Hello from southeast Texas...pics added

[frustratedearthmother]

We almost 'have' to have a generator. We are all electric and have a water well, so without power - we don't have water. Someday when I win the lottery - I'll buy a bigger generator.

We did use a camp stove for most of the cooking though. We have it and fuel on hand all the time anyway. Another thing we found out we like are the solar garden lights. They charge up during the day and give off a nice glow inside at night. We didn't run the generator 24/7 because it uses way too much gasoline. We would run it for several hours in the morning and evening to keep the frige/freezers cold and to pump water.

I'll bet your house smells incredible right now. I'm thorougly addicted to anything garlic but don't have much luck growing it.

Enjoy your day!

 

[Denim Deb]

We're far enough inland to not worry about flooding from any hurricanes getting to our house. Of course w/all the lakes and streams around here, there is still flooding. When we had Irene blow thru, my parents were away. So, after I took care of the horses, I swung past their house to check on it and I had trouble getting home from there! I don't know if it would have been easier if I hadn't needed gas for the generator. But, even some of the roads I got detoured onto were just barely passable. In fact, I was surprised w/one that they had us go on. And, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the cars got water in them.

Oh, and it was warm today. It got up to 54!

 

[baymule]

Wow ya'll! In "H" Rita, I was a RedCross volunteer and our town, Livingston was where everybody ran out of gas. People were stranded everywhere! We put people up in all of our schools and churches. I had a house full of people, friends that lived in mobile homes, and i spent nights at the elementary school near our house. A normal 1 1/2 hour drive from Houston took 22-28 hours. It was a nightmare for those poor people. Our church was full of people and church members emptied their groceries to feed them. I spent a couple of nights at the church too. We took turns guarding at night since all the doors and windows were open. Then I would go home, snag a couple hours sleep and deal with the crowd at home.

Food was needed at the church, so I went scrounging. I went to the FEMA truck, but they had no MRE's. But the owner of the local Sonic (hamburger drive-in) was there and he said "follow me". His freezer was defrosting, so he loaded down the back of my pickup. Church members were amazed! We had so much, that I went around the neighborhood making sure people had enough to eat.

The night the storm hit, people were pouring into the elementary school I was at. My DD and her boyfriend were there too. I'll never forget, the school superintendent of High Island came in about midnight. He was out of gas, he coasted into the parking lot. He was the last one out of his town because he stayed behind to evacuate others on the school buses. His family had gone earlier and I think they were in Tyler. And there he was, stuck in Livingston. About 2 AM, a deputy came in to tell us a shipment of gas was going to be delivered at 6AM to one of the stations. I sent DD and her boyfriend home to get out lawnmower gas can. About 4 AM, I woke the supertendent up and told him to come with me. There was no way I was going to tell him I had him some gas in there, or it would have started a riot. We put the gas in his tank and told him where to go and get in line. The few gallons we had would at least get him to the gas station and let him get gas to get out of there.

At home, we were dying for bread. The loaves I made before the storm hit were gone. (bread is the first thing to fly off the shelves, so I made some) So I dredged up a 20 year old memory of making flour tortillas. over a campfire in the back yard with the grill shelf out of the useless electric oven, I cooked tortillas! We ate them like hungry wolves.

When Ike hit, i was better prepared. I baked brownies and had DH stop and get a box of wine. When the HUGE oak tree fell on our house and smashed it, it was raining in my kitchen and dining room, I kicked back with brownies and wine. After a short while, I no longer CARED that there was a tree on my house. Then there was over three weeks of no power. But I never lost a day of work. They had a locomotive engine for a generator and we all worked. Daily, the boss sent out a driver with everybody's gas cans for our own generators and so we could come back to work. I could go on and on, but ya'll have been there too, so you already know.

Moral: When a "H" threatens, have brownies and wine. They make everything all better!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

There is nothing better than CHOCOLATE and WINE!

OOps,, DH says ,.... "HOT TUB" bye