Mother Nature is an exceedingly powerful force! So often she is calm, mild, even pleasant. However there are times when this force can become extremely destructive, and it can happen fast…
Having just gone through a major windstorm up here in northern New Hampshire, the New England region experienced a powerful Nor’easter (without the snow) that brought down trees and power lines all over the place.
Up here we had wind gusts and straight line winds powerful enough that flattened swaths of trees, especially those with a southern exposure along slopes and ridges. Jet-stream upper level winds were brought down to the surface producing incredible destructive gusts.
Most of it happened during the middle of the night (Sunday) and needless to say I barely got any sleep as with each strong gust I wondered if the roof would blow off!
What’s the first thing that happens during such a storm? The power goes out. There are still people without power 3 days later. We got ours back after just a day and a half (although I’m equipped with solar, batteries, and generators).
Having ventured out beyond our own property yesterday (day 2) I was astounded to see the destruction. We live in a heavily forested region and the number of trees down (and those leaning) was an incredible site to see. There are still countless trees leaning over on power lines everywhere.
I saw a number of buildings, sheds, outbuildings crushed with giant softwood trees on top of them. Lesson: Don’t build next to big trees!
Yesterday I spent the day with the trail administrator out on our ATV’s on various national forest trails (used as snowmobile trails) with our chainsaws. We barely made a dent in clearing the fallen trees. Will be back out there again Saturday with a bigger crew and bigger equipment…
It was somewhat intimidating as we rode through the forest to come across large swaths of large trees just blown right over from extra powerful wind gusts. It really made you understand the non forgiving power of Mother Nature.
I know that there are those of you who have lived through hurricanes, and you understand the destructive power of the wind. I’ve been through a few of those myself (although just CAT-1 at the time). But to experience it, especially if you’re out in it, is humbling. Makes you feel pretty small.
So what’s the point of this article? Well I suppose it’s to respect Mother Nature.
Many of us live in regions with their own natural disaster tendencies. Hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, fires… however are we adequately prepared to deal with the aftermath?
We can go through periods of time when all is relatively quiet. But then Whammo! Mother Nature unleashes fierce fury.
Safety
Number one is your personal safety. You can preemptively do things to better ensure your own safety during an event. The things you might do will vary depending on your threat.
Is your house next to some big old trees which might come down during a major windstorm? Do you know how HEAVY those trees are and that it can easily kill you if it smashes through your house?
Do you live in a fire prone region? Have you trimmed back combustible growth away from your home?
Got a plan if a tornado rips through your town? Do you know the safest place to be just in case?
Have you secured heavy objects in your home if you live in earthquake country?
I could go on and on, but you get the drift…
Electricity
The first thing we “miss” is electricity. It’s easy to survive without it for awhile, but what if it’s out for days or longer? Do you have some of the preps that will help you through this?
Do you have a chest freezer (or two?) that might be loaded with valuable $$ of food? A generator will keep it from spoiling. Seems like a good investment.
I have lots of articles buried here on MSB dealing with power grid failure and what to do. Most of you regulars are already set, but I’m just saying…
My own setup here enabled zero disruption in that regard. Having solar power, a battery bank, and a few generators, there wasn’t an issue. It did allow me to do some real life experiments though – like charging my battery bank via a generator rather than solar (it was dark and cloudy the next day).
I learned a few things while experimenting. I discovered that for a quicker charge to my battery bank (using my generator) I need to get a 10 gauge extension cord (enabling me to set a higher charge current flow without heating up so much versus 12 gauge cord). My eventual plan is to permanently install a generator transfer switch with proper wiring. Currently I’m set with transfer switches for my solar & battery bank so I haven’t really needed the generator.
Other Lessons Learned from Mother Nature
There are all sorts of little (and sometimes big) things that you can learn if you throw the main circuit breaker on your electrical panel and live without electricity for a few days. I strongly suggest that you try it before you are forced to try it!
