for updating us.
At least you have power back up again.
You should also be able to find a lot of smoking wood now.
You and Judy take care and don't over do it.

 

[wimpy69]

Glad to see you survived "The Nuclear Hurricane" as one of the mayor's called it. Sounds like you came out generally unscathed and you still have each other. Luckily my buddy on Big Pine Key got out days before mass evacuation from the keys started,from limited info, has nothing but an empty lot now and no idea when he's going back. Friends in Orlando area never lost power. Strange storm.