HURRICAN HELENE | WHAT WOULD WE DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME?

[@almoody7155]

A couple of tips from an old timer… I run avgas in all my small equipment, generators, mowers, chainsaws, etc. You can buy it at your local airport and it does not have any ethanol in it. I put a few ounces of marvel mystery oil in each 5 gallon jug before I fill it up and I have stored gas like that over two years with no problems, but I do date every container and use the oldest ones first. Tip number two, if you have a friend or neighbor with a little bit of electrical savvy, he can show you how to turn off your well circuit breaker and hook up your 220 Generator to your well pump and pump water

[@threeriversforge1997]

I was without power for 8 days, and it was kind of fun. Lots of holes in my preparedness but I expected that since no plan is perfect. Nobody was planning on a storm like Helene coming through, so I don't feel too bad! One thing about your water catchment system -- I would think about stacking the IBCs on top of each other so you get a smaller footprint... but also more head pressure. You can run an extension from the farther downspout to help fill the IBCs, but if they are both sitting on the ground (the far easier way of doing it), you might be a little disappointed with the flow rate. Raising them up a couple feet will also make it so you can get a bucket right under the tap. Here in my little corner of the world, I learned one very valuable lesson... again. Old Tech wins every time. I realize folks have to have generators these days, and I did lose what little food I had in the fridge and freezer, but what really stood out to me was how I could rely on the "ancient" stuff while all the newfangled was giving me fits. My Surefire light runs on CR123 batteries with a shelf-life of several years, but every other battery-powered light was DOA due to corrosion. I don't use lights very often, so keeping up with rechargaables and such just isn't in the cards. What did work wonders, though, was my oil lamps. The Feuerhand hurricane lanterns are the best on the market and put off a very nice bit of light. Warm and inviting rather than really bright and cold. With a few of them scattered around, I could navigate without a problem. The Meva hurricane lanterns did very well, too. For how little fuel they use, it was very nice to not have to worry about batteries, solar whatevers, etc. I think I might have gone through half a gallon of fuel between all my lanterns in those 8 days, and that includes leaving one burning low all night. Same goes for the chainsaw that was acting up after sitting a year or more. Like the hurricane lanterns, I had no problem with my axes and pruning saws. Slower, sure, but they were powered by breakfast and would work all day long without a hitch. And what that all meant in the long run was that I could stretch my resources further before I had to worry about going into town to hunt for supplies. Everyone was scrambling to find food and batteries and whatever.... and I was sitting comfortably at home, putzying around the yard because I had the Old Tech. Propane grills are nice, but they tie you to needing that propane supply. A wood-fired stove, something like Chiasson Smoke makes, might not be as versatile, but you can use it and not worry about running out of fuel because you're surrounded by it. Little things like that really add to the peace of mind, I found. Not perfect, sure, but far more economical and understandable. We know the Old Tech works because it's what got us here.

[@takeitslowhomestead5218]

Thank you for sharing your great ideas for being more prepared. I’ll be watching to learn about your rain water catchment projects.

[@Hel-Tac]

Lol. Diablo making sure every animal on the farm knows there's filming going on and they all need to be quiet.

[@caravanmassennhoven4004]

Good to see you guys have faired well during the storm. Every situation is a learning experience and it is important to see where improvement can be made. Most ideas only take time and effort. Some might have to be put in a schedule. I live in SW Ontario Canada. severe thunderstorms are becoming more common in the surrounding areas. I've gotten pretty interested in the Jackery power pack. Ben from Hollar Homestead mentioned one too and it looks like an good product. Hard to get reasonable shipping to Canada though. Keep.up the great work!! Be well from Canada 🇨🇦

[@valkyriehomestead]

Im not sure if it applies to Canada but a lot of the Jackery line is on sale now through the Amazon Prime Days. Not sure if shipping would be cheaper going that route.

