Yesterday, we had a severe weather event, with a reported funnel cloud. My home was directly in the path of the storm.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/...lost_power.html

Being "prepared" paid off.

Good News.
The storm came up QUICK. I was already in the basement with my son just puttering around. I didn't notice the storm coming up. My wife - quickly- shuttled the other kids to the basement, to our designated safe spot. The storm raged for a while, then, suddenly, it was sunny and hailing and lighting was coming down. The power dimmed, flickered, dimmed and then went out.

So the flashlights - which were fully operational - came out.
After the storm passed, the damage in the area was extensive - the power lines were destroyed, and it was clear that they would not be fixed soon. After a walk around the house to do a damage check - amazingly nothing damaged, but big branches all over and trees down on all the roads.

We set our 96 hour plan into action. Water got hauled up to the kitchen from the read-to-go 7 gallon dispenser while I pulled out and connected the generator to the pre-connected wiring I've get set up.

Well the generator cranked right up - fresh gas and oil in there - and the house came back on-line to a degree (the generator runs the whole house except for the electric hot water heater, oven, stove or dryer). As an aside - Compact Floros, which make up most of my home lighting, are a fantastic way to save on generator fuel. We had plenty of lights on in the house and the total load on the generator was normally under 750 watts. The largest load is our well pump, which draws 2400 watts@240 volts, and when starting it gives the generator a little "thump", but all the rest - no problems at all.

The Fire Company was overwhelmed with wires calls, so since I'm still technically sworn Fire Police, I was able to close off the road ahead of the huge trees that were down - had plenty of flares in a case, set a line in the road to keep cars out.

The Chain Saw was ready to go, didn't need it, but it's in "ready to run" condition.

Also didn't need the whole-house tarp I have for roof damage (thank goodness) but that was also ready to go.

Bad News
As of right now, there's no rational way for an ambulance to get to my house, and local roads to and from hospitals are blocked.
We got internet access via DSL back this AM, but my Verizon Wireless card did NOT WORK last night or this AM, that's unfortunate, as the cell sites did stay online, but I think that their data backhaul lines were knocked out. I had high hopes for that to work.
The power outage is much more extensive than I expected - while we can get gas, I'm very pleased that I already had enough gas for 3 days on hand. We don't run the generator 24/7, it's running 2 hours on, 8 hours off. That's also in our plan for fuel conservation.

Will keep you updated. Power restoration looks like a hell of a miserable job. We'll make the linesmen some ice tea and snacks.

First, it is great to see and hear that both your family and your property was not harmed!

Second, it is always great to see a good solid plan making apotentaly anoying and disasterous situaion go smootly and sucessfuly.

Congrats on having a great plan and being able to utilize it so sucessfully.

+1. Glad to hear that you, your loved ones and your home came through unscathed and that almost everything went as planned.

It is so great to read that this worked out for you.

Wow. Good reminder how fast things can happen.

Glad you guys were prepared and it worked out so well!

Glad to hear everyone is safe and your place is intact. Glad the plan is in place for you too.

Suddenly all the survival stuff and knowledge are priceless.

And the community benefited, too.

Nice work.

Martin,

You got hit harder than we did, but it sounds like you were better prepared as well. (see my post for more info)

Glad everything seems to have worked out, but still the question must be asked:

What's up with tornados in the Northeast?

Martin,

Very relieved that y'all made it through with no damage or injuries. Very impressed with your preps. It's one thing to have the right stuff at hand, quite another to have it ready to go and reliably functioning when tshtf. Kudos amigo.

How are your neighbors handling this event?

-Blast