Mr. Pickles Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 (edited) Been off the power grid since Thursday, so 5 days now, but its back! We had a wild wind storm in WA on last Thursday night for those that don't know. I heard winds something like 80+ out here, even like 70 in Seattle. There was even a report of 135mph up in the mountains. Temps have been in the low 20's or so at night, 30's during the day but finally up to the low 40's. No, its not a hurricane or tornado, although there were hurricane force winds. The problem is, we have all these trees especially in suburban areas like our house, and most all of the local wiring and major power lines are all exposed above ground in WA. Trees are still down all over, in streets and yards, and on houses and vehicles. Our neighbors across the street took a tree to the roof, as did several in the neighborhood. My yard alone filled a smaller sized dump truck overflowing with branches and debris. Some people won't have electricity back for another week or 2, all generators sold out from every store you could find in the first couple hours on Friday, and they've brought in power crews from Oregon, Cali, even as far as Kansas, Colorado and other places. They set up a Red Cross shelter up the street, but thankfully we didn't need to go there. We were supposed to be out of power at our house until the middle of next week, but my neighbors risked their asses to get into a nest of downed lines up on the corner and cut up a tree a couple houses down, then another neighbor brought his tow truck and yanked the log. Yikes! The Puget Sound Energy guys came out and said if they hadn't done that, we'd be out for many days to come. We were lucky enough to score my parent's generator once their power came on late Friday night while we were staying the night, and we've been running extension cords throughout the house. We sealed off all the bedrooms and the other half of the house including the fireplace cause it was too much to keep warm, and settled in the livingroom and kitchen with an air bed and space heaters. I ran about 40 gallons of gas through that generator, and it kept us warm enough and the house in good shape. All in all, we and our families fared well, but there are lots and lots of people who did not. The crazy part is, its still fall until Thursday and we've already had record flooding, a snow and ice storm (not too much snow, lots of ice though), and now a wind storm with record damage, and its not even winter yet! By this weekend, they're saying we're supposed to be back on the storm conveyor belt with the jet stream hitting us with stuff. Madness. So, we're grateful to come out in good shape, and to have family and friends around who all help each other. Happy Holidays! Edited December 20, 2006 by Mr. Pickles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey.T Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Glad to see you back in one piece We had some of that wind here in Spokane but it was pretty mild compared to what you had over there.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzy Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Good to hear from you Mr P. Glad youre doing okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Yep, for our area it was a nasty one. I was out for almost 48hrs, not nearly as long as you or those who still do not have power (like my brother) but it was extremely unusual for my power grid to be down for so long. Glad to see you all right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 -bounce- glad to see all our fledglings are safe here in teh NPORA family. i think now that's everyone accounted for? good to see ya fared well Mr . and Red, and packie88, thomas, and all the others who had to go through that storm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jj big shoe Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Glad to see everyone's weathering the storms relatively well. So much for global warming, huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 -bounce- glad to see all our fledglings are safe here in teh NPORA family. i think now that's everyone accounted for?good to see ya fared well Mr . and Red, and packie88, thomas, and all the others who had to go through that storm. I'm ready for summer. But Dec. of next year we'll be in Maui for my 30th b-day, so I guess that will be allllright. Seriously though, we get wind storms every year in western WA being near the ocean, some are worse than others, and we lose power at least for a while in my area probably once a month or more through the winter. I was around for the "Inugural Day" storm back in '93 in high school. This one blew it away, literally. Something like 1.5 million people had no power, which isn't fun at like 20 degrees F, and there were people smashed by trees, electrocuted, lots of carbon monoxide poisonings, etc. The wind was bad enough, but its the aftermath that was crazy to see. No generators to be found, gas stations running out of gas, even simple things went on a run at stores. It seemed there was a lot of disorganization in local government and utilities. Anything related to specialty plugs for appliances and generators, along with extension chords, tarps, etc. was wiped out of every hardware store. I spent half of Saturday searching for what is apparently a pretty common 240 cap (plug) to try and run my water heater, and Home Depot and everybody were out. I ended up going to McLendon Hardware in Sumner, and they said they'd have it. They had got a shipment of 150 in a couple hours before, and I got the last one! (dammit though, the water heater drew too much power for the generator anyways...) Anyways, sorry for the dramatics, I know a lot of areas get hit with different stuff all the time. Its just kinda scary, cause this is a relatively mild area as far as weather, gentle rain most of 9 months a year and sun the rest. The spooky thing is if/when Mt. Rainier goes. We're up on a 500' plateau, but our house is about 20 miles as a crow flies from the edges of the mountain. The valleys below us (and all links in to the cities) will be wiped out. That's gonna be a chaotic ride for sure. Guess its a good time to have a Pathy. sly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Mr. P. Might be time to consider an on demand water heater We talked about those in another thread, I parents used to have one and I have to say hey are awsome. Availible for Propane and Natural Gas, they are small, mount on the wall, heat only when the water is flowing and provide endless hot water. The unit my parents had would give nearly boiling water if you wanted it to. And one of the best things is that they do not depend on electrical power to fuction... somthing that would have been nice these