Hurricane Recovery

[lloyd]

'Got home last night, after enduring a 400-mile traffic jam on I-26 and I-95. It took 14 hours to make a 9-hour trip!

 

Man... the shop really got smacked! We lost about 2000 sq.ft. of roofing over critical areas, had an area of our house roof damaged, and no power at all at the shop location (although we do now have power at the house). Heck! The power company's transformer pole on the road near the shop no longer exists! It was not uprooted, but actually snapped off at the ground! I don't think I've seen that around here before.

 

This internet connection is presently running on an inverter hooked up to our golf cart batteries (those being the most-capacious batteries we have on the site). So long as we're careful about the degree of discharge, we can drive the cart back over to the house for re-charging. 'Gotta be careful, though, because if it gets stranded there, we're 'stuck'.

 

Lloyd

[OldMarine]

Lloyd, I know you like most frown on HF but I've found their solar panel setup to be quite handy in off grid situations. I've got 3-3 panel sets wired together and can run an LCD TV and lights all night with a couple of forklift batteries and never drop below 30% charge. I'm sure I can get better but these are great for 'sperimenting. Let me know if you need anything. I was down after Andrew and I brought a trailer with 2 more trailers and roofing on top for my trip down.

[PeteyPyro]

I can only guess how Lloyd must feel. It was devestating here too. Just got power back after Irma, and was glad to have solar panels on the hobby sheds for lighting and cool AC to read my Pyro books by. (Hopefully by adding the word 'books', I won't get blasted for going off topic.)

[lloyd]

Petey,

 

Where are you? North Central Florida roughly corresponds to where I live, too.

 

(No power yet to the shop, but they're saying they'll plant a new transformer pole by Tuesday. It took the whole line pole down flush with the ground. It was obviously rotted -- you can see it in the 'stub' end.)

 

Lloyd

Edited September 17, 2017 by lloyd

[PeteyPyro]

(I'm about a hour southwest of Lloyd) We got internet back Saturday and were able to shut down the Generac. Used 200 gallons of LP since Sunday night, and I read Shimizu's F.A.S.T. cover to cover again. It's a must have for pyro, albeit with the scary Chlorate and Antimony trisulfide formulae in it. Frightening read. <grin>

[lloyd]

Sigh... My wife would have evacuated without me, if I'd had my 'druthers'. But I won't let her (at 69) drive long distances alone, so I went, too.

 

When we got back... eh... not so pretty. But it's just work. It'll get well with some time and a little help from the insurance company.

 

As soon as power is restored in the shop, life will be much more 'normal'.

 

Lloyd

[MrB]

Glad you all made it out with nothing but "structural damage". Some stubborn people don't know when to hide.

Guess those are the kind that doesn't last in pyro, but still. Glad to hear you guys are all ok.

[PeteyPyro]

It was a close call, but Sunday it looked as if Irma was steering further west off of the coast, so the 'call' was made to stay. Irma then headed more easterly, and we watched as the hurricane went by far too close. It could have been worse, but we only lost 8000 square feet of lifted shingles. One for the books.

[MrB]

That should teach you. Use good solid roofing bricks, and lock every single one in place with those small metal thingies. Next hurricane will carry the whole roof to your neighbor, and you can go and get it, in one piece...

 

It is not like you can stop the weather from robbing you of your stuff regardless of how much you try, so, all things considered... Yeah, lucky.

[PeteyPyro]

We were blessed to have a solid building, and hurricane straps held the roof and trusses to the block, but almost every shingle was bent up. They were rated for the 75 MPH winds here, but gusts were much higher.

[Mumbles]

I did a little thread cleaning from the pyro book thread.