Storm
- Thread starter Thyra
- Start date
Just got some propane! ($350 f0r 100g) Ran out completely 3 days ago. Covered the fish with heavy towels and hoped for the best. I just uncovered them and neons, serpaes, angels and all but one female betta are accounted for. Can't do to much messing round with the tanks yet because I have NO water - at least not for fish tanks. Temp in the larger tanks stayed at about 69, but the smaller tanks were down to 65. They were not in the room with the wood stove. They are estimating Wed. for power. They have crews in from all over the west working, but it was a really dangerous situation and another wind storm is due tomorrow.
I have seen three feet of snow as a kid in North WI., but this was different. It was so wet and heavy. We had a white pine my Mom had planted as a seedling from our farm in WI. It had grown to be about 50 feet tall outside our bedroom window and was beautiful. All that is left is a pole with a few little branches near the top! The woods around here look like we had a hurricane. It was so bad on Friday, I couldn't get our dogs to go outside because it sounded like we were on a rifle range with the limbs breaking! Didn't matter much when the noise finally died down - The 9 inches of snow had an ice crust on it about 3/4 inch thick that they would break through and be up to their bellies and couldn't pee anyway! Now the clean up begins - well, not quite - I still need water, but at least I can see to try to pick up the kitchen and I have a little table top stove that I can heat enough water on to wash some knives and forks.
I have seen three feet of snow as a kid in North WI., but this was different. It was so wet and heavy. We had a white pine my Mom had planted as a seedling from our farm in WI. It had grown to be about 50 feet tall outside our bedroom window and was beautiful. All that is left is a pole with a few little branches near the top! The woods around here look like we had a hurricane. It was so bad on Friday, I couldn't get our dogs to go outside because it sounded like we were on a rifle range with the limbs breaking! Didn't matter much when the noise finally died down - The 9 inches of snow had an ice crust on it about 3/4 inch thick that they would break through and be up to their bellies and couldn't pee anyway! Now the clean up begins - well, not quite - I still need water, but at least I can see to try to pick up the kitchen and I have a little table top stove that I can heat enough water on to wash some knives and forks.
Thanks for all the good wishes! THE POWER JUST CAME ON!! It looks like the total loss in my tanks is one female betta. She was obviously full size so I don't know how old she was, but I had her for about 6 - 8 months I think. I have a lot to catch up on - refrigerator, freezer, etc. before I can get to the fish. There is suppose to be a wind problem tomorrow so I will hope for the best and if all goes well I will get to water changes tomorrow - somehow I think my shower is first on the agenda!!
Hello; Same here in northeastern Tennessee. Clear and in the high 50's today in january. Had spring like thunder storms in the last week.
Had the worst flooding on record here last summer. I was careful when buying my house a couple of years ago to be well away from any flood zones as I did expect extreme flooding events. One place I passed on was in fact flooded. We also had an unusally high number of tornadoes in the last few years. After including environmental units in my classes for over 30 years, I take the prospect of an induced climate change seriously. I also included some consideration of storm patterns and bought a brick house with a full basement including a reinforced area to hide in during storms.
I plan to get a coal/wood stove at some point after I get the chimney fixed to have some sort of heat with power outages.
I have gone to light stocking densities in my tanks in part to aid with extended power outages. When the power goes out the low densities help a tank stay good a bit longer. I also do not feed when the power is off.
Glad to hear the snow storm did not take a lot of fish.
Had the worst flooding on record here last summer. I was careful when buying my house a couple of years ago to be well away from any flood zones as I did expect extreme flooding events. One place I passed on was in fact flooded. We also had an unusally high number of tornadoes in the last few years. After including environmental units in my classes for over 30 years, I take the prospect of an induced climate change seriously. I also included some consideration of storm patterns and bought a brick house with a full basement including a reinforced area to hide in during storms.
I plan to get a coal/wood stove at some point after I get the chimney fixed to have some sort of heat with power outages.
I have gone to light stocking densities in my tanks in part to aid with extended power outages. When the power goes out the low densities help a tank stay good a bit longer. I also do not feed when the power is off.
Glad to hear the snow storm did not take a lot of fish.
Here in the south we know in advance about hurricanes so I take advantage of that. I have several converters to make 12 volts to 110 ac volts (house voltage) and a hand full of Brink timers. I also have batteries that I can take out of tractors and such to use to power these converters. I am able to have one heater and pump on each tank. With the timers I am able to get a couple+ days-ish on each tank of power. The temp here is not much of a problem so the heaters will not run much if any as I have them set a little lower then normal anyway just to save battery power.
If there is no warning:
I also have a hundred gallons of water reserve for my fish on hand all the time as well from my RO/DI unit. Its all sealed and covered so it can be used by humans and other pets to. Along with that I have shortwave radio receivers that can run on house or car power plus I have a range of CB and Ham radios for emergency communications that can be ran from home or car. If all goes bad I can keep my family of 6 going with no help for about 60 days before I would need to venture out hunting food and taking fuel sources from abandoned places.
