What is your plan B if a disaster happen

[SCHWINN 0]

Those of us with any kind of trailer, Motor home or whatever. Make sure your propane, water and gas if it has a gas station are all full. Non perishable food. I put additive in the gas so it doesn't go bad. I also have giant solar panels on roof to keep batteries charged but are doing no good right now since it sits in a 20' X 60'barn and no sun hits the panels.

For those of us who live in San Diego - last night was a basic wake up call

[650ben 0]

Yes it sure was... Could not find my battery operated radio, good thing my daughter had her kiddy radio in her bedroom, runs off of 110 or Batteries. Worked great. Need to find that darn thing.

In O'side we did not get power until 2:10 am. Was up taking work calls and POOF the house alarms in the neighborhood starting going off then the house lights started up. Good feeling.

[KTMrad 508]

Make sure the fridge is always stocked with BEER !

[TrophyHunter 15]

My wife teases me about owning one of everything from Harbor Fright, but it paid off. I got This Generator on sale for around $90 last year. First use....saving all the food in my refrigerator. I couldn't believe it actually ran the fridge, but no problems.

[socalhodaka 104]

We are lucky to have the MH parked right next to the house. It always has some canned and dry food stocked as well as bottled water. I always keep the fuel tank about 1/2 full. I run the generator and then a long extention cord to the refer and a light. Also have one of ghosts jump start batteries with a 12v socket to keep phones charged.

[wonderwoman 0]

I heard that you can really mess up all of your appliances, computers, TV, etc... if your generator is running when the power goes back on, anybody know about this?

[KTMrad 508]

I heard that you can really mess up all of your appliances, computers, TV, etc... if your generator is running when the power goes back on, anybody know about this?

You're supposed to isolate the generator from the main house circuit....a transfer switch is required by the National Electric Code.

LINK HERE

[ADV Bum 205]

This is one of the reasons we bought the toyhauler. It is a self contained emergency shelter. Generator, propane, water, battery backups and all the amenities of the house. My wife did not like the generator I bought 2 weeks ago, until yesterday. Now she sees that being prepared for the worst ( even if you dont use it) is not a bad thing. She has instructed me to prepare at will! We might even go as far as having a generator wired in the panel as a backup power source for the whole house.

[KTMrad 508]

Another link for safely connecting a generator to house appliances.......

LINK HERE

[tntmo 887]

The Boy Scouts say it pretty well in their motto. Be Prepared.

[KTMrad 508]

The Boy Scouts say it pretty well in their motto. Be Prepared.

Eagle Scout here !

[Spyder 2]

The Boy Scouts say it pretty well in their motto. Be Prepared.

Yep!

I was confident that I was prepared.

Nope.

I did very well, but it took me over two hours to get setup for a long time down.

Threw the Main Switch off at the electric panel. Started the Generater, AC, Fridge, etc. in the Toy Hauler. Then got the Generator out of the Toy Box and moved it to the back yard to power fans and 2 Friges in the house. Filled the Bathtub. Hooked up the truck to the trailer. (Made a mistake here by going to my regular gas station earlier in the day. They were closed and I figured {wrong} to get gas first thing Friday morning. I like to have a full tank starting on Thurs most of the time.) So I had to add from cans. Time consuming is all. No internet, no phones. Grabbed the "Princess Phone" from a bedroom and plugged in outside. Worked fine. Texted family members. Checked on the neighbors. Yeasu Radio was broken. Added copper and lead to the trailer, along with Food stash, Meds and bicycles. Started the BBQ for dinner. TV worked for a few channels on antenae by this time. We used the 8D cell lantern from Costco. ***** Get One!

I know I did way more than this. Little things come into your head and you forget or weed them out as you go. Still it took WAY too much time to do all this..... good dry run for myself and many others I am sure.

What I missed:

Paperwork, Passports, Ins, Etc. Thought about 'em and forgot later.

Dogfood. Min. ammount in the trailer. (He was freaking out the whole time. He's an old Empath I think. Poor guy.)

Liquor.

Loaded a Motorcycle.

Having a freakin' list!!

Many more things I assure you. Just to tired to think right now.

My wife woke up and went out to shut the Generator down since the house was cool enough to sleep. As she came in the power came on to the area. (2am?) I got up and did everything in reverse.

The good. Found most of what I was looking for throughout the house. But could be more organized. Label the boxes better. Both Gens worked well and I could have powered more. Ext cords were not long enough to do it all. More splitters. 'Lectricity ess MAGIC!

Give the Media a 3 out of 10.

Tuning in to see Barry's Speech on local TV and no mention of what was going on. My favorite though was "you can get details from our website or SDGE's website". Next sentence was "Don't use the Cell Phone unless it's a emergency". Telling people how to behave while driving (They are NOT at HOME to watch TV yet you dorks!) People do NOT realize that when cell towers are busy, texting will go through eventually and that using the internet via Smart Phones uses the cell towers. It's NOT magic!

I did hear that most of the building maintenence people did a good job with the elevators and evacuations. We shall see. Fire and PD did what they train for, but both are over run so quickly with STUPID stuff. Saw and heard nothing from CERT. Anyone?

I am pissed off right now as I was taking the trailer for fuel this morning, someone hit the side of the trailer and then took off. Low lifes....

Steve you are right.

