# Freezing folks in Kentucky, common sense....



## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

I'm watching the Weather Channel, to see how cold it's going to be tonite... we're moving two doelings from the bathroom to the barn (getting 'nibbled' on when you're sitting on the throne gets old quickly) and don't want them to get too big of a shock. So, they're showing the devastation done to Kentucky, some folks are going to be out of electricity for several months, it's the worse (so sayeth the governor) natural disaster in Ky's history.

They do a little piece on one family's quest to stay warm. They've borrowed a kerosine heater. They're out of money. Everything in the icebox is 'rurn't' {I use 'rurn't' too :nana:}. They're going to be out of kerosine in a day or two, and don't know what to do..................................

And they're all sitting around in their trailer house... in t-shirts.

Excuse me, did you say t-shirts? Yep, t-shirts... uh folks, put on at least a long sleeve t-shirt, or perhaps a sweater, or sweatpants, instead of your shorts... Maybe even put your food out on the front porch to stay good... if it's freezing outside, it'll stay good, at least longer than in the unpowered icebox.

I had to stop shouting at the tv.....

Will most of the people in America, after the shtf, simply race to the finish line with their current consumption rates, not thinking about next week or next month? Turn down the heat, just enough to keep the pipes from freezing, and put on some clothes, hats, socks, gloves, etc. "We've got another day or two of fuel"........ what do they think is going to happen? FEMA's gonna start bringing them their kero rations?


----------



## COSunflower (Dec 4, 2006)

I saw that on the news tonight here and thought the same thing!!! Apparently they have never had to go thru rough times on their own before - those will be the ones to fall by the wayside first when the REAL shtf!!!!


----------



## wyld thang (Nov 16, 2005)

I hope you'd like our Oregon local news, they are always running prep stories and tips on how to "survive"--real good information. They are pretty good at reminding people stuff to do with flooding, ice storms, snow, heat, being lost in the mountains. When the techno geeky couple got lost in the mountains a few years ago(it was in the national news, they were from SF and followed the great god Google to their doom), the local news went over what they did wrong, and reviewed what you should do if you were in their situation--all good common sense stuff.

Like I say, when we get ice storms here in Oregon, FEMA doesn't come bail us out.


----------



## Stephen in SOKY (Jun 6, 2006)

We're not all like that.
I don't know how many of our 26+ dead were like that.
Don't worry, FEMA is nowhere in sight.


----------



## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

texican, you and I should watch the news together. What a hoot that she had to brave the "Dangers" of a kerosene heater. (Oh horrors, shudder, what next, a dreaded match?!) 

The news tonight about Google and Google Earth was so disjointed that it was insane. First, the lead of the Google oops with "this website will destroy your computer" (they left out the fact that all the google sponsored links were ok), then it went to saying that if you had google earth you could watch the whales, then to a scientist saying "don't think of fish as just food" then to a woman on a boat, then to a sea lion with some sort of electronic hat glued or screwed to it's skull and the claim that this was somehow good for sea life. What a trip. If I did drugs I'd think I was having hallucinations.


----------



## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

i agree about the food...that is kinda stupid. i sort of disagree about the kero heater, though. for one thing, if it is the family i saw (maybe not) there was an older gentleman who looked like he kinda needed good heat. it may be sort of tough to brave 40 degree temps in the house for an elderly chap. i guess it would beat freezing temps though. the other thing is that you don't just turn on and shut off a kerosene heater with the flick of a switch. it takes 5-15 minutes to get a clean burn from the time you start it, depending on how clean/good the wick is. you also lose a small bit of the fuel and wick each time you start and stop the heater. taking the heater outside for the shutdown is probably a good idea as well to keep fumes from fouling the air in the house, even though moving a burning heater is not recommended for safety reasons. when you do that, you will lose heat to the outside from opening the door.

these folks should have been better prepared, no doubt about that. hopefully people will soon learn what "forecasted ice storm" really means and what needs to be done to prepare for it. you should plan for at least 3-5 days on your own and that means at least 10-20 gallons of fuel...ready to go. that said, perhaps folks should be a bit more objective about the situation as far as actually using the kero heater goes. it takes practice to learn how to use them and what is needed.

meloc <----unfortunately kerosene has been both a primary and emergency heat source for many, many years for this guy.


----------



## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

I dunno. When I got my first kerosene heater of the newer type, (not the old pot burner we used to use LONG ago) the instructions on it were pretty simple and I had no problems with it from the very beginning. But I guess there are people that don't know how to work them, newspeople being members of that group. 

In fairness, if the crew had been there for a while, there would have been three or four of them, plus the light setup, plus the woman and her father, plus the heater going, so it was likely hot in there at the time and t-shirts would have kept them from sweating on camera.


----------



## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

Second thoughts, deleting my post and apologizing for sounding judgmental.


----------



## oldmanriver (Aug 1, 2004)

Once again don't believe everything you hear on the news I am right in the middle of all this mess been without power for 7 days and I am doing fine thank you . Have not seen a Fema or a National Guard but Hey if they say they are out who am I to question that . 
I always love the way the news can pick the dumbest of the dumb to do their story on .


----------



## ovsfarm (Jan 14, 2003)

To a large extent, I agree with omriver, the media does latch on to the most "colorful" individuals they can that will attract the greatest number of viewers. Whether it is the dumbest, the most distraught, the most vocal, whatever.

However, it annoys me that anyone in Kentucky was taken by surprise by an ice storm. They get them frequently. About 8 years ago they got a big one around Valentine's Day. We had to drive down the next week and I was amazed by the mile after mile of trees that were peeled like bananas from the heavy ice causing the branches to peel down.

I wonder if it would help for areas that are repeatedly hit by the same type of natural disaster to develop an official season for being prepared for that particular problem, like Florida does with hurricane season. When we lived down there, I would faithfully go restock all my hurricane supplies by June 15, keep my supply closet under lock and key until November 15, and then let dh have at it with all those PopTarts and cocktail peanuts. He didn't get nearly so excited about the cans of beans and soup.

But seriously, it was a big thing. Merchants got to do big promotions for the Stock Up For Hurricane Season sales. The local newspapers and television stations did special sections and programming (for which I'm sure they sold lots of extra advertising to related businesses). The local hardware stores did a big business in plywood and other necessities. Honestly, much of it was hype, but I don't really care if a few people made a buck off of it if it meant that a few more of the general populace were better prepared in the event of a big storm.


----------



## ChristyACB (Apr 10, 2008)

When I see things like that news broadcast, I just think to myself there is another group out of the running for limited goods after TSHTF. Darwin in action!

As for the older gent...having lived through many a long power outage in winter in the country growing up, it isn't hard at all. Great Grandpa (or Great Great in my case) gets bundled up nice in a couple of afgans on the couch with either a dog or a kid to snuggle with. He preferred kid because he could close his eyes while we read to him.

I really can't imagine what they were thinking...really.


----------



## oldmanriver (Aug 1, 2004)

This is from old man rivers wife so don't blame him for this ok. Maybe you people who have not lived through an ice storm should not judge lest you be judged. When the kerosene runs out and the grocery is not open and the gas is reserved for emergency vehicles only and you cannot get out of town for a week you can start to realize what people here are going through the water and sewer start to go down and no rescue from Fema as you say is coming no one here even thought that would happen. But we did think the town might bring in generators to get the water up and running or some of those National Guards they say are called up might show up in town but not in the small town only the large one are getting attention. Meanwhile many older people are dying in their homes. A lot of people around here are out of work and do not have the means to stockpile while others who are blessed sit around on their computers and run them down.
Now everyone in our community is out of work until the power is restored so how do you figure they can get by. Spend more time praying for the people of Kentucky and counting your blessings than you do running them down. So glad some of you can sleep well tonight.


----------



## Simpler Times (Nov 4, 2002)

I have to jump in on this. We are right in the middle of all of the problems in KY. I grew up here but I lived for twenty years in FL as well. We are prepared as are *some* fortunate ones in this area. In the past we were always prepared for hurricanes. Were our neighbors? Are our neighbors? Not the majority by any means. It has nothing to do with living in KY and being subject to frequent ice storms and it has nothing to do with living in FL and being subject to frequent hurricanes. It has to do with mindset and I think if you would look at the majority of individuals in ANY state it would be the same. A handful would be the prep survival types and the majority would be the ones waiting around for FEMA or someone else to get them out of a mess. Previous posters are correct. The media gravitates to the stupid because they attract viewers. To the credit of those in the particular news footage, however, who are we to say what their particular situation was. I didn't see the footage so I have no idea. Finally, I would have to disagree that ice storms in the region of KY hardest hit by this storm are that frequent. Sure, we have ice and sure we have storms but this is a storm with a vengeance. People are dieing and whether they are dying because they were ill-prepared, they are dying because they were prepared material wise but ill-prepared knowledge wise, whether they are dieing because they simply don't have the resources to do better, or whether they are dieing because they are ill or infirm is really a point that has nothing to do with geography but everything to do with human nature. As an example, several deaths have been attributed to carbon monoxide from generators. They call it the silent killer. So....the old sick guy (or gal) has a generator because he was prepared (maybe he has been prepared all of his life cause he is just that kind of guy. Because he is eighty now and already sick with walking pneumonia maybe he didn't have the energy to move it outside where the fumes would have been safely released. He has no one to rely on and couldn't call them if he did because the phones are dead. He thought it would be ok but it wasn't. I'm not saying that is actually the circumstances in any one death but I am saying wake up people. There are all kinds of situations out there and we should be a little more humane with the finger of blame.


----------



## jasper (Aug 28, 2006)

oldmanriver said:


> This is from old man rivers wife so don't blame him for this ok. Maybe you people who have not lived through an ice storm should not judge lest you be judged. When the kerosene runs out and the grocery is not open and the gas is reserved for emergency vehicles only and you cannot get out of town for a week you can start to realize what people here are going through the water and sewer start to go down and no rescue from Fema as you say is coming no one here even thought that would happen. But we did think the town might bring in generators to get the water up and running or some of those National Guards they say are called up might show up in town but not in the small town only the large one are getting attention. Meanwhile many older people are dying in their homes. A lot of people around here are out of work and do not have the means to stockpile while others who are blessed sit around on their computers and run them down.
> Now everyone in our community is out of work until the power is restored so how do you figure they can get by. Spend more time praying for the people of Kentucky and counting your blessings than you do running them down. So glad some of you can sleep well tonight.


thank you for your post. well written. 

sending good thoughts your way hoping the burden is lifted soon.

i have been in an ice storm before. i sympathize with your inability to even stay warm and clean.


----------



## Bonnie L (May 11, 2002)

Mrs. River - The point was that the people in the news weren't conserving their fuel. When short on fuel we've always dressed warm & blocked off rooms & hall with blankets. It's standard procedure where we are now to cover the door with a blanket when it get's cold enough. For the elderly or those with circulation problems, warm socks next to the heater, rub the elderly feet, & wrap well. 
Common sense isn't so common. Which makes me sad. There have always been unnecessary deaths during weather emergencies.