If there is no warning:
I also have a hundred gallons of water reserve for my fish on hand all the time as well from my RO/DI unit. Its all sealed and covered so it can be used by humans and other pets to. Along with that I have shortwave radio receivers that can run on house or car power plus I have a range of CB and Ham radios for emergency communications that can be ran from home or car. If all goes bad I can keep my family of 6 going with no help for about 60 days before I would need to venture out hunting food and taking fuel sources from abandoned places.
Wow, so much back up. I love it!! I don't know what I would do. My dad has a generator and we always have at least 25 gallons of bottled water (in 5 gallon bottles might I add) and I would probably take about 3-4 of my tanks (I'm saving the 55g, even if I'm not using it!!) and "super cycle" them. As in, I would stick a while bunch of media in my filter and tank. I would for the best.
If there was no warning:
I would grab 1-2 10g, my filters, my heaters, fill up the water to minimal level, and grab either my favorite fish, or try to shove them all in the two tanks. For transport initially, I will just stick them in a few 5g buckets and monitor the temp. I would probably have to put my shrimp in a bag though, there's no way I'm letting those little monsters get to me innocent shrimpies.
Although, I might have the problem of my dad forcing me to leave my fish and just save my beardie, dog, and 2 cats. I would still grab my 3 goldfish, 6 kuhlis, and dwarf gourami though.
By the way, I used to have 6 goldfish, but they went on to decorate my God-father's new 4,500g pond. They love it!! They also live with some other Fancy Goldfish and Koi now (a few of them being over 50 years old!!). I might put up since pictures, and I might end up swiping a Koi fry. I'll only keep it for a while, then when it reaches about 4-5 inches I'll put it back in. I just want some variety. Is this a bad idea??
If there was no warning:
I would grab 1-2 10g, my filters, my heaters, fill up the water to minimal level, and grab either my favorite fish, or try to shove them all in the two tanks. For transport initially, I will just stick them in a few 5g buckets and monitor the temp. I would probably have to put my shrimp in a bag though, there's no way I'm letting those little monsters get to me innocent shrimpies.
Although, I might have the problem of my dad forcing me to leave my fish and just save my beardie, dog, and 2 cats. I would still grab my 3 goldfish, 6 kuhlis, and dwarf gourami though.
By the way, I used to have 6 goldfish, but they went on to decorate my God-father's new 4,500g pond. They love it!! They also live with some other Fancy Goldfish and Koi now (a few of them being over 50 years old!!). I might put up since pictures, and I might end up swiping a Koi fry.
I'll only keep it for a while, then when it reaches about 4-5 inches I'll put it back in. I just want some variety. Is this a bad idea??One thing I discovered in a serious emergency is you can not count on phones. You are basically on your own. Twice I have been involved in an earthquake situation and the phone lines got absolutely jammed. The last one was more recent when people had cell phones and they were useless. Also something to remember is most businesses have intercoms with their phone systems and with no power, they are also useless, so if you are at work or your kids are in school - there is no communication. You really think you can go 60 days on 100g of water? You won't be flushing any toilets, although I would suppose you would built a latrine. Refrigeration is a big problem so you would need to have a lot of canned or freeze dried foods. I don't know about 12V batteries, but I know in our travel trailer no matter how careful I am, I don't think I could stretch it out a week. You, (Kerry) would probably not have to worry about keeping warm, but there is the problem of keeping fish cool. People would probably survive the heat - maybe, but I'll bet tempers would get short. Cash registers and fuel pumps don't work. Generators take gas or propane and because fuel pumps didn't work some of our neighbors had to draw $6 a gallon fuel from their planes. Medicine can become a problem because insurance companies frequently won't cover more than 30 days and you can usually only get a new supply a certain number of days ahead, so a person could really get caught short in a major thing like Katrina or an earthquake.
In the approximately 6 days the power was out, there was no milk, bottled water, or frozen foods available. Nothing was open in Yelm and the Olympia grocers were dumping or giving away their frozen foods by the second day. When there was partial power in Olympia the drive ins were mobbed. Interestingly - and it drove my husband crazy because he is a medical courier - the streets were grid locked in places because people wanted to use the drive in windows at fast food places rather then park and go in. They were lined up for blocks on the streets. Some waited - in their cars - for 2 hours for food. Husband stopped for chicken one night, parked went in and was out in 5 minutes, but others were lined up at the drive in windows as far as he could see.
At the moment, the wind is blowing and I hear thunder (not common out here like in the mid west and particularly this time of year) We have been warned there are still a lot of dangling limps that could cause more power outages. I have propane and about 30g of water sitting around the house. We also found those jump start units we carry in our cars will run a trouble light for quite a while. Bet it would also run an aquarium heater if it came to that!
In the approximately 6 days the power was out, there was no milk, bottled water, or frozen foods available. Nothing was open in Yelm and the Olympia grocers were dumping or giving away their frozen foods by the second day. When there was partial power in Olympia the drive ins were mobbed. Interestingly - and it drove my husband crazy because he is a medical courier - the streets were grid locked in places because people wanted to use the drive in windows at fast food places rather then park and go in. They were lined up for blocks on the streets. Some waited - in their cars - for 2 hours for food. Husband stopped for chicken one night, parked went in and was out in 5 minutes, but others were lined up at the drive in windows as far as he could see.
