2bits wrote:... I feel VERY blessed that I had rolling blackouts the entire time.
* I can't believe our luck, during this emergency. It was good for a change (
I hope I'm not jinxing myself by mentioning this). No blackouts, no frozen pipes, no need to boil water. Quite a change from normal, at least at my house. We've been here for 28 years, and have seen more than our share of power failures and broken pipes under the house (the previous one on this site...we replaced it 3 years ago).
* We normally get rolling blackouts at least twice each summer, and spot power failures at least six times a spring-summer (from 1-8 hours, for unknown reasons...the entire block), and a squirrel will commit suicide on the transformer every year or so, too. So far, I've yet to have to run a generator to save the freezer contents, though I've considered using one on very hot, powerless nights, just for fans. During this winter emergency, my power only flickered twice (my UPS sounded off), but I didn't have to reset the undersink (kitchen) / bathroom heaters, even once. The ONCOR website showed two areas, within two blocks of us, with total power loss for four days plus.
* Water-wise, we kept a slight drip going on the sinks, not even the showers, and that seemed to work. surprisingly, there never was any interruption in our supply, though we usually get line breaks upstream, thrice a year (spring, summer, Thanksgiving) for up to a week.
* In a spirit of solidarity with those without power or with water loss, my wife turned off unneeded circuits, and used less water...and used up a month's worth of bird & squirrel food in just a week. Made her feel better (I fed the feral cats out back, too). I hope everyone affected recovers OK, and soon.