Ozark Posted February 4, 2009 #1 Posted February 4, 2009 I'm sure everyone has really missed me on the site lately. Well maybe not. Anyway, it's day eight without any electricity which means no heat and no lights in N.E. Arkansas. Prospect isn't good for the next few days either. I just wanted you all to think about me as you sit in your warm living rooms, watching your wide screen T.V.'s, and snacking on junk food. But I have food, a steady job, roof over my head, and INSULATED overalls. What more do I need.
Kregerdoodle Posted February 4, 2009 #2 Posted February 4, 2009 Dang.. sorry to hear that...and I thought we had it bad when IKE nocked the power out, at least it wasn`t cold then.. best of luck and try and stay warm and safe...
slick97spirit Posted February 4, 2009 #3 Posted February 4, 2009 I can relate, we were without power in Dexter, Mo for a week. Not as bad as you though. Hang in there! Maybe this will help. :lightbulb:Hope you can see a little now.
flb_78 Posted February 4, 2009 #4 Posted February 4, 2009 I've pretty much convinced myself that when I finally buy or build a house, it will have a either a natural gas fired generator or propane fired generator, depending on where it is.
MasterGuns Posted February 4, 2009 #5 Posted February 4, 2009 Heck, as last resort I have a 35000 btu kerosene heater I can use. Would only use that if and when I ran out of firewood. So much for global warming. What a joke.
N3FOL Posted February 4, 2009 #6 Posted February 4, 2009 Hang in there Ozark. I hope you and thousands of your neighbors will have power back on. Stay warm. Regards.
ToRide1 Posted February 4, 2009 #7 Posted February 4, 2009 I've pretty much convinced myself that when I finally buy or build a house, it will have a either a natural gas fired generator or propane fired generator, depending on where it is. I'm new here and Folks carful with buying these Whole house generators! Almost all cities now have it setup if the power go's out so does the natural gas and propane is very pricey some of these generators can go threw a lot of it fast. One week of running can cost you $800 depending on how big a unit you have. Bigger is not always better.
Cerviperus Posted February 4, 2009 #8 Posted February 4, 2009 I'm new here and Folks carful with buying these Whole house generators! Almost all cities now have it setup if the power go's out so does the natural gas and propane is very pricey some of these generators can go threw a lot of it fast. One week of running can cost you $800 depending on how big a unit you have. Bigger is not always better.Welcome to the club.
Freebird Posted February 4, 2009 #9 Posted February 4, 2009 I'm new here and Folks carful with buying these Whole house generators! Almost all cities now have it setup if the power go's out so does the natural gas and propane is very pricey some of these generators can go threw a lot of it fast. One week of running can cost you $800 depending on how big a unit you have. Bigger is not always better. That is just exactly what I was getting ready to say. I have a 17,000 KW propane fired generator with an auto transfer switch. I would sure not want to run it for very long though. It would quickly run through my bank account.
vtwinr Posted February 4, 2009 #10 Posted February 4, 2009 Whatever happened to underground utilites? Maybe they've already added up the cost of converting a whole city and this immediately discouraged the idea. We don't get snow in Phx., but we do get really high winds in July and August and our elect. in the N.E. Valley is all underground, (except for the really big lines which are on enormous steel poles,) and power outages are rare. I wish they'd bury all of those frozen lines with tree limbs laying on them that I see on the network news. You'd think that it would be worth it in the long run.
BIG TOM Posted February 4, 2009 #11 Posted February 4, 2009 . I know what your going thru...been there.. done that...fun for a day or even two..only I have well water so I was without water also..It gets old really fast...good luck..I purchased a gas generator..have a fire place and gas space heater in the garage. I just stoked up the fire, opened the garage door to help heat the house ,and hooked my lights and television in my family room to the generator and was like that for eight days last winter.. Sure got old real fast..Hang tough.....
Eck Posted February 5, 2009 #12 Posted February 5, 2009 Sure hope you and your better half are doing ok there Ozark. Hopefully they get the power back on soon for you. Hows the ol- 1st gen doing? Did you wrap her with thermal wear too....?
Redneck Posted February 5, 2009 #13 Posted February 5, 2009 I hope you get your power back soon that has got to be a real pain.