[@caravanmassennhoven4004]

@@valkyriehomestead Thanks for the Amazon tip. I saved 40%! Be well from Canada 🇨🇦

[@notwo2smart]

With all those animals, suggest you dig a pond.

[@donnavickery9623]

Praying for you and your family. Hopefully, nothing this tragic will ever happen in your area ever again !!!

[@stloucat]

great information. thanks for sharing and glad your family persevered.

[@johnsturtevant9351]

Well: "Simple Pump" - manual pump. Cap block is best for the IBC - due to weight. 2.2 tons approx full of water.

[@able880]

I live in the rural south about 50 miles from the gulf - I've rode out about 20 hurricanes and a few liquid ice storms - My grand father started working on generators about in 1900 - I'm a 3rd generation generator man and started in the early 70s in the offshore oilfields working on gens - Were. I live REA did not finish running power lines till the 1960s - Down here rural homes had farm home light plants - homes with electricity ran on 32 volts DC - they had 16 large battery's that the house ran on for 6 days a week then they charged the battery's all day every Friday - Back then Rural town sold entire lines of 32 volt DC appliances that was fridges, freezers, water pump motors, ceiling fans, light bulbs, radios ect - There is nothing on you tube about it but you can read about it on the net - Generators burn a lot of fuel so they put a full load on them all day till the battery's were 85% charged then shut the gen down - In city's they had 115 AC appliances we had the same appliances but they were 32 volts DC - Solar can work if your in an area with good sun -

[@donnavickery9623]

You can get a hand pump that you can put into the same well you electrically pump from. And when the electricity is out , you can hand pump water.

[@valkyriehomestead]

I want to look into a hand pump as well. Hooking the electric pump to the generator would also be nice. But having a backup incase we ran out of gas I think would be wise.

[@Dari-b5g]

Rain water is the same PH acid as vinger so test and filter . No filter can take out all the man made chemicals. For livestock you can put up four posts. Put a tarp up with one side center slack. Catch rain water into old bathtub. Put tarp up high enough if you have goats so they can not jump on the tarp. Does not have to be put up high if out of reach of livestock. Might help . A gallon of water weight is about eight pounds. We greatly appreciate all the hard physical labor to get us back to a new normal.

[@ThomasHess-x8v]

If you have a generator, why would you not tie it into your main breaker panel to power your well pump when utility power is out? The first priority is fresh potable water. Setting up a transfer switch in your breaker panel and feeding a dedicated generator breaker in the panel from your generator costs less than $100.

[@valkyriehomestead]

I do have plans on installing a transfer switch on our panel soon.

[@stephaniefortney5851]

Glad to see that you guys are okay. You’ve got a sound plan for the future. Hang in there! Our area dodged Helene, but as you are right. There will be others.

[@davidalbright7335]

A hurricane did not hit NC. Remnants of Hurricane Helene moved through Western NC as a tropical storm with zero storm surge (a requirement for hurricane status) and 45 to 60 mph wind (below the requirement for hurricane status). The predominant feature of Tropical Storm Helene was rain (unless you were atop Mt. Mitchell, which gets 100 mph wind when there is no storm). 25+ inches of rain inundated the region, after a week of prior flooding rain that preceded the arrival of the storm. What could be done differently is that the state of NC needs to meet their duty and commission to warn the public of impending storms and provide guidance for what to do, especially for those who don't understand the potential for destruction from a strong tropical storm. Everyone in Western NC said, "We don't get hurricanes in the mountains" and then discounted the threat. It is true that Western NC does not get hurricanes but they do get tropical storms, tropical depressions, and winter storms. This distinction between hurricane and tropical storm is important. Had people been officially told of a dangerous tropical storm, when the forecast became verifiable (9/25), including the risk to life and property, much of the despair and loss of life would have been mitigated. It is ironic that the same people who claimed that the region doesn't get hurricanes are now describing their despair as resulting from a hurricane, a la, "We got hit by Hurricane Helene." The disconnect between a low perception of risk and the actual realized risk is fully explained by calling the damned thing what it actually was. No mechanism exists to mankind that could have stopped the damage. Plenty could have been done before, during and after the storm but that appears to be a responsibility (as it should be) for each individual, as the government couldn't care less. WLOS TV has videos on KZbin for the week prior to the storm. They did an excellent job to warn viewers of the danger with their "Weather Warn" declaration. People didn't process and evacuate because "we don't get hurricanes in Western NC." It doesn't give me much sense of hope for the people of my home state to hear that anyone was surprised by what happened. As my former neighbors in Western NC used to say, "The whole situation is just choir." Good job giving insight for personal responsibility and preparation before tragedy strikes. A hurricane didn't hit Western NC. A tropical storm did and it was a doosie.

