14 hours in Hell, 4 days to Home

Wait.. Please don't mind me asking this but..

Do you live in a trailer?

reply to post by AxlJones

Actually... yes I do. Where else would a redneck live?

TheRedneck

reply to post by kadyr80

Absolutely I am one of the lucky ones! We both know what kind of devastation affected different areas. Harvest simply isn't there, and Anderson Hills no longer has roofs, a Piggly Wiggly, or a gas station.

I hadn't heard about Huntsville still having areas out of power. I had assumed (apparently incorrectly) that they would get it before we did.

If you guys need anything over there, let me know. You already have a u2u.

TheRedneck

reply to post by TheRedneck


In september of 2008,we had a bad wind storm from
a hurricane in the gulf.Our community was without
power for at least 4 days.I didn't panic or go nuts
because of the power being out.I looked around my
house to see what I could use.

I have been a floral designer and wedding consultant.
In my inventory,I had a case of chaffing dish fuel and
lots of candles.I have a smooth surface stove top.I took
2-2"x4"x12" boards and placed one of the oven racks
ontop of the boards.I put two of the chaffing dish fuel cans
under the rack and I was able to cook and heat water.

Our water heater was gas and I could wash dishes and
we could wash up in the sink.The candles supplied our
light and my alarm clocks are always battery operated.
We can learn a lot from disasters that come our way.We
just have to learn not to panic and figure out what we need
to do.

Redneck, it's really good to hear from you.

And, although I'm not religious, I have to thank any and all Gods (and/or Godesses) responsible for keeping you and yours safe.


I'm a city boy myself, but I guess there's no denying that line from an older country song...

"A Country Boy Can.."'


You sure enough have proved that!

Thanks for your account.

I have tried in some of the survival threads to emphasize community as one of the main responses to disasters but the message just isn't getting through to some people who's idea of survival is "a full tank of gas, a rifle and hit the road".

I'm glad to hear that you came through relatively unscathed (even the rabbits).

Cheers!

Glad to hear that you and your family are well.. Along with didnt get much damage (compared to the rest of the area there) am not sure if you can get them there in the states - but there are solar power chargers for mobiles that you can use to charge mobile phones with. I got one at a shop in tokyo that am using think you might be able to find one on ebay..
It works quite well and keeps the batt. on my mobile charged up. No place for me to charge at present otherwise so its a handy thing to have. Oh and it does work for most models of mobile phones.

reply to post by Expat888

It's a bit ironic you should say that.... I actually have some solar cells in my shop, but without power to run the soldering iron, I can't connect a wire to them. That's one lesson I learned: get a microtorch iron for when there's no power. Had I had one, I would have made my own charger.

TheRedneck

reply to post by TheRedneck


I just dont know what to say right now, did thumper make it? Also good to know you guys survived and that you have come out of this wiser and more understanding of your priorities.

What an amazing journey you just took 'me' on, I mean to say the way you recalled all of this pulled me right in there with you, your wife, kids, family and neighbors.

God Bless.

Originally posted by TheRedneck
reply to post by Expat888

It's a bit ironic you should say that.... I actually have some solar cells in my shop, but without power to run the soldering iron, I can't connect a wire to them. That's one lesson I learned: get a microtorch iron for when there's no power. Had I had one, I would have made my own charger.

TheRedneck

Had found it by accident was looking for spare batts. to take with me as been assisting and search for relatives lost around fukushima .. The guy at the shop recommended the solar charger to me (lol am slow when it comes to modern tech - for the most part I still live a 17th century lifestyle at home as the only modern tech have there is solar panel for lights and my mobile )
Ahh.. Ok its good you have the skill to make one wouldnt even know where to start on it. The microtorch sounds like a handy tool to have around ..
Will try find a link later for the solar chargers for people - hadnt even thought about it till read about your experience and what you did to charge your phone then realised it would be something that might help others in similar situations.. Hope making sense my english is rusty

Being a rural guy myself and having worked mining in remote areas and have always noticed that rural folks make do and city folk wait in the dark for help.

For 5 years i lived in a small mining town in the Sierras of Calif and we had 2 to 4 day power outs every winter.

Did things come to a stop no we banded together and went right along with making do till the power was back.

No one had a problem with no grid power many of us had cat batteries on trickle chargers ready and inverters to run lights, TV from the cat batteries when the grid went down.

reply to post by TheRedneck

Hi.
I like your writing style Redneck. I'm glad you and yours made it through this wild event.

I believe in miracles. I have a 20 watt solar system; for my little trolling boat. I totally wish I could unplug from the grid though entirely. Is there a place called Harbor Freight Tools in your area? That's where I get my solar components. It's relatively inexpensive=get what you pay for/save your receipt type of gig.