Our modern lives are hinged to the power grid more than you might imagine. It could even become dangerous under certain conditions. What will you do if the power’s out for several days during the winter (for example)? c-c-cold…
You will also discover that when you go through a ‘Mother Nature’ event, you will likely be busy dealing with the subsequent damage. This will make it even more difficult to deal with simply dealing with life without electricity. So if you sort out and prep for the convenience factor first, it will be easier to then deal with the aftermath damage and cleanup.
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I went through that same storm Ken, and I was surprised by all the damage with tree’s and wires down everywhere. So many branches were down everywhere that the town used snowplows to clear the roads. It was so strange to see a snowplow pushing brush down the road. We were lucky we did not lose power, although it did blink several times Sunday night. We did lose our cable though. We lost several trees ourselves. It’s next years firewood.
Ken
So glad you are safe. The clean-up of the trails will certainly be a challenge and will provide an insight into who are willing to contribute. On the bright side, you can take out your trailer and collect enough firewood for several years. Try your new electric saw 🙂 Okay not funny.
I have a neighbor who decided to plant three pine trees in their yard. Two of the trees died, and because of how they were placed we now have a single trunk with branches on only one side.
That tree is now close to 100 feet high (estimating) and within falling range of five homes. Luckily the “heavy” side is toward their house, but there are so many criteria that might determine how it falls…
We had a few homes build in the country were I used to live. It was a small subdivision put on some old farm land. A few of houses were done and people moving in before the curbs and turn in off the main road were finished. We had a good storm that caused local flash flooding and it washed all the dirt and gravel (not compacted fully obviously) out from around the corrugated pipe that you crossed the ditch over. Their vehicles were trapped in the subdivision, but they could walk/jump across the ditch. Took about 2 days of work by the crews to get the pipe reset and back filled properly.
Earthquake for us here in the PNW. Still working at getthing the hutch and grandmother clock in our home tied to studs under the dry wall. I am planning to use “L” brackets but it’s not an easy task for hubby. Might just hire a handy man to come in and get it done. I am trying to come up with ideas on how to secure the doors on the china hutch so they won’t fly open and allow the china to become flying saucers (pun intended). I know they will break the glass in the door but the wire behind it will keep them from killing us if I can secure the doors. Guess I will look for small locks that might look like they belong on the doors instead of something big and honkey. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I have a couple of big paintings I will zip tie to their hangars and a couple of large mirrors that I will do the same with. I don’t think they will break loose once I get the zip ties on.
We are getting it done in the garage with containment to keep the cans from flying off the shelves, maybe. Have moved all the canning jars, full and empty to the bottom shelf in boxes so now it’s just the canned goods.
It’s all part of being prepared, to my way of thinking.
preparednana
It is hard to live under that threat of destruction year after year – hard to secure everything. You still have to use that stuff. Not sure I could do it.
By the way, I am a honkey. 🙂
I looked up the term “honkey” in the urban dictionary and according to that I are one too.😇😇 I think I should have use the term obvious.
As far as living under the threat of destruction, we all do, no matter what nature that takes. My biggest fear is having my air cut off; underwater, under a collapsed anything, fire or what have you. I just want to keep the air going in and out. But I snorkled all the time when we were stationed in Hawaii. Had to get a special sized snorkel tube but did fine otherwise. Hurricane, tornadoes, fires and any other type of natural disaster is all destruction and we all live under the threat.
preparednana
Some more than others – I can almost certainly cross off hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, … but you are right in your statement that we all face risks – some we can not even anticipate.
Hope we all live to snorkel another day.
@preparednana
Until you find something that has the “look” you want for your china hutch, a simple wood slat with cutouts to go over the existing handles would probably work. If you don’t get into the cabinet much, even zip ties would also work, as well as a lot of the hardware sold to “child proof” cabinets. Check out “quake hold” products at Home Depot (and Amazon) as well.
I worked the Northridge earthquake (1994) both for Red Cross Disaster Services as well as helping my Dad clean up his place (lost 3 of 4 brick walls and chimney), as well as a home in Granada Hills whose entire kitchen cupboard contents wound up on the floor. The sticky combination of peanut butter, coffee, honey, and breakfast cereal, all mixed with broken glass (and no water), was no fun.
