What a way to start the winter, eh? Hope everyone is safe and warm! We live in Rapid Valley, and got our power
back last night about 7:00 (OK it was 7:14, but who’s counting?) We spent 55 hours without power (which meant
no water, as we have a well with an electric pump) that was the toughest part
for us as we have a natural gas fireplace that can be lit with a match and a 30
year old gas range with burners that can also be lit manually. I hear that newer natural gas appliances won’t
let you light them with a match? Anybody
know if that’s true? The fireplace kept the living room and kitchen nice and
toasty (even a little too warm in this storm’s mild temperatures) bedrooms were
chilly, but bearable. We could cook the food that was most in need of being eaten…
We had enough bottled water to carry us through for drinking and cooking, but I’ll
want more on hand just in case next time is longer.
Next time. I hope
that’s years from now, but I have to admit, after the wacky, hail filled summer
we had, I’m worried about what this winter may bring. I hope this was winter’s one big blast, but I’m
afraid that Atlas might be a warning shot.
So I’d like to brainstorm.
I’d love to hear your comments (even if you didn’t lose power, lucky
bums) I know you had a bunch of snow if you live in the Rapid City area…
What worked? Is there some gadget
you’d recommend? Did your snow blower actually work with this wet snow?
I’ll start by saying that in addition to my obsolete natural
gas devices. I have a PowerGen
Mobile that charged my cell phone twice during the storm. I was down to about 25% on my battery when
the power came back, and had charged my PowerGen in the car so it has another 3
days or so in the tank. That and a stack
of books, both on my kindle and the ones you can borrow from the library, kept
me entertained… What was your lifeline? Respond here on the blog, or directly to me at cindy. davies @ sdsmt. edu (no spaces) and I'll compile a storm tips post.
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