Hurricane "Ian" may be heading for us here in Florida

[Ronstar]

Glad you Florida folks are ok. I was stunned by the extent of damage shown on the news. And I know it’s worse in person. It will be a long rebuild, but everything will get back to normal.

 

[Sue J]

Our friend who lives on Sanibel posted that he is safe. He evacuated and is with friends.

He gave this link to satellite pictures of his area after the storm. You can see some of the barrier islands, Cape Coral, Pine Island and parts of Fort Myers. He can see that his house still has the roof but expects to have a lot of damage.

https://storms.ngs.noaa.gov/storms/...hiAX2Gs334twlcrlpp1fTVKCpU#9/26.5259/-81.8687

Refresh as they are adding more areas.

 

[socca]

Still no power and no estimate on when it will be back. ...

Power at my house came on at 3:30 am Saturday morning. It was off 2.5 days. Thanks much to FPL for restoring power - I was more than ready for it. The power outage website shows that many FPL customers are still without power.

A nearby Publix was open Friday. It was great to drop in and buy ice and some fresh veggies.

Someone should invent a portable generator that is whisper-quiet. The generators scattered around my neighborhood were LOUD. After a few days this would drive me crazy if one was right next door.

A year after I moved into my house, the buried electric-supply cable between my house and the junction box failed after a heavy rain. When FPL replaced the cable, they ran the new cable inside conduit - an approach I much appreciated.

My royal palm lost 8 fronds but is still standing. Other palms scattered throughout the neighborhood were not so fortunate.

 

[aaronc879]

Someone should invent a portable generator that is whisper-quiet. The generators scattered around my neighborhood were LOUD. After a few days this would drive me crazy if one was right next door.

Ego makes one. It may not be as powerful as most people would want but it is quiet and has an optional solar power attachment.

 

[aaronc879]

Another video of the EGO generator:

 

[Jerry1]

I have a small (2000W) Honda generator. It runs very quiet. Obviously, not as quiet as the battery generator, but very comfortable compared to many other generators. Also is very good on gas. Can run a refrigerator and a sump pump for about 16 to 24 hours on a gallon of gas depending on the load.

 

[Walt34]

Some Honda and Yamaha generators have long been known for very quiet operation. I have one of the older ones, a Honda EX4500, that at full power has a sound level of 65 dba, which is very quiet. You can stand next to it and have a conversation, and the neighbors might hear a quiet hum, if anything.

One of the first things I look at in generator specs is the sound level. If it's not there, I assume the generator is very loud. It takes considerable effort to quiet down a generator, especially an air-cooled one, and the makers who do that are justifiably proud of their efforts and make a point to put the numbers in their advertisements.

You'll notice that Generac rarely posts their sound level numbers in their advertisements. There's a reason for that.

 

[braumeister]

Some Honda and Yamaha generators have long been known for very quiet operation. I have one of the older ones, a Honda EX4500, that at full power has a sound level of 65 dba, which is very quiet. You can stand next to it and have a conversation, and the neighbors might hear a quiet hum, if anything.

I'm with you -- the sound level is very important. I used to have a Honda 6500 and thought it was quite good in the noise department.

But I was at a street festival a few years ago and one of the vendors was using a good sized generator that was the quietest one I had ever heard. I was amazed and asked him where he got it. The answer? "Harbor Freight".

So you never know.

 

[Car-Guy]

I have two generators and both are ~15 year old "no famous name" brands. Total of ~15+kw between them... Pretty sure the nearest neighbor can't hear them.

 

[SecondAttempt]

Hi all,

I can't recall if I have checked in or not, so, checking in from Sarasota! Sorry if this is a repeat post.

We made it through in our friend's house with shutters. Felt pretty safe when it actually came through, but not when it looked like it was going to come right at us as a near CAT5 (my understanding is the winds were 155 mph, 2 mph shy of a CAT5).

Ian was forecasted to increase to a 4 in the gulf and then decrease to a 3 and landfall Tampa. Then, I think on Tuesday? (my days are all confused after all of this), when it was getting close, it failed to downgrade to a 3 as was forecasted.

So, it was going to hit Tampa as a 4. Then, it started moving south and was heading straight for Sarasota.

And then, he went south to Port Charlotte. Feeling so much for our neighbors to the south of us. So much devastation.

No major damage for our property. Still no power and no estimate on when it will be back. Tons of trees down and power lines down by the road leading to our house. We'll see. Had to clean out my fridge/freezer and there is a boil-water advisory for us. (We have tons of backup water.)

Our friends who live close actually have power, so, thankfully, we are showering and sleeping there, and doing some cooking, too. Night 4 of imposing on them, hope our power comes back soon.

I definitely feel like we dodged a bullet.

At this very moment my partner is talking to an old friend who now lives in Fort Myers, zone A. She (the friend) evacuated but has returned home. No major damage but no power still. She has friends she can't reach and other friends who have lost almost everything!

 

[Ronstar]

I got a 16000W Generac generator in 2015 about a month before an EF3 tornado wiped out parts of the nearest town along with high tension line electric, local electric and downed trees that knocked out more electric in my neighborhood.

Our electricity was off for a week and our generator ran quietly - we hardly knew it was on.

I bought the generic after going through a few days with a portable generator. Loud and I had to fill it with gas twice a day. Only had 1- 220 plug(which I thought was enough). But DW had me connect it to the water heater to get hot water, then switch it over to the well pump so that she could have a hot shower. That is when I knew I needed something more robust.

 

[JoeWras]

Today we had deaths in NC from carbon monoxide due to placing generators in the wrong place.

