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| No damage to our home, but the garden took a hit, especially the pole beans. |
Our first hurricane was very exciting... of the dangerous and scary kind. It was also a good learning experience from a preparedness perspective.
Dorian, a post-tropical storm by the time it arrived in Nova Scotia, had the strength of a category 2 hurricane, the first one to hit the province since 2003, and our first since moving here in 2014.
Deadly Dorian came ashore north and east of us on Saturday, Sept. 07 at 6:15 pm with sustained winds up to 165 km/hr. In our area of southwest NS the winds were not as strong, buy they were still screaming in a way I have not witnessed before.
Our power failed at 2:30 pm Saturday, before landfall, as the winds started to rise, and we were caught off guard.
It was surprising to be losing power so early, and while the winds were still relatively minor. Because of this, I did not get the bathtub filled with water. Unsurprisingly, water turned out to be our limiting factor.
The power stayed off for two more days. That meant "that the pump don't work cause the vandals stole the handle", as Bob Dylan put it. We were fine, but it made me wonder, "what ever happened to the hand pump on wells"?
If our well had a hand pump in the yard for emergency purposes, we would have been fine. That is something I am adding to the list for our future dream property.
By the time the power failed I had already filled 40L of drinking water, which was adequate. Our ever-helpful neighbours brought over about 50 litres of water that really made a difference comfort wise for sanitary purposes. They have a generator, making pumping water possible for them.
Everyone was looking out for everyone else, and together we got through it.
We used a single burner backpacking stove to cook on during the outage, and even managed to make pizza in our cast iron fry pan. As the storm raged outside, and the rain slashed against our windows, we dined on hot pizza, which was a good moral booster.
By sunset the shrieking winds were calming down. Dorian left a darkened and eerily quiet landscape behind. 3 days without power and modern conveniences felt more like a week.
It was a few more days before internet was restored. It is just now feeling like life is returning to normal, whatever that means these days.
We did not beat our record for power outages (5 days on the west coast after a 155 km wind during a winter storm), but Dorian was a good reminder of what life might be like in a lower energy future. Or after the apocalypse.
It was quiet, and the night sky was outstanding. We played guitar and sang instead of listening to music on the computer. Life was good, but decidedly more difficult, and we became keenly grateful for the things that we take for granted when the power is on.
Next time we will be better prepared, and next time might be soon. Hurricane Humberto is on its way.
Here we go again.
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| This broken old maple tree is just down the road from us. |
I was wondering if you were affected by Dorian. Glad you & Linda are okay.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Thank you, Linda.
DeleteIsn't it an eye opener when you lose power. We are so dependent on it.
ReplyDeleteA good preparation for the coming lower power future would be to learn to live with far less energy usage. As it is now in high consumption parts of the world, if the power fails for a long period, people die. It does not have to be that way. Our ancestors would be shocked at how dependent we have become. It is a precarious way to live.
DeleteI too was wondering how if Dorian affected you and Linda. Happy that it all turned out OK. Sounds like you live in a very good and helpful community. Thanks for the update, and fingers crossed Humberto moves more out to sea. -- Mary
ReplyDeleteHumberto looks like it will track offshore east of Nova Scotia. Big waves if you are out on the water, but we should be good on land. We do live in a special place where the people are still neighbourly and want to help.
DeleteI did see where it might be headed your way. Glad you came though relatively unscathed.
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking a lot about preparedness as of late. Trying to stock up for winter and whatever else might happen.
Hoping Humberto goes out to sea and missed you.
We had our first frost last night, so preparedness for winter is foremost in our minds this morning. I think Humberto will give Nova Scotia a miss. Relief.
DeleteHope you are doing well in your new situation. We think of you often.
Glad you and Linda are okay and yes, I bet the pizza helped!
ReplyDeleteHere in Oz we are in climate crisis. A while ago the town water quality became very bad (due to the dam getting low, then lots of chemicals had to be added). Even filtered it was awful. Luckily we had bought water stored as when we went to the shops shelves were empty - zip, nada, zilch on water. It was a good lesson for the future.
Currently there are bush fires raging all over my state and we have only just commenced Spring. Not good. Yesterday there was so much smoke ( I think from fires about 30 minutes away) that kids had to stay inside all day at school. We are not as prepared as we should be - could we leave in a hurry and meet all of our needs? Not at the moment! So this weekend we will get our act together, even though there is no imminent threat to us.