Good for you to be proactive!
Thanks for the suggestions. I think I can manage the slat with the cutouts to go over the handles and stain them dark to match the cabinet and no one would really be the wiser. I like that better that wire ties less noticeable.
Last storm we were without store bought electricity for eight days. We have a great back up system so it was not a problem. Lost a few trees on the lower part of the property and just got those cut up. People down the road really got whacked as a tree cut off the gable end of the garage, front porch and ended up on both cars. They pulled the cars out so if the power went out they could have them out of the garage. Most people here love their tree’s and won’t cut them away from structure. Trees need to be cut back for safety and bushes for bugs and small critters. Some home’s you could hid a company of V.C. around because of the vegetation. Remember “Field of Fire” at all times.
Here in SW Oklahoma farm country, our main wind threat is tornados. Many of them seem to form on top of us and spin off toward the northeast, making it difficult to have much warning sometimes. We just stay glued to our scanners listening to the storm spotters and praying that one doesn’t hit our town. Strong north winds come through regularly and blow things down, but our large pecan tree next to the house has survived so far. It could be a hazard to us, but it’s also a valuable food source. Some people go to the casinos around here to gamble. We just live next to a big tree.
As far as electricity goes, we’re a long way from the Power Plant that provides our electricity, so lots of potential for outages this far out. Tornado damage to power lines is usually repaired or fed-around within a short time, but winter ice storms cause more wide-spread damage that takes much longer to repair. We’ve been fortunate to not have lost enough fresh or frozen food over the years to justify having even a cheap generator. Instead, we’ve put our effort into being able to live without electricity except for some solar and mechanical DC recharging. We’re reducing our dependence on electricity and commercial refrigeration as much as we can to avoid getting caught up in the generator, fuel, fuel transport, fuel storage, fuel availability dilemma. We don’t believe that providing our own commercial refrigeration is sustainable for us.
CD in Oklahoma
I heard about all of the folks without power and the first thing I thought was, but not Ken!
Technically the power grid feed to the house was ‘without power’, however the house remained energized via alternative energy 😉
My husband was away for 5 days and he went through that wind storm in our RV! On Sunday night, he gave up trying to sleep and just got up at 1:30am, made a pot of coffee, then pulled out to come home extra-extra-early. He had parked under a walnut tree that was dropping nuts faster than he could reload — drove him nutz! The big damage was the roll-out awning that has been ripped to the point of needing replacement. The wind struck hard and fast before he cold get to it and roll it up. “Thanks, Mutha Nature!”
Glad he’s home and safe. Glad you’re safe and working through the destruction, Ken.
Yep… I didn’t get any sleep either after about 2AM when the house began to shake from the wind. It’s also amazing the noises that a house will make when under such stress. I can’t imagine being in an RV during that one…
@Ken. How did your solar panels and mounting system hold up through the storm? Don’t You have a pole/ ground mounted system,?..
@Livin’ in the Woods, That was another thing I was worried about however they faired well. No problems. The ground mounts are of my own design. I have them attached to concrete footings (which I’m sure saved them from becoming sails).
Mother nature definitely can show us who is really in charge, and it aint us!
Stay safe all…..
We experienced the outside edge of that storm. Had the high winds and I was certain that I’d find a lot of damage. The electricity kept flickering but surprisingly stayed on. Gotta thank the folks working at the OGCC (our utility’s control centre). They kept rerouting that power.
We usually have pretty much the same issues with Mother Nature that Ken has. Although we seem to be getting more tornadoes in our general area. Something else to prep for.
kk
My problem this morning was my internet server was down. It is amazing what I achieved this morning since I didn’t go through all those sites and emails!
I suppose here our threats are windstorms and power outage from storms or for no reason.
