First and foremost I hope all of you are doing well and are healthy and safe!

Thank God I lived in North Dakota for 5 years! That is what saved my family! So the power went out Saturday morning here in my area my kids did a great thing that they did not know about and that was empty the water reserves from the good pump after the power went out!!!

They saved us a lot of money! So our well was working great until the power went out! I know I know! We have only been in this house since August and have had to deal with a lot to fix!

I planned to get a solar/ wind turbine for the well-house. Why because I'm around maybe 100+ wind turbines the ones that have 100+ foot blades. Also looking at a whole house generator running off of its 500gal tank.

What got us though this was the Big Buddy heater I bought well over 8+ years ago! Also having extra PVC parts for the good pump.

So Tuesday night we got our power back that started our good pump that damaged the old pipes not sure how but the day before that all the pipes in the well-house I was able to use all three cut-off valves with no problem. Mistake #1 I should have turned all three of them off!

Good thing was that the PVC pipes that busted were not the new ones but the old light-colored yellow-white ones.

So I know one pipe was busted so when. I went to the hardware store I picked up more PVC even though I believe I had 16 feet of it more glue and primer than I know I had.

What saved me was I picked up 25% more parts of the elbow joints and the adapters for the male end to PVC pipe. Really should have picked up twice as much. Yet I was lucky found another leak fixed it and gave water back to the house!

So whole house generator, wind and solar for the good house! Need more oil lanterns and if I can find someone who deals in kerosene.

Also need to get Mr heat heater for the house since I have several propane lines! Also a few heaters!

Also, one thing I need to find how much it cost to get this PVC pipe that takes the water we use from our sink and cloths water. As it has frozen up so we can use the sinks or washing machine!

The food we were great did not worry about that since we had a stovetop that propane. That's my only positive point to this!

Other than what we had leftover from North Dakota We would have been F@ked!!

Warm wool blankets block the doors and large windows with blankets! Have cold gear to wear outdoors! Sad my + are only because I lived in an area that was like this and had leftovers!

I post this as me being a little more than people staying at some government facility!

I like constructive criticism I would also like you to give me advice on how to be better prepared for this situation!

I'm also looking for hot weather advice!

My Aunt that lives in Cameron grew up in MT.
Filled their bathtub and anything that held water.
Only thing she lacks is a dependable power source.
Currently fighting cancer so the cold is bothering her.

If you have NG or propane stove and it will run without power move into the kitchen. Just make sure you allow for oxygen and c02.

Always have some rv antifreeze,pex fitting and tools.

Other than keeping your taps opened and water flowing, it's difficult in the South as the pipes are often buried too shallow to avoid freezing.  At least keep and eye on them and know how to quickly turn off your main.

Stock up on kerosene a couple heaters and some CO2 monitors.  Same with your generator and fuel.  

I've lived up North, but I think many don't realize that houses are built for such temps with insulation, nor are there any services to deal with the severe ice buildup or snow accumulation.  

I know it's cliché to say it, but this is exactly why you prepare and while you can't foresee a 100-year flood, or a 100-year freeze, the same rules apply when preparing.  Don't rely on any municipal service or power and I would plan to have no less than 2-3 weeks worth of supplies, heating, water, fuel, etc.  

Hey OP, I don't recall, but how much time did the local forecasts give you all before the storm hit?  

We had a sever ice storm hit us about six years ago; trees were snapping in half, power lines down, roads completely shutdown.  We're not isolated rural, but we are outside our small town and we didn't have power for a week with temps in the teens.  My wife and I just congregated to the living room with the fire place and used the kerosene heater as well.  I wish I had a gas stove, but I had enough fuel for the camp stoves.  We kept water running in the pipes and I used a small generator for the water pump/pressure tank (which is ironically inside the home), and charging devices.  I also had went through the couple days prior to the cold front hitting and recharged a couple hundred batteries for various devices (mostly lights).  

We were comfortable, could heat up water for bathing, cooking, plenty of food a few bucket of water to flush toilets (our own septic tank), and we just watched movies and read in a warm living room lit by several oil lamps.  We also felt the effects of a rare earth quake which got me to thinking about some supplies to seal the home if breached by structural damage, roof damage (high winds or fallen tree), etc.

Spend some time on your personal AAR and lessons learned.  Assess the gaps and start planning to fix them.  It may not be a freezing storm next time, but possibly electrical blackouts during the heat of the summer.  Water will be more critical as will air flow and cooling.

While not appropriate for the moment, the comments from Tim Boyd (now former) Colorado City, TX Mayor, are unfortunately very telling about why you need to prepare and look after yourself and likely work with your neighbors to improve their own preparations as well.  



I use events like these to engage family and close friends who I know aren't prepared.  These are lessons much better learned without having to live through them, but some people will never learn without experiencing the pain and suffering.  

ROCK6

It's funny the mayor of the town next to mine said pretty much the same thing! I thought you were quoting him!

Problem is that most people in town don't have water because city water screwed up! They have a bunch of frozen pipes!

Town next to me has gone since Saturday without water!


Me I'm more pissed at myself for not having been more prepared! Should have spent the money on the whole home generator or solar/wind for the well house! Should have bought the Mr heat propane heater after the last cold snap!

I need to find someway to insulate or bury deeper the pipes that take my gray water from the sink and cloths washer out to the land! Not sure how I'm going to go at that one really! Since the first part of it is in concrete.

Mostly mad at myself as we could have been very comfortable! Yet we where okay! Still cold, food and water good! Sanitation poor had to melt snow to flush toilets. Heat poor only had the Big Buddy heater and that would not warm up 2500 square feet!