----------



## Stephen in SOKY (Jun 6, 2006)

I posted my response above late last night while waiting to load the stove, thought I'd best not post further til this morning. I came through just fine. I was prepared with wood heat, gas range & water heater, large generator and plenty of fuel. For us, it really was more an "inconvenience" as one poster put it. That does NOT mean Im sitting here sanctimoniously looking down my nose at those who were less prepared. That means I've opened my home to those who needed hot showers & a meal, I've drug my genny around charging freezers, I've bought & delivered kerosene, I've helped as I could as soon as I could. I know folks, hard working honest folks, who's meager preps have now run out. I know folks who haven't worked in a week who've just about exhausted their savings buying $3.50 kerosene. For some folks, a $1000 generator is only a dream. Imagine the feeling of watching an entire freezer full of food you were counting on melting away. Granted, some will never learn. But there are many who are doing the best they can just to get by. Instead of making disparaging remarks, perhaps you could offer helpful advice.


----------



## wyld thang (Nov 16, 2005)

and again, I'll say that in my state the local news(ALL the stations, they must have some sort of pact) have made it a mission to give people plenty of heads up warning about storms and flooding, as well as information on how to prepare, how to deal with no power, carbon monoxide and they hammer it in to check on elderly neighbors etc(and people actually do it). Somebody up there in our state's FEMA whatever is doing a good job.

Maybe it's time someone whacked the KY news people upside the head--sure it's a mindset of being prepared/making do--ultimately the responsibility is individual, but I have no bones about expecting real and common sense information from the news. And for the argument that people won't pay attention, well, it seems to work at least a little bit here.

And yes I've been through a number of ice storms. The last one produced 12 miles of downed trees on the road into town. We'd still be waiting to get in if people hadn't cut the trees up themselves(they fight over the firewood) our area is always the last to get power back on and roadwork done.


----------



## ovsfarm (Jan 14, 2003)

I don't want to belabor the point, but I stand by my assertion that Kentucky gets frequent ice storms. In the past I lived right across the Ohio River from Kentucky and we got much of the same weather. I remember lots of ice storms. Currently I live across from southern West Virginia. Kentucky still gets ice storms. Many of my relatives live in Kentucky and they frequently report getting ice storms. Yes, this one was faster and larger with a longer effective spell than most, but it seems to me that it was not completely without precedent.

When we lived in Florida, we lived in Tampa. Located on the west coast, we got few of the major storms. They would have had to come up into the Gulf and hook in an unusual way to get us. But we prepped for them every year anyway. We knew they didn't usually come our way but that they could and that was the eventuality we prepped for. Florida doesn't get a hurricane every year. There are usually several years between major hits. Tampa only gets a small percentage of those. But we still prepped anyway.

If someone has electric power, they know that their heat/water will go out if it depends on electricity. They know that their kerosene heater is limited by the supply of fuel they have on hand. I think this is one of the big reasons to plan back ups and then back ups to your back up.

It saddens me to think of people who were injured by their generators or other sources of carbon monoxide. However, most of these appliances are plastered with warning stickers covering that very issue. I think this is one of the main reasons for living with your preps, not just storing them away for occasional use in a rare event. As has been said, trying to use equipment with which you are not familiar can be very dangerous. And it is easy to make a costly or deadly mistake when you are cold, tired, and stressed. We all need to be sure to try out our preps periodically in calm times to be sure we know how to use them safely and to make sure they are in good working order.

And for the record, in our part of Ohio we were iced in for 5 days, had our power go off and on a dozen times, and lost phone and internet for two days. Our driveway is still a sheet of ice and many of our secondary roads are not passable. Dh and I are planning to go out this weekend with a disaster relief chain saw unit to clear trees for others in areas harder hit. I have lived through this and many other ice and snow storms, Florida hurricanes (and even one last fall here in Ohio), and much flooding here and there. I realize that but for the grace of God, I too would be in trouble, but I also believe that God gave me my brain and what little income we have for a reason. I have tried to educate myself on what threats may come our way and what I can do to protect my family from them. I am sorry that people have had difficulty with this storm and sad for the ones who perished. But hopefully this will be a warning to those in regions where ice storms can happen to be better prepared and to have multiple back up plans.


----------



## Wendy (May 10, 2002)

> Imagine the feeling of watching an entire freezer full of food you were counting on melting away.


We had a horrible ice storm a couple of years ago & were without power for about a week. I am wondering why they are losing their freezer items? Isn't it cold enough outside to keep the stuff? I know it is here & we aren't that far away. I feel for anyone that has to go through something like that. We are prepared pretty well, but I am sure there would still be something that would pop up & make us re-think what things we need. Kerosene back-up is good, but what if you can't get out to re-fill your containers? 10 gallons lasted us 4 days. A lot of people do not have enough extra money to buy & store a lot of extra fuel. Sometiems you are just darned if you do & darned if you don't.

I hope things get better soon. We are getting a lot of snow again here.


----------



## Freeholder (Jun 19, 2004)

Stephen in SOKY said:


> I posted my response above late last night while waiting to load the stove, thought I'd best not post further til this morning. I came through just fine. I was prepared with wood heat, gas range & water heater, large generator and plenty of fuel. For us, it really was more an "inconvenience" as one poster put it. That does NOT mean Im sitting here sanctimoniously looking down my nose at those who were less prepared. That means I've opened my home to those who needed hot showers & a meal, I've drug my genny around charging freezers, I've bought & delivered kerosene, I've helped as I could as soon as I could. I know folks, hard working honest folks, who's meager preps have now run out. I know folks who haven't worked in a week who've just about exhausted their savings buying $3.50 kerosene. For some folks, a $1000 generator is only a dream. Imagine the feeling of watching an entire freezer full of food you were counting on melting away. Granted, some will never learn. But there are many who are doing the best they can just to get by. Instead of making disparaging remarks, perhaps you could offer helpful advice.


The first helpful advice I'll offer has already been mentioned by someone else: if it's still cold outside, empty the freezer (and the frig) and take the stuff to a secure, cold place outside. If you have a vehicle that isn't going anyplace for a while, use that (stray dogs and such can't get into the food that way). If you do use a vehicle, be aware that even if the outside temps are below freezing, if the sun is hitting the vehicle, temps inside are going to be pretty warm. You may need to move the vehicle into the shade, or put a tarp over it, or something. Any secure container that can be kept in a cold spot out of the sun will work, though, it doesn't have to be a vehicle. I've used an old kitchen range before, as dogs couldn't get into it. Hard plastic or metal ice chests will also work (don't use the cheap styrofoam ones, as dogs can tear into them. Just keep an eye on the frozen food, in case things start to warm up.

If you have no way to cook indoors, build a small camp fire out in the yard and cook on that (it sounds like there's no shortage of wood, so this should work for just about everyone unless you live in an apartment). Don't use pots and pans with plastic or wood handles. If you want to make clean-up easier, before you put a pan on the fire, rub the outside of it with bar soap to make a good coating. You can't just walk off an leave something that's cooking over an open fire, of course, so it takes more time. Use beds of coals at one side of the fire to actually cook on, rather than the open flames. 

If people are having trouble staying warm, use the fire to heat water and fill hot water bottles to hold onto (wrapped with a towel especially for the elderly and young children). You can use glass jars for the hot water bottles, as long as reasonable care is exercised. 

The fire can also be used to heat quantities of water for dishes, baths, and laundry. For baths, just use your bathtub. If the house is cold inside, pre-heat the tub with a little hot water -- it's no fun to sit your bare backside in a cold tub! Don't try to fill the tub; take a sponge bath. It's just a lot easier to use the tub, as splashes are contained, and you can pull the plug and let the water out when you are done (accumulate all the warm water until all the baths are finished, unless the water in the tub gets too cold -- the heat from the water will help warm the bathroom). It's nice to have heated towels ready when you are done, too, if you can safely warm the towels -- watch CAREFULLY!

Laundry can be done in a five-gallon bucket with a clean toilet plunger (preferably a new one!). You'll have to wring them out by hand, and hang to dry. As long as it isn't raining, clothes will dry outside, even when it's very cold out. Just wear warm gloves while hanging the laundry -- wet cold hands are no fun. If you have heat in the house, hang the clothes there, though they'll usually dry faster outside in a good breeze.

Kathleen


----------



## Stephen in SOKY (Jun 6, 2006)

While the food storage does seem obvious, we hit 50 degrees+ on Sunday. The air temp now is 18 not counting the wind chill. I appreciate being as thoroghly prepared as I was. There still exist many people who are financially unable to be so well prepared. Even those I considered at least adequately prepared are now rapidly approaching the end of their preps, with no relief in sight for many more days. If I appear whiney I can assure that's not my intent. I'm just very disapointed that homesteaders would show such disregard for those doing the best they can.


----------



## Haggis (Mar 11, 2004)

Stephen in SOKY said:


> If I appear whiney I can assure that's not my intent. I'm just very disapointed that homesteaders would show such disregard for those doing the best they can.


One does the best one can with what one has. 

It is sort of odd, this business of conservative folk (one sees certain names elsewhere on this forum) blasting Red State Kentucky for a lack of "common sense". I'm quite certain the good folk of the Common Wealth of Kentucky did and are coping as well or better on the average than folk found anywhere else in the U.S. of A.. (Or course, I'm a wee bit biased toward Kentuckians, given I have several hundred kin living there; all of whom have plenty of "common sense".)


----------



## Zipporah (Jul 30, 2006)

I wonder sometimes how the media finds these people.If they can get in to find them then why can't they get out to get fuel ? I don't know,maybe it's just me but it sure seems like they'd have to be a few brick short a truck load to sit around and let there food thaw in the house while it's freezing outside and use up all of the fuel so you can run around half dressed.Maybe they don't have any clothes to put on???


----------



## Simpler Times (Nov 4, 2002)

Thanks for the constructive input BlueJuniper and for the moral support Haggis. As Stephen just observed, the problem is the fluctuating temps. We hit 57 here yesterday (Mon) and tonight it is projected to go down to 9. Of course my food is outside now taking advantage of the freezing temps. Taking advantage of the cold when you can foodwise saves fuel. In one respect they are a Godsend. I use the generator in between when needed but not everyone has generators and/or fuel. You still can't get fuel unless you go into one of the towns that are lucky enough to have power back on now. Its not that people aren't doing what they can, some are even packing their freezers with sacks of icicles and snow in the warmer weather because the snow is not all gone by any means even with the warm temps. BTW...when considering Western KY in particular, keep in mind the Ohio is an interesting geographical feature. It serves as a definite weather break between Southern IL/IN and KY. People to the north of the river often get hit a lot harder in terms of the weather than people in KY do. My family has lived right here for generations and we are well aware of that fact. I live within two miles of the river and we often watch the news and see all sorts of stuff occurring in Southern IL and we get essentially nothing here. People are saying they have never seen anything like this storm. One news interviewed a 90 year old who said the same. The same was pollyparroted by a 75 years old in another interview. I do remember ice storms of course but not one that knocked out power over a several county area for this length of time. I agree, everyone *should* be prepared but again...are your neighbors always prepared or are you one of a handful that thinks of such things and has the resources to be fully prepared in whatever state it is you live in? Its not just the rural folks that are in trouble here btw...some in Paducah still don't have power. Mayfield has no power either and I believe tonight will be the seven day mark for most. In the outlying counties we aren't getting our hopes up for anything sooner than another week or so.


