Double hurricane headed my way UPDATE A-OK

[dayna]

So I've been prepping allllll day long. I made a spot to bring in the parrots, and am setting up rings of fencing with cardboard bottoms and lids to bring the rabbits in. The aviaries and rabbitries have tarp structures as the roofs.

Also getting plywood for the windows.

Kennels for all the chicken chicks. If it's really bad I'll toss chickens in bathrooms..... lol

Goats and sheep I guess will have to fend for themselves. They have shelters but I guess they could blow away.

So now that I'm just about done it's time to wait.

opcorn: opcorn: opcorn: opcorn: opcorn:

__________ Wed Aug 06, 2014 2:53 pm __________

Oh and we bought a whole house generator so we will have power.

 

[Random Rabbit]

I've been thinking of You with the two storms heading Your way. Sounds as tho You are taking precautions and battening the hatches.

The generator is a Great investment. ( be certain to have Plenty of fuel !)

Plenty of ready to eat food...

Stay Safe !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Yikes! :x :x :x A DOUBLE hurricane?!?!?! :shock:

It sounds like you are well prepared for it. Keep all your temporary cages for next time.

Stay safe! I hope you don't get much damage. :clover:

 

[MaggieJ]

Oh my goodness, Dayna... I really hope it misses you or at least that you are not in its direct path. Sounds like you have done all you can to prepare. Fingers crossed that it is not as bad as it sounds!
:clover: :good-luck: :clover: :good-luck: :clover:

 

[dayna]

Yeah we are directly in the path, the first island to be hit. I feel like everything will be okay. Our roof is anchored (so we were able to get a discounted hurricane policy! yay). Really the worst that's going to happen is losing the roofs off the aviary and the rabbitry and power outages. That whole house generator will really save our butts since power here can be out for weeks at a time during serious events and I have a chest freezer. lol

We have lots of trees called "albezias" and they drop limbs like mad when it's windy, whole 200 foot trees just fall over. It's a horrible invasive species.

 

[hucklekree]

Good thoughts and prayers sent your way.

 

[TwoAcreDream]

Please stay safe ((( hugs )))

 

[Dood]

I'm holding everyone gets through OK and on the bight side you'll have an over abundance of high protein forage for the critters if you collect up the albizia branches - http://www.feedipedia.org/node/570

 

[Marinea]

Please stay safe.

My hubby and I have been through hurricanes going back to Camille- him on the Gulf Coast and me in South Florida. A couple pieces of advice:
- run the generator intermittently- couple hours on, couple off. It will save fuel, which you can expect to go way up in price for a while. If you hook it up to your house, be VERY careful when the power starts to be restored- let the power company know, so no one gets hurt.
- you may very well need access to a chainsaw to get out and down the road, After Katrina, it took us four hours to get a half mile down the road, and that was with someone cutting from the other end at the same time.
- have some sort of self protection. People can get stupid after a scare, and others look at it as an opportunity to cause trouble.
- on the brighter side, a Cat 1 storm makes for great pier fishing, as we found out on our honeymoon (had too many things to do to watch the weather and drove right to it ).

 

[Miss M]

I thought of you when I saw the hurricanes on my weather page.

I've lived in hurricane country all my life, too, and have been through quite a few. I remember watching Iniki on the news, and praying y'all would come through okay. I remember it being a big, bad storm.

I agree with running the generator intermittently. Unless you have propane or natural gas piped to it, you will probably be dealing with a gas shortage. Even with piped gas, depending on hurricane damage, it could be risky to use it. Make regular walks around the generator and where the gas pipe runs, smelling for gas leaks.

As far as connecting it goes, I know you're supposed to shut off the main on your electric panel, so you don't backfeed into the line. Backfeeding can, like Marinea said, kill linemen. It can also burn out neighbors' appliances. Our most recent hurricane (two years ago), a couple of the men who live on our road were going up and down the road, trying to figure out who was backfeeding the line. They thought it was us, until we showed them we were actually on a different spur that came up to the side of our property, rather than the one that runs down our road. We actually had power. My husband checked to make sure it was full power, and not someone backfeeding on our spur. The men were rightly worried about their wells, refrigerators, and everything else, as backfeeding will provide enough power to turn things on, but not enough for them to run properly. I don't know if they ever figured out who it was.

Chainsaw. Yes. Gas-powered, obviously, and make sure you have the right gas-oil mix on hand.

Ditto on protection.