OB-1 Posted February 5, 2009 #14 Posted February 5, 2009 I've pretty much convinced myself that when I finally buy or build a house, it will have a either a natural gas fired generator or propane fired generator, depending on where it is. Natural gas is convenient, but it is sometimes turned off or unavailable after a natural disaster like a hurricane or tornado. After Katrina, the idiot mayor of New Orleans order all natural gas shut off even in areas that had intact gas lines. Areas affected by tornados often have gas supplies shut off due to line breaks at building entrances.
ctraylor Posted February 5, 2009 #15 Posted February 5, 2009 I live in Mountain Home, Ar and we were without electricity for 7 days, just got back yesterday evening. I am lucky I have a fire place and plenty of wood. I did loose food in the deep freeze. Happier times are coming.......
Ozark Posted February 5, 2009 Author #16 Posted February 5, 2009 Thanks for all the good wishes. 21 degrees this morning and 45 degrees inside. The first day after the storm I drove 40 miles down the main highway in N.E. Arkansas. Not a single light anywhere. Second day there was one light on at a service station with a generator. I've seen a lot of ice storms, but nothing even comes close to what we had this time. The devastation to trees and telephone poles is unbelievable. Power is slowly coming back. We actually had a few main streets with lights on last night. It will probably be a couple of more days before they get to me, but that's just the way it is. Hope to see you all on the "Sunny" side. Thanks again. Jim Jim
raceman62race Posted February 5, 2009 #17 Posted February 5, 2009 Hang in there! I use a small portable generator (4000 watt) when we lose electricity. I have a 50 foot cord made up with a male plug on each end. When we lose electricity, I simply turn off the main breaker in the house so I don't back feed down the power line and plug one end of the cord into the clothes dryer plug and the other into the generator. We have all the lights we want and can watch TV. I close off most of the house except for the living room and we use small space heaters to keep the chill off.
1sttenor Posted February 5, 2009 #18 Posted February 5, 2009 Ozark we feel your pain. The good folks in southern MO are with you. Two years ago the family farm my folks still live on was out for 20 days. They had to drive to KY for a generator and used 200 gals of gas before the lights came back on. Heres hoping your wait isn't that long.
Dooder1 Posted February 5, 2009 #19 Posted February 5, 2009 Boy what a storm. My power was out for 6 days and my dsl just came backup today. It was a experience. Went thru 2 cords of wood keeping both fireplaces going. \ Couldnt get out of yard for 4 days even with 4wheel drive. Spent all weekend supervising my daughters boyfriend cutting up all the trees downed by the ice in my 76 year old neighbors yard. Will start my yard this weekend. I have I bet a 100 trees in bad shape if not 100's havnt been into the woods yet to see. For sure we will have plenty of wood for next year lol. But all in all we made it thru ok have all ready restocked for the next big storm.\ John
Guest Yamahawg Posted February 6, 2009 #20 Posted February 6, 2009 Was visiting out in Springfield a couple years back when the ice storm came thru. Relatives had propane furnace but wouldnt work due to no electricity. I was prowling around in the garage and ran across an inverter they used for camping. We connected it to the car battery then hooked it up to the furnace power supply line at the furnace. Crossed our fingers then gave it a try. We had enough juice to run the darn thing and it worked. We would Crank the car and then fire up the furnace to warm the house for a while. Then shut it down till the house got too cold again. Counted our blessing that it worked and we stayed halfway comfortable. Was a PIA to run out Start the car up ever so often but it was a heck of alot better than freezing. Good luck to ya.... been there done that... dont want to do it again.
Midnight V-4 Posted February 6, 2009 #21 Posted February 6, 2009 I feel for you. My parents and brother still live just outside Brookland. I spoke with my brother the other night. Still without power and he has no water either. Luckily has propane for heat and cooking. He works for the county on the road crew and they have been going way into the night sometimes to get the debis cleared from the roads. Can't wait for Spring and riding weather.
Ozark Posted February 6, 2009 Author #22 Posted February 6, 2009 UPDATE - As of last night I have POWER...heat, lights, etc. Thanks to all of you who offered best wishes to us. Unfortunately, there are still many many without power and will will still be at least a week until many of them get electric run to them. I'm gonna call some friends to see if they need a warm place to stay. Thanks again. Jim
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