----------



## Terri (May 10, 2002)

I am puzzled.

The people that I met in Arkansas were pretty self reliant. They might not have had much money, but, they KNEW how to do things! Art, car repair, house repair, they were heads above the average Kansas!

But, in the last ice storm, Kansas had much fewer deaths. 

I wonder why?


----------



## Simpler Times (Nov 4, 2002)

No clothes might indeed be a reason they were sitting around in their short sleeves. I know I've dirtied up most of my warmer clothes already and the ones I am wearing are looking pretty scroungy. Can't exactly throw them in the washing machine now can I? I think if the news were coming and I was going to be on national television I might be tempted to pull on a clean t-shirt and hide my nasty sweats behind a door somewhere. I don't know where the interview that's got so much attention was made but many that are now without power would have to drive a minimum of 35 miles one way to a town with fuel and supplies. From what I was told yesterday, finding kerosene in Paducah even now after everything is basically back up and running is an impossibility. That's the biggest town we have going around here so do you have any suggestions as to where they might fill up their tanks? 



Zipporah said:


> I wonder sometimes how the media finds these people.If they can get in to find them then why can't they get out to get fuel ? I don't know,maybe it's just me but it sure seems like they'd have to be a few brick short a truck load to sit around and let there food thaw in the house while it's freezing outside and use up all of the fuel so you can run around half dressed.Maybe they don't have any clothes to put on???


----------



## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Simpler Times said:


> No clothes might indeed be a reason they were sitting around in their short sleeves. I know I've dirtied up most of my warmer clothes already and the ones I am wearing are looking pretty scroungy. Can't exactly throw them in the washing machine now can I? I think if the news were coming and I was going to be on national television I might be tempted to pull on a clean t-shirt and hide my nasty sweats behind a door somewhere.


All of my clothes being dirty and the short day length was what bothered me the most when we had our ice storm. Yes.


----------



## Simpler Times (Nov 4, 2002)

Thanks Terri. I know of course (and I'm sure you do) how to wash out clothes by hand but who has the time when you are toting in firewood, taking thawed water and feed to the animals, shoveling off walkways, cooking on the wood stove, keeping a generator fueled and running, etc? Not that the people in the news were necessarily doing that but I'm sure they weren't sitting around twiddling their thumbs.


----------



## Wendy (May 10, 2002)

A good reason to invest in insulated coveralls. I can put them on & be in the cold all day without getting cold. Layers, layers, layers. So what if the clothes are dirty? As long as they keep you warm. Also keep plenty of blankets. We never use them for everyday use here, but I have boxes of blankets that people gave me that I will keep. You just never know when you might need them.


----------



## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Simpler Times said:


> Thanks Terri. I know of course (and I'm sure you do) how to wash out clothes by hand but who has the time when you are toting in firewood, taking thawed water and feed to the animals, shoveling off walkways, cooking on the wood stove, keeping a generator fueled and running, etc?



Not to mention the idea of water running down your arms on a freezing cold day! And the wait until what you washed finally gets dry! 

I must confess that I never got past the wishfull thinking stage when I thought about washing clothes.

I was ashamed to be dirty: logic had nothing to do with it!


----------



## Haggis (Mar 11, 2004)

Most of the older homes, at least in the area east of Mount Sterling, weren't or aren't insulated to any degree, if at all. My kinfolk, for the most part, heat with wood or coal; their water is from rain water cistern's or city water (the lines go well out into the very rural areas), but electricity was their weak point; some of them had generators, most did without lights or such. I told some of them about the candle lanterns Herself and I use, but they had no frame of reference, so we ordered a bunch of lanterns and candles through Campmor and had them delivered to my favorite Auntie to pass around amongst the families. Once they see them, they will understand them, and likely order more; it won't help this time, but in Kentucky there is going to be another such storm (there have always been such storms in Kentucky, this is not likely to be the last).


----------



## Zipporah (Jul 30, 2006)

Simpler Times said:


> No clothes might indeed be a reason they were sitting around in their short sleeves. I know I've dirtied up most of my warmer clothes already and the ones I am wearing are looking pretty scroungy. Can't exactly throw them in the washing machine now can I? I think if the news were coming and I was going to be on national television I might be tempted to pull on a clean t-shirt and hide my nasty sweats behind a door somewhere. I don't know where the interview that's got so much attention was made but many that are now without power would have to drive a minimum of 35 miles one way to a town with fuel and supplies. From what I was told yesterday, finding kerosene in Paducah even now after everything is basically back up and running is an impossibility. That's the biggest town we have going around here so do you have any suggestions as to where they might fill up their tanks?


That's a good point. Didn't mean to offend anyone.I just don't picture people running around in an ice storn with t shirts.It just makes me wonder when the media has a story with folks like this if they are the ones really in a bind or just someone the media got to put on a TV. Seems to me if the media can get to the folks in need then they should be helping them like bring fuel with them.Just seems the moral thing to do.


----------



## farmergirl (Aug 2, 2005)

We heat primarily with wood in our living room fireplace and try to keep at least several weeks wood supply onhand at all times. So, for us heat wouldn't be the biggest problem in an icestorm. The biggest problem for us would be watering all of the livestock if the pipes froze. This year I have invested alot of time insulating exposed pipes and faucets, but if we got a really bad icestorm even those could freeze. Having lived in Oregon for years while attending college, I have quite a bit of experience with freezing rain, black ice and sidewalks that become as slick as a skating rink. I feel for all those in Kentucky whose teeth are chattering as we type.


----------



## ovsfarm (Jan 14, 2003)

It is strange how things you learned in your childhood stay with you. My Granny was from down around Hazard, KY. She always taught us to do laundry if a big storm was coming, winter or summer. Seems like I remember her murmuring something about how you didn't want to get hurt and have people see you wearing dirty undies... It took my dh a while to get used to me doing "storm laundry" but now he is used to it. Granny also said to do lots of laundry during deep cold to keep the water running in your pipes. I really loved that lady and miss her a lot now that she is gone.


----------



## Simpler Times (Nov 4, 2002)

Isn't it? I was too young to remember my grandmother very well but I sure remember the things my mother used to do. I automatically get the dishes washed up, the laundry done, and make sure every has had their baths then I start drawing up water in the tub and whatever other containers I have at hand. Freezing pipes were pretty much a given in my childhood home. Though this house is more weather tight it never hurts to take that extra step or two just in case.



ovsfarm said:


> It is strange how things you learned in your childhood stay with you. My Granny was from down around Hazard, KY. She always taught us to do laundry if a big storm was coming, winter or summer. Seems like I remember her murmuring something about how you didn't want to get hurt and have people see you wearing dirty undies... It took my dh a while to get used to me doing "storm laundry" but now he is used to it. Granny also said to do lots of laundry during deep cold to keep the water running in your pipes. I really loved that lady and miss her a lot now that she is gone.


----------



## hobbyfarmer (Oct 10, 2007)

Stephen in SOKY said:


> While the food storage does seem obvious, we hit 50 degrees+ on Sunday. The air temp now is 18 not counting the wind chill. I appreciate being as thoroghly prepared as I was. There still exist many people who are financially unable to be so well prepared. Even those I considered at least adequately prepared are now rapidly approaching the end of their preps, with no relief in sight for many more days. If I appear whiney I can assure that's not my intent. I'm just very disapointed that homesteaders would show such disregard for those doing the best they can.



Good post. 

We were prepared. We have a woodstove, plenty of canned goods, a place to store the frozen food safely outdoors, three vehicles full of gas, extra chainsaw gas, lamp oil, batteries, etc. So were all of our nearest neighbors. Our family was warm, dry, clean, and well fed and we were the "slackers" in our neck of the woods because we were the only family without a generator. We were COMPLETELY isolated for 4 days- no tv, no phones, no internet, no radio (unless we wanted to sit out in the car and shiver) and no way out....power lines down to the left and massive trees to the right...so we didn't actually find out until Friday night that such a large area was hit so hard. It was eye opening for DH and I. We didn't really suffer and it never occured to us that we should be looking down our noses at folks who were less prepared. Wonder why? Must have been seeing all the damage up close and actually knowing some of those families who had to pack up their children and find a way through the mess to the shelters. 

As for the post concerning our "frequent" ice storms, I was born in KY, grew up in Ky, spent some of my teen years in Tampa, FL as well and have been back home in KY now for 18 years. This is the 2nd ice storm I have seen. We have freezing rain that knocks out the power for a few hours about once every winter- but that is not the definition of an ice storm. I don't really believe it's fair to watch us from another state and judge anything.

Kristen


----------



## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

oldmanriver said:


> This is from old man rivers wife so don't blame him for this ok. Maybe you people who have not lived through an ice storm should not judge lest you be judged. When the kerosene runs out and the grocery is not open and the gas is reserved for emergency vehicles only and you cannot get out of town for a week you can start to realize what people here are going through the water and sewer start to go down and no rescue from Fema as you say is coming no one here even thought that would happen. But we did think the town might bring in generators to get the water up and running or some of those National Guards they say are called up might show up in town but not in the small town only the large one are getting attention. Meanwhile many older people are dying in their homes. A lot of people around here are out of work and do not have the means to stockpile while others who are blessed sit around on their computers and run them down.
> Now everyone in our community is out of work until the power is restored so how do you figure they can get by. Spend more time praying for the people of Kentucky and counting your blessings than you do running them down. So glad some of you can sleep well tonight.



Mrs. River,
I woke up in the middle of the night, thinking, wondering, should I go back down and edit this post.... I didn't want anyone to think I was making light of Kentuckians, thinking "Kentuckians" were rubes, or anything like that. I was using an example of people that have no concept of preparing "ahead", and the nationally televised example just happened to be of some folks that happened to live in Kentucky.

This forum is about people who like to live independently. This sub-forum is for people who want to be prepared for anything, from losing a job, volcanic super-eruptions, zombies roaming the streets, you name it.

I've experienced numerous ice storms. A few years back we had a 10 day ice storm. I didn't learn of the "seriousness" of the storm, for 4 days, because it didn't effect me..... I got the chainsaw out and cut up the fallen tree limbs, burned em in the fireplace. Went hunting. Fed the critters. Watched tv. Stuff average bachelor farmers did. My sister came down one afternoon and wanted to know if they could eat supper and take a bath........ their all electric house was dead in the water, no heat, no food, no water, no nothing. Goofy me, didn't know about the outside world a'suffering, and of course I fed em and let em take long hot baths.

You see, some of us prepare for everything. Unfortunately, most people don't. And those people suffer when bad unplanned, undreamed of things happen to them. Imagine what would happen to all the folks in America if the electricity went off and stayed off for several months. Yep, millions of people would freeze. After a few weeks, the fuel would stop arriving, and the folks with gennies would then start to freeze.

My sincerest hope that every single survivor of this storm, empowers themselves, so this will never happen again. Having an outside force, such as FEMA, come in and 'help', will only make people more dependent.