Good "Wake UP Call", proving I am not ready for the "Big One"

S

[SDlineman 0]

Thanks Randy for the reminder to anyone hooking up a generator to use a transfer switch or isolate your house from the system. It could literally kill me or another person if you backfeed the system. If you aren't sure about how to hook it up, DON'T. An extension cord to the fridge and other essentials is the safest way. Thanks.

Back to the main post, we try to keep our trailer stocked up for emergencies also, although the only thing we used from it was a couple of flashlights and the aforementioned Costco battery lantern. We just made some sandwiches and went outside to enjoy the stars until we went to bed. Not really an emergency to be without power for one night in my book.

[bruceh 0]

After being forced to evacuate twice because of fires in the past, we are really more prepared than most. When the power went out here in Ramona, I just pulled the RV out of the backyard and ran some extension cords from the generator into the house to run some lights and the refrig. We always fill up the gas tank whenever we come back from a trip, so with 55 gallons of gas, that generator will run for days if needed. Also keep the water tank mostly filled. We have lots of flashlights and batteries on hand, and the wife likes candles, so we have plenty of light. Multiday outages get more complicated because of food, so always have some non-perishables on hand.

[TrophyHunter 15]

http://www.ready.gov/america/_downloads/fep_download/FamEmePlan_All.pdf

http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/oes/docs/FamilyDisasterPlan.pdf

[ADV Bum 205]

One of the things I did when I remodeled the house was to add a second water heater to the other side of the house. Added another 100 gal of water in case of emergency.

[Zenosan 2]

The Boy Scouts say it pretty well in their motto. Be Prepared.

Yep!

I was confident that I was prepared.

Nope.

WE think alike Spyder. I did most of what you did but realized that a motorhome can really spoil you. I always keep it fully loaded and ready and go. Last night I pulled it up to the garage and ran an expension cord to the fridge. I even ran the AC in the motorhome for a while. Boy am I spoiled! Decided that even though it only has 26,000 mile on it I really have no reason to get rid of it. Nice to know that it is just there.

[dsfox 0]

After my 2 evacuations with fires, I too keep my motorhome, as well as the pantry at home, well stocked,filled, as well as extra propane around, flashlights, headlamps handy.... though I think I'm going to make sure the big gas tank is FULL and treat it as steve said....I was on my way to the gas station after work, on " E"....when I couldn't get gas yesterday...luckily made it home and used my bike fuel to get to the gas station this morning... but the whole "no fuel if no power" thing....is a weak point in our society I'd say.

My camping gear is always handy too, because I use it alot...so cooking was easy...

I didn't actually use the generator and the house fridge stayed cold for the 12 hours of outage...I lit a bunch of candles...which was kind of nice actually..I don't have AC so nothing new there

I have 20000+ gallons of water in the pool, so if anyone ever needs some, give a shout....

[dirt dame 559]

Had to throw all my food out of the old fridge. No battery radio. Had to climb over electric gate to pull in the motor clutch and open the gate. Boring, dark evening.

Good thing that today was much much better.

[carguy 1]

Rotating the non-perishables in the toy trailer. Went through supplies last year and found expiration dates 2008. Guess I've been slackin. We're up to date now.

[Riggerdan 147]

Aside from making sure there is plenty of beer in the fridge / or makeshift cooler - I found that bringing the solar lights INSIDE was a great idea (stuck one in each room)

- Plenty of light and a safer then candles ..............short term tip

[SteelRain 0]

I kept my true emergency stash ready and secure, but I placed in charge of my neighborhood by my military neighbors who know my background...

Fired up my generator and had A/C for the older couples in my area and they needed it. Then we used the garage and supplies for a "stone soup" style dinner that was cooked using my gas operated kitchen.

All in all we fed over 50 adults and about 20 children at an expense of about 5 to 10 gallons of propane to me.

Now for the bad, as soon as the power dropped I double checked the Emergency packs and loaded them in the truck. Ironically I have everything you could need to survive and thrive in a CBRN WME envronemt in those packs except for candles. I was gutted at what I felt was a failure of planning - it has now been resolved.

Having an U.P.S. to power my server and other network devices I was able to shut down the major components and keep internet access for about 8 hours.

I was surprised at how poorly prepared many people where.

[Spyder 2]

I kept my true emergency stash ready and secure, but I placed in charge of my neighborhood by my military neighbors who know my background...

Fired up my generator and had A/C for the older couples in my area and they needed it. Then we used the garage and supplies for a "stone soup" style dinner that was cooked using my gas operated kitchen.

All in all we fed over 50 adults and about 20 children at an expense of about 5 to 10 gallons of propane to me.

I was surprised at how poorly prepared many people where.

Good on you for being there to help your neighbors in time of need.

Taking care of yourself and those around you is just a natural thing for most of us.

And no, it does not surprise me in the least to see how ill prepared the general public is for any major disaster; I just want to smack 'em upside the head or give them a swift kick in the butt. Is it the "I don't care" attitude or the "Government will take care of us and everybody and everything"? Truly, I do not understand this.

Hopefully most of us here realize that in a MAJOR event the government is just as ill prepared to help you/us for at least a few days and even then who knows.

Yes, for me being on the other side for the first time in many years, it was a big wake up call. And too, I realize what my family went through much more so now than when I wasn't here with them. Lessons learned.

S