SHTF in Fort Wayne

[Sailor]

Our crew faired well, with the exception of one who will have 80-100k in damage. We were in constant comms via group texts and ham. Two guys had their towers destroyed, so ham was used as a source of weather info and relayed to the crew via text. Voice cell could not get through.

Genny's were passed around to those who needed them guys showed up with chain saws where needed and offers to house and entertain were given.

Business as usual, if you don't have a group you can rely on, get one.

 

[superjoe76]

After a couple days of no power my wife looked at me and said, "This really shows how unprepared we are for a true SHTF situation."

I couldn't agree more. Let the prepping begin!

Anyway, to the people acting nuts already makes me think of a quote from the TV show Third Watch, "The only thing separating man from animals is electricity."

 

[backfire]

After a couple days of no power my wife looked at me and said, "This really shows how unprepared we are for a true SHTF situation."

I couldn't agree more. Let the prepping begin!

Anyway, to the people acting nuts already makes me think of a quote from the TV show Third Watch, "The only thing separating man from animals is electricity."

Yep and another good quote is: "The vail of organized social order is paper thin and easily torn".

So true...

 

[Sailor]

Good chance to get her involved and her input from the start.

 

[J man]

We got our power back monday afternoon, we were first told it would be the 7th. We had one branch fall out of a tree so were were lucky there. We kept the fridge running with a generator and even hooked up the a/c and tv up by sunday. We made several trips to the gas station to fill up cans, they were running on generators. Defiance had power so we were able to go there for meals, water and grocery shopping.

It did make my wife wake up to the fact that we were not ready for anything like this and she now has a interest in being prepped for the next time.

 

[Cozy439]

Most power back on now. Crews working hard. I made rounds yesterday and saw tree and power crews busting ass and making citizen happy. Also saw EXTENSIVE damage in old parts of town old trees near old homes and narrow streets.

SUPERJOE76 - My wife came on line after last BIG Ice storm, Now shes serious about it. Use these events as an EYE OPENER and a Motivator.

 

[shannonneumann]

After a couple days of no power my wife looked at me and said, "This really shows how unprepared we are for a true SHTF situation."

I couldn't agree more. Let the prepping begin!

Anyway, to the people acting nuts already makes me think of a quote from the TV show Third Watch, "The only thing separating man from animals is electricity."

We had a large tree from across the street snap off and come crashing down, blocking the street and landing in our driveway. No damage to the house, and mostly just a big mess to clean up. We didn't actually lose power entirely, but did have some weirdness with the service panel (one half of the main breaker wasn't coming back on).

Was a wake-up call for us both (and we weren't exactly asleep), and a few things have since been shifted around on the priority list as a result of thinking thru how it could have gone as well as realizing that many, many people were without power (and water, in the case of friends with electric well pumps) for several days.

 

[warhawk77]

I thought Fort Wayne did pretty good over all. Yes some people got kinda nuts but that understandable. The family and I where out every day because you can only sit at home so much with no power before kids drive you nuts. We didn't see anything where humanity was failing, but have heard of a few examples.

On Sunday night we used tv trays to make a table in the basement, LED light from ceiling, hamburgers from grill, corn, ramen noodles (kids love them), and some candy for dinner. And we talked about what we where thankful for, just used the hole thing as a learning experience.

My wife really got on board with my prepping, she sees it could save us. Here idea to pick up a generator and we found a pretty good deal.


Last night about 7:00 we lost power again, but we knew what to expect. We just turned on our geneorator watched a movie and went to bed. Power was back on about 6am.


You will have some people that won't learn anything from this event and will be no better off then they where last month. But I think a small percent of people will see this as a wake up call and will start getting ready. Most will fall in between those and think "I will do this for next time" but never will.

I'm glad we had the "test run" it showed the kids they could do it, showed the wife what else we could do, and showed me what areas I was lacking and where to focus next.

 

[Quad]

My wife really got on board with my prepping, she sees it could save us. Here idea to pick up a generator and we found a pretty good deal.

Last night about 7:00 we lost power again, but we knew what to expect. We just turned on our geneorator watched a movie and went to bed. Power was back on about 6am.

I've been putting off getting one of those for a while now. This event convinced me that it's something I need to get sooner rather than later.

 

[tgallmey]

My power is still out. They said it should be back on saturday. The only bad part is the heat but atleast my generator ran a few fans and the fridge.

 

[OZZY.40]

I wonder how bad it was in the other states that suffered more damage, haven't seen any stories on drudge or other news outlets

 

[FWShooter]

We went five days no power just to lose it last night for the night. Which my other neighbor was in the same boat and I could hear her yelling because the power went back out. We just grabbed the extension cords and got everything re-ran to the generator again.