Our stubby junipers and pinion pines are awfully sturdy. Sometimes a branch breaks but they never seem to blow away and damage something. The power outage here is quite common and since part of our county tried to get the graft out of our electric board, and failed, they fix us last and sometimes not for a while.
old lady, shall we not forget about the Thunder Storms and Lightening that kick our power out all the time. ZAP and poof, there is goes again.
oh yes, did forget. They are real exciting up here. So many friends have lost computers/phones etc. And then there are the lightening caused fires…
Ahhhh yes, Maw-Nature and her bitter other half ‘Father Time’, what a pair they are huh?
As I read Ken’s article for the second time (he uses big words ya know) I was thinking, and before anyone says it YES I can think at times, although I prefer not to.
Anyways I was thinking that Maw-Nature sure is pizzed off a LOT lately. Think about the Hurricanes we have had so far this year, all of the earthquakes, the flooding, the volcanos (speaking worldwide here), how about the fires (yes I know manmade but fueled by the Santa Anna winds), how about the icebergs that are shifting and moving? Ohhhh and not let us forget the Sun Spots that are going nuts-o, remember those can kick out butts at any time she wants.
Now I don’t know about y-all but it seems to have been a help of a crazy summer, and we’re not even into Winter yet. SO, what’s coming? Well if ya read the Farmer’s Almanac, nothing different, yet ya have to trust that “gut feeling” at times. The F-A did not see Florida, PR, and Huston getting their azzes kicked, nor did they mention 1/2 of CA burning down AND the GNW in flames, so take heed my friends. BTW, take a look at the rest of the world, it’s also in a pickle as far as weather.
Maw-Nature can be a wonderful beautiful Lady and can be a gracious friend and cast more beauty than one can behold, in the same breath she can be a real “Mother in Law” when she’s pizzed, so Ken, stop pizzing her off will ya? HAHAHAHA
And how about Father Time, does it not seem like he’s winding up the “watch” a lot tighter now-a-days? Seems like yesterday it was March, now it’s the first of November, where in the help did the year go? Three weeks to Thanksgiving and 7 weeks till Christmas (and yes I said CHRISTMAS) ya want to call it something else well good for you, this is MY post so bugger off.
Anyways ; this is a PERFECT reason we to prepare and live as we do, I’m thinking Ken is going to be happy as a schoolgirl with all the new Firewood he’s going to collect. 🙂
My Dad said the one thing he couldn’t stand while in Malaysia was the sugar-cinnamon coated anchovies. 🙂
Lauren
As long as ya have a good supply if Guinness, welllll ahhhh not so bad I guess 🙂
Lauren and all,
Good grief… sugar-cinnamon sardines. I can’t imagine how many drinks I’d need to wash those down with, sounds AWFUL!
Sorry… anchovies… either way… yuck!
So Cal Gal
Tis all in the company ya have with ya at the time…. HAHAHAHA
NRP,
I don’t know… I’d have to be having one heck of a good time to decide put some of those on my plate. I don’t care how many people double-dog-dare me to do it!
So Cal Gal
Ohhhhh you’d be surprised when ya get a few bottles of Hot Saki down the old gullet LOLOL
Either way, little tiny fish (ANY fish) and sugar and cinnamon DO NOT MIX. Ever.
NRP
And retirement in the middle of winter. Fireplace and Guinness time?
Oh ya I forgot, you really don’t get winter. Ken will probably post a winter scene so you can get into the spirit(s) lol 🙂
hermit us
Ill get about 2 feet of snow for a month or so here, not much more, and only down to zero for about 3-4 weeks
hermit us
You should have had your first snow on Halloween. Remember the kids going trick or treating and it snowing…lol and they thought it was wonderful.
hey AC
No snow last night but got a little today.
To be honest, I like snow.
hermit us
Ohhhhh god no, I don’t drink swill (Guinness), just to wash sugar-cinnamon sardines down with. 🙂
Ah NRP, why did you have to ruin my day reminding me that the holidays are just around the corner. And here I was feeling so good about all the wood we have coming our way. From what I could see, we have 7 or 8 trees down in our swampy area. We wont be able to get to them until the ground freezes solid. It feels good knowing that we have next years wood waiting to be cut and split.