 

[SecondAttempt]

Our friends who live close actually have power, so, thankfully, we are showering and sleeping there, and doing some cooking, too. Night 4 of imposing on them, hope our power comes back soon.

For what it's worth, I doubt they think you are imposing!

 

[RobbieB]

Today we had deaths in NC from carbon monoxide due to placing generators in the wrong place.

Whoaaa...

Survived the hurricane and death by generator?

 

[JoeWras]

Whoaaa...



Survived the hurricane and death by generator?

And there were advertisements reminding people of the danger. It still happens way too often.

 

[Calico]

Whoaaa...

Survived the hurricane and death by generator?

They put it in a closed garage. The husband died, the wife survived.

While the rescue folks were at that house, they heard carbon monoxide alarms going off in the house next door. Turned out those neighbors were also running their generator in their closed garage. They were able to help those neighbors and saved them from a trip to the hospital.

The guy who died had recently retired here to NC from New England.

 

[harley]

Our friend who lives on Sanibel posted that he is safe. He evacuated and is with friends.

He gave this link to satellite pictures of his area after the storm. You can see some of the barrier islands, Cape Coral, Pine Island and parts of Fort Myers. He can see that his house still has the roof but expects to have a lot of damage.

https://storms.ngs.noaa.gov/storms/...hiAX2Gs334twlcrlpp1fTVKCpU#9/26.5259/-81.8687

Refresh as they are adding more areas.

Thanks for that link. I've been cruising SWFL with it. It's amazing. Starting at my house in Bonita things look fairly normal, but less than a half mile away the road disappears under sand, and you start seeing tons of wreckage. Cars in the water, boats hundreds of feet from the water. Places where buildings were that now look like empty lots. And obviously tornadoes aren't the only danger to trailer parks. Many of them are just gone. Areas of nature preserves that have literally tons of debris piled up. I don't know who will clean all that up. The ground level pictures I've seen were powerful, but seeing the birds eye view shows the devastation even more.

I feel really bad for my friends who had 4' of water in their house, but after seeing some of the other areas they got off lucky. Now that the surge is gone their house looks pretty normal. I'm sure they will have a lot of damage to repair, but it's better than the total demolition so many other areas experienced.

 

[old medic]

Today we had deaths in NC from carbon monoxide due to placing generators in the wrong place.

Its unfortunate, but your going to get that after every storm.. In my career I have recovered several fatalities, including a family, and 100s of illnesses related to carbon monoxide.

 

[old medic]

Ego makes one.

Neet outfit, but I'll stick with my Champion 3200 Inverter Generator. Has serviced us well for several years already.

 

[JoeWras]

Its unfortunate, but your going to get that after every storm.. In my career I have recovered several fatalities, including a family, and 100s of illnesses related to carbon monoxide.

Public information officers are really trying to get the word out, yet it always happens. Here's one such warning and education spot: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-...arbon-monoxide-dangers-ahead-of-hurricane-ian

People put them in the garage due to rain. This is a terrible plan.

Hurricanes are bad enough, but we lose a lot of people after the storm. One could argue that part of the reason the startup company I worked at was due to hurricane issues (1996). Our star salesman was cutting a tree in his back yard. The tree was under stress, when he released the stress, the trunk slammed into him and pinned him to a wall. He broke his pelvis and had all kinds of issues that put him out of work for 4 months. His missing had a direct impact on the company.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

People put them in the garage due to rain. This is a terrible plan.

I agree with this for the average Joe. I have mine in the garage. I installed a steel pipe through the concrete wall and plumbed the generator exhaust into it.

I have 2 Carbon Monoxide detectors right near it in the garage and another just inside the house nearest to it. I have tested it many times.

I do not run it for long. Just enough to keep the Fridge "Topped Up" and long enough to charge the UPS batteries, get the internet up to check email and run a few fans for a while. Maybe 30 mins at a time max.

 

[JoeWras]

Yeah ShokWave. You are thinking about it. I think the problem comes from people who are under stress and are not thinking big picture.

Another problem is the CO detectors. They need to be battery or battery back up. No power, no detector - that's a problem!

I feel like I got lucky in '96 dealing with trees. I learned a lot on the fly about stored energy in downed tree piles. But I didn't learn enough to really know the problem inside-out. Next time, it goes to the pros. And actually, it was one reason we invested $10k in tree work a few years ago. We hope to head off the problem before the next storm.

 

[simple girl]

The power outage website shows that many FPL customers are still without power.

That would include us.

Power out 4 days now and counting. Just got a notice from the power company that it could be out until 10/9! Soooooooo grateful for our good friends who we are still staying with and have electricity - so far have been here 5 nights. Wow.

 

[steelyman]

Another problem is the CO detectors. They need to be battery or battery back up. No power, no detector - that's a problem!

I came across an interesting piece concerning CO detectors recently, specifically their placement inside the home.

Typically, smoke detectors are placed high (mine are on the ceilings). The debate arises around whether CO detectors should be placed up there too.

The best sources I could find say that CO disperses more evenly and so would be better farther down and situated nearby likely sources of carbon monoxide.

 

[Car-Guy]

That would include us.

Power out 4 days now and counting. Just got a notice from the power company that it could be out until 10/9! Soooooooo grateful for our good friends who we are still staying with and have electricity - so far have been here 5 nights. Wow.

Well if it helps, in my experience, the power restoration teams tend to under promise and over deliver...That makes them look like heroes, which of course they are anyway. I've seen that happen in the Houston area many times. Of course YMMV.