The book Thriving During Challenging Times by Cam Mather is well worth a read - a pro-active guide to gearing up for a different future, and very positive. When they have big storms in their rural area (Canada, I think) life just goes on as if nothing has happened as they are energy and water independent. Something to aim for. Our water tanks just went in (33,000) litres worth, and we actually had a small amount of rain yesterday. Eventually the drought will break and we will be prepared for the next one.
We had actually just put an offer in on a property in a little country town that always gets plenty of rain, and is affordable. But, so sadly, the area is currently surrounded by fires. So perhaps we just stay put and learn to adapt to the changing climate where we are.
Madeleine
Wow! Some extreme challenges there, although the rest of us should not be complacent if we have not been affected yet. Change is on the way.
DeleteIt would be my dream to be in a situation like the book you describe. What if the power went out and you weren't affected at all? Or it was just a minor inconvenience? Perfect. That is what we are striving for in all we do. I dislike being so dependent on a system that is shaky and prone to catastrophic failure. And by that I don't mean just the power grid - it is the entire global supply chain that is the problem.
Happy that your tanks are in and operational. That should help a lot. It is not survival of the strongest, but of the most adaptable. Good for you and the actions you are taking.
I'm glad you and Linda are ok, that really would have been very scary. It sounds like it was a good learning experience for what might come next though? I hope you guys keep safe.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was a good kick in the butt. We could have made out perfectly fine without any outside help, but our lovely neighbours did a great job of helping us to be more comfortable than we would have been.
DeleteProbably the hardest thing was hand cranking Linda's hospital bed up and down at night and the following morning. I would get tired of that, although it is a nice brief upper body workout. Electricity and electric motors are looking pretty magic now that the juice is flowing again.
Gregg- Just realized that my hospital bed wouldn't work in a power outage! Thanks for mentioning that. I need to think that through. Mom got stuck in a reclining position in her lift chair in a power cut. It was funny, but not so funny at the time.
DeleteMadeleine, those fires sounds awful. I hear about so many in AU.
ReplyDeleteLiving in South Carolina, I hear a lot about being prepared for hurricanes from all media and the emergency management people. I see many comments on FB about all kinds of things people go through. But I have never heard anyone talk about a hospital bed! Or Marla what you mentioned, a chair lift! That could be quite a problem if the power. Living alone would intensify the problem dramatically.
Here a hack for hurricanes or other storms that threaten a power outage. If you have notice like in hurricanes and snowstorms, freeze gallon-sized baggies full of water. Freeze as many as you can and stuff them in your freezer so it is packed tight. When the power goes out, very quickly put a few of your blocks of ice in the refrigerator near food you want to try to save. Plan this out before you loose power because you do not want to keep opening your refrigerator and freezer. A meteorologist told me that every time you open the door, the inside of the refrigerator heats up 15 degrees. So plan before you open the refrigerator or freezer and get in and out fast. If the power stays off long enough that all the baggies of block ice thaw and you loose your food, you can use the water in the baggies to drink or flush the toilet. Also helps to gather all your food and place in one section.
I know not many people here eat meat, but for those who might have meat in the freezer, if it thaws out even a little bit, it has to be thrown away. It shouldn't be eaten if its been frozen, partly thawed, and refrozen.
Yes, it is surprising how early the power goes out when a hurricane is nearing. We are so dependent that it takes being without power for days like you were to fully appreciate how dependent we really are.
As I've probably mentioned before, I love it just after a hurricane remnants are over where I live. There is an eerie-ness about it before and after. I sense it is partly due to changes in barometric pressure. They say humans don't feel it, but I beg to differ. Often there is the most glorious sky after a hurricane.
It feels calm and clean after a hurricane. They are enormous and powerful, but they are one of earth's natural processes that are so important to the balance of things. Relatively speaking, there are very few people that die in hurricanes compared to how many people are affected by them. Usually there is some other condition that is compromising them. Or they go into flood water even after there are warnings galore telling people to stay out of the water.
We all had our fingers crossed hoping for rain from Dorian, but we were on the wrong side of the storm to get the badly needed rain. My area is very close to being declared "severe drought." But many other areas are much more severe than we are here. It's been usually hot here for September.
Neat you got to experience this and were safe. I loved reading that you sat outside and watched. I do that too when they are bringing wind and rain to my area. We usually only get the outer bands, the eye has usually broken up by the time it gets this far inland.