----------



## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Simpler Times said:


> No clothes might indeed be a reason they were sitting around in their short sleeves. I know I've dirtied up most of my warmer clothes already and the ones I am wearing are looking pretty scroungy. Can't exactly throw them in the washing machine now can I? I think if the news were coming and I was going to be on national television I might be tempted to pull on a clean t-shirt and hide my nasty sweats behind a door somewhere. I don't know where the interview that's got so much attention was made but many that are now without power would have to drive a minimum of 35 miles one way to a town with fuel and supplies. From what I was told yesterday, finding kerosene in Paducah even now after everything is basically back up and running is an impossibility. That's the biggest town we have going around here so do you have any suggestions as to where they might fill up their tanks?


I've encountered the "I have to have clean clothes on my body at all times" syndrome. One of my sisters has to wash clothes every day. They change clothes if they come in from outside and have a little sweat on them.

In my humble opinion, this mental problem (needing to be clean) is one of the first 'luxuries' that everyone that suffers with the disorder, will have to overcome, in a long term shtf.... there'll simply be no cure for being clean and having clean clothes. I've lived up to a month at a time, in the same clothes. If the opportunity presented itself, I'd strip and take a bath, maybe every two weeks...... jumping in glacially fed waters, soaping down, rinsing off, and jumping back in to get that little bit of extra clean. Then get next to a campfire, or jump in a sleeping bag.

Being dirty won't kill you. (My sister would disagree with that statement).

If I met you in your current circumstance (or really, in any circumstances) and your clothes were mussed up, I wouldn't give it a second (or first) thought. You show up here any day of the week, and more'n likely I'll be covered in some sort of dirt, and a variety of animal excrements.

And Haggis..... my post is about common sense. If you know you only have a day's worth of fuel left, you have several options... live one more day, nice and comfortably toasty, half naked, or turn the heat down, put on something more than a t-shirt, and last many more days.

Hopefully, these folks, and others, will diversify off the electric grid.


----------



## oldmanriver (Aug 1, 2004)

Ok it is over got power today after some rest I will post more about what it was like . My wife and I was fine we even had enough to help 3 other familys with food and kerosene heaters , Water was the big problem here both for us and the animals . This was the greatest learning experience we have ever had . 9 days shtf for the whole county .

PS someone tell the national guards to not wear camo when they are out checking on people we never did get to see one . LOL


----------



## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

oldmanriver said:


> Ok it is over got power today after some rest I will post more about what it was like . My wife and I was fine we even had enough to help 3 other familys with food and kerosene heaters , Water was the big problem here both for us and the animals . This was the greatest learning experience we have ever had . 9 days shtf for the whole county .
> 
> PS someone tell the national guards to not wear camo when they are out checking on people we never did get to see one . LOL


I'd prefer they didn't wear 'Black' either.... I prefer they, or any other federal agency, never show up....


----------



## wvstuck (Sep 19, 2008)

oldmanriver said:


> *PS someone tell the national guards to not wear camo when they are out checking on people we never did get to see one . LOL*


LOL... That's one of those spit on the monitor moments.. Thanks and glad to see your sense of humor survived the storm with you.


----------



## Simpler Times (Nov 4, 2002)

Congrats OldManRiver! Maybe NOT seeing the Nat'l Guard was lucky for you. We had a visit from them and we're still not hooked back up to power! I'm just kidding of course. We appreciate what the Guard, linemen (in state and out of state) and everyone is doing to resolve this. maybe our grid will come back up soon. Keep your fingers crossed for us.


----------



## starjj (May 2, 2005)

Considering that one of my neighbors had to drive to TN to get kerosene for his heaters because nothing was avaliable in the KY area I take offense to people from other states sitting back and saying what stupid people in Ky because they weren't prepared. I tried to buy kerosene and could get that but no containers were avaliable. Gee I guess I should have had one on hand or maybe I should have had a crystal ball and KNOWN that this was coming. 

Isn't this forum about people helping others or is it just about shaking your head at people who weren't expecting the worse ice storm in the history of KY?

BTW there was nothing avaliable as far as heaters OR generators in TN to take to KY and the ones I found in KY where they hadn't lost power were rip offs but then I guess everyone should of had a generator JUST IN CASE. Not everyone has a woodstove or fireplace either. 

What a disappointment to find people who have nothing better to do then sit in judgement of others.


----------



## Bonnie L (May 11, 2002)

starjj said:


> I tried to buy kerosene and could get that but no containers were avaliable. Gee I guess I should have had one on hand or maybe I should have had a crystal ball and KNOWN that this was coming.


No need for a crystal ball - winter comes every year at the same time. Some winters are worse than other, but that's one of the points of this forum - be prepared for the worst. 

Our first winter in our new home was the worst we've ever experienced. We weren't prepared. We were (and still are) grateful for all the help given to this family of greenhorns, didn't complain, & have prepared for the worst ever since. This winter was the 2nd worst in the 8 winters we've been here. We didn't know it would as cold as it was - no crystal ball - but we were prepared & stayed warm & well fed.


----------



## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Bonnie, you say that you weren't prepared and was gratefull for the help you received, but then you said you WERE prepared!

Huh?


----------



## Beaners (Feb 23, 2005)

Terri said:


> Bonnie, you say that you weren't prepared and was gratefull for the help you received, but then you said you WERE prepared!
> 
> Huh?


The first winter they weren't prepared, but since then they have learned from the experience. This winter they were prepared.

That's the way I read it, at least.

Kayleigh


----------



## Bonnie L (May 11, 2002)

Terri said:


> Bonnie, you say that you weren't prepared and was gratefull for the help you received, but then you said you WERE prepared!
> Huh?


It was our 1st winter here we're weren't prepared for. By this winter, our 8th here, we were quite prepared. We have learned from experience, the people on this forum, & our friends & neighbors.


----------



## starjj (May 2, 2005)

Double post


----------



## starjj (May 2, 2005)

Bonnie L said:


> It was our 1st winter here we're weren't prepared for. By this winter, our 8th here, we were quite prepared. We have learned from experience, the people on this forum, & our friends & neighbors.


Well good for you. Since this was my first winter experiencing this type of weather I guess I get a pass too or are you the only one. Man I love people that are holier than thou.


----------



## Bonnie L (May 11, 2002)

starjj said:


> Well good for you. Since this was my first winter experiencing this type of weather I guess I get a pass too or are you the only one. Man I love people that are holier than thou.


A bit touchy, aren't we? If you were ignorant of prepping, then yes, you get a "pass." You've been a member here for a number of years, so you shouldn't have been too ignorant. I don't think this forum existed when we first got hooked up to the Internet, 8 1/2 years ago, but we did have a subscription to Countryside. 

We knew that winter happens yearly, so we were prepared with lamps, firewood, food, & a way to cook it. We weren't prepared for no water when the electricity went out for a week. Turns out water is very, very important! 

I didn't get upset when a friend gently mocked my ignorance about how much snow it takes to to get a gallon of water. I laughed with him. It's something I should have known, but didn't. But now I know. 

We were also prepared with equipment, but not mentally, for a dozen large trees falling across the driveway. Now we expect trees to fall, & are happy when they don't. 

I did not mean to come across as holier than thou, but perhaps as more prepared than thou! :angel:


----------



## bgraham (Jun 30, 2005)

I am from KY. Though I don't live there now, I have family in some of the hardest hit areas (Union, Crittendon, Marion and Hardin counties). These are very rural areas that do not have good roads, do not have good communication systems and heck, outside of town there aren't even many street signs. Good luck finding somebody if you don't already know how to get there. lol

Most of the ice storms that are predicted in KY never actually happen. The ones that do usually bring down a few limbs and some areas may lose power for a couple of days at most. 

Now personally, I'm prepped to ride out just about any storm for as long as it takes. But most people, regardless of what state they are from, regardless of what type of event they are facing (hurricane, ice storm, whatever) simply aren't prepared for more than a few days. Most people in general are so used to not having to do more than flip a switch for light, push a button for heat, or roll down the window and talk to a box for food, that anything else is simply beyond them. 

This particular storm was absolutely devastating. Solid ice an inch or more thick that has forever changed the landscape in many areas. Many areas were not just out of power but water, phones and cell phones, too and no way to get local news as even if you had a battery powered radio, the stations were not broadcasting. Some areas will be without power for weeks. 

A member at TTOL (who is a prepper) is writing about what he has been through. He has only posted entries about the first 2 days so far as he has been very busy working on cleaning up from this mess. The title of the post is Survival Mode:Ground Zero if you want to check it out. It is wonderfully written, a great story, and includes pictures.

It will also make you think about where the holes are in your preps.

Beth


----------



## sgl42 (Jan 20, 2004)

bgraham said:


> A member at TTOL (who is a prepper) is writing about what he has been through. He has only posted entries about the first 2 days so far as he has been very busy working on cleaning up from this mess. The title of the post is Survival Mode:Ground Zero if you want to check it out. It is wonderfully written, a great story, and includes pictures.


I believe this might be the thread in question:

http://www.thetreeofliberty.com/vb/showthread.php?t=47146
*Update 5 or.. How I learned to stop worrying and love the sheeple..*

ETA: 
actually, didn't see any pics in above. might be this link:

http://www.thetreeofliberty.com/vb/showthread.php?t=46866
*Survival Mode: Ground Zero When It All Goes Away (Pt 2 Added)*

--sgl


----------



## Bonnie L (May 11, 2002)

Thanks for the links! Where do you get self-heating coffees? That sounds like something I could REALLY use!


----------



## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

starjj said:


> Considering that one of my neighbors had to drive to TN to get kerosene for his heaters because nothing was avaliable in the KY area I take offense to people from other states sitting back and saying what stupid people in Ky because they weren't prepared. I tried to buy kerosene and could get that but no containers were avaliable. Gee I guess I should have had one on hand or maybe I should have had a crystal ball and KNOWN that this was coming.
> 
> Isn't this forum about people helping others or is it just about shaking your head at people who weren't expecting the worse ice storm in the history of KY?
> 
> ...


starjj, sorry if the post offended you... I just found it difficult to not shout at the tv, when folks without any electricity are sitting around in their t-shirts, when they're running out of kerosine, and have no money to buy more, if it was even available.

It was not a dig at Kentucky Rubes. In our last major ice storm, my sisters were the Rubes............. they didn't even have the luxury of kerosine heaters. One of them actually had to muss up her living room and use their ornamental fireplace... BIL's entire family came over and campred in their living room (I think their body heat put out more than the fireplace). Other sister and her family simply put on their insulated hunting clothes and roughed it out. You could see ice clouds from their breath inside their home. They ate the last couple days down here, and took some hot baths...

One sister has learned, and has procured some space heaters that they can run off of propane tanks. The other is still totally reliant on electricity.

Some people learn from their mistakes, and take proactive action. Some people make terrible mistakes, by not prepping, but someone comes along to help them, and they make even terribler mistakes by being dependent upon others for help. The KY ice storm is localized... if this were a national conflagration, where would the help come from... I fear it wouldn't. In a bad shtf, these unprepared people would die. Cold kills. It kills folks a lot quicker if they lounge around in t-shirts instead of their long johns, sweaters, and knit caps.

I'll give anyone the benefit of the doubt, once. After that, a person should know better.


----------



## bgraham (Jun 30, 2005)

sgl,

Yes. It is the 2nd link.