We've had a chest freezer, too, for hurricanes. We just fill gallon jugs and freezer bags 3/4 full of water, and fill up the freezer with them well in advance of the storm, so it all has a chance to freeze. Once power is out, we wrap it in blankets and tape it tightly. We were actually having to pull stuff out of it to thaw, so we would have food to bring to the community cookouts the residents at our complex were having, as everyone's freezer food was thawing. We didn't have that problem. Everything was still hard frozen after a week with no power.

If we were evacuating, we also emptied the refrigerator before the storms hit, and turned it off and left the doors open. We shut off all breakers except the one that powered the freezer, and left.

Y'all be safe!!!!! You'll be in our prayers.

 

[Homer]

Good Luck! Hopefully by know you have everything as safe as you can make it.

Here's a satellite view of the storm about two hours old that's heading right for her.

 

[dayna]

Well we've got some small winds and rain right now. About 5 hours I think till the outside winds of the storm hit us. The center of the storm will be passing in the middle of the night.

Instead of hooking up the generator to the breaker box, we'll just run electrical cords this time. Steve will have an electrician come in and hook up the generator properly after the storm has passed for future use.

Thankfully it's a duel fuel so we can use propane as well and I'll be out filling up the propane tanks today.

I'm watching the news and the eye of the hurricane is passing right over my neighborhood. Lucky me!

 

[Miss M]

Instead of hooking up the generator to the breaker box, we'll just run electrical cords this time. Steve will have an electrician come in and hook up the generator properly after the storm has passed for future use.

That sounds like it's probably wise, unless Homer or someone else electrically savvy can give you instructions... he didn't correct me on anything, so I assume I got what I said correct.

That's how we plan to use our generator, with cords. It's a portable, not a whole-house, but it should power all of our refrigeration, and leave enough extra for a fan or two and a couple of lights. This is the first time we've ever had a generator, except for the time we lived with my uncle.

Thankfully it's a duel fuel so we can use propane as well and I'll be out filling up the propane tanks today.

That is awesome! We have a hookup available for a propane generator, but we had to settle for a gas generator that was easier on the wallet. We got a really good one, though. Hoping for propane later.

I'm watching the news and the eye of the hurricane is passing right over my neighborhood. Lucky me!

Fun, fun! :x

One of the times we evacuated, we went to a community center. One of those big, concrete, flat-roofed buildings. Turns out the roof was gravel. When the eye passed over us, the gravel was being blown all around the roof, creating this freaky-sounding roar. As if the winds weren't enough. :roll:

Well we've got some small winds and rain right now. About 5 hours I think till the outside winds of the storm hit us. The center of the storm will be passing in the middle of the night.

You've probably grown up with hurricanes in Hawaii, and are rolling your eyes at all of our hurricane advice. But anyway, y'all be safe!!! Make sure and let us know you're okay on the other side of it, okay?

 

[Homer]

[... he didn't correct me on anything, so I assume I got what I said correct.

You seem to have a pretty good handle on it there Miss M.

ANYTIME you are going to use a generator on things in your house and it is connected via the breaker box open the main before connecting and starting it. If public service come back on while your generator is connected it WILL be destroyed because it will be out of phase and public service has a lloooott more amps behind them. I've seen 50 kw gen sets ripped right of the concert foundation they were on because the automatic transfer switch misfired on load shifts.

If your generator only puts out 110 Volts your probably better off using cords. Just make sure they're plenty heavy enough for what you plug into it.

We have a 6000 watt one for our house that puts out 220 vac. I start and transfer loads manually and there is nothing to it. 6kw gives you a bit over 25 amps available at 220 volts. Put a dedicated 220 volt/30 amp breaker in your box that goes to your generator plugin ONLY. When you need gen power just open the main, start the generator then turn the dedicated breaker on. (shut off all unnecessary breakers first) NO air conditioners unless you are sure your generator is big enough!

Hang onto your skirt Dayna. Looks like it's going to be a bumpy ride tonight. :good-luck:

:hex: :hex: :hex: doing a little dance to ward off the storm for ya.

 

[grumpy]

Dayna,

Stay as safe as you can....I've endured a couple of tornadoes during my life,
but never what's headed your way.

Prayers sent.....let us know how you're doing as often as you can.

grumpy.

 

[MaggieJ]

Just saw that Hawaii also had an earthquake - 4.5 on the Richter scale. Just what they need with the two hurricanes bearing down on them.

Oh, Dayna, I hope you're safe!

 

[dayna]

LOL yeah an earthquake too!

Homer, we don't have AC, it's too expensive, but I'll show these messages to hubby in case it makes more sense to him than me. I'm electrically challenged. I changed a dead outlet ONE TIME but so far that's the extent of my electrician work. haha

Everyone, I've only lived in Hawaii for a couple years and this is the first hurricane to hit the Big Island in recorded history (?). Which isn't that long but usually it misses the Big Island.