[@treesamclean9312]

This is one of the best videos you have done . Great to hear your plans

[@donnavickery9623]

There is no way that you can fever be fully prepared for something as tragic and as unexpected as Helene. Hopefully, NOTHING like this will ever happen in your area ever again.

[@commonsensepatriot9450]

Im making a video, fire up the rooster! Lol Thanks for the video. This incident really made me think about what I have ready for emergencies. I hope everyone is listening to videos like this and preparing accordingly. Pick a Friday and shut your main breaker off for the weekend. It's an eye opener.

[@able880]

My power has been knocked out for months after ice storms and hurricanes over the yrs - In that case we resort to living as they did in the 1950s and 60s or so - We just go back to using window fans and ceiling fans - some have just have a few battery's like used in campers and run a inverter off them and charge them 2 hrs a day - This is a basic Guide to generators - this is for non inverter 3600 rpm generators - with a propane generator you will burn 1 gallon of propane to every 2000 watts of out put power - we call that a 2:1 effcency - with gasoline generators the effcency is 3:1 that is for a gallon of fuel burned you can get up to 3000 watts of energy - with a air cooled single cylinder diesels it's 4:1 effcency - or it can put our 4000 and use one gallon of diesel - With a diesel if I run a 10000 BTU window AC unit it will use 6 gallons of fuel a day - a propane generator will burn 12 gallons a day a gasoline generator will burn 9 gallons of gasoline a day - What I shared is for single cylinder 3600 RPM generators - I have a 8 kw stand by generator but it will burn up 200 gallons of propane every 6 days. - after hurricane Katrina propane delivery's were not resumed till after 6 weeks - So I did not use my stand by generator I only have a 500 gallon tank - We just used fans powered by inverters that were hooked to some batterys - Then charged the battery's 2 hrs a day with a gasoline engine belt driving a truck alternator - With a belt drive on a truck alternator I can reduce the engine RPMs to 2700 RPMs then my effcency is close to 6:1 or twice as fuel efficient compared to running at 3600 RPMs - Inverter generators are more fuel efficient because at half load they run at 2700 RPMs or so - I don't use propane for a dryer after storms they drink propane like water we hang out clothes out to dry - Also I'll burn wood for heat and hot water and use a diesel car heater when I sleep - there easy on fuel compared to propane but do require 12 volts DC - Also I use a 12 volt DC submersible water pump in my well when power is out for long periods - Katrina came late in summer so it wasn't to hot - I was only burning around 30 gallons of gasoline a month for my lights and fridges and freezers -

[@jasonmekush5280]

nice set up. how many acres do you have ?

[@valkyriehomestead]

Thanks, we have about 10 acres.

[@Ciciye12]

I swear rooster think your talking to them when you try to do a video. Makes me giggle.

[@guywood67]

Can’t you fill up the rain water tanks with your well? Why wait for rain?

[@valkyriehomestead]

I have a video coming out soon, but I got the tanks setup and I did indeed fill them part of the way up with the well. I want to catch rainwater so that they will stay topped off on their own, as well as not putting that wear and tear on the well pump over time. I have seen systems that will keep the tanks topped off with the well but we get so much rain that we might as well use it.

[@ginkat1318]

Dogs 😊