Y2K preps? Nah - they're snowstorm preps!

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

I had really worried about how to get my neighborhood involved/prepped for Y2K. I live out in the semi-country near Durham, NC, in an area with lots of farms and houses w/ horse barns, etc. I'd made copies of the Red Cross Y2K Guide and surreptitiously put them in mailboxes (at 4:30 AM) along w/ the Utne Reader Y2K guide back in the summer. But I'd never really summoned the courage to talk to neighbors about Y2K before Der Tag. And if the phones went belly-up, I didn't really know how I'd manage it...

Then, it came and went, and I didn't have to.

Then, we got hit w/ ~2 feet of ice and snow this Tuesday. In an area that shuts down if we have 2"...

I woke up around 1 AM and realized I had no power. I went back to sleep, hoping the power'd be back on in the morning. At 5 AM, I woke up and found it was getting cold. Uh oh. So, I paddled about, getting the 2 woodstoves (that I'd purchased for Y2K) fired up, and unplugging all the appliances, etc. that had indicator lights on them and removing the bulb from the refigerator (didn't want to be seen as the only house w/ power - I have a whole house solar-power system (again, purchased for Y2K), but I wanted to preserve every watt for critical systems...).

As I sat there, watching the little battery-powered LCD TV for the weather reports, I thought, "It's one thing to prep for this stuff, and even to run drills on it, but it's quite another to have to really depend on it - and it sucks."

At around 8 AM, the power came back on. Yay! I went skipping around the house, chanting "If you have power, you have EVERYTHING!". At sun-up, I started shoveling a path out to the chicken coop (NOT a fun task...) and started looking forward to a few snow-days away from work.

I started thinking that we'd lucked out, but perhaps I could turn this into an opportunity to complete a spreadsheet of the neighborhood and the abilities of each family to alternatively heat their place (we already had a neighborhood phone list). I enlisted a couple of neighbors, created a phone script, and we started calling everyone, asking the following:

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi __________________.

This is your neighbor, _______________ calling.

You probably noticed we lost power last night - but luckily they got it back up pretty quickly. If the weather stays like this, we might not be so lucky next time.

We're trying to organize the neighborhood - so we can help each other in case we should lose power again.

We understand that everyone has a different level of comfort of sharing, and we don't want to ask you to do anything you'd feel uncomfortable with.

It's just a few quick questions. Would you be willing to participate in this?

Answer = NO - thank them anyway. Answer = YES - ask the questions (below).

1. Do you have a way to heat your home (fireplace, wood stove, propane heater, kerosene heater) in an emergency?

If YES, then insert type(s) _______________________________________ If NO, ask if you'd need help with staying warm should we lose power again? _________ (yes/no)

2. Do you have plenty of fuel for your heat source?

If YES, would you be willing to share any of it if need be? _________ (yes/no)

About how much could you loan a neighbor?_____________

If NO, ask if you would need fuel?_________ (yes/no)

3. Do you have a spare kerosene heater you'd be willing to loan a neighbor? _________ (yes/no)

4. Do you have a 4-wheel drive you could use to take fuel, etc. to a neighbor_________ (yes/no)

5. Do you have a chainsaw you can use to help clear fallen trees/limbs? _________ (yes/no)

6. Would you be willing to take in a neighbor if they didn't have heat? _________ (yes/no)

Thank you very much for your time and your generosity.

If we lose power again for any significant amount of time, we'll contact you.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

As I started calling about, it became obvious that only 1/2 of us had gotten our power back. Yikes! This was no longer an exercise, this was real. I was pleasantly surprised at how responsive everyone was, even those who I'd assumed wouldn't be. And how many were willing to take neighbors into their homes (something I and a few others drew the line at, but that was OK too...). And disappointed at how many didn't have ANY alternative heating method (DAMN the $@&$%@ all-electric home!).

As sunset approached, we had volunteers w/ 4WD to take those who wanted to leave to elsewhere, and take wood, fuel, etc. to those who needed it. The next day, we had more of the same, and we were able to direct folks w/ chainsaws, etc. to clear driveways, trees, etc. At sunset of the 2nd day, the power was restored for the remainder of the folks.