Peanut Gallery
A well stocked firewood pile is a sight to behold and just gives ya that warm and fuzzy feeling for sure, sort of like a Hot Buttered Run 🙂
“a Hot Buttered Run”
Say whaaa?
Nope. Not going there…Not gonna touch THAT one….Nope. Not me….
And if you can believe it, even though we chainsawed a zillion trees in the National Forest the other day while clearing trails (while volunteering our time, as in working for free), they won’t let you take the wood out and use it. Instead it must sit there to rot. That’s our Federal government for ya…
Ken
Maybe a letter to Secretary of the Interior – Zinke may help. He seems like a down to earth guy.
Thats why i dont volunteer in the NP anymore
As they are finding in California leaving those trees to rot is just adding dried wood to any fire that goes through the area. A fast moving fire with just brush and grass is not going to light large green trees. Now give it dome large cured trees and limbs on the ground to slow the fire down and you have all sorts of fun. The Indians in the area where I live used to light the fires when they left the mountains for the flat lands in the winter. or so I am told.
NRP
I prefer that Ken uses more of the English language than is commonly bastardized in twitter or texting. In this medium one must be more explicit than we would normally use in person, because other indicators help to convey the message, like body language, facial expressions, … Ken writes well and with clarity. Proper language (or writing in this case) is not just a use of big words but the best use of words to convey the most accurate meaning.
One further point is that language worsens the divide in our society more than we realize. Many people in this country speak Spanglish, if that is the correct term. Other areas we hear ghetto English, not meant to be a slur. Some areas have used Franco/English since the war of Independence. The more we racially fragment without language integration, the more we are divided.
I can speak construction jargon with the best of them, but I prefer to keep up our language skills in the same way I want to preserve our morals and ethics.
hermit us
Well I fell as I’ve been scolded by the best of them…
Thanks mom.
So much for holding a “lite hearted” conversation. I will remind myself to insert at the minimum of 5 LARGE words per comment.
NRP
No insult intended, just a reminder, as our communication skills decline so does some of our culture. Personally, I like you redneck vernacular. Just my opinion so to use your expression “this is my post so bugger off”.
I can fo that since I dont have the proper vocabulary skill set for the BLOG…
NRP buggering off, have fun.
NRP
Please do not get angry over an opinion expressed about the changes in our culture and society. Once politeness and good communication go out the window, so does civil behavior.
Thanks, Hermit US. I, too, noticed the language and felt a little disappointed.
NRP
Blue & I need to have a talk…you are speeding time a long to fast, I have projects that have to be finished…do not have the time for holidays…now you tell me, Thanksgiving is just 3 weeks away.
The damage wasn’t as bad in my area of NH, but I have learned a lot of people truly cannot handle even minor power outages.
I’m talking a small town, where people consider themselves “country”, AND where we didn’t all lose power. So showering at a gym or friends house, heating water on your gas stove, stuff like that just didn’t occur to people. Store is closed today? We are all foing to freeze and starve! You’d think it was One Second After from the whining here after 12-24 hours without power. (Only a handful were out beyond.)
Stepping up my game for winter. People scare me…..
awkamh
“People scare me…..”
Exactly my fear when TSHTF, going to be very bad for a LOT of folks that have NO CLUE!!!!!
Absolutely! We are not as well prepared as I want to be, but a few days without power shouldn’t push people so easily over the edge. Especially people who live somewhat rurally. We are renting, so do not have backup heat, but have prepared around this with gear and knowledge the best we can. Who lives in rural New England without owning good warm gear, extra blankets, sleeping bags, and some kind of way to heat up food and water, and see where you’re going at night? If you own a house here, and do not have back-up heat of some sort, what on earth are you thinking?