past few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 All I have to say about the carbon monoxide poisonings is: Darwin Award Nominees Those people should not have been trying to use a charcoal barbecue to heat the house with. And the ones who all died because they left the generator running inside the closed garage at night? God damn. I give up on people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 Mr. P. Might be time to consider an on demand water heater We talked about those in another thread, I parents used to have one and I have to say hey are awsome. Availible for Propane and Natural Gas, they are small, mount on the wall, heat only when the water is flowing and provide endless hot water. The unit my parents had would give nearly boiling water if you wanted it to. And one of the best things is that they do not depend on electrical power to fuction... somthing that would have been nice these past few days. "On demand," huh? Interesting. We've also started to consider a gas conversion. Then the geny would be able to power the whole house, no problemo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 All I have to say about the carbon monoxide poisonings is: Darwin Award Nominees Those people should not have been trying to use a charcoal barbecue to heat the house with. The ones who all died because they left the generator running inside the closed garage at night? God damn. I give up on people. ^^^ *Sits in 100% agreement* ^^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 All I have to say about the carbon monoxide poisonings is: Darwin Award Nominees Those people should not have been trying to use a charcoal barbecue to heat the house with. The ones who all died because they left the generator running inside the closed garage at night? God damn. I give up on people. Yeah, but lots of them were immigrants who probably didn't grow up with such things, hence the lack of understanding. If you didn't know any better, I could see it happening. Most generators are pretty damn loud, and they've been busting thieves all over the area who are stealing them along with breaking into unattended homes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 "On demand," huh? Interesting. Last three posts http://npora.ipbhost.com//index.php?showto...6&hl=on+demand# Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Just cause you're an immigrant doesn't mean you're automatically stupid, but I do understand that many are under- or entirely un-educated to begin with. Sad but true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 (edited) Just cause you're an immigrant doesn't mean you're automatically stupid, but I do understand that many are under- or entirely un-educated to begin with. Sad but true. Stupid never came into the conversation. Stupid is a very different thing than not knowing or understanding. My wifes family immigrated here from Cambodia before she was born, and they are some of the smartest and most worldly people I know. There was a whole row of apartments in Kent, WA (where we moved from recently) with a bunch of new immigrants from Somalia. Something like 34 of them were poisoned, although I think they all survived. I imagine if you spend your life somewhat uneducated in a hot place, then come to a cold place and your family is freezing and there's no power, you're gonna do what comes natural. Bring something hot (fire, bbq, whatever you can get your hands on) in to get warm. Edited December 20, 2006 by Mr. Pickles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 For those that might be interested, here is our proximity to Mt. Rainier. That lighter area directly west (left) and south is the Orting and Sumner valley. If you've seen anything on Discovery about when Rainier goes, you'll know that that whole area goes buh-bye. Oh, I work down there too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 (edited) Yeah that area is screwed if she blows.. when she goes and if Alder Dam breaks, everyone down in my area is going to get hammered as well. Although I am on higher ground (that the rivers) many people will be washed away, like one of my brothers. You can kiss McKenna good by, nothing will be left (along with everyone upstream from there) Top arrow is Mr. P Bottom left is my location Edited December 20, 2006 by RedPath88 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 Red's already used to the booms from Ft. Lewis (dark area to the north). That's gotta be fun. Yeah, if Alder goes (big lake to the SE of Red) that'll be a mess. Lake Tapps will be too, that's about 10 blocks from here and my parents and grandparents live on the lake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 I hear lake tapps got nailed hard by the storm.. guy at work lost an exterior wall to a tree Biggest problem with Alder lake is that it is mostly man made, if the dam goes, the entire lake flows down stream along with all the mud from Rainier.. all at once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 I hear lake tapps got nailed hard by the storm.. guy at work lost an exterior wall to a tree Biggest problem with Alder lake is that it is mostly man made, if the dam goes, the entire lake flows down stream along with all the mud from Rainier.. all at once. Yes, Lake Tapps got nailed, and yes, I live right next to it. Hence my original post. And yep about Alder, same about Tapps, its also a reservoir along the White River watershed, same river that goes up through the hills along Hwy 410 toward Crystal Mt and Chinook Pass, straight to Mt. Rainier. Then there's the Puyallup and Carbon watersheds that flow through Orting and out. Tell you guys what, if that sucker goes, I've got steak that has to be eaten and a beer fridge. You dig? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Yes, Lake Tapps got nailed, and yes, I live right next to it. Hence my original post. And yep about Alder, same about Tapps, its also a reservoir along the White River watershed, same river that goes up through the hills along Hwy 410 toward Crystal Mt and Chinook Pass, straight to Mt. Rainier. Then there's the Puyallup and Carbon watersheds that flow through Orting and out. Tell you guys what, if that sucker goes, I've got steak that has to be eaten and a beer fridge. You dig? If I can get there, I'll bring the chips dip and some more beer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 If I can get there, I'll bring the chips dip and some more beer You know the way, man. Lawn chairs on the roof should give a good show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted December 21, 2006 Author Share Posted December 21, 2006 Here are some pics from our block. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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