Disaster preparedness , generators, and peace of mind

[stringbandbeth]

Hello from CT.
   I hope every one  out here on the East is OK and hopefully you are close to getting your power back. I feel the need to post a little reminder about being prepared. We (and the rest of the state) were taken by surprise a year ago when the freak October snow storm knocked out our power for 12 days. We live in the sticks and have a well so no power = no water . We did not own a generator then. 
   We grew up here and tend to poo poo all the hype surrounding the weather. We heat the house with a wood stove so heat is never an issue. We did not have any emergency supplies (Batteries, drinking water etc, or the ever important buckets to get stream water to flush the toilets) gathered together. We do have all that stuff but it's really hard to go digging around for flashlights in the middle of the night with only a lighter.  My very first thought was "how are we going to do treatment?"  We live 40 min from the D center and the roads were all closed for a few days. Thankfully a dear friend was able to get a generator to us. The stress levels were so bad the first 2 days until we got the genny. We were thinking about having to go to a local ER and having Bear admitted to get a treatment.  Thanks to our buddy again
    We got a generator right after that storm. With all the advance warning about Sandy we were able to get our act together and I really felt like we could handle another extended outage with no problems. It turns out that we were blessed and never lost it this time... Dodged a bullet... We have a lot of friends and family that lost so much.
    I can't stress enough the peace of mind we got from knowing that we could handle another outage. When we did Nx stage training they would talk about emergency planning but not once is there any suggestion of getting a generator. I know the expense is issue but probably not as pricey as a inpatient hospital stay just to get treatment.
   You do not need a big household unit to run the Nx stage. you can get a small portable 2500 or 3000 and do just fine. I don't suggest running the pureflo on the generator...we had to use bags.

       Once again my thoughts and prayers go out to all affected by Sandy
 

[Rerun]

Good information.  Thanks!

 

[Speedy1wrc]

I agree, a generator is a must. I have had a portable generator since an ice storm almost 10 years ago knocked out power for about a week. That one was a 2500W and powered a pretty good deal of appliances including the refrigerator. Now i have a whole house generator and it's nice. I don;t have to drag the portable one out and make sure it starts. Also, no more cords or fuel issues.. It runs on natural gas and switches on in about 3-4 seconds.

Remember with an NxStage you only have about 4 minutes till clotting occurs, so every second counts. You also should have an emergency kit ready all well. Enough supplies for emergency rinse back and sucking out air bubbles hould they occur.