Not that powerful of a hurricane but incredible damage to the power grid. 100% of our county was without power this morning

[dishstaller]

Well, we survived. The yard is trashed. Tree limbs everywhere. Power went off about 6 pm last night and is still off. A good portion of the Panhandle is in the dark. This morning, 100%....not 99.9....100...of my county was without power. Crews have reduced that number to 93.95% according to poweroutage.us https://poweroutage.us/area/state/florida Got an uncle down in Santa Rosa Beach and he texted me this morning saying their power was out, and he lives right along the coast on 98. He had bought a whole home generator years ago. Said his kids had joked him about "wasting all that money". Well, guess where his kids all where this morning!! Yep, at Dad's powered up house.
Fortunately I filled up all my LP tanks on Thursday..looks like I'm going to need them. My area doesn't even have crews dispatched yet. I feel for the power repair guys. A lot of our roads are still closed due to flooding, downed power lines, or fallen trees. Might be without power for days.
I AM rather concerned for a lot of the elderly folks around here. Many have some type of medical device in their homes and without power, things could get dicey real quick. I'm about to run a 20 lb propane bottle over to my in-laws. I left them a 2.5kw Champion dual fuel a couple years ago with a full bottle and they are having to use it even though they live just outside of town. That thing will run something like 30 hrs on one 20 lb bottle.

 

[telstar_1]

Probably will be people die just from using generators

 

[Jimbo]

I believe I heard the News tonight said they know of 8 people that have died from this storm, so far.

 

[dishstaller]

Probably will be people die just from using generators

Anyone who fires up a generator in their house or garage is the same person who will die from trying to replace their fan belt while the engine is running. You simply can't foolproof everything.

So far, NONE of the reported deaths have been from MIS-using a generator. Most have been from trees falling.

 

[dishstaller]

BTW, now just 70% of our county, including me, is without power.

It was rather surreal driving through town tonight....everything was dark except for the traffic light which was being powered by a generator.

 

[harshness]

You simply can't foolproof everything.

CO₂ sensors go a long way, but not every device has them.

 

[NYDutch]

Coincidentally, the power to my Upstate NY apartment building went out while the local TV folks were reporting on the storm power outages down south. The backup generator kicked in after a few minutes, but full power didn't come back for a couple of hours. I heard that a truck went off the road and took down a pole near here. The backup system here cuts off power to the high draw things like the electric stove and electric heat. Everything else works normally. As mentioned, a number of folks here have various medical devices that need power.

 

[reubenray]

CO₂ sensors go a long way, but not every device has them.

Which is why I have my generator set up about 15' from the house that connects through an interlock outlet. This along with an Ecoflow Delta Pro that is powered by four solar panels keeps my power on. The Delta Pro connects to a transfer switch in the garage.

 

[dishstaller]

BTW, now just 70% of our county, including me, is without power.

Things must have gone south overnight. Now showing 78% without power.

 

[dishstaller]

CO₂ sensors go a long way, but not every device has them.

Yes they have. Which causes me to wonder HOW someone could die from it using a generator....in my opinion, they are WAY too sensitive. I had my gen shut off several times until I finally drug it out in the yard. I had it behind the garage under a cover to keep the rain off...it was open front and back but obviously it trapped enough exhaust to keep tripping the co sensor. After I get through cleaning up the yard I'm going to disable that stupid thing.

 

[dishstaller]

BTW, my neighbor just texted and said our power is back on. I'm going to keep the gen going for a bit longer because we have had the power come back on only to have it go back off 10 min later.

 

[dishstaller]

Most power has been restored. Most of the ones remaining without power are those who had trees come down in their yard on the power line or lived down a road with only one or two houses.

Went down to my Uncle's house in Santa Rosa Beach Monday afternoon to repoint his dish. He lives very close to the coast, about 1/4 mile north of hwy 98. There was virtually NO damage in the area they live. This made no sense....the hurricane made landfall just west of them. Their property is surrounded with pine trees of all sizes (not planted) and I didn't see a single one that had been blown down. Even the shopping centers around there were fully intact.....all the landscaped trees were perfect and didn't see a single sign messed up. Drive back up to where I live, 40 miles northeasat, and there are downed trees everywhere. Hurricanes can really be strange. Kinda like those pics of tornado damage where you'll see a whole neighborhood flattened but there will be a couple homes that weren't even missing shingles off the roof.