I know this might not happen again in my life but want to make sure of it does I'm ready for it! Hell I have been calling most of the Texas people ?? for what they are saying online and to the media!

Texas gets a little cold and they go crying to Daddy and Mommy! I'm sure they are many Texas's who were better prepared them myself! Hat's off to them and we should learn from them!

I feel I failed my family! They all lived and have all 11 of there toes and fingers! They are feed also and had water!

Yet still feel I could have done more! Sure you know that feeling! C+ is not something with life to be proud of! I want that B+ or more after all it is survive!

It's the semi-forseeable outlier events that get people.
Don't blame yourself too much.  As long as you prevented serious injury, significant hardship (finances, repairs, etc), you did OK.
Use it as a learning event.  Most of us say "survival" but mean "thriving."  Obviously, thriving is better than surviving, but survival is an acceptable first step.

Wish I could have done more! I can say at least my family is not on the news crying about how after 3 days we where running out of food and water!

Hell we had no heat since Saturday I was just today able to turn the heat on because my unit defrosted.

As for food we did not even get through the leftovers by day three and to think people ran out of food by that time!

I just don't understand the world today to think people only have a day or so of food at home? I was not raised with a family that has the same views as I do now.

Yet my parents did have canned food and we did have a deep freeze. Mom always made leftovers when she cooked mostly because my brothers and Dad ate them for breakfast and lunch.

My family growing up where not hunters I have never hunted any type of game even to this day! Not that I having anything against it just don't believe in killing something unless it's a nuisance or like the way it taste!

I have only had deer a few times mostly ground in a stew did have back straps once cooked over mesquite and that was good!

Got off topic! Yet I have food and dry goods along with canned goods in my home. I have lived off beans several times and thought hot dogs where a treat!

I don't understand our world I guess!? Even coming from a family that had grocery stores open 24/7 weather even during the winter was not to bad!

Yet my family when I was 12 years old thought I was crazy for heating leftover meatloaf wrapped in tin foil in the wood fireplace when we had no power. They also did not think to use the fireplace as anything other then heat! They where bad at it as they did not have any reflectors for the heat! How much wood and energy was wasted?

Needs more exclamation points!!!!

Just kidding, OP. Nice work and thanks for posting.  

You're getting a whole house generator for what is probably a once in a lifetime event?

When I was growing up in pa we had weird events several times, ice storms, floods, we even had a hurricane. Mom and dad made it fun and adventurous.

I finally got a portable generator a few years ago, even got to use it a few times. We had "the storm of the century" a few decades ago. It blew the roofs off of several businesses. I had a kerosene heater which was good because I had birds. My water froze but I warmed it enough to unhook it, so no pipes broke.

If I were rich and had more disruptions I might consider a whole house generator but I feel like I'm living in luxury with the preps I have now.

If $5k is being RICH for the  protection of your family and home? Then you need to look for another job or prioritize your spending!

Most places take monthly payment! No flame on you or you low income! Yet you flame me being able to make $100 extra payment each month so I know my family has power and water!

Guess us RICH working class are at fault! You sound more like a Democrat then anything!!!!

Tone down the screeching. Gitarmac is trying to save you money by suggesting you buy a portable generator for a whole lot less money than spending big bucks on a stand alone back up generator. You seem to move around a lot so if you move again, you’ll be able to take the portable generator with you while taking a stand alone generator will be quite a bit more involved.....again saving you money.

The house that we are living in now has the basement set down into the water table.   If the sump pumps aren't able to run then the basement will flood.   It may not take long depending on the time of the year and the weather.   When we moved in back in 2000 we bought an an 8KW generator to A) ensure that we could run the sump pumps, fridge, freeezer, furnace, and a few other things.    We had a lot of power outages.  Some were multiple days long.   Only one year that I could remember not having one.   We had a son with special medical needs so the wife got a job that allowed her to work from home.   So between the wife's job, the medical staff, the constant power outages, NEEDING to be able to run the A/C, and the tired 8KW we decided an upgrade was in order.   So about six years ago we installed a propane powered 20KW Generac.   We didn't HAVE to have a whole house generator.   We did OK without it.   But during the research aspect of the project we were told more than once that if anyone had a legit need for a whole house generator then it was us.   It cost us 5500 to buy it and have it installed.   We have run it a lot.   The first six months that we owned it there were four separate outages that it got us through.   We have been really happy with the decision.   We know that it uses a lot of fuel so we put in a 1,000 gallon propane tank.   There were times that we woke up in the night and found the generator running.   One time we came home and found the generator running and the nurse didn't know it.   She thought that the power outage lasted less than a minute.   It has been a worthwhile investment for us.  

If we run that generator through a longer outage then the propane that it will consume will be expensive.   We can afford it but are somewhat concerned about the availability to replace it.   To offset that we have a couple of smaller dual fuel generators that we can run through the night on longer outages to conserve fuel.  

My point here is that this once in a lifetime event might be the straw that pushes some people to stop getting by and invest in a better tool that they really do need.  

2Hut8

By "rich" I meant money to burn on things I don't need. I have the perfect spot for a unit, but it wouldn't make sense for the few times I would utilize it.

Plus I'm not a pussy, I used to backpack, I still have my stuff. I have power, water, food, entertainment, and enough fuel to keep it up for as long as I need to.

It seems like if you were "rich working class" you wouldn't be making payments.

I'm retired. I retired early. I make payments on nothing.  Maybe you should make payments on Prozac or something.


Eta: I'm also not whining about an ammo shortage.

 How did he flame you?  I'm not seeing it there.