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View Full Version : Ice ain't Nice- No Power!!! Disaster!!



DaveA
12-05-2002, 09:06 PM
Well, here I am running on battery power on the laptop, with the generator buzzing away outside trying to keep all the essentials going. Duke Power in NC/SC has over 1 MILLION customers without power and they're saying it's worse than Hurricane Hugo in 1989!!
Power failed at 230am here, and I got up to the sound of pine tops blowing out, sounding like bombs going off, huge branches hitting the ground all around, and me scared that the ole Raysoncraft sitting out in the woods across from the house was gonna be nailed. The neighbor's P/U and little Benz got hit by pines (after he moved them to the 'safe' part of the driveway) knocking all the glass out of the MB's backside.
I've got some 40' pine stumps out in the yard, along with power lines down from here to the main road. Boat cover is sagging under the weight of the ice, and the lake is seriously foggy here at midnight. The ONLY light on around here (exception being that I've got the only generator here, and my neighbor is running his fridge off of it) is the channel marker blinking eerily across the lake in the fog. Deadly quiet out here once the generator is shut off. I drove over to the west side of the lake (Denver NC to you locals) and there ain't no power over there nowhere. Plum weird in the foggy dark. Gotta know where you're going! No stop lites, no nothin! Serious blackout. yuk
I'll probably be without AC power for about a week. Last time it was 5 days, and during Hurricane Hugo, it was 11. :(
Anybody else got any power outage experiences today?
Powerless to do anything- DaveA :mad:

missilemud
12-05-2002, 09:12 PM
breaker breaker do you roger?

promod
12-06-2002, 04:34 AM
ha dave our power came on 4:00 this morning it was 47 deg in the house when the power came on
talk to ya later
promod

Liberator TJ1984
12-06-2002, 11:50 AM
You guys get all the fun stuff eek! all we ever get down here is coldass nasty drizzle/mud everywhere or 120* friggin heat waves :p

DaveA
12-06-2002, 08:52 PM
Day 2, Storm of the Century, Central North Carolina (well, it's only 2002, after all).
Got up to almost 40F today (RD, that's OUTSIDE the house BTW :D )and ice started dropping off trees to some extent. Still got branches coming down here and there. I wuz out pottying the Newfie about 11pm and saw a blue flash to the south. Another transformer.
Power utility Duke Energy sez they should have almost 90% of the over 1Mil customers up by WEDNESDAY NIGHT...yeah- I'll be in the 10% for sure. Well, this means Duke gets to spend all of that $150million excess profit that they told the NC Utilities Commission was an accounting error. Oooops. All you Left Coasters can thank them in part for your blackouts last year. Now we're having them. Still haven't seen any crews out hanging wire because wires are still snapping and falling here and there.
RD, the heater is LP powered in portable tanks. Knocks the chill off, and I can get the house up to about 65F consistently. I love that temp in the summer- somehow it doesn't have the same cachet in the "late fall" we're having. See there- that wasn't a stupid question! You got a serious answer, too. If this keeps up, I'll move somewhere where it doesn't get that cold outside the house, either.
MMud, we're having fun. Wish you were here. wink The striped bass fishing on Lake Norman must be good- besides there's nothing else for some guys to do but to get out on the lake and wet hooks. Gotta be cold running them wackas wide open down the lake in this weather.
ProMod! Dude! What's it like to have Real Heat?
New Charlotte area pickup line- "Hey, you got power? No? I do- need a place to stay??"
Stump- you stayin' warm? Kinda tough fixing HVAC with no ACV...(AC Voltage) :p
DaveA

76 Sleekcraft
12-09-2002, 04:34 AM
I am in charge of our citys water system. We had major malfunctions everywhere. Here it is on Monday and we are STILL running generators. I have also been awarded responsiblility for our County Wide 911 radio system power. That means I get to refuel the generator at the radio system.
We came within a gnats ass of running out of water. It was a scary situation, one that I hope never repeats itself. Winter Sucks, but I guess most folks know that. :D

Jetpilot
12-09-2002, 11:04 AM
76Sleekcraft,
I personally want to thank you for saving the water system. I just got my power back on Saturday and I really would be bummed to come home to no water as well :( . By the way, have you seen the jet boat for sale on RT 62 behind the Food Lion? Not exactly high performance but a family boat for sure. Keep dodging those tree branches! :D

DaveA
12-09-2002, 07:30 PM
Power came back on Sunday AM...Wife's relieved.
I don't look good in a beard.
76 Sleekcraft- since you're in the water business, did you ever know a Tommy Bailey in Durham that ran the municipal system there?
DaveA

76 Sleekcraft
12-10-2002, 04:26 AM
I saw that jet boat. It really bummed me out. I must have been the last guy to see it, because when I went to get it, it was already gone!
It was a turd boat, but it had a good running 460 and a berkeley pump. Selling price? $ 400!
Man, I always miss the good ones.
Dave A I have met him, it was a while back.