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As some of you know, the Puget Sound Region (Seattle, et al) suffered a devastating windstorm last Thursday night. The highest wind gusts recorded ranged from 66 mph up to 88 mph (over on the coast). Two inches of rain fell in one hour. Many trees came down. Four people died during the storm (from homes or vehicles being struck by falling trees). The Seattle Times published a photo of a house with ten trees fallen on/into it.
At the height of the storm, over 1.5 million households were without power.
There are still 120,000 households without power this morning, five-and-a-half days later.
(We, BTW, are just fine. No damage, and our power was only out for 15 hours.)
Due to my fascination with disaster preparedness, I've been observing the aftermath closely. Here, in no particular order, are the key points.
Hundreds of people have been hospitalized for carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, and 6 or 7 have died. Many of them are immigrants with poor English speaking/reading skills. ALL were using an inappropriate heating source indoors. Some were burning charcoal inside for warmth. One family was running a generator in the garage, with the garage door open. The mother, father and two of the sons are dead. A third son is in critical condition. The fourth son, lives at college.
There have been several house fires. One occured when an electric stove burner was inadvertently turned on during the power outage. When the power was restored, no one was home and items on/near that burner started the fire.
On Friday & Saturday, the first two days after the storm, grocery stores were out of certain items. In some cases, supplies had been purchased by earlier shoppers. In other cases, the store lacked refrigeration and had to discard perishables. Items in short supply were milk, produce, meat, and seafood.
Other items in short supply were candles, propane cook stoves, and generators.
Store were also without power. An employee walked each customer thru the store to select their items. Payment was by cash only.
On Friday, I drove thru my suburban business district. Every single restaurant had a full parking lot. The drive-thru line at fast food restaurants extended out onto the street.
Gasoline is in short supply, and prices have increased. Even today, there are stations with no gas. Because of the wide-spread power outages, there were many stations with gasoline, but no electricity to get that gas into a customer's car or gas cans. Consequently, people drove long distances (10-25 miles) to stations with power. Those stations then quickly ran out of gas. Several people commented that they hadn't seen gas lines like this since the Carter administration (1976 for you young-uns). I wonder if some of the gas shortage is also due to so much generator use.
The hotels with power are booked - not so much the first night or two, but after 2 - 3 day without power, folks reached the limit of their ability to cope and sought rooms with heat and power.
Puget Sound air quality was 'dangerous for sensitive groups' (like people with asthma) for several days, due to a combination of dry, still weather (rather than windy & rainy) and so much woodstove/fireplace use.
- - - - - - -
This really was only a minor event, but the cascade of after-events has been interesting to observe. Please read each and learn from it. Think about how you could better ride out such a storm.
Here are some of my key preparations:
We have a propane heater that is rated FOR indoor use (from Mr. Heater). We also have a CO detector just for when we use that heater. I keep the detector and a set of batteries in the box with the heater.
Our smoke detectors are battery operated. We NEVER leave a lit candle or lamp without adult supervision.
I have a good pantry stockpile of food. I also have at least three days of food that can be eaten without any cooking or preparation. Sure, some things would taste better if warmed on my camp stove (used OUTSIDE), but they could be eaten cold.
We keep our camping stuff, such as candles, lanterns, and propane cookstove, for use in a power outage.
We also keep cash in our house safe for use in this sort of event.
We keep our gas tanks at a half-tank or more. We also have a couple of full gas cans stored. If you store gas, it should be rotated frequently.
I make sure we have plenty of asthma medicine on hand (for both me and one daughter).
Hope this helps somebody.
At the height of the storm, over 1.5 million households were without power.
There are still 120,000 households without power this morning, five-and-a-half days later.
(We, BTW, are just fine. No damage, and our power was only out for 15 hours.)
Due to my fascination with disaster preparedness, I've been observing the aftermath closely. Here, in no particular order, are the key points.
Hundreds of people have been hospitalized for carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, and 6 or 7 have died. Many of them are immigrants with poor English speaking/reading skills. ALL were using an inappropriate heating source indoors. Some were burning charcoal inside for warmth. One family was running a generator in the garage, with the garage door open. The mother, father and two of the sons are dead. A third son is in critical condition. The fourth son, lives at college.
There have been several house fires. One occured when an electric stove burner was inadvertently turned on during the power outage. When the power was restored, no one was home and items on/near that burner started the fire.
On Friday & Saturday, the first two days after the storm, grocery stores were out of certain items. In some cases, supplies had been purchased by earlier shoppers. In other cases, the store lacked refrigeration and had to discard perishables. Items in short supply were milk, produce, meat, and seafood.
Other items in short supply were candles, propane cook stoves, and generators.
Store were also without power. An employee walked each customer thru the store to select their items. Payment was by cash only.
On Friday, I drove thru my suburban business district. Every single restaurant had a full parking lot. The drive-thru line at fast food restaurants extended out onto the street.
Gasoline is in short supply, and prices have increased. Even today, there are stations with no gas. Because of the wide-spread power outages, there were many stations with gasoline, but no electricity to get that gas into a customer's car or gas cans. Consequently, people drove long distances (10-25 miles) to stations with power. Those stations then quickly ran out of gas. Several people commented that they hadn't seen gas lines like this since the Carter administration (1976 for you young-uns). I wonder if some of the gas shortage is also due to so much generator use.
The hotels with power are booked - not so much the first night or two, but after 2 - 3 day without power, folks reached the limit of their ability to cope and sought rooms with heat and power.
Puget Sound air quality was 'dangerous for sensitive groups' (like people with asthma) for several days, due to a combination of dry, still weather (rather than windy & rainy) and so much woodstove/fireplace use.
- - - - - - -
This really was only a minor event, but the cascade of after-events has been interesting to observe. Please read each and learn from it. Think about how you could better ride out such a storm.
Here are some of my key preparations:
We have a propane heater that is rated FOR indoor use (from Mr. Heater). We also have a CO detector just for when we use that heater. I keep the detector and a set of batteries in the box with the heater.
Our smoke detectors are battery operated. We NEVER leave a lit candle or lamp without adult supervision.
I have a good pantry stockpile of food. I also have at least three days of food that can be eaten without any cooking or preparation. Sure, some things would taste better if warmed on my camp stove (used OUTSIDE), but they could be eaten cold.
We keep our camping stuff, such as candles, lanterns, and propane cookstove, for use in a power outage.
We also keep cash in our house safe for use in this sort of event.
We keep our gas tanks at a half-tank or more. We also have a couple of full gas cans stored. If you store gas, it should be rotated frequently.
I make sure we have plenty of asthma medicine on hand (for both me and one daughter).
Hope this helps somebody.
Oh and she wanted a gas stove as opposed to an electric, which she has now, but hadn't gotten around to ordering one yet. Yep you guessed it, first thing when things return to normal there, she is ordering a gas stove. 