Beth


----------



## cheryl-tx (Jan 3, 2005)

starjj said:


> BTW there was nothing avaliable as far as heaters OR generators in TN to take to KY and the ones I found in KY where they hadn't lost power were rip offs but then I guess everyone should of had a generator JUST IN CASE. Not everyone has a woodstove or fireplace either.
> 
> QUOTE]
> 
> YES!!! Everyone should have a generator 'just in case' I am serious and not making fun either. With all the hurricanes and crud here, a generator is not something to sneeze at. It is one heck of a good investment!


----------



## paintlady (May 10, 2007)

> This is from old man rivers wife so don't blame him for this ok. Maybe you people who have not lived through an ice storm should not judge lest you be judged. When the kerosene runs out and the grocery is not open and the gas is reserved for emergency vehicles only and you cannot get out of town for a week you can start to realize what people here are going through the water and sewer start to go down and no rescue from Fema as you say is coming no one here even thought that would happen. But we did think the town might bring in generators to get the water up and running or some of those National Guards they say are called up might show up in town but not in the small town only the large one are getting attention. Meanwhile many older people are dying in their homes. A lot of people around here are out of work and do not have the means to stockpile while others who are blessed sit around on their computers and run them down.
> Now everyone in our community is out of work until the power is restored so how do you figure they can get by. Spend more time praying for the people of Kentucky and counting your blessings than you do running them down. So glad some of you can sleep well tonight.


 I agree. Those of us with food on our plates, a roof over our heads and a warm place to rest have no business making fun of those who don't. Any one of us could be the next victim of a disaster at any given time. You can be the best prepped person on this site and get hit with something like a major flood like the one in Grand Forks ND in 97 and see all of your preps go floating down the river. No one ever knows where the fickle finger of fate will point next. 
I will keep you in my prayers.


----------



## soulsurvivor (Jul 4, 2004)

DH and I made it through by using our wood stove and preps. We had family in town with electric we could have stayed with, but we chose to tough this out like we have other situations in the past 30 years here. I'd like to say that we came through with flying colors, but that's not an accurate assessment. The stress of surviving this storm has taken its toll on both of us, but that's maybe not all bad. We have a better than before understanding of how quickly a weather situation can suddenly become deadly. 

There were some problems that were and continue to be outside of our control. Not having a gray water supply is one problem. But our biggest problem is chimney smoke that hugs the outside roof and refuses to leave. These aren't new problems for us. We already knew each would be a problem. As for the electric, we're stubborn in buying a generator. We want a whole house system or nothing. We can't justify spending the dollars to get a whole house system, so we do without. 

I kept a daily journal throughout the storm, but it's not anything that hasn't already been said by others online. Our electric, water, landline phone went out on 1-27-09. We got back the water and phone on 1-29-09 and the electric came back on yesterday, 2-6-09, at 4:30 pm. 

Our light source was a combination of LED lights. Some we liked, and some we didn't. We also used candles, but never left these unattended. We kept most of our perishable food in a fridge that's out in the shop with the upright freezer. We managed to save our freezer full of meat, so that was a plus. We did however lose most of the trees in our yard. But again, our fruit trees came through with minimal damage. We had trees that fell up against our house and on all sides of our cars, but again, no damage to the house or the vehicles. With enough ice, Bradford Pear shade trees will flatten like pancakes BTW.

I was talking with my neighbor yesterday, and she said, "You know what? It takes a special mindset to get through something like this, doesn't it?" And she's right, because you adopt the proper mindset or you die. You use your common sense based on what you're capable of doing for yourself and go from there. Not everyone has the same starting point or the same advantages. 

We cooked on the wood stove when it was too cold to grill outside. Food was kept simple. Pinto beans, vegetable soup, grilled meat and taters, and dried fruit were mostly what we had and what we ate. I handwashed DH's long underwear and he wrung them out and dried them in front of the stove. Other than that, I probably need to get more dish towels and cloths. I had enough for 2 weeks though. DH tried freezer showers twice, but then had to admit he's too old to take that grief. I didn't try it. I did the old-time stand up, lather, rinse using water warmed on the stove. I did cut 2 inches off my long mop of hair so it would be easier to wash in the sink. 

As for our neighbors, some just left. Some stayed by using generators, kerosene and camping supplies, wood stove inserts, etc. 

We saw the National Guard, but they didn't see us. They passed up our house.


----------



## wvstuck (Sep 19, 2008)

This was a great post. I'm really sorry that some people were offended and felt the nature of this was a personal attack, IMO I don't think it was. What I walk away with after reading every post is a learning experience... some lessons learned at the expense of our HT friends. By reading the failures of others, it help the rest of us see clearly what can go wrong in a natural disaster or epic event. It helps me prepare myself better knowing what can and did go wrong for others. Failure in being prepared is not something to be ashamed of. I guarantee I am prepared fully, that is fully for some things, but then the unknowing weighs in and I find myself in a SHTF that I hadn't thought of.

After reading everyone's posts, I realized I am good on food, I have guns and ammo that would not be needed in this scenario , I have plenty of heat, chainsaws at the ready for trees, lots of warm clothes, and I have a couple of options for cooking. 

But I am also lacking in a couple of areas. Although I have Kerosene heaters ( and a wood stove) I have only 15 gallons of kerosene stored, after reading this I am upping my supply to 50 gallons at least. I am also investing in a kerosene cook stove with an oven to bake in (mounts to the kerosene cook stove) http://www.stpaulmercantile.com/buttrfly.htm
I am going to store more firewood next year, this winter was colder than expected and I am running low on wood already. I'm going to make a 6 gallon bucket washing machine with a toilet plunger. I have no steel treads to strap on my boot so I can walk safely around to feed chickens and such. I am putting a deep well hand pump at the top of my list right now. I am also going to work on a wood fired water heater (welded steel box above a wood stove) so that I can bathe in comfort even in a very long term scenario. I am going out and talking to my older neighbors and offering them a place to come if the weather is bad and they feel cold (plan ahead). Plus many other things I am thinking about after seeing the suffering in KY.

God bless everyone that made it through in KY, and my prayers are going out to the families of the ones who didn't. I hope not to have a bad situation here, but if I do I will be right here to tell you what went right, what went wrong and what I found myself lacking in as far as preps or knowledge. The best part of this forum community is our ability to learn from our friends when they are forced to test their preparedness.


----------



## redhousekiwi (Nov 30, 2008)

ovsfarm said:


> If someone has electric power, they know that their heat/water will go out if it depends on electricity.


I have to disagree ovsfarm. There are people out there who really don't understand the concept of a grid, some will have never experienced a significant power outage and they have no concept that the power could stop. They don't know where it comes from, how it works. It's like the urban kids who don't know meat comes from cows etc. It's outside their experience.

I agree with the person who said that the news people need to impart information, and not just sensationalism.

I was talking with my wife the other day when we were heading for the supermarket about people not being able to cook, and she observed that the restaurant carparks were still busy, but the supermarkets not so much. It struck me then that my understanding of "can't cook", by which I mean couldn't make a meal out of flour and meat and potatoes and such, is probably underestimating things. There are probably people out there that only eat pre-prepared food - and would have to be shown how to get food from a supermarket. 

Cheers, Liam


----------



## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

I saw the same broadcast, and I did the same thing, yelled at the tv, "Put some clothes on! The older man in a loose fitting T shirt, hey, my dad would wear his under shirts, flannel shirts, put on a jacket or robe, and use a blanket on his lap, just to keep from having the house too hot for the others as he got older. If anyone said they were cold, he said, " Cover up!"

Weather conditions can surprise folks, but if you are cold don't wear shorts and t shirts. I had students come to school in the winter dressed in shorts and T shirts and want me to turn the heat up in the classroom, I told em to "Cover up!" Its winter, dress like it.

One of the stupidest dress code violations at my school was no overalls, kids would come to school in insulated overalls and the durn principal would make em take em off! 

Texican's point was to use some common sense.
Ed


----------



## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

paintlady said:


> I agree. Those of us with food on our plates, a roof over our heads and a warm place to rest have no business making fun of those who don't. Any one of us could be the next victim of a disaster at any given time. You can be the best prepped person on this site and get hit with something like a major flood like the one in Grand Forks ND in 97 and see all of your preps go floating down the river. No one ever knows where the fickle finger of fate will point next.
> I will keep you in my prayers.


Unless you've prepped for floods. Too many people buy houses like they buy cars..... oooohhh look, a pretty car, and the radio is great (never looking at the engine or drivetrain)... people buy houses because they're convenient to work, they have good schools, in a nice neighborhood (never noticing the driftwood 10' up in the tree limbs. I have relatives who bought in floodplains, and learned the hard way to investigate the floodplain issues thoroughly the next time.

When I built my house, I consulted my 83 year old grandpa, who'd worked this land his entire life, about where the highest flood ever had risen to. Then I sited it ten feet higher. Three years after I built, and grandpa was plowing heavenly fields, the first bad flood arrived... The 'line' was within 2' of the line he'd told me. Five years later a bigger flood arrived, and it hit the line. On that flood I measured the vertical distance between the flood and the house... it was 13'. 

I planned for the worst flood imaginable, and gave myself a cushion.

The major calamity I worry about is a tornado.... I prepped for that by building between two ridges, my roofline is below the ridgeline. I had a tornado come over the house in 94, and sheared some trees off on the ridges, but it passed over me safely.

Quite a few disasters can be prepped for. Hurricanes. Floods. Fires. Earthquakes. Tornadoes. There's no guarantee you'll live through the disaster, but properly prepped, you'll have a much better chance of surviving than the unprepped. Some cant (such as asteroids).

Once again, this isn't about KY. It's about people in bad situations not using common sense. I know common sense isn't common. Some people learn from their mistakes, if they survive, some people dont, and die. I wish everyone was well prepared, and informed, and knew what to do in every kind of emergency. I can see a day when having knowledge of prepping could mean the difference between breathing good clean air, and not.


----------



## paintlady (May 10, 2007)

The '97 flood in Grand Forks was a "storm of the century" type scenario. The river crested at 54 feet and the flood was three miles inland. Around here people have basements which is where most people keep their preps. Those basements were all full of water. As far as tornadoes go- we get those too ( which is where the basements come in handy). Look at Katrina- no amount of prepping would have helped most of those flood victims. I am just saying that no matter what we think we are all at the mercy of the weather. With the weather patterns changing people may have to deal with weather that they rarely had before. 
Also, society has changed. We have gone from an agricultural based society to urban living in many areas and some people just plain don't know WHAT to do or HOW to do it anymore when it comes to prepping. Years ago most people grew their own food and stockpiled ( canned) what they grew. Today a good chunk of the population not only doesn't have the knowledge, they would be hard pressed in most areas to find supplies to do it with. 
Anyway, I hope that our friends and families in KY will be able to get their lives back on track soon.


----------



## Bonnie L (May 11, 2002)

paintlady said:


> The '97 flood in Grand Forks was a "storm of the century" type scenario. The river crested at 54 feet and the flood was three miles inland. Around here people have basements which is where most people keep their preps. Those basements were all full of water.