And now, an ice storm is heading our way for Saturday night. because of this headstart, we have a better chance to get through it more smoothly. Note, of course, this was just a storm - not TEOTWAKI, not rampaging hordes of starving city-folk, etc. But we have become a bit more organized. And I have a spreadsheet of the survival assets we have in place. I'll be building on this effort to try to strengthen the neighborhood ties and preparedness (hey, hurricane season is always lurking out there...).

If you're in part of the storm-affected areas, consider it. There might be enough winter-driven interest that you might be able to launch something similar.

Good luck.



-- Hugh Wiggins (hewiggins@mindspring.com), January 28, 2000

Answers

A *VERY* good post!

I wish we had more like that.

One like this is worth ten trolls.

"Words have Meanings" and "Actions have Consequences" (and often words have consequences too) Rush Limbaugh (with a little help from DesertDave)

-- David Craig (DesertDave@aol.com), January 28, 2000.


Agreed- You are the kind of neighbor a person needs. I hope the person's won't need you in the future, but the probably will... Great post snikpoh

-- snikpoh (snikpoh@ecentral.com), January 28, 2000.

Ah now there is a guy that keeps his liners dry :o)

Good work Hugh! You NC folks seem to be having alot of weather problems.

-- Brian (imager@home.com), January 28, 2000.


Congratulations, Hugh. I have one suggestion to make, which may or may not apply to your neighborhood. Regarding question #6: "Would you be willing to take in a neighbor if they didn't have heat?" Circumstances might make someone *unable* (as opposed to unwilling) to take in someone else, but perhaps still very interested in finding some other way to help out. (In my case, I prepped so that my elderly parents would be ok, but the needs of the same elderly parents make it very difficult to accommodate anyone else if I have no power.) Just thinking you might want to soften that question up a bit.

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), January 28, 2000.

Excellent job, Hugh! To us, preparation for Y2K was the time-pressured must-do that would get us ready for most anything Mother Nature or humanimals dished out. Invaluable motivation! ;^)

Heart-warming to read of a Prepper seizing the day and reaching out to a snow-bound neighborhood.

Isn't it ironic that the "3-day storm" PTB mantra is coming true? Was it mass thought insistence that created this strange reality? Curious til we get answers ... this side or the other ...

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), January 28, 2000.



Ah now there is a guy that keeps his liners dry :o)

Er, um, thanks for the kind words, but what they heck does the above mean?

Liners... hmmm...

Panty liners? Cat pan liners? Mylar 5 gallon liners? Ocean liners? One-liners?

As to the storm effects, I hear/see the few grocery stores that are open have all run of out of the popular items (meat, bread, eggs, milk, beer, ciggies, etc.). According to a family member (who we sent out in a Jeep for goodies) one local store manager came over the PA and announced that "if customers can't act in a civil manner, I'm going to have to close the store". Seems fights were breaking out over the remaining items...

Maybe I'd better cobble together some more of those LED replacement bulbs for if the power dies this weekend...

Hugh

Remember: News doesn't always happen to the other guy. Sometimes it happens to YOU.

-- Hugh Wiggins (hewiggins@mindspring.com), January 28, 2000.


As I mentioned off the forum I lived in the Arctic and had to work out in -40 weather. One of the things you must do is dry the liners in your boots and gloves everyday. It you don't you will freeze your feet and hands. This is like always remembering the details when dealing with nature. If you don't the effects could be painfull.

-- Brian (imager@home.com), January 28, 2000.

Hugh, EXCELLENT EFFORT! Now, will you move to my neighborhood :-#! I stood the ridicule and expense of having a hand-pump well put in last year. I was ready to share the water with rural neighborhood of less that 50 families. I figured there could be no more or less water in the well, when/if it ran dry, than there was to begin with...

-- Humans helping (one@nother.com), January 28, 2000.

EXCELLENT job, Hugh.

Those wanting to canvas their neighbourhoods might also want to look at the Global Action Plan , which had broken down neighbourhood organizing for Y2k into a lot of individual steps.

-- Firemouse (firemouse@fcmail.com), January 29, 2000.


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