Battered and Bent

[BlueBeard]

Some trees down no power but got through Irma safely. Hope everyone else is ok.

[Cowboy270674]

hope not to much damage in your area as it looked really bad up the west coast

 

glad you guys ok also

[RandyR]

It looks like North Georgia won't get Irma until its downgraded to a Tropical Storm. But wind gusts of 50mph are in the forecast from noon today until midnight. That and maybe a tornado. But it looks like the worst of the remnants are pushing west towards Huntsville, Al and Memphis. Makes me wonder how @Eck is doing?

[Eck]

SO far so good, thanks @RandyR

[Yammer Dan]

My son just got off work. On his way home.

[steamer]

Has anyone heard from djh3 he lives in Sebring, They took a direct hit.

[Kirby]

We made it through the rough stuff here in middle GA. Power was out about 6 hrs here. Some down the road from me still out since about 6 this morning. Lost a few trees,lots of limbs down, few shingles blown off the roof, some vinyl soffet blown out, one gable vent blown out. Yea, we got lucky. Or maybe someone up above was looking out for us.

[M61A1MECH]

Has anyone heard from djh3 he lives in Sebring, They took a direct hit.

 

I have not heard from him on this site or Delphi since the storm.

Many with out power down here including me, I have a generator, but most of yesterday was without internet, he may be in similar shape.

[etcswjoe]

Hope all are ok, we had widespread flooding and lot's of tornado warnings but no damage at the house. Bobbi's family in Bradenton lost a storm shutter and a palm tree but did not loose power.

[M61A1MECH]

Just talked to Dion AKA djh3, he is fine, just no power, no internet and cell service is spotty. He and his wife are fine, house took a little hit, but nothing major.

[Dragonslayer]

41 hours no power.

[Yammer Dan]

My son in Folkston got his Power back about a hour ago!! ( They knew I was coming....) We going to help clean up..

[The Tooch]

41 hours no power.

 

Hang on we're coming as fast as we can.....:canada:Hope they can help out getting power back on.

 

http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1206486

[BratmanXj]

Hang on we're coming as fast as we can.....

 

So are we... Where the hell is the Hoosier flag emoji!

 

Spoke with cousin in Ft. Myers and the went about 30 hrs without power, a little bit of damage but overall mostly cleanup.

 

Spoke with my Great Aunt & Uncle in Bradenton and they had power 1st thin Monday morning. Uncle isn't the handiest with tools and Aunt is getting frustrated with cleanup & fix-up.

[Dragonslayer]

Hang on we're coming as fast as we can.....:canada:Hope they can help out getting power back on.

 

http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1206486

Wish you would hurry your arse up. Now 67 hours without power and counting. 200 lbs of meat in the freezer and contents of two refrigerators ruined. Bored to death sitting in the dark.

Even though I was given a pass at work, I came in to charge my phones.

[Flyinfool]

I know that generators are as scarce as hens teeth down there. Generac is a local company here they are working 24/7 pumping out generators to send to TX and FL. They are also running hiring adds to get more people to increase production.

 

Since generators are so scarce right now, a less obvious route may be to pick up an inverter, just big enough to run the fridge or freezer, you can alternate which one you run for a few hours at a time then switch, it will keep things cold enough as long as you keep the doors closed. The inverter can be run off of your car.

A tank of gas and an inverter is cheaper than the cost of what is in a typical freezer.

 

While the freezer is running you can also be charging your phones.

 

Inverters can be found in sporting goods stores, RV centers, camping supply, harbor freight, electronics stors, etc, I do not know what might be open in you area.

 

It might be to late now to save anything in the freezer. Covering the freezer with heavy comforters and blankets will also help to keep in the cold, just do not cover the hot parts on the outside.

 

As far as meat that is thawed but still cold, cook it up on the BBQ or stove or oven, and you can then refreeze it the same as any other leftovers. Any meat from the center of the mass that is still hard is still frozen and will be fine in the freezer. I do not but the "experts" that say if a freezer is without power for 2 hours everything in it is garbage, or a fridge that is off for 1 hour everything is garbage. Frozen is frozen whether it is at 0° or 25° it is still frozen and still good. But unless you are planning to cook everything up, do not open the freezer or fridge until they have power.

Edited September 14, 2017 by Flyinfool

[RandyR]

I lost power and phone/internet at 3pm Monday. Power came back at 9pm Wednesday, and phone/internet was back this morning.

 

Spent an hour or so Monday night cutting up trees that were accross the road. Had a couple cars stopped at one of the trees we were clearing when another big pine fell accross the road and just missed one of the stopped cars. No damage at my house or property though.

[M61A1MECH]

As far as meat that is thawed but still cold, cook it up on the BBQ or stove or oven, and you can then refreeze it the same as any other leftovers. Any meat from the center of the mass that is still hard is still frozen and will be fine in the freezer. I do not but the "experts" that say if a freezer is without power for 2 hours everything in it is garbage, or a fridge that is off for 1 hour everything is garbage. Frozen is frozen whether it is at 0° or 25° it is still frozen and still good. But unless you are planning to cook everything up, do not open the freezer or fridge until they have power.

