I've been AWOL for a week now, due to loosing power from a really bad ice storm. I was here by myself, as hubby was on travel for work. So far, it's been 8 days and still no power. When hubby got home, he repaired the generator, so we have some power and water.
Note to self: you can never have enough water!
It looks like with all these storms rolling in, it will be another 3-4 days before electric is hooked up, and it may be after the holidays for the phone as they are waiting for the electric to finish before they roll in.

Hope you guys are ok and hold in there.

Hang in there.
Our family was without power last December after an ice storm.
It was 7 days. I bought a generator on the 6th day. I had always wanted
to get one but it seemed my money was better spent on other things.
We had plenty of firewood and flushed the toilets with water from the
pond. 5 gallons buckets...very handy.

Those 7 days made me realize I wasn't as prepared as I thought I was.
It forced me to re-think some of my "preparedness" ideas.

Yup spent weeks without power before and that is when i started saving for the solar panels for the house cause i can run the freezer with the system now If needed plus i always got lights and a radio.

Wish solar panels would work for me. Our power failures occur in the winter and right now we have a possible 4-4 1/2 hours of daylight.
I mean possible, right now it's starting to get light, but is so overcast I can't see a 4,000 mountain 4 miles away.
Glad I bought a small , 1200 watt generator this winter . Will run all day on a gallon of gas, the big one 8.5 KW sucks down about a gallon an hour.
The little one will power the oilfired heater and a few lights and when the house is warm can switch it over to run the fridge for awhile.
Need the big one to run the well and bigger things.
Longest we've lost power this winter has only been about 6 hrs.
Compared to the rest of the country I feel we are in the banana belt this winter.
......................Alaskan...

well, after 12 days, we finally got our power back. They are still working on the phone line.
We've decided to invest in an instant on propane generator next year. I just don't have the strength right now (due to a bad shoulder) to lift the gas can and pull the cord to start it. That's life and you work around those problems. We are hoping to get solar and wind power next year as well.

Herbalpagan wrote:well, after 12 days, we finally got our power back. They are still working on the phone line.
We've decided to invest in an instant on propane generator next year. I just don't have the strength right now (due to a bad shoulder) to lift the gas can and pull the cord to start it. That's life and you work around those problems. We are hoping to get solar and wind power next year as well.

Can you pull the rope starter off and hook a BATTERY drill to it to start it ? This is good for anyone not wanting to die of a heart attack when trying to pull start some machine or if you have bad arm.

Glad you got power back, and everyone's ok, beyond your shoulder. I feel your power pains, almost. With the last batch of ice storms to hit the north-east, I lost power for just under 5 days. Generators are nice, especially where we're towards the end of our service line. Anything you can do to make it easier for you to start and keep it running is excellent. I've heard the cordless drill trick works well, but I've never actually seen someone do it. A hand pump, of some kind, can help with fuel transfer, from the gas can to the generator tank. Something with a lever may still put a strain on your shoulder and/or back but would probably be less than having to life the full 5 gallon can (or whatever you use).

glad your power is back

We were without power for 7 days when IKE hit which was a pain but not nearly as big a pain as being without water for 3 when the watemain broke. And you are right, you can not have enough water

Power is great! I lived without for a time from our ice storm, I learned that my storage has really come in handy!