I would consider paying attention to weather reports a kind of prepping. Unless a dam breaks, rivers rise slowly enough to give warning. During my one & only near-flood experience, the people of Portland, OR built plywood barriers in case the Willamette went over the banks. Everyone had time to move any basement preps to a higher level. I took care of a neighbor's girl so she could rescue her belongings from a storage unit. 

In our small town, the only people who got flooded out were the people who built on the flood plain & the fancy new marina homes right on the river. 

As has been said, paying attention to where you live is a part of prepping, too. I'm partial to the tops of hills & so far, it's been a good choice.


----------



## thatfeller (Mar 13, 2008)

(From a generator-powered computer)

I live in western Kentucky, in the part of my area county hit the hardest on January 27th. We've just completed our 11th day without power, with most likely a week or two to go.

We've been making it alright, aside from having to install a woodstove in the kitchen so the generator wouldn't have to run the blower on our outside woodstove 24 hours a day. Any clothes we have clean are because we washed them in the sink with water we heated up on the stove. Our meals have been cooked on the woodstove, and we were lucky enough to have running water for most of the last two weeks. But think about this: we have a generator, four solar panels, 20 gallons of gas, a woodstove, and an unlimited supply of firewood, and we cut it very close.

Many people I know could not afford the extra preparations, and were living in less than ideal conditions in the first place. Nearly everyone had enough food to last for a few days, and a source of heat, but after a week, supplies start to dwindle, and everybody else around them is experiencing the exact same problem(s). 

Up to 7-hour waits for gasoline and kerosene. Cash payments only. Generators being shipped in from out-of-state, raising prices of small generators to well over $1000.

The state of Kentucky doesn't have ice storms like this. We usually have light freezing rain maybe once or twice a winter. We generally have 100-degree summers, and 10 to 20-degree winters, but never in the past century has Kentucky had an ice storm of this magnitude. Our power company alone lost 1,500 power poles in this ice storm. Most people became prepared a day or two in advance, and yes, they should have had these things on-hand, but many people that live around here have the choice of either preparing for unforeseen disasters, or completing their house payments. It's that simple. They generally prepare when they have a guaranteed need for their preparations. Preparations were made a few days in advance, but after two weeks - some people are still without any source of heat, their initial preparations exhausted, have had spongebaths for the last two weeks, and no clean clothes

That being said, I agree that most Kentuckians were unprepared - but don't sit comfortably a hundred miles away and condemn those that chose feeding their children over preparing for an unforeseen, unprecedented ice storm in Kentucky months in advance.

</rant>


----------



## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

thatfeller - good to know that you are keeping it together and welcome to the forum and HT.

But, are you sitting around in t-shirt during the storm? 
That's the point that the OP was making. When you're using up your resources, and don't know if/when you're getting more - you don't sit around in t=shirt during an ice storm.

(I'd qualify that as to saying, unless you are next to the wood stove and not across the room from it.)

Angie


----------



## thatfeller (Mar 13, 2008)

Thank you for the kind welcome, AngieM2.

I can agree that if their clothes are dirty (or have few clothes to begin with), and if they aren't used to being cold in the winter in their trailer, and are complaining about being cold, then yes - they should have the (un)common sense to bundle up.


----------



## davisdj (Feb 14, 2008)

We live in south central Kentucky and were on the very southern edge of the storm. We lost power for the better part of one day, so we were very, very lucky.

However, we didn't take our good fortune lightly and are learning rapidly from all this.

1. We need a way to get water from our well when there's no power. That is going to be a major priority for us over the next few months. It's going to be expensive to solve the problem, but we believe it's absolutely crucial.

2. We have a wood cook stove, which is also our heating source for the whole house. In addition, it has a hot water reservoir, so we haven't had our water heater on since winter began. In terms of cooking and heating water, we wouldn't have noticed a power outage at all. (If I had known how wonderful a wood cook stove was, I'd have had one many years ago.) Our other stove in the kitchen is gas, but we have used it very little since winter began. We also have a solar oven which we used nearly every day last summer.

3. When we moved here, we opted to fore go putting in a washer or dryer. I have two laundry tubs, which DH plumbed into the washer drainage pipe. We installed a hand wringer between them, and I do all our laundry with a Rapid Washer. Works fine for us (there are only two of us). I've found that I have to do laundry every day during the summertime, but only about every third day in winter, since we don't have so many sweaty clothes then. We dry them on racks in the house, near the wood stove, unless it's warm enough/sunny enough to hang them outside.

4. We bought several oil lamps, including one Aladdin. The bad news was that we couldn't find them readily, nor could we remember where the oil was, etc., when the power went out. We have now put everything related to lighting without power in one place, all convenient, and all ready to use, including some matches.

5. Refrigeration is something we have been thinking about carefully. We do have a full basement, and it stays very cool down there, and nice and dry. In the event that we'd lost power for longer than we did, we would have moved everything from the frig to the basement and put it on the shelves down there.

6. We do have a small generator, and DH already had it up and ready to connect the freezer when we got our power back. From earlier hurricane experience, we know that running a freezer for a couple of hours a day is sufficient to keep it frozen, provided it's basically full and you don't open it. However, this has made us even more determined than we already were to reduce our freezer dependence.

7. Showers and bathing: When winter began and we started using the hot water from our wood stove's reservoir, we reduced the timer on the hot water heater to about thirty minutes a day for showers. Then we began trying to figure out a way to do without even that. DH put a large hook in the wall in the shower in one bathroom, and hung a solar shower from it. Armed with a gallon milk jug, I've found that I can mix cold water from the tap and hot water from the reservoir, half and half and pour it into the solar shower. One gallon will do a shower. Two gallons will do a shower and I can wash my hair as well. For dishes, I use one gallon of hot water (I have a metal pitcher to carry it).

Needless to say, we've reduced our electrical usage considerably, but that wasn't the point. Our goal was to actually use some of this stuff and figure out what works and what doesn't while it's easy and cheap to fix.

Now we're meditating over how to continue heating water once the wood heat is no longer needed. DH is experimenting with some solar systems (hot water heater tanks in boxes with glass covers).

Forums like this have been invaluable to us in doing this planning and making these preps. It's the difference between doing something about the situation and just sitting around wringing your hands.

Sally


----------



## Sabrina67 (Mar 24, 2008)

I have lived in Ky most of my life the rest has been 5 miles into Tennessee. We do not always have ice in winter, years go by with very mild winters. 
Some people have enough trouble keeping food and basic things much less prep for anything. After the fact there was nothing you do. Generators were gone, as was gas etc.
Just my opinion, not worth much I know, but I feel most were doing the very best they could with what they had.
ETA I agree with thatfeller.


----------



## tamsam (May 12, 2006)

Ok I will put my thoughts here and will most likely get razed. With the so many folks being jobless and fuel prices up most folks are just getting by. Now I hear they were warned so why didn't they prepare? It takes money to stock up and id you don't have money then guess you can't stock up on $3 a gallon kero or fill the cupboards with cans of food. We have a meger supply of preps here and would have more but living on a fixed income with everything going up in price you can only cut back so much. Yep my internet cost 9.95 a month which I guess we could do without but I use it to stay in contact with my kids. I think I saw a blanket or so laying on chairs and on the floor beside the older guy in that news cast. If you have never been in a room with those lights that they use you should try it some time. Those people should have begged those news people to stay there with thier lights. Almost everything that we do to try to prepare cost money and when you have none you can not prepare. Regardless of where you go you will find people in dire straights even without an ice storm or other storms. If my neighbor was cold I would ask him to my home to stay warm if I could not help him heat his. We have 4 types of heat in our house. Wood or coal, propane, electric, and those kero space heaters. Ok now I will hush, but please try to understand how it is to be without. Sam


----------



## bowdonkey (Oct 6, 2007)

That family interviewed probably represents 99% of Americans. Blissfully consuming their way to extinction, with no knowledge of what's going on. I guess it could be called "one paycheck from bankruptcy". Unfortunately what tamsam said is true also. I think as the depression deepens, more and more folks will be put into that bind. Most won't have the knowledge to hang in there. They will be the ones screaming for gov't help or in worst case scenario, go steal what they need or want from the neighbor. What's I find frightening is many with knowledge will be forced to join them when things go really south. Truely we could end up being pawns for those in power if they decide to take advantage of the situation. I hope this made sense. I guess what I'm trying to say is when you get this "stupid" you'll fall for anything.


----------



## house06 (Jan 4, 2007)

Also living in Ky, we did not go without electricity, thankfully. We are somewhat prepared for things but every time something like this happens, realize we could be more prepared. Friends from Richmond came to stay with us a couple of days due to lack of electricity, live in a very large home with 2 fireplaces- no firewood. Were more concerned with finding an open restaurant with cable to watch basketball game? We have a barn full of firewood, offered but refused because our friends did not want to leave behind something non-essential in order to haul firewood home.?

I did drop the ball by not having enough driveway salt.We have a very long driveway and use quite a bit of salt in order to get ourselves in and out. Local Walmart has no salt and warehouse ordered no more for season. Mind you this was 3rd week in January! We are still in winter right? Anyway, found salt/ice melt bought enough to last awhile and still left a few bags for someone else more desparate than myself. Note to self, will be buying more driveway salt and stocking up at end of season and beginning of next season. 

We still have many things we could do to be more self-sufficient and will do those things to prepare for bad situations. Think that's all anyone can do. But we learned a long time ago not to sit around and wait for someone else to make sure we are taken care of, government, electric company ( who has done wonderful, wonderful work BTW restoring power) or any other agency if we are capable of taking care of those things ourselves.


----------



## Shepherd (Jan 23, 2005)

Thatfeller, welcome to the forum!

After suffering through a devastating ice storm a year ago, and thinking we were fairly well prepped, it was still a horribly difficult time to get through even with all our advantages. Things just happen that you didn't expect or foresee. 

We were in the middle of a major remodel due to a summer storm so everything from 2 rooms was shoved into the den where the fireplace is - wall to wall to ceiling... leaving only enough space in front of the fireplace to sit in front of it with your knees about 8 inches from the doors. The remodeling had to come to a halt since they needed power for their tools so nothing could be finished and furniture moved back out easily, and of course we didn't think the power outtage would last as long as it did.

We have a large diesel generator that ran the entire house - but initially had some problems getting it to start, then getting it to stay running. It took a technician to fix it. Once that was done, we were in heaven again. 

Still this is the type of situation which makes you realize where the holes are in our preps so we can work on those before something else happens. In our case the generator only has a 2 - 2 1/2 gallon gas tank so we decided we needed to get an auxiliary fuel tank hooked up to it. We got lucky and found a used one from my cousin. We won't have to worry about going all the way down to our barn every few hours to refill it with fuel once that's accomplished.

Ahhh, we know about the coffee dilemna, and I did basically the same thing - boiled water on the propane stove (we have both gas and electric stoves in the kitchen) and poured it through the filter in a strainer sitting over a pan. We could warm the coffee each time we were ready for another cup. Works great in a pinch. Gotta have the coffee in the mornings!

Our prayers go out to all who are affected by the hardships of this ice storm. May God keep you safe and well.