 

Here is something to remember the next time a storm threatens to turn off the power, or you evacuate or just go on vacation and want to see if you lost temp in the freezer.

Freeze a coffee cup full of water, place a quarter on top of the ice in the cup. When you return or have a chance to check the freezer, check out where the quarter is.

If it is still on the top of the ice, then your freezer maintained temp and did not thaw out.

If it is half way through the cup of ice then you lost temp for a period of time and chances are the food is probably still good.

if the quarter is on the bottom of the cup, then your freezer thawed out and the ice melted. throw out your food.

[snyper316]

I know that generators are as scarce as hens teeth down there. Generac is a local company here they are working 24/7 pumping out generators to send to TX and FL. They are also running hiring adds to get more people to increase production.

 

Since generators are so scarce right now, a less obvious route may be to pick up an inverter, just big enough to run the fridge or freezer, you can alternate which one you run for a few hours at a time then switch, it will keep things cold enough as long as you keep the doors closed. The inverter can be run off of your car.

A tank of gas and an inverter is cheaper than the cost of what is in a typical freezer.

 

While the freezer is running you can also be charging your phones.

 

Inverters can be found in sporting goods stores, RV centers, camping supply, harbor freight, electronics stors, etc, I do not know what might be open in you area.

 

It might be to late now to save anything in the freezer. Covering the freezer with heavy comforters and blankets will also help to keep in the cold, just do not cover the hot parts on the outside.

 

As far as meat that is thawed but still cold, cook it up on the BBQ or stove or oven, and you can then refreeze it the same as any other leftovers. Any meat from the center of the mass that is still hard is still frozen and will be fine in the freezer. I do not but the "experts" that say if a freezer is without power for 2 hours everything in it is garbage, or a fridge that is off for 1 hour everything is garbage. Frozen is frozen whether it is at 0° or 25° it is still frozen and still good. But unless you are planning to cook everything up, do not open the freezer or fridge until they have power.

 

Ok unless they have made better ones I tried this once back in 2004 it killed my alternator, plus my fridge kept throwing the breaker on the inverter...

[djh3]

Power and interweb back tonight about 7pm. About 94-96 hours from when it started to go out. Around 7 or 8 winds really were whipping. By 9pm DARK. Had small 2500w gen trying to run 2 fridge and a stand up freezer. after the second day I figured it was going to be awhile so I better investigate the 4400 w job I have not run for 10yr or so. 4 hours later carb off and in several dozen pieces, cleaned made gaskets and like magic it worked. Well sort of. Seemed every tank of gas when it ran out I had to fiddle with carb to get to run right. I had to make a tank for it as the OEM was steel, and you can imagine what i looked like after 10yr of non-use. It would run for 2.5 to 3 hours on a tank. I would run 2 then shut it off for a few hours. Everything stayed cold far as I could tell. Ribs are still frozen in freezer anyways along with everything else.

[slowrollwv]

Glad every thing is back up and running. Afew years ago in Oct. we got hit with a snow storm. We got 4" and my brothers got 4' and they are 150 miles west of me. They could not get away from their home for a month and no power. They drained the fuel from the car and truck to keep the Gen. running.

[RandyR]

Glad every thing is back up and running. Afew years ago in Oct. we got hit with a snow storm. We got 4" and my brothers got 4' and they are 150 miles west of me. They could not get away from their home for a month and no power. They drained the fuel from the car and truck to keep the Gen. running.

 

4' ... we don't do that in Georgia !!

 

I learned my lesson though. I'll be generator shopping soon.

[uncledj]

Older brother retired and moved down to Big Pine Key a couple of years ago.

Got outt'a Dodge the Wednesday before it hit. Had some trouble finding gas, but eventually made it up to Ohio. Irma came ashore a couple miles South of him, so they took the brunt of it.

He's fortunate that he has a small house (originally bought for his daughter before he left but daughter took out a loan and bought the big house)

He was (financially) advised not to sell for a year or two.

Now it looks like he'll be living in the small house for a while.

He found a pic that gives a glimpse of his house, which is still standing, but he says there's a bunch of shingles missing, and he can't see the lower level to tell if the garage doors are still there.

He's waiting until they let people back in so he can get more info.

He and the family are safe....house is still there....he's insured.....Life is good.....

[Flyinfool]

Ok unless they have made better ones I tried this once back in 2004 it killed my alternator, plus my fridge kept throwing the breaker on the inverter...

 

You do not need a monster inverter that will try to suck 500 amps from the 12V source. You want one just big enough to handle the start up surge of the compressor. Bigger will just abuse the electrical system in your car. The data plate on the fridge or freezer will tell you how big you need.

[Condor]

This is crazy. My cousin who lives in Port St Lucie on the east coast got hit fairly hard.. She couldn't find a shelter so went back to the house and rode it out. Called her the next day to see if she was still alive. The phone worked, she has electricity/AC, internet/cable, and only lost a few branches. The canal in the back yard only rose about 4' and never made it to the backyard level... She said she did ride out the worst of it in the bathtub... :-)