The Ice Man Cometh

We survived the Great Ice Storm of 08. We lost power at 1:07am Friday morning; it returned at 3:15pm Sunday (62 hours). The phone was up the whole time. Cable/internet was down until sometime today (Monday).

Heating was a combination of wood-fired cook-stove and a generator. It got cool (57-59) overnight Friday and Saturday but we got it back up to mid 60's by mid-afternoon.

I got the generator running Friday afternoon, but it was not running smoothly until Saturday due to fuel contamination issues. First item on prep list for next time is to have more gas on hand. Second item on prep list is to finish installation of transfer switch so freezers, a fridge, and some lights can be easily run on the generator.

Not having the generator up and running well until Saturday put us behind in keeping the 3 freezers and 2 refrigerators cold enough. In the end we gave up on the fridges and put the cool items outside. We also gave up on 2 of 3 freezers and moved much of the frozen food outside too. Sunday morning we got the second freezer online. Contents of the third freezer was split between the 2 operating freezers, outside and a friend who got power back on Saturday. In the end we did not lose any food. Next time we need to stay ahead of this. Once a freezer starts warming up getting it back down to temp on a generator is tough. Need to consider replacing upright freezer with chest freezer; more space and better cold retention.

Most meals were cooked on the cook-stove although the menu was limited; I don't think we'll be seeing turkey soup for a while. Third item on prep list is to finish propane-fired grill for added cooking options.

We lost many large tree limbs and some trees. Much clean-up to do in coming weeks. Need to get gas-powered chain saw; the current electric one only goes so far.