My NEGAs! Region 2 ice storm preps and update.

[Lilburner]

So I got through the winter storm pretty unscathed. Didn't lose power or anything.

I knew I was going to be hit. They all but showed pictures of my house on the news as the epicenter for everything. I wasn't too worried. I got preps. Until yesterday morning when they said 2 to 5 inches of ice.

I have three major memories of ice storms, and they all resulted in a 3-7 day loss of power. And I'm literally at the end of nowhere. I would be absolutely last priority to have power restored. So then I kicked it into high gear. Not just to have the preps, but to have everything organized. I was facing a near-certain power outage.

I fueled up the truck. Got some reasonable extension cords, that weren't 100 ft 10 gauge or ones that had wandered off and been repurposed. Added a few extra battery lights. So those will go into a kit just for power outages.

I was pleased to find out that my generator maintenance skills were on point. I picked the generator I wanted to use and it started on the second crank. People tend to overlook generator maintenance, and it can really kick you in the butt when it comes time to need it. So I brought that up to the house. Got 10 gallons of gas. Then I have some dual fuel generators I could fall back on with I think 240 lb of propane on site.

Parked a trailer load of stove wood under tarp right next to my porch steps.

Bolstered my bottled water by filling up gallon jugs and two liter soda bottles for cooking. I used cat litter jugs to store water for flushing the toilet.

Made sure my Ryobi 18V batteries were charged up. Readied all my countertop cooking options - air fryer, instant pot, panini grill. Dug out and inventoried all my arctic gear.

All-in-all I felt confident and prepared. I could have had a fire started and the fridge running within about 15 minutes. It's a great feeling!

The only thing I wish I had done different was to bring up my DVDs and have them on hand. But I have multiple phones, one of which is a hotspot , so I can run laptop, tablets, whatever for entertainment. I'll bring up the DVDs next trip though.

The branches are still very heavy with ice, so I'm not out of the woods yet. But it looked like it was all an exercise, and I'm actually kind of grateful for that. It's good to get everything running, inventoried, and tested in a real world situation from time to time.

Anyone else in the path? How did you fare?

[Lilburner]

My pics didn't come through.

Doesn't look like much - pastoral, almost. The storm underperformed a little bit, but the important thing is that's not snow. It's ice. The branches are quite heavy. Fortunately, my EMC is fastidious about tree trimming. They did my road and the county road this year.

[Ravenwood1950]

Just started sleeting here so it remains to be seen how things fair here. I have my solar generator fully charged and extension cords for the frig and freezer. Gas heaters in a couple of rooms so we won't freeze. Baked a pecan pie, Dundee cake and made a big pot of chili.  The house smells divine.Got the chickens all cared for the night.
So glad to hear from you Lilburner!!
Ravenwood

[Abigayle]

Made sure everything was done up, laundry, dishes.  Had everything in that needed to be so we would not let a lot of heat our running to freezers and fridge in garage.  Got the Titan fully charged, it remains inside.  All the cords are hooked up and ready.  We have plenty of water and the country is gravity fed, so that source is good for a long time.  We all had bathes, just in case.  All meals I have planned can be done on the gas stove.  Other sources are available and handy, but the gas stove in fairly new.  Like Lilburner, I really enjoy the exercise.  Thor is taking this opportunity to remind me that he wanted a long off-grid test time than I allowed. Many years of marriage have taught me to remain silent. Those of you who know me know that is a lie.
Not sure what tonight will bring, but feeling very good about it.  Didn't fight the masses at the stores.  If power remained off call winter, my only needs to be fresh milk instead of canned or powered, a better variety of vegetable, and later, and fresh vegetables.  Also, I don't enjoy making bread unless I am in the mood to do so.  To have to make it every few days would become a chore.  Maybe I would get so good at it that I would not even think about it.  We all have skills we can be proud of.  Things that make us strong, each in our own unique way.  How lucky are we!!!

[Lilburner]

Took a couple of outings on the quad to enjoy the scenery and test out winter gear. Layers, long johns, parka, fur-lined Russian trapper hat..

The first was pretty miserable. One hard-and-fast rule I learned was no fleece gloves with any precipitation. The second is that my face shield and my glasses don't get along. Plus it started sleeting. I only made it down to the end of the road and back and couldn't see, and had to come try to warm my hands up under water.

The second time it was snowing. I changed to waterproof gloves and used a second muffler as a face shield - loosely wrapped so as not to steam up my glasses. That one was much better. My glasses still got frozen precipitation on them, but nowhere near as bad with snow as with sleet. I need one of those clear plexi face shields that some people use for covid. Even better if it has a windshield wiper.

So another good chance to learn about preps!

[upacreek]

I’m in NWGA and I got trapped, as you can see from the picture. I was up most of the night with the dog howling at the howling wind. She trapped me by sleeping on my legs while I napped this afternoon. We didn’t get more than a temporary dusting that didn’t even last an hour. It will probably change to ice tonight.  I plan to stay put for at least another day to make sure the roads are safe.

Stay warm and safe guys.

[RWS]

UpaCreek,  Looks like a 3 dog night!