We finally have electricity!! We were not prepared!!

**Buckeye5** · 09-19-2008, 10:07 AM

Well, I live in eastern Ohio in the rural area. On Sunday, without warning except 1 hour before electric went kaput, there was a wind advisory from Ike. It wasn't supposed to affect us. Well, guess what, late last night we got power restored at our house. It was a surprise for most of us Buckeyes. We had to borrow a generator, hook it up to our freezer and frdge, there was no school until yesterday, and today we had 2 hours delays because of getting ready in the dark. Anyway, 2 weeks ago we had to purchase a new hot water tank, and debated on whther to get an electric one because of the cost of propane, which is what we had for 20 years, we decided to stick with propane. Thank God. Because we had hot water and running water since we are on a county water system. 12 people were using our showers and toilets. I will now purchase a generator for our family when we get the $$, I will own a bettery operated radio, and always have propane hot water, and purchase some oil lamps for my house. 98 hours without power makes you learn a few lessons. On the good side, we had some good conversations with our children, and I now know why the Amish have some many kids, there isn't much else to do in the dark. HAHAHA.

**Parksfamily5** · 09-19-2008, 11:12 AM

Glad to hear things are getting back in order for you. You do not really expect to be hit by a hurricane in Ohio. We were lucky here and never lost power. Our school was out for one day due to no power. Glad to hear that you were still able to have hot water.

**Persimmon Lace** · 09-19-2008, 11:59 AM

Sorry about the electric! But this is reason number 278 why we all need to be prepared!

**my4littlebuffaloes** · 09-19-2008, 12:25 PM

Wow, that is a long time! Ike took us by surprise too and we were without power for 3 hours. Nothing compared to many. But I discovered that when we have no power, we have no water. that was a shock! Ds's school had the roof ripped right off and deposited at the front door. Surprisingly they only missed 1 day of school. Dh still had school and taught for 3 days with no power.

We did have a tree come partially uprooted and was leaning towards the power lines. We had to pay someone $300 to take it down safely. I watched and got some new tips and ideas for when we take down trees.

Hope you didn't lose any food and glad to see power is back on for you.

**HisDaisy** · 09-19-2008, 12:25 PM

I am glad to hear that you are doing OK. I am not sure how prepared I would be to lose power for that long.

**DJ1972** · 09-19-2008, 02:26 PM

We were without power for 2 1/2 days, and we don't have a generator either. Luckily, the upright freezer was needing to be defrosted so we had used all but 4 packs of meat out of it..so we didn't lose as much as some people did. I had plenty of candles and and a battery operated radio. It was a quiet couple of days, lol. My yard still looks horrbile and the fence is smashed in a couple of places, so we have our weekend planned. It could have been much worse, so we are gratefull.

**Jenna_Army_Wife** · 09-19-2008, 03:39 PM

Glad yours is back on! We lost power for 21 hours from Sunday to Monday. As of Wednesday, I had friends and family still without it themselves. It's so hit and miss - my friend has neighbors who have power, my family was able to save their food by taking it to their church and use the fridge/freezer (my dad's the pastor). One area will be out, another will have never lost power!

We have a large, uprooted tree in our front yard that fell on the power line. A truck came out to trim some of the branches off the line on Tuesday, but the rest of the tree is still there, blocking everyone's view from pulling out.

**voodidit** · 09-19-2008, 05:38 PM

I'm just happy you guys are okay!

**Lady_V** · 09-19-2008, 06:03 PM

Originally Posted by Buckeye5

and I now know why the Amish have some many kids, there isn't much else to do in the dark. HAHAHA.

I wonder, in 9 months, how many boys will be named Ike?

Glad you made it through it and had some family bonding. Bonus!

**Pemberleyan** · 09-19-2008, 06:17 PM

I would not have thought you would have been affected that far north. I know you're glad to have power back.

We live about a 5-hour drive from the gulf coast, and when Ivan came through, we learned our lesson and purchased two generators. We were wihtout power and water for 80 hours, so we were more prepared when Katrina hit. We have gas hot water also.

**guest002** · 09-19-2008, 06:40 PM

Power outages is one of the main reasons I prefer gas stove-tops and gas water heaters. You can cook and clean w/ out power. Thank goodness for hot showers! When dh gets out of the Air Force I want to get a generator that is installed to our home. The kind that run off of natural gas and auto switch on with losing power.
http://www.homegeneratorsystems.com/...orks/index.cfm

Here's a great radio that I want to get for outages & camping.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/FR150-Solar-Powered-Self-Powered-Weatherband-Flashlight/dp/B0014SWPO6/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3VNKLWPLS63J1&colid=3CHGMTV3UIFI3"]Amazon.com: American Red Cross FR150 Microlink Solar-Powered, Self-Powered AM/FM/Weatherband Portable Radio with Flashlight and Cell Phone Charger (Red): Electronics[/ame]

**Texasgirl** · 09-19-2008, 08:24 PM

Glad you got your power back on.

**lisettelovebug** · 09-19-2008, 10:54 PM

We didn't get any rain here in upstate NY (southern tier area). But we got wind! Around 12:30 am the power went out and then tried to come on a few times before deciding to stay out for several hours. I'm not sure what time it came back on but it was back on before 8 am. Here I am doing homework (I know - pretty late to be doing homework but I have to do it after the kids go to bed) and when the lights went out I had to use my laptop as a lightsource to go get the matches to light the candles lol

- which luckily I always have a couple on our entertainment stand. I tried to stay up and study but it was just too hard to read by candle light..

**Buckeye5** · 09-20-2008, 05:24 PM

Thanks to everyone for all of the well wishes. My friends down the road still don't have power, and it will be 7 days tomorrow. I will be better prepared and I too, will keep the gas hot water. We still have some clean up to do, but it can wait a bit. Yes, Ohio is usually affected from weather from Texas, ec. especailly our big snow storms. But we usually don't have such high winds, especailly when it caught everyone, (the state of Ohio) to be exact off guard. Anyway, thanks again to all of you for the well wishes.

**madhen** · 09-20-2008, 05:35 PM

The longest I've been without power is four days. I heated water on the woodstove and happily, the ice chests kept the refrigerated food cold. I just left the freezers shut. Because it was the middle of winter, things stayed pretty cold.

I was prepared then, but not as prepared as I am now for the same thing, should it happen this year. That is the nice thing about going without for a few days, I suppose. It both teaches you that it is possible and helps you prepare better for the eventuality!