At the moment, the wind is blowing and I hear thunder (not common out here like in the mid west and particularly this time of year) We have been warned there are still a lot of dangling limps that could cause more power outages. I have propane and about 30g of water sitting around the house. We also found those jump start units we carry in our cars will run a trouble light for quite a while. Bet it would also run an aquarium heater if it came to that!
Hello; Short answer is that in a situation where I needed to actually leave my house, the fish would likely be left one their own. Ther is little of practical value that can be done if my house cannot be lived in. I keep both vehicles close to full of fuel by filling up when they get down to 3/4 tank.
I have several weeks of canned or dried foods. ( This, by the way, is one of the criteria for US citizens being detained as a terrorist under the recent defense bill signed into law.) I do not keep a lot of frozen food as loss of power is likely to be a deciding factor on being able to stay. With power I can stay if the house is sound at all.
I have over twenty gallons of water on hand for water tank water changes that will be used for drinking. Fish tank water can be boiled for drinking as well.
I also have the means to protect myself.
I have several weeks of canned or dried foods. ( This, by the way, is one of the criteria for US citizens being detained as a terrorist under the recent defense bill signed into law.) I do not keep a lot of frozen food as loss of power is likely to be a deciding factor on being able to stay. With power I can stay if the house is sound at all.
I have over twenty gallons of water on hand for water tank water changes that will be used for drinking. Fish tank water can be boiled for drinking as well.
I also have the means to protect myself.
I am glad to hear things are getting back to normal in your area. Times like these are hard for sure and stressful as well.
You are right the 100G would not go long and it would only be used for human consumption and we have about 60 days of canned and freeze dried food just in case. The first year we moved to Louisiana we had Katrina about a month later, this was a wake-up call for me. We where only down for about 4 days so that was no problem. After that I have a PTO driven pump I can hook to my tractor to get water from my creek and a small PTO generator that can run a pump on a water well (or other household appliances to) so we could have water from the any of the neighbors wells. The tractor will also recharge the 12 volt batteries to. I dont have much fuel storage though, only 70 Gallons which should stretch 60 days. Another good point Thyra makes is the phones, worthless in most emergencies. This is when transceivers (radios, CB and Ham type) work great. Medicine is another good point. It sounds crazy but we are stocked up on Meds from the Farm supply store for Horses and livestock. During an emergency its would be hard to get meds and not to mention impossible to get prescription drugs like antibiotics and such. I guess I am a bit different then most others as I feel a HUGE scene of urgency to be able to care for my family in case of any emergency. I cannot bring myself depend on the local government for help, that just puts a knot in my stomach to think that I was going to put the fate of my family in someone else's hands. LOL, I know kind of strange but, its just me.
You are right the 100G would not go long and it would only be used for human consumption and we have about 60 days of canned and freeze dried food just in case. The first year we moved to Louisiana we had Katrina about a month later, this was a wake-up call for me. We where only down for about 4 days so that was no problem. After that I have a PTO driven pump I can hook to my tractor to get water from my creek and a small PTO generator that can run a pump on a water well (or other household appliances to) so we could have water from the any of the neighbors wells. The tractor will also recharge the 12 volt batteries to. I dont have much fuel storage though, only 70 Gallons which should stretch 60 days. Another good point Thyra makes is the phones, worthless in most emergencies. This is when transceivers (radios, CB and Ham type) work great. Medicine is another good point. It sounds crazy but we are stocked up on Meds from the Farm supply store for Horses and livestock. During an emergency its would be hard to get meds and not to mention impossible to get prescription drugs like antibiotics and such. I guess I am a bit different then most others as I feel a HUGE scene of urgency to be able to care for my family in case of any emergency. I cannot bring myself depend on the local government for help, that just puts a knot in my stomach to think that I was going to put the fate of my family in someone else's hands. LOL, I know kind of strange but, its just me.
Why does everyone have horses and not me!?!? lol I'm determined to get my Friesians!! Haha
Sounds like you guys have everything figured out. My uncle, who lives in Texas (I'm gonna be visiting him in March), stayed outside his house during Katrina in a pick-up truck. He had 3 large 80+ lb dogs with bottled waterand canned food in his trunk and he had to stay like that for a few weeks.
Sounds like you guys have everything figured out. My uncle, who lives in Texas (I'm gonna be visiting him in March
), stayed outside his house during Katrina in a pick-up truck. He had 3 large 80+ lb dogs with bottled waterand canned food in his trunk and he had to stay like that for a few weeks.I had horses for years. We raised them, we rode in the mountains, we showed them. I had my original horse for over 30 years and brought her with me from WI in a little wood trailer way back when people thought we were just crazy kids! Times changed and it became more difficult to find the time or space to give the horses. None of our kids were "horsey" and eventually we sold all the horses. It hurts to see the neglected horses in this area. Seems like everyone wants a horse - people actually give them away or animal services takes them when they are neglected, because they don't realize how much it costs to keep a horse now days. (I am sure it would cost at least $300 a month just for feeding in this area.) And they try to keep them in a small lot which soon becomes mud up to their knees all day and everyday and pretty they have foot and other vet problems.