----------



## giraffe_baby (Oct 15, 2005)

hobbyfarmer said:


> Good post.
> 
> We were prepared. We have a woodstove, plenty of canned goods, a place to store the frozen food safely outdoors, three vehicles full of gas, extra chainsaw gas, lamp oil, batteries, etc. So were all of our nearest neighbors. Our family was warm, dry, clean, and well fed and we were the "slackers" in our neck of the woods because we were the only family without a generator. We were COMPLETELY isolated for 4 days- no tv, no phones, no internet, no radio (unless we wanted to sit out in the car and shiver) and no way out....power lines down to the left and massive trees to the right...so we didn't actually find out until Friday night that such a large area was hit so hard. It was eye opening for DH and I. We didn't really suffer and it never occured to us that we should be looking down our noses at folks who were less prepared. Wonder why? Must have been seeing all the damage up close and actually knowing some of those families who had to pack up their children and find a way through the mess to the shelters.
> 
> ...


I AGREE WITH everything.. we were pretty prepared.. NEVER SAW fema NEVER saw National gaurd.. said they would be doing well checks.. NEVER saw a one. NOT that we needed them... but ummm they ONLY went to the big big cities!! if your a small podunk town.. you have to fend for yourself.
ALSO THIS IS VERY poor country.. lots of lay offs.. ppl hardly scratching by.. then this hits.after day 3-4 you start loosing foods (fridge) (and yes i stored it outside) but then by day 6 WE had a warm up to 60 DEGREES caused all the "ICE" that melted (and kept food cold) to disappear.
LUCKILY we all shared a generator here to keep our freezers cold ( whole community did~)but we are the forutunate ones!
And if you werent prepared, then you dont have money.. its hard to get the supplies you need... 

I will say that the LINES MEN are god sends from all over the country ( as far away as MICHIGAN) they got us up in 11 days.. it could of been longer if it were JUST our community lines men.. and My inlaws... whom my MIL has pancreatic stage 4.... they dont have the MEANS to prepare.. they have been living with us since day 3 and STILL DONT HAVE POWER!!! THey finally got water yesterday!


----------



## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

paintlady said:


> Look at Katrina- no amount of prepping would have helped most of those flood victims.
> 
> We have gone from an agricultural based society to urban living in many areas and some people just plain don't know WHAT to do or HOW to do it anymore when it comes to prepping. Years ago most people grew their own food and stockpiled ( canned) what they grew. Today a good chunk of the population not only doesn't have the knowledge, they would be hard pressed in most areas to find supplies to do it with.
> Anyway, I hope that our friends and families in KY will be able to get their lives back on track soon.


Living under sea level is never a good idea, for individuals Or communities. Living in New Orleans, and watching ocean going freighters, "above you" in the levees, should tell folks living there that life is tenous... one break in the levee, one pump failure, one hurricane, and your toast.

Living in Death Valley, on the other hand, below sea level, would be safer, if you could stand the +120 degree temps.

Agree wholeheartedly with everything else!

Everything is always in short supply, once there is no more. Katrina cost a lot of people their lives and others their livelihoods. Some learned, and will not get drowned again. Some didn't, and might drown in the end. Still others, who were directly affected, learned the lessons, and made plans. Agree, the vast majority of folks are still thinking someone will come rescue them.


----------



## starjj (May 2, 2005)

Oh PLEASE!! Texican protest that is isn't about KY doesn't ring true to me. Making fun of Kentuckians seems to be everyone's favorite past time. I will have you know ONE person sent me names of people that might be able to help with wanding through the lastest worry that the pipes busted and ALL the plumbing will have to be replaced because it was substandard to begin with. So you guys sit back and laugh at us stupid people and get your jollies for the day. ENJOY! When I get my electricity back MAYBE at the end of FEb maybe you can celebrate with me. You know this makes this forum a real disappoint when but ONE person reaches out and tries to HELP instead of sitting behind their computer screens and shake their heads and snicker.

BTW this person wasn't from this forum but was from the families forum I guess they are more caring.


----------



## Simpler Times (Nov 4, 2002)

I guess what the problem is with this whole thread is that Kentuckians (I'm one) are a proud self-sufficient breed by nature. They bristle collectively when they even think that they are being poked fun at. They bristle even more when someone from out of the area that drove through it a time or two tries to tell them how it is "here". KY is a big place and "here" varies by the region, county, the community, or even the proximity to the river. Texican admitted that he woke up the night he posted worrying whether his post would unintentionally upset anyone. Obviously, it did. I accept, however, that it wasn't his intent to upset or even to poke fun at Kentuckians. Texican's intent was to alert us to the importance of common sense and we are all lacking in that area to one degree or another. Some of the other posts, however, were somewhat harder to accept. Some have even reconsidered and retracted them. I thank them for that. I also thank those that jumped in to support us poor ignorant ridge runners when others essentially told us we didn't know what we were talking about. We were without power for almost fourteen days. Just had it turned back on. I am going to once again insist that this was an UNPRECEDENTED event for this area. The governor has said so himself and that makes it true! For the more analytical of us, however, the climatological data for the region most certainly backs up the contention that ice storms are not the norm here. I guess we and others could prep for UFOs landing or any other extreme possibility but, as many have noted, resources are at an all time low here. There were already people without jobs, people losing their homes, people barely feeding their families and when this was added on top it was too much for many of them. By far the majority, however, came through this just fine. They did so because regardless of the stereotypical image of the hicks in pickup trucks with twenty kids running in their wake we are tough, we are proud, and we are intelligent. Many, us included, didn't really miss the niceties of electricity.


----------



## starjj (May 2, 2005)

TY Simpliertimes for your intelligent post.


----------



## oldmanriver (Aug 1, 2004)

Simpler Times ;

We said so glad you got your power back . If you were here in 1978 you remember the big snow storm we got broke ever record we had but it was a cake walk compared to this . As for the wife and I we did fine we had preped . We had everthimg we needed without a generator even thou my wife would have to go to the car for breathing treatments . We also had enough to help 3 other familys with food and kerosene heaters . It was very hard to do all the work but hey we are getting old . 

My wife handle it very well and our sence of humor never was lost . We laughed all the time and we kinda of enjoyed the quiet . People where ever you live you should prep and not the 3 day bull they tell you . 2 weeks is not rally long enough . A year would be much better if you have the money and the space then you can do as we did help out people who run out . Just so you know I have still not seen a National Guard a FEMA or any other goverment vechile . I have 60 acres fenced for cows and it will take us two weeks to get all the trees and limbs off the fence and repair all the broken wires . So glad I have lazy cows that stay close to the barn. 
We did the best that we could and we thank God for what we have but there was a lot of people really hurting from this storm and the sad part is they will be hurting for months to come because so many lost work and had to spend money they did not have .
The best I can tell anyone that will listen is DO NOT COUNT ON THE GOVERMENT . We would have been dead long before they got to us . If you love your family prep for them all you can . From what I am hearing the sheltors were nightmares . Yes we are proud of Kentucky and all the people here . I don't think you can name a state where every one is prepared for this kinda of storm . For those that were here and made it to stay in your homes you are the heros I salute you and I very proud to be from the great state of Western KY . LOL


----------



## Simpler Times (Nov 4, 2002)

Yep, I remember the 78 storm well. It was part of the reason I left for FL  Just kidding, I left to go to school in FL but the 78 storm sure wasn't something I have forgotten. You're right though, in comparison to this one it was a cake walk! There were only isolated power outages from it. None of the cities like Paducah, Mayfield, etc went down did they? 

Before we fired up the generator we were charging our batteries for my cell phone and the computer in our vehicle. Then it got so cold the batteries wouldn't charge. Might be something to keep in mind for your wife's breathing treatments. I don't know what the process is but if it is battery dependent it might be a problem .One of the things we really learned was how little we needed in terms of batteries. Our generator is tiny (1000-1200) and we only fired it up intermittently. I want to work on getting a battery bank set up that can be charged via either solar, wind, or generator. I already have a small solar panel but deep cycle batteries and a wind turbine are pretty expensive.


----------



## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Uh, Starjj, can you read? Did you read what I posted? or did you read what you wanted to hear and skip the rest???

I originally posted about common sense, running out of fuel, and sitting around in t-shirts. Later, someone said I was making unflattering remarks about Kentuckians. I wasn't.

Then, I proceeded to tell you about stupid Texans, namely my dearly beloved sisters, relatives, and neighbors. I don't think I could have said anything more detrimental about anyone than what I said about by my owned loved ones.

Kentucky is just where the story was located.

The story wasn't about Kentuckians.

The story was about people not using common sense.

I'm sorry, but Kentucky does not have a patent on people without common sense! You may think that the rest of America has granted Kentucky alone with the right to all the doofus's in the world, but alas, it is not true. Doofushood is granted to all states, cities, principalities, and countrysides. They're everywhere!

The folks not exhibiting common sense in my original post, at least had a kerosine heater available. My sisters had nothing. One had a fireplace, that they had no clue about how to operate.... I had to go out, cut them wood, carry them some pine knots, "OPEN" the draft in the chimney, and get a fire started for em... basically told them to Do Not Let Fire Go Out... as I had other folks that needed more help than them. (of course, they waited several days into the ice storm... my other sister came down and told me about the outside world's disaster {being totally self reliant, I didn't know there was a problem}

Now, if you wish to maintain that I'm a Kentuckian hating person, you can believe it all you want, but that's not going to make it so. I believe in Bigfoot and Zombies, but my belief doesn't represent reality.

And, if you folks were a heckuva lot closer, I'm sure I'd be helping some of the folks out, getting their homes repaired. I've replaced entire plumbing systems on ancient trailer homes... It can be done a lot cheaper than what a regular plumber's going to charge.


----------



## oldmanriver (Aug 1, 2004)

Dear Texican 
I know what your post was all about my wife got a little mad but she hates the fact that the news is all ways running KY down Having been to all 50 states and lived in several of them Alabama Ohio Ark and a least 3 foriegn contries I agree with you we have stupid people all over the world . It was a bad time for all of us but thanks to this website and 7 years in the military we did fine but this is what we all need to think about I would sau at least 80 percent of the people in the US are not prepared for more than 3 days so we will have to decided if we have enough to share or we have the fire power to defend what we have , Hard Question that each one of us has to answer before tshtf . It brings out the best and the worse in people . And this was only 2 weeks . What would it be like if it had lasted for months


----------



## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

oldmanriver said:


> Dear Texican
> I know what your post was all about my wife got a little mad but she hates the fact that the news is all ways running KY down Having been to all 50 states and lived in several of them Alabama Ohio Ark and a least 3 foriegn contries I agree with you we have stupid people all over the world . It was a bad time for all of us but thanks to this website and 7 years in the military we did fine but this is what we all need to think about I would sau at least 80 percent of the people in the US are not prepared for more than 3 days so we will have to decided if we have enough to share or we have the fire power to defend what we have , Hard Question that each one of us has to answer before tshtf . It brings out the best and the worse in people . And this was only 2 weeks . What would it be like if it had lasted for months


Things would go south in a hurry... Unprepared people would head to shelters, if there were any available, they'd head to people that were prepared, or they'd stay at home and freeze to death. In a true shtf fallout, I doubt if the shelters would exist long... a limited amount of supplies would be used up quickly, and then what.... those sheltered people would be one large mob...

think about how bad things are now, multiply ten times over, and add in several months, and think about that scenario... makes me want to go take stock of my beans and bullets....

hope ya'll get back on your feet soon...


