08-12-2014, 04:48 AM
As several posters have touched upon there is the experience we have just had and there is what might have been. No single answer fits all. I will state some of my impressions:
I don't yet know whether power is back on in Eden Roc because I am off-grid. I have a stand alone solar system with generator back-up. I am running the generator right now because it is overcast and raining and I am running my de-humidifier. I am somewhat amazed to hear of people standing in line for water and ice and food because they did not install the systems that I did. No water? How is that possible? We just got a foot of it dumped on us. Even if your roof caved in under a fallen tree your catchment should have been full when it happened and your generator should be enough to pump enough for a shower or two. My neighbor went to the dump. Someone was throwing out lots of food that had spoiled because of lack of refrigeration. Better to store a generator an some gas.
My solar panels could easily have been damaged. When I slapped together my storage container cabin I just set the container on blocks. I bolted steel angles to the container and screwed 2" x 6" rafters to them. I think it is strong enough and it survived this storm but I was worried about the roof coming off or the container getting blown over. I need to tie the container down somehow. The attachment of the panels to the roof was low on my list of concerns for whatever reason. If it had been a higher rated storm then yes, taking the panels off of the roof would have been the thing to do.
Safe rooms were a non-issue in this not-quite-hurricane. However, ask the people I saw on TV who climbed out windows after trees fell on their house. Only a little worse and having a safe room might have made a lot of difference.
In general I think that given where we live everyone ought to have at least a generator and really some kind of a whole-house UPS is not a bad idea. A stand alone solar system is just that. Maintaining a set of batteries requires some care though and given that my main gripe is about how many people obviously spent hundreds or thousands of dollars jacking up their truck and now drive it to the aid station for ice because they didn't spend the money on a generator, I think that the average family probably couldn't or wouldn't properly maintain a solar system.
Eden Roc dodged a bullet. We got very little damage. I know competent people who live in HPP so I know they are not just whining. They got hammered. It was lots worse there. At the same time, those people have not even hinted that they needed the government to supply them with the necessities of life. There is almost no reason why the average household should not have a generator.
I don't yet know whether power is back on in Eden Roc because I am off-grid. I have a stand alone solar system with generator back-up. I am running the generator right now because it is overcast and raining and I am running my de-humidifier. I am somewhat amazed to hear of people standing in line for water and ice and food because they did not install the systems that I did. No water? How is that possible? We just got a foot of it dumped on us. Even if your roof caved in under a fallen tree your catchment should have been full when it happened and your generator should be enough to pump enough for a shower or two. My neighbor went to the dump. Someone was throwing out lots of food that had spoiled because of lack of refrigeration. Better to store a generator an some gas.
My solar panels could easily have been damaged. When I slapped together my storage container cabin I just set the container on blocks. I bolted steel angles to the container and screwed 2" x 6" rafters to them. I think it is strong enough and it survived this storm but I was worried about the roof coming off or the container getting blown over. I need to tie the container down somehow. The attachment of the panels to the roof was low on my list of concerns for whatever reason. If it had been a higher rated storm then yes, taking the panels off of the roof would have been the thing to do.
Safe rooms were a non-issue in this not-quite-hurricane. However, ask the people I saw on TV who climbed out windows after trees fell on their house. Only a little worse and having a safe room might have made a lot of difference.
In general I think that given where we live everyone ought to have at least a generator and really some kind of a whole-house UPS is not a bad idea. A stand alone solar system is just that. Maintaining a set of batteries requires some care though and given that my main gripe is about how many people obviously spent hundreds or thousands of dollars jacking up their truck and now drive it to the aid station for ice because they didn't spend the money on a generator, I think that the average family probably couldn't or wouldn't properly maintain a solar system.
Eden Roc dodged a bullet. We got very little damage. I know competent people who live in HPP so I know they are not just whining. They got hammered. It was lots worse there. At the same time, those people have not even hinted that they needed the government to supply them with the necessities of life. There is almost no reason why the average household should not have a generator.