Wing It Ranch

[Mother of Chaos]

That is what’s giving me flashbacks. After Helene we could at least drive to get cell service but I don’t think that is going to be happening and I’m not hiking to the top of the mountain in the cold and snow. That was at least doable after Helene

I think that one thing that Helene taught me was how to prioritize things in crises/ disasters. In order, this is what matters:

1. Ability to flush toilets. We allowed ourselves two flushes a day each. One for the big deal, and then save all the pees up for the end of the day flush. We flushed by pouring a bucket of water in the tank and hoping for the best.
2. Adequate drinking water (you would think that this would be first, but we did have some drinking water on hand that we absolutely couldn’t spare for flushing, because y’all, flushing is pretty damn critical.) I think drinking water started being trucked in on day 5 or so?
3. Internet and cellular service, if only to find out what the hell is going on. We made it down to Greenville SC on day (?)4 after I-26 to the south opened back up, walked into the hotel lobby where the TV was tuned to WLOS, and I broke down crying to find out how bad it was, 2 miles from our house, all the death, all the destruction, because we had absolutely no clue. There wasn’t information anywhere. No idea what (if any) gas stations, grocery stores, drug stores, urgent care, anything was open. And no idea if anyone else in the state or country was aware of what was happening.
4. Electricity. Gets dark at 8 pm? That’s when you go to bed. Thank God for the gas range. I cooked everything in a non-stick skillet that I could wipe clean, because there wasn’t enough water to wash dishes. We lost over a thousand bucks worth of food in the fridge and freezer.
5. Highways. There are four main routes out of Asheville. Only one opened during the first week. We were stuck.
.
.
.
6. Way after the others: bathing. When no one can bathe, we all kinda smell the same.

I’m not loving the thought of an ice storm followed by bitterly cold temps, so that the ice doesn’t melt, but I don’t think that this will be at the level of Helene. Stay safe, and warm!

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Yikes! I didn't even think about cell service. I've never been in a bad winter freeze before. I had moved out of state for the one that hit TX a few years ago burst everyone's pipes and killed all the trees. I have been through a few hurricanes.

I'm prepared with firewood and a generator if we lose power. If we lose cell service, I have many books.

Let anyone who loves you and worries about you know that you might lose cell, but that you’re prepared and OK.

Our out-of-town kids thought we were dead.

Edit: misplaced a word, lol

 

[WingItRanch]

I think that one thing that Helene taught me was how to prioritize things in crises/ disasters. In order, this is what matters:

1. Ability to flush toilets. We allowed ourselves two flushes a day each. One for the big deal, and then save all the pees up for the end of the day flush. We flushed by pouring a bucket of water in the tank and hoping for the best.
2. Adequate drinking water (you would think that this would be first, but we did have some drinking water on hand that we absolutely couldn’t spare for flushing, because y’all, flushing is pretty damn critical.) I think drinking water started being trucked in on day 5 or so?
3. Internet and cellular service, if only to find out what the hell is going on. We made it down to Greenville SC on day (?)4 after I-26 to the south opened back up, walked into the hotel lobby where the TV was tuned to WLOS, and I broke down crying to find out how bad it was, 2 miles from our house, all the death, all the destruction, because we had absolutely no clue. There wasn’t information anywhere. No idea what (if any) gas stations, grocery stores, drug stores, urgent care, anything was open. And no idea if anyone else in the state or country was aware of what was happening.
4. Electricity. Gets dark at 8 pm? That’s when you go to bed. Thank God for the gas range. I cooked everything in a non-stick skillet that I could wipe clean, because there wasn’t enough water to wash dishes. We lost over a thousand bucks worth of food in the fridge and freezer.
5. Highways. There are four main routes out of Asheville. Only one opened during the first week. We were stuck.
.
.
.
6. Way after the others: bathing. When no one can bathe, we all kinda smell the same.

I’m not loving the thought of an ice storm followed by bitterly cold temps, so that the ice doesn’t melt, but I don’t think that this will be at the level of Helene. Stay safe, and warm!

We lose water when we lose power because we have a water well with a pump. I fill my bathtub up so I can scoop out water to fill toilets. Also, we fill empty gallon jugs with tap water for the animals. No showers? That's what baby wipes are for! Not great but it'll help.

Unfortunately we don't have natural gas or propane. I'll power up the fridge with a generator if needed and we'll live off of tuna sandwiches if absolutely necessary. I do have a camping stove with little bottles of propane if we get desperate for a hot meal.

The biggest mistake I made was filling the dish washer with dirty dishes and not running it before a hurricane hit. When we finally got water and electricity back over a week later, I opened up the dishwasher and it was RANK! I gagged while I scrubbed every dish by hand. Needless to say, I made sure to do dishes and laundry today.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Yikes! I didn't even think about cell service. I've never been in a bad winter freeze before. I had moved out of state for the one that hit TX a few years ago burst everyone's pipes and killed all the trees. I have been through a few hurricanes.

I'm prepared with firewood and a generator if we lose power. If we lose cell service, I have many books.

That was a wild storm! We had no water or power for a week. Shoveled snow and melted it on the gas stove to do dishes and flush toilets. Look at that pitiful prefab, smdh

 

[Molpet]

Internet and cellular service, if only to find out what the hell is going on.

No battery radio?

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Internet and cellular service, if only to find out what the hell is going on.

So much this! We have a radio and that’s how we found out how bad it was when WNCW came back on the air. Then we had to drive down I-26 to get my mother to the airport. I still can’t believe she made her flight out.

Which reminds me…if you’re going to have guests during a disaster, make sure they’re the kind you want to be stuck with

 

[WingItRanch]

No battery radio?

We have a battery radio but it also has a hand crank in case the batteries go out. Pretty tedious to crank it but hey, it works!

 

[Mother of Chaos]

No battery radio?

We had a battery radio, but initially no one was transmitting. After a few days, there were two stations, I think Blue Ridge Public Radio and a country station. They updated hourly. (Guess they had generators.) Even the state highway patrol couldn’t make contact with Raleigh initially - no cellular service, and they didn’t have satellite phones.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

We have a battery radio but it also has a hand crank in case the batteries go out. Pretty tedious to crank it but hey, it works!

I ordered one of those afterwards! We were really hoarding the batteries.