It actually was not bad at all and with the exception of one meal we went to a restaurant we just ate our preps and other stuff we have stockpiled. Hell managed to feed a couple neighbors. Basically our house was a very expensive tent and the 5 days was a fun camping trip.

The ice stuff was strange. We headed to Sam's Club on Saturday just to wander around in air conditioning and people were just in panick buying everything mode without really any thought. Heard one lady yelling at her husband just throw it in the cart we will figure it out later. We did pick up a couple big bags of ice there and checked out at customer service. This filled up our coolers and allowed us to keep the bottled water cold.

Couple runs to the compost for the small branches and the larger limbs we cut up and stocked for fire wood. Heck neighbors lost a lot more last night so more free firewood.

Past that we never really left the house unless for work so we did not have to deal with the idiots freaking out especially around day 3.

The most interesting thing is most places could not run credit and people apparently forgot what cash was or even that they could drive to this machine, punch in a number, and get a certain amount of cash out of the magical machine.

Oh wait that was not it. The fact that Papa Johns had 3+ hour waits for delivery and every fast food restaurant had 40+ cars in the drive thru. My neighbor went to McDonalds the one day and it took him 45 minutes.

The really great thing is a lot of my friends and neighbors have approached us genuinely interested in learning about prepping and what all we had done to prepare. Heck it seems it is all they are talking about and best part they are actively getting food and water around so they have supplies on hand (meeting a friend in a couple hours at Sam's Club to spend a couple hundred of her money on supplies for her).

 

[FWShooter]

I've been putting off getting one of those for a while now. This event convinced me that it's something I need to get sooner rather than later.

Wait a couple weeks and low ball some jackass on craiglist who bought a generator with money they did not have.

It is probably one of the greatest purchases I have ever made. I never ever worry once when power goes out because I know everything will be fine.

Even if it was 100+ with no power I have a window AC unit I can hook up since central air is not going to be running off the generator.

Also definitely want some good heat source like a fireplace or kerosene heaters because winters suck.

 

[warhawk77]

I've been putting off getting one of those for a while now. This event convinced me that it's something I need to get sooner rather than later.

I thought about one for about a year but this one was my wife's idea. Save your self some headache get one big enough to run your furnace. Having one too small isn't any better then not having one.

 

[FWShooter]

I thought about one for about a year but this one was my wife's idea. Save your self some headache get one big enough to run your furnace. Having one too small isn't any better then not having one.

If you have a gas furnace you do not need a big one at all.

Really only thing electrical is the blower fan and most of the time it is already plugged in via a 3 prong. If not easy electrical fix or a couple hundred to an electrician solves that problem.

 

[warhawk77]

If you have a gas furnace you do not need a big one at all.

Really only thing electrical is the blower fan and most of the time it is already plugged in via a 3 prong. If not easy electrical fix or a couple hundred to an electrician solves that problem.

Ours is a gas furnace. So pretty much need something to run the blower and the igniter. We got a 5000w so pretty sure it will run that.

 

[FWShooter]

Ours is a gas furnace. So pretty much need something to run the blower and the igniter. We got a 5000w so pretty sure it will run that.

Do you know the size of hte fan?


Furnace Fan (Gas or fuel oil): 1/8 HP 300 500
Furnace Fan (Gas or fuel oil): 1/6 HP 500 750
Furnace Fan (Gas or fuel oil): 1/4 HP 600 1000
Furnace Fan (Gas or fuel oil): 1/3 HP 700 1400
Furnace Fan (Gas or fuel oil): 1/2 HP 875 2350

The first number (300 above) is the running watts required. Second number (500 above) is the startup watts which are a surge. Normally your generator is rated for saying 5000 but surge to 6800.

Portable + Emergency Generators Buyer's Guide - Generator Wattage Chart | Northern Tool + Equipment

I believe your furnace owner manual should detail the watts and all that too.

I have yet to have to run my furnace off my generator but I know my neighbor backfed his during the ice storm and he had furnace and three rooms running on a 5500. I just switch to the fireplace and camp near that.

I am to scared to backfed mine and just prefer to run extension cords.

 

[Sailor]

In FW most all the furnaces are not terminated in a plug but into a junction box. I terminated mine into a plug and run the blower off heavy gauge extension cord. Zero risk of backfeeding the system this way.

 

[FWShooter]

In FW most all the furnaces are not terminated in a plug but into a junction box. I terminated mine into a plug and run the blower off heavy gauge extension cord. Zero risk of backfeeding the system this way.

I know everyone says backfeeding is safe but the fact my insurance will not cover any damages including if my house burns down is enough to deter me.

I really want to get a transfer switch installed so I can do it to code but for now extension cords work fine.

 

[kboom524]

Wait a couple weeks and low ball some jackass on craiglist who bought a generator with money they did not have.

This is what I am waiting for.