Saturday, January 21, 2012

It's a Matter of Stormy Weather..........



This week, there has been a great deal of news coverage from the Pacific Northwest.  Lots of snow, school and road closures, and even SEA-TAC closed.  I have folks important to me that live in that area.  It has been very interesting to see how the very same weather has impacted different families.  I am going to share some of their thoughts with you.  There is a lot to be learned here.....

Family #1: 




"Almost an inch of ice on those branches. None of it is snow."

"(Husband)  and I stalked up on food! We're ready to be snowed in! Haha!"

"Wahoo! Looks like (Company Name)  is closed for third time in 20 years! No work today! Yay!"

"Power outage. Stupid ice. Quit freezing stuff up! We were getting to the good part in L.A. Noire too..."

"I HAVE POWER!!! I've never been more grateful! I had no idea we would've gotten power tonight! We were expecting it to be out for 3-4 days!!! Prayers really do work!!!"


Family #2:


"We spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday rotating between sledding, Wii and a sporadic amount of board games. Luckily my kiddos have great snow gear, so when they go out, they can stay out for quite some time. Of course, my front entry way looks like the explosion of snow gear, but at least there is room to dump it and let it dry off."

"Thursday is when the freezing rain started. (Husband's) VP sent out an unprecedented email telling everyone that the roads were too icy, just stay and work from home. It was too miserable to play outside and the ice/snow covered trees are pretty dangerous anyway ( a guy in our town has already been killed by a fallen/broken tree branch)."

"The power went out at about 8 am, but the generator kicked in within 45 seconds and the whole house lit up again. It is 1:30 pm and I can still hear the generator going, so the power must still be out. We are kinda tucked back in the trees, so our power will be the last to come on. I can see reports all over the Puget Sound, 20 minutes aways to 2 hours away, that power is out there too. Puget Sound Energy just reported 200,000 power outages. They are saying it will get worst before it gets better. The airport was shut down this morning."

"But, we are warm, we have TV, wii, computer and plenty of food, so we'll weather the storm well. I guess I should go play some board games with the kiddos and then we'll settle down to a pay per view and I'll work on scrap booking. I did just ask (Husband) when he's going to pretend like we don't have a generator, like the rest of work colleagues, act like his computer battery died and just play with us."

TAKE-AWAY POINTS:
  • Both of them lost power. One family had a Generator installed that essentially runs the entire house. There was no interruption in power for them.  The other family mentioned "Prayers".  I am a big proponent for prayer. I seem to bother the Lord often in regard to the safety and well being of my family.  However, Family #1 had to wait for the power to come back on.  They are a very 'wired' family.  I am sure there was a big change in their day having to keep warm and go about their daily routine. 
  • Both of them had food.  But only Family #1 mentioned that they had to go out and purchase it.  Family #2 had already planned and prepared and did not have to navigate the dangerous roads to ensure that they had enough food for everyone to eat.  Because Family #2 had a generator, their daily routine really wasn't altered.
  • Both of them had to 'entertain' themselves.  I am sure both families have things in their homes.  However, Family #2 had many options (playing outside with the appropriate clothing, Electronics, and board games).  Everyone had things to do.  I know which home I would want to be in when I had to be inside for an extended period of time.
  • Both of these families had employers that closed their doors to protect their employees due to the severe weather.  However, Family #2 had the means to ensure that the Father of the family could still be a provider.  If they would have had to be home-bound for an extended period of time, he still could have financially provided for his family.
  • When Family #2 were able to get out of their neighborhood, they found many businesses were not open.  Just because you can get out of your neighborhood does not mean that all stores will be open for business.
So, look around your home and see how you were fare in the same situation.  Look at your needs, and make a plan to rectify the situation.

It can be cold out there!!!!

3 comments:

Lindsay said...

I would really like to be like Family #2. Having an emergency during the winter is one of my biggest concerns. We did just purchase a propane heater but I think a generator would be awesome. Any idea what generator they use?

The Little Red Hen said...

The family says it is a Kohler Residential Standby Generator. Here is a link to look at one http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200448671_200448671?cm_mmc=Google-pla-_-Generators-_-Residential%20Standby%20Generators-_-112211&ci_sku=112211&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw={keyword}.

They made sure that it was run on Natural Gas. Others, who had portable Generator could not get gas as there was no electricity for the Gas Stations to pump the gas.

Anonymous said...

A colleage of my hubs just purchased a whole house permanent generator for $2500 from Costco (I don't know how much energy it will emit, ie. how many square feet it will sustain- ours powers our 3000+ sf house without any problem- very cost efficiently) and had it installed to his natural gas line for another $600.
Being "stuck" at our home for 36 hours (we literally could not leave- our front wheel drive vehicle could not get up our neighborhood hill), REALLY bothered me, so we went and bought an inexpensive, yet reliable 4WD vehicle within the week, so that will not happen again. We decided we live too tucked in and off the beaten path and we don't want to be trapped if there is emergency we need to escape from. (It will also come in handy for family recreational activities.)

-Family #2

01 09 10