Times are scary these days. I appreciate you, (and alot of ATS members) for this community we all share.

Hmmm well okay... your off the hook for vanishing. You know you had a lot of people concerned

Glad to see you made it through the ordeal That is quite a story.

As to the Fukushima mess... no worries... TEPCO is planning to pour more water to cool the reactors and work is hampered by high radiation... in other words, you haven't missed a thing

Originally posted by ANNED
No one had a problem with no grid power many of us had cat batteries on trickle chargers ready and inverters to run lights, TV from the cat batteries when the grid went down.

Actually a bank of old car batteries is a really good thing to have... Back in Toronto the Ferries to the islands use a 12 volt system for lights etc. You can buy 60 watt 12 volt light bulbs for trailers etc... They make a really great backup system when the lights go out... and you can trickle charge the batteries with one of these



I think they can also pump of a gallon or too of water in a pinch

We have our propane grill but I also put in a wood burning stove last year and a wood burning fire pit. Both actually save a ton of power as well as act for emergency

You can also buy an inverter for your car... about $20.00



This one is 150 watts, you can get them higher. I had one wired direct to my ralley car and could run power tools . You need to be sure to have some jerry cans on hand, but that is a smart idea anyway

An inverter will turn any car into a small generator

reply to post by TheRedneck


Redneck,

First let me say its great to hear from you, many of us were concerned...

Best wishes to you and your wife, as youpb[ heal from everything that has come your way the last few
weeks. You have been in the thick of it, its wonderful to hear your all ok, and thanks for sharing your
story with ATS.

Originally posted by TheRedneck
Knowledge is power. I was able to maintain communication because I knew how to make a busted inverter work again. I managed to get a little water because I knew how to make a well pump run on what I had available.

I learned that disaster can come swiftly, before you can even know it has hit.

I learned that we are so dependent on power for so many things. We as a society live on the edge of a blade, teetering to keep our balance. Just because we held on for a long time does not mean we are not vulnerable.

And I learned community is essential. My friend needed my help and I needed his. My mother and stepfather could do little for themselves and needed all the help they could get. Sitting around a campfire sipping a cold brew that one night, my friend said it best:

"We survive together, or we go down together."

This whole post was excellent, but I'm giving S&F for this part especially. Thanks for the first-hand account; it's the first one I've seen.

I grew up with my dad being a jack-of-all-trades and my husband is also. When did it go out of fashion for men (and women!) to know how to do REAL things? These are skills that can become necessary when you least expect them.

reply to post by TheRedneck


Glad to see you here again. Also I'm a new member on 99% just reading I started to miss your posts. Also a very well written documentation of the hell you went through. I believe that most people never think about the possibility that they have to live without electricity and fresh water and it can hit everyone everywhere just in the next second.
There was a great story a few month back of a guy trying to build his own toaster from zero. You might think that's an easy task as you just take some wires, plastic......but how to produce these wires? We all know that you can buy those stuff somewhere but what to do if those manufacturing plants are gone? Who is really able to get a fire burning without a match (I'm not sure if I can do that) or filter some water just using some layers of sand...

The next time we switch on the light we should remember what (once common) knowledge we already have forgotten.

reply to post by TheRedneck


Godspeed redneck. Im up in the TN MTNS. We were pretty lucky in our lil valley.

Good to see you safe there were quite some rumours about your whereabouts on ATS ....

Thank you for posting this, TR. The devastation that these storms brought will always be in my memory. My wife and I were on the front porch watching the sky light up. I was following the storms through Doppler Radar on my cell phone. One super cell was hitting the northwest corner of our county, heading northeast. Though the cell was about 5 miles away at its closest point, we could hear it. I have heard tornadoes before but this was so weird because I knew it was far enough away but to make so much noise. Whatever was in the way was going to be destroyed. This was the third tornado to hit within a few miles of my house since I moved to West Georgia in 2003. The other two tornadoes were much closer. One of them wiped out barns and houses for a few of our friends.

Now as for the most recent tornado, I was driving out to do a little damage assesment on Friday and managed to drive down state highway 100 which passes through that part of the map I was looking at on my radar (Link: Tornado Spots for 2011 Spring Storms). I had seen storm damage before but this literally looked as if a large bomb had been detonated. There were large trees snapped off, trunks stripped of bark and no evidence of the tree tops they once had. Only the foundation and footings of a house and large building were left, with bits and pieces of lumber scattered over an acre of area.

My prayers are going out to all who have been affected by this devastation.

On a lighter note, have you heard anything about the Unclaimed Baggage store in Scottsboro? My wife and I like to go there occasionally because if you look hard enough you can get some really cool stuff for very low prices! Of course, we also have to stop at Big Jim's Bama-Q in Hammondville because it is about the finest barbeque one will ever eat!

Peace!