----------



## Farmerwilly2 (Oct 14, 2006)

This is one of the many reasons I encourage people not to move to KY. Why would you want to freeze to death and die in horrible agony without any modern conviences? It just defies logic. Find you a nice warm state like MS or a nice cold one where at least the heat stays on and you don't have to live on moonpies, someplace like WS or MN.


----------



## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

Farmerwilly2 - sounds as if you know something about KY. The rolling hills, the white fences with the Blue Grass, and the scenery! 

KY is a beautiful state - Both my Dad and brother were born in Puducah.

Angie


----------



## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

Stephen in SOKY said:


> While the food storage does seem obvious, we hit 50 degrees+ on Sunday. The air temp now is 18 not counting the wind chill. I appreciate being as thoroghly prepared as I was. There still exist many people who are financially unable to be so well prepared. Even those I considered at least adequately prepared are now rapidly approaching the end of their preps, with no relief in sight for many more days. If I appear whiney I can assure that's not my intent. I'm just very disapointed that homesteaders would show such disregard for those doing the best they can.


Stephen, it has been a while since you posted this. How are you doing?


----------



## Stephen in SOKY (Jun 6, 2006)

Thanks for asking. I'm fine and was fine throughout the storm. I realize how very fortunate I am to be able to afford a generator & the gas for it. I'm fortunate to have a propane range & water heater and be able to afford to keep the tank full. While I'd miss fresh milk, food wouldn't be an issue here for many months. I have wood heat and I'm fortunate enough to own woodland, good saws and a splitter. Above all that, I'm very fortunate to have had parents & grandparents setting an example of being prepared for life's troubles as long as I can recall. I was prepared because it's second nature. That and I've been both fortunate and industrious enough that I can afford to be prepared.

What bothered me about the tone of this thread is that many HT'ers seem to have forgotten what it's like to not be financially able to be prepared. I know honest, hard working families where both parents work that simply cannot afford to be so well prepped. A $1000-1500 generator is simply impossible for some to obtain. $50/day for kerosene (If it's available) will delete some peoples savings pretty darn quick. Watching a freezer full of food you'd planned on carrying you through melt is not pleasant.
I expected more from my fellow HT'ers.


----------



## Sabrina67 (Mar 24, 2008)

Stephen in SOKY . I agree. Glad to hear you are doing ok.


----------



## starjj (May 2, 2005)

Stephen in SOKY said:


> Thanks for asking. I'm fine and was fine throughout the storm. I realize how very fortunate I am to be able to afford a generator & the gas for it. I'm fortunate to have a propane range & water heater and be able to afford to keep the tank full. While I'd miss fresh milk, food wouldn't be an issue here for many months. I have wood heat and I'm fortunate enough to own woodland, good saws and a splitter. Above all that, I'm very fortunate to have had parents & grandparents setting an example of being prepared for life's troubles as long as I can recall. I was prepared because it's second nature. That and I've been both fortunate and industrious enough that I can afford to be prepared.
> 
> What bothered me about the tone of this thread is that many HT'ers seem to have forgotten what it's like to not be financially able to be prepared. I know honest, hard working families where both parents work that simply cannot afford to be so well prepped. A $1000-1500 generator is simply impossible for some to obtain. $50/day for kerosene (If it's available) will delete some peoples savings pretty darn quick. Watching a freezer full of food you'd planned carying you through melt is not pleasant.
> I expected more from my fellow HT'ers.


Another intelligent post! Big thank you!


----------



## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Our last ice storm (back in the Fall) lasted a week. I don't own a genny... I can't justify the cost of the one I 'need' (around 3K, or is it 4K). I have three freezers. Day 5 things started thawing. I drove to the nearest place with dry ice, and kept the food frozen another couple days. The dry ice cost too much. My master plan is to try and wait for the power to come back on, but if it doesn't, I get out the canner and start cooking/canning the meat.

Stephen, you were ready. Will the folks that got into trouble this time, be unprepared next time? I personally could never see paying for kerosine for kerosine stoves. I'd rather spend a little more on a woodstove (can be made for a couple bucks {I've seen dozen's made out of barrels}) and get wood for free to feed the stove and keep warm.

I've learned from my mistakes. Most people do. People that make the same mistakes over and over.... one of the worst prepping mistakes, that most people make, is depending on a single energy source... and when that source is gone, they're in big trouble.

There are low cost or free alternatives for every situation. Hopefully your sharing your viewpoint with all the local folks that are in need...

glad to see you made it through the storm...


----------



## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

To the storm folks, I hope this next round of strong winds and such leave you alone and only bring some rain suitable for sleeping to (as on a tin roof).

Angie


----------



## paintlady (May 10, 2007)

> Living under sea level is never a good idea, for individuals Or communities. Living in New Orleans, and watching ocean going freighters, "above you" in the levees, should tell folks living there that life is tenous... one break in the levee, one pump failure, one hurricane, and your toast.


While this may be true there are people who simply don't have the means to pick up and move to a different place. That all takes money and someplace to move TO. Not everyone has a car either so when those people were getting warnings not everyone was in the position to relocate. Ya know- there is an old saying- " There but for the grace of God go I". It is so true. We can't pick our parents or where we are born or whether or not we are born into poverty or wealth, or have a physical or mental handicap. Not everyone is born with common sense either. I have known college professors who can speak three languages and still have not one ounce of common sense when it comes to practical things.


----------



## soulsurvivor (Jul 4, 2004)

As for the high wind warning upcoming in the daylight tomorrow morning, I'm hoping I don't have to find out about how tree debris can be redistributed into 3 states from here. In Louisville, many homeowners have their tree debris lined up at the edge of their yards, waiting for the collection trucks that are coming around all the neighborhoods. Mayor Abramson and the city/county council instructed homeowners on exactly which direction to point the trees/branches so they'd be easier for the workers to grab from the curb. This high wind warning promises to make that into a game of pick up sticks. 

I'm just being whiney as I really don't want to go through this again so soon. I still haven't replaced all the supplies we used this last go round.


----------



## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

paintlady said:


> While this may be true there are people who simply don't have the means to pick up and move to a different place. That all takes money and someplace to move TO. Not everyone has a car either so when those people were getting warnings not everyone was in the position to relocate. Ya know- there is an old saying- " There but for the grace of God go I". It is so true. We can't pick our parents or where we are born or whether or not we are born into poverty or wealth, or have a physical or mental handicap. Not everyone is born with common sense either. I have known college professors who can speak three languages and still have not one ounce of common sense when it comes to practical things.



Its tragic but true, quite a few of the folks that live (or rather lived) below sea level in NOLA, were wards of the state. They were quartered there because no one else in their right mind wanted to live there. They didn't have the means to do anything, but wait for a check to arrive. Also true, they had no place to move TO. The State didn't have alternative 'quarters' available for them. Unfortunately, it took an act of nature (started to say God, but didn't want to inflame anyone) to uproot the below sea level folks and get them out into different areas of the country.

If a person has nothing where they're at, and no hope for a better future, why stay? Put your feet on the road, and head to someplace better. If the govt. checks rewarding bad behavior stopped arriving, people in hopeless situations, I feel, would search for greener pastures.

This might sound awkward, but I support paying some people to stay where they are...[welfare checks]... as long as they're far far away from where I live. In a EOTW scenario, once metrohumans realize the end is upon them, they'll effectively be stuck in place.

edited to add: agree with you about college professors... I knew quite a few genius's, but wouldn't choose them for my survival team...


----------



## kisathoi (Feb 2, 2009)

Some of us did learn much form the wave of storms that came through a few weeks back. We moved from a major city 1 1/2 years ago to get back to the country but hadn't gotten serious about self sufficiency. The storms, having a loss of power for many days (totally dependant on the power company) and ending up finding a warm bed across the river and into the next state...we learned.

We're waiting on the arrival of our new generator. We will be putting a new hand pump onto the well for an independant water supply and within the next 9 months will be installing a high efficiency wood heat source. Our land has enough wood to supply us for a long time and DH is good with his chainsaw. Have also started clearing out an extra bedroom for turning into storage for supplies.

We have told all of our children, there is no shame in making a mistake (sadly thats the way most of us actually learn)...the shame comes into it if you refuse to learn from the mistake....we learned 

BTW, we appreciate the group here...a LOT of good information, tips, etc.. 

Stay safe
kisathoi


----------



## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

Welcome Kisathoi - glad that you're generator is on the way. Hope you don't have to use it in a storm like this past one, for a long time.

Angie


----------



## Shepherd (Jan 23, 2005)

How are you all doing? What's the latest?


----------



## Bonnie L (May 11, 2002)

kisathoi said:


> We have told all of our children, there is no shame in making a mistake (sadly thats the way most of us actually learn)...the shame comes into it if you refuse to learn from the mistake....we learned


It was very welcome to read your positive post. A nice change from the occasional whining about how hard it is to prepare for a rare event. :lookout:

There are other events besides ice storms that can knock out electricity or make normal life impossible. That's why I can more food than I freeze. When the electricity is out in the winter, I can bury food in the snow. Won't work if the power is out in the summer. 

We're still working on a source for water. We may have to save up our money & get a small generator that will run the pump in our deep well. I'm trying to talk my dh into trying to "milk" the sub-surface water. That won't require electricity. I think I've got my ds convinced, so we will very likely be working on it this summer. Along with his greenhouse. 

Learning is fun - I don't know why so many people seem to be against it.


----------



## Simpler Times (Nov 4, 2002)

I think that everyone that has been posting in this thread now has power. Others, however, are on day 19 and still without power. The down lines, busted power poles, and broken trees are slowly being cleaned up. In Paducah there are piles of debris in front of almost every home. The city is overwhelmed and apparently hiring outside contractors to help with part of the work. To get FEMA money the contractors have to be monitored so there are other contractors that will be doing that. The area is flooded with trucks from outside the area with spray painted "Specialist" signs. Many are pulling chippers. Everyone from the drivers of these trucks to guys in pickup trucks are contracting with individual home owners that can't or don't want to do their own to clean up and pile the debris in the front for the city (or their contractors to pick up). At least the storm has fueled a new industry in the area.



Shepherd said:


> How are you all doing? What's the latest?


----------



## oldmanriver (Aug 1, 2004)

We have power now, lost most of a new fence due to trees down. I voted to pile the brush along the fence line and the cows could not get past that pile, husband did not agree. Lost a metal carport building and the roof off the chicken house to the wind. Finally got all the limbs off the roof and no damage there thank God. Cleaning up the yard is on going, lots of piles to have hot dog roasts in warmer weather. I'd say we have a lifetime of firewood from the downed trees. Looking at a propane generator as gasoline type was nearly useless last time. We could not get gas the first week. Until the propane genrator gets here I will be freaking when lights blink as they did in the high wind. I learned a lot during the ice storm also learned not to hand my daughter (who was going to TN for kerosene) a $100 bill and think I should get something beside my 5 gallon of kerosene back. I learned I'm not as tough as I used to be, I used to say don't worry about the mule just load the wagon hmm doubt I will say that again.
Mrs. River


----------