So we're just preparing for the worst!

The generator we bought is a 9000 watt starting and 7000 watt running. whatever that means. We got it from costco, it's also electric start! whoooo hoooo!

__________ Thu Aug 07, 2014 11:11 am __________

Here's the buns all safe and sound!

<br /><br /> __________ Thu Aug 07, 2014 11:12 am __________ <br /><br /> They don't have much room, I used the circles that are usually around my baby trees to keep my dogs from knocking them over. lol

 

[MaggieJ]

Good thinking, Dayna, to use those circles to keep the buns safe! Update us when you can... You know you will be in our thoughts and prayers. (((HUGS)))

 

[dayna]

Thanks everyone! I'd rather over prepare than under.

 

[Miss M]

You seem to have a pretty good handle on it there Miss M.

Then I listened really well when my husband was talking! :lol:

open the main before connecting and starting it

"Open" means "turn off", right? Like opening and closing a circuit?

If public service come back on while your generator is connected it WILL be destroyed

I did not know that. I think I'll stick to cords. :shock:

We have a 6000 watt one for our house that puts out 220 vac. I start and transfer loads manually and there is nothing to it. 6kw gives you a bit over 25 amps available at 220 volts. Put a dedicated 220 volt/30 amp breaker in your box that goes to your generator plugin ONLY. When you need gen power just open the main, start the generator then turn the dedicated breaker on. (shut off all unnecessary breakers first)

We have a Ridgid 5700 watt one (7125 W startup). My husband is planning to install a dedicated outlet that is centrally located to the refrigerators and freezer, and connecting the generator to that, when needed.

Just saw that Hawaii also had an earthquake - 4.5 on the Richter scale. Just what they need with the two hurricanes bearing down on them.

Wow...

I'm electrically challenged. I changed a dead outlet ONE TIME but so far that's the extent of my electrician work. haha

Uh... that's way more than most people can do!

Everyone, I've only lived in Hawaii for a couple years and this is the first hurricane to hit the Big Island in recorded history (?). Which isn't that long but usually it misses the Big Island.

I didn't realize... it looks like Iniki was the last storm to hit Hawaii? In '92?

Here's the buns all safe and sound!

That looks great! Hopefully, you don't have any climbers. :roll: Probably not, though.

Thanks everyone! I'd rather over prepare than under.

Absolutely! Try to make sure all your gas tanks (cars included) are full. Fill any bathtubs or large buckets with water, so you have something to sponge off with, flush toilets with, etc. It's good to have bottled water at home, though as an only drinking water source, that wouldn't last long with all the animals. Hopefully, your water doesn't get contaminated or anything.

I think it's 8 drops of bleach (not old bleach, it should be less than 6 months old to still be strong enough) per gallon of water, stir, let stand until it no longer smells like bleach... that should render water safe to drink, as long as it isn't chemically contaminated. Or boil it.

We've only had to boil water once, and I don't think that was even hurricane-related, so you should be okay.

Your main thing to do to prepare right now is to secure everything you have outside. If you have a pool, throw all your outdoor furniture and everything else that is okay with water into it. Everything else needs to be brought inside. Look at everything as a potential projectile -- if your house is boarded up, that potted plant could still go through your neighbor's window.

Make sure you have all your flashlights out and ready with good batteries. Plenty of batteries. Any lanterns you have, too. Glow sticks. Make sure you know where they are. If you have glow sticks, wear one around your neck, ready to break if you lose power. Have a radio out and ready with fresh batteries. You should have at least one local station that will go to constant or at least frequent hurricane coverage. If you have a tracking map, you can get coordinates from the radio, so you know when the worst has passed. Food that can be eaten as is, straight out of the can (which you will need a manual opener for, or a strong knife) or bag or whatever. Vienna sausages, potted meat, trail mix, crackers, etc. Other canned food that you can heat over a grill or campstove.

I don't know what your sewer situation is. If you have a septic system, you may have some backing up due to too much water in the system, but it shouldn't last long. If you have city sewer, you may have some backing up due to too much water as well. If your sewage goes to a lift station, you will quickly not be able to send anything down any sort of drain in your house. You may need to designate a 5-gallon bucket lined with a trash bag and topped with a toilet seat. Peat moss or lime will help with odor, as will a healthy dose of Pine Sol.

Just trying to think of a lot of the situations we had to deal with. It's highly possible that your local stores are already out of batteries, canned goods, bread, flashlights... even gas. But... since there hasn't been a hurricane there in so long, maybe not. You tend to live prepared when hurricanes keep hitting you.