No one I heard complaining had a tree fall on their roof, frozen pipes or any serious problem associated with the storm. No one is destitute or seriously ill. Just a total lack of planning and common sense. They all figured out how to charge their phones and whine though. Real SHTF at least I wouldn’t have to hear all about it. Hahaha!
awkanh
THAT my friend is exactly the problem, the “Oh it cant happen here, It can’t happen to me”…..
I mean, really, what does it really take to have just a few items to survive with?
Right! I think what worries me the most, is this is the kind of area where people tend to stay, and it is rural. So, most are not generations removed from any level of self-sufficiency. The mental aspect of preparedness is often absent though. Entire conversations online blaming power companies, the state, anyone else for what in the scheme of things is an inconvenience most of us could easily prepare for and manage.. They’re discussing how people would die “because of Eversource” if it was winter, but not taking away that they have time right now to learn and be better prepared for a blizzard.
Basically, people cannot handle interruptions to their daily routines or camp in their house for a few days in the fall without losing it. Scary!
@ awkamh
To me the scary part is how fast they fall apart. 12-24 hours, even with nothing to eat,drink,ect is really just a blink. You won’t die in that amount of time. I live in a mountain community myself and a lot of the flat lander’s that have moved into the area have the same problem as the ones where you live. It doesn’t matter that these things happen EVERY WINTER it still takes them by surprise. We have our first winter storm coming in this weekend and you can just about guarantee a power outage from the first or second storms as wind takes down the weak trees or the unprepared drive into the poles.
Glad you made it through safe Ken!
We had a similar storm hit earlier this year. We lost a few trees and had some minimal roof damage. A few neighbors had it much worse-one house fire, numerous roofs with major damage and then some smashed vehicles in driveways. Several months later there’s still houses that are being worked on.
Our biggest takeaway from the storm was to get trees away from our house, (we moved here at the beginning of the year and our property is loaded with pines). This summer we cut down 3 trees and had a big one professionally removed, to give us more of a clearing around our house. There’s still a few more we need to take care of, planning on doing that next summer.
We have a 65 year old oak tree in our front yard that is around 60 feet tall.. I wanted to get it cut down as it constantly goes through cycles of making messes in the yard, spring pollen, autumn acorns, fall leaves dropping, winter dead branches falling. The wife, along with the local squirrels who have been nesting on it, and our feathered friends won’t let me touch it. It does shade the house nicely during the summer and cuts down on AC bills, but I do worry about it when we have bad storms. We were lucky this past week as the winds only got up to around 25 mph. Only a few small dead branches fell. I remember one year not to long ago I told my DW it’s the tree or me that goes. Well, we’re both still here so that threat didn’t work. Hopefully it will never come down in a bad storm.
Broadwing as Oaks go that one is a youngster. Please take a good look at it 360 degrees looking for signs of rot. I expect you will find little as it sounds healthy. Acorns are an excellent food source for you and your animals. Chickens, pigs and indeed if you crush those acorns and wash them to reduce tannin’s most critters including people enjoy them. Small rot can be excised and tar used to help keep that tree healthy for several more decades.
Limbs falling in storms is normal just trim the nasty looking branches to reduce damage to the tree and your home. Great firewood BTW. Oak leaves are very useful as the tannin’s in them are excellent tea to cure diarrhea. Not a small issue that comes from bad water, bad sanitation or bad food.
Cherish that tree friend! It may feed you, cure you and keep you warm AND cool.
NH Michael,
Thanks for the reply. The oak is a pin oak and the acorns are tiny. The critters like them but they are nothing like the size of red or white oak acorns. These are about the size of a pencil eraser in circumference. It is a big healthy tree. It’s just the older we get the more work it seems to be maintaining the yards. Such is life!
Chuckle well even a pin oaks leaves are good for medical tea And Toilet paper use. I enjoy my oaks and maples
It is amazing how powerful straight line winds are. Some went through a nearby town several years ago and knocked down trees that you’d have thought would be there forever. It is a shame that that good wood has to go to waste. Perhaps a polite letter, as someone mentioned previously, would reach an understanding ear.