Hurricane Irma

[southkogs]

Did ya see Mike Bettes in the wind and rain when a small twister went about 20 feet behind him? ... How much is the job worth?

Can't even imagine their life insurance premiums. Personally, I think it's nuts when we have so many automated video systems to put a human that close to the danger.

Sounds like most of y'all are in good shape so far. Thank God.

 

[sphelps]

No power since 11:00 last night .
Parts of Downtown J-Ville flooded ..
Got a big tree down in my driveway .
I had less damage with Mathew .lol !

 

[WIMUSKY]

Heard J-ville had 25". Sounds like they had the most rain....

 

[Scott Danforth]

Lost a bunch of lanai screens, however power never went out at the house. Checked Tammy's aunts place in a 55+ mobile home park. Her place was still intact, however a few of her neighbors lost the roofs of their mobile homes. One roof flew about 1/4 mile

 

[redneck joe]

my buddy in Orlando fine (he's hung over), brandenton is fine, Riverview fine, Lauderdale lost an avocado tree. Gonna be lots o guac new few days...

 

[BWR1953]

We're home.

Got back about an hour after my post earlier this morning. I'd made a vow to myself 10 years ago that if it looked like I'd get a direct hit by a hurricane that I'd cut a Slash Pine down from the front tree island and head to the local hotel. And that's exactly what we did!

Evac Plan Alpha One executed properly!

One turkey oak down, caused by the storm. One piece of siding pulled loose but didn't fly away. I put it back in place easily.

The day before yesterday I cut down (with help) a 50' Slash Pine from our front tree island. Glad I did. The turkey oak that fell would have knocked it right into the house! And my wife has a small maple tree about 5 1/2 feet tall that she's been wanting to transplant. It'll go into the spot where the pine tree was.

I've been wanting to remove that turkey oak for awhile anyway, but it was leaning over and angled poorly and would have hit a nice cherry tree. As it was, the wind blew it 180 degrees from the way it was leaning... then blew it OVER the previously downed pine tree!

It's still very windy here. Gusts to 50MPH or better. But it's sunny and 77 degrees so I'm not complaining!

 

[alldodge]

Have relatives in Englewood and they are ok, and didn't have any water in the house

 

[ondarvr]

So far the marine show in Tampa next week is still scheduled to take place, so I'll be there. They canceled this week's composites show in Tampa

 

[sphelps]

Funny not as much storm surge at the beach but the St Johns had a lot ...
Still no power here . Prolly won't for a few days idk ..Brats and dogs on the menu for tonight on the grill ..

 

[GA_Boater]

Funny not as much storm surge at the beach but the St Johns had a lot ...
Still no power here . Prolly won't for a few days idk ..Brats and dogs on the menu for tonight on the grill ..

You could just take the dogs out for a walk, kinda drastic if you ask me. :lol:

Other than power, glad all is well!

 

[Texasmark]

Glad you folks survived yet another one.

 

[sphelps]

GA, those dogs get treated better than I do ...
All 9 of them !!!
Sister in laws power came back on so they loaned me there generator .
Been telling myself to get off my back pocket and buy one . Running freezer and small window unit at the moment . Need an adapter to hook up the sil's camper .
Every store I stoped at was out of all things related ..lol!!
Me and the Admiral are really considering one of those Generak propane systems for the house . Pretty pricey but may be worth it .
I would build a mini bomb shelter to house it ..

 

[alldodge]

Gen's in most cases are great insurance, you buy and its not needed. I have one from the last ice storm, and since then its not been needed. Try to crank it up every so often but mostly forget.

 

[BWR1953]

Today I returned the plywood that I bought a week ago to board up the place for the storm. Never used it. Couldn't get it done and I'd rather have the cash in my pocket now than plywood sitting around unused until I get to the Chieftain project "someday."

 

[Scott Danforth]

In lieu of a generator, i plan on a few inverters.

 

[64osby]

In lieu of a generator, i plan on a few inverters.

Solar power, as long as the panels are still on the roof.

Just think of all that wind energy that wasn't utilized. If it could be harnessed, it would be like the ending of Monster's Inc. Laughter instead of fear.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Japan is working on a hurricane powered generator. one hurricane could power the entire country of japan for 50 years..... they now just need a storage device.

https://www.engadget.com/2016/09/29/typhoon-turbine/

I am looking at both a 1500 watt inverter and a 2000 watt inverter. one for the truck, one for the car. next time the lights go out, I can run a few lights, the TV and the fridge.

 

[avenger79]

Hey Scott, the backup gennie may seem like a big cost but it ups the value of your home, plus you would hardly know the power went out, they come on fast and run everything.

going the inverter route would be slightly expensive and would mean running the vehicles when needed to maintain batt charge, if fuel is hard to get that could become an issue.
I would still go the gennie route over the inverters. it is a hard cost to swallow but worth it

 

[redneck joe]

^^agree. I was looking at Hondas - small ones I'd only need fridge, freezer and furnace fan if in winter (gas heat). I'd ride out anything in summer with heat.

I went thru and ice storm years ago in SE MO, thankfully I flew home (a few days after was travelling) into KC and was able to buy three gennys for our small neighborhood (and fuel / tanks) on my way south. I'm sure my ex and her husband are enjoying that and all the tools I never was able to get back.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Hey Scott, the backup gennie may seem like a big cost but it ups the value of your home, plus you would hardly know the power went out, they come on fast and run everything.

going the inverter route would be slightly expensive and would mean running the vehicles when needed to maintain batt charge, if fuel is hard to get that could become an issue.
I would still go the gennie route over the inverters. it is a hard cost to swallow but worth it

I used to design all of Cummins Natural gas stand-by gensets from 150kw to 1.2 MW (2003 - 2005) as well as custom mobile gensets. the standard power gen offering was developed in either Fridley or Daventry. Lived and breathed gennys for 5 years, must have designed about 200 plus products including a member of the NFPA standards committee. not worth the headache of maintenance for a residence. dont really know anyone who was in the power-gen field that actually owns a genny.

automatic switchgear for emergency backup is 10 seconds from line-loss to full load - requires a monthly exercise run
residential switchgear is 20+ seconds. recommended monthly test. minimum requirement is a semi-annual run.

if I really wanted a genny, I would get one (probably build it myself or have it built). they dont really add much to the value of a house other than to add a line-item on the purchase contract. no-one maintains or exercises their residential gennys, so when it comes time to rely on them, they usually fail. fuel is usually stale and the starting batteries have been boiling on the maintenance charger for 4 years and wont turn it over.

regarding fuel consumption. internal combustion spark ignited engines require 0.4 #/hp / hr or fuel to run. so doesnt matter if I am running a 20hp V-twin or idling my truck. same amount of fuel is being used. Compression ignition engines burn 0.34 #/hp / hr.

knock yourself out getting a genny.