What have we learned from this storm. (Iselle)

[Carey]

Royall, all of our county/state roads already have buried water lines

The reworking of the main Transmission lines along 130 this spring/summer involved a lot of rock work, and they do have the equipment to bury the lines (plus side no termites, minus side plan for water intrusion/earthquake...somethings power companies must design for...)

[David M]

Living off grid is just sooo sooo nice
But our neighborhood has a small group (9) Houses on Grid and without power since Thur nite. Doubt they are very high on the priority list.
We were able to lend our small Honda to one so they can at least power the fridge.
Some thoughts:
For those thinking about a generator - have a plan on how to hook up safely. Can't hook it back into the grid. Probably need appropriate wiring/rewiring. Think about fuel and fuel storage, don't forget it's cost as well.

While our neighbor may have food thanks to our generator, they don't have running water. Being on grid, they have a 240 volt pump. No way to connect to a 120 gen. Another friend lost power, has a small generator, but found it impossible to get to the fridge cord and plug as it is a built in.

A smallish, back up solar does not need to power the whole house. Choose critical circuits and wire appropriately. Being able to switch among those circuits maybe prove beneficial. Unplug the fridge after a few hours and recharge the phone. Realistically, I doubt anyone (except Oink ) would seriously consider taking down their panels for a storm unless a very small system. Then it would have to be wired appropriately to charge the batteries from the generator during the storm. Doesn't it make more sense to adjust your lifestyle for a short time vs 100% of time? Oh wait, that's happening.

While DC and some 12vdc stuff are attractive now, figure out their long term utility and costs. Have an off grid neighbor who had a propane fridge for years. Something triggered him to figure his true cost including propane. That led to realizing how many more panels he could have bought. He now has a regular Sears fridge with enough room to store food for his family, even leftovers. LOL

We are very fortunate in that in our neighborhood we all care about one another during times like this, what an asset. It also means not everyone needs to have 100% on everything, we can share.

David


Ninole Resident
Please visit vacation.ninolehawaii.com

[james weatherford]

Most important:

+ Be patient.

+ Be prepared.

[MarkP]

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.

[MarkP]

Once upon a time a propane fridge was the way to go. Now with solar panels so cheap and regular electric refrigerators so efficient a fridge from sears or home depot is the way to go.

I didn't do it but I can see how covering the solar panels with plywood would make as much sense as covering windows.

[Carey]

Mark, are also polycarb hurricane rated panels that are so much lighter & easy to deploy...and the fabric is even lighter & easy to deploy on roofs

In the Carib., have seen resorts with roll out hurricane shutters over solar panels...it is all in how freq the storms & the investment one is willing to make...

ADD:

David, for grid tied solar arrays, there are now inverters with a secure power outlet for use in power outages, like the SunnyBoy SMA
link:
http://www.sma-america.com/en_US/product...tl-us.html

[David M]

"how many people obviously spent hundreds or thousands of dollars jacking up their truck and now drive it to the aid station..."

Wonder if they or any vehicle could be outfitted with a small inverter, enough to be of benefit?

David

Ninole Resident
Please visit vacation.ninolehawaii.com

[David M]

Carey, that sounds like a possible solution for some

David


Ninole Resident
Please visit vacation.ninolehawaii.com

[oink]

quote:

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it is all in how freq the storms & the investment one is willing to make

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Very true. My point is that if you're going to advocate solar because it's great to have power after a hurricane when most other are suffering without, it would make sense to insure the survival of said system and have a back up plan, i.e. a generator.

I'm hoping hurricanes remain a rare event in Hawaii, as that rarity is one of my main reasons for eventually moving there. My rough count is that I've enjoyed being in the path of 7 hurricanes (both a cat 2 and cat 3 within 3 weeks) at least one major tropical storm and just by a stroke of luck I also managed to experience a typhoon while on Chook FSM. Not counting near misses and brushes or various minor tropical storms. I ***HATE*** hurricanes and have had enough of them. Personally I think one per lifetime is sufficient as I'm sure most of you will currently agree.

Edit to add:

quote:

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Wonder if they or any vehicle could be outfitted with a small inverter, enough to be of benefit?

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Yes, been there and done that. It does provide benefit but not a lot. You can charge stuff and give use of a fan for heat relief and some light but is not an economical alternative, gas consumption wise. I suppose you could run a small pump to allow simple rigged showers but I doubt you could run a catchment pump but my experience is with well pumps.

Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.

[birchl]

Im not sure what i learned!! i was kinda right about feeling 'protected' by the forest. although a couple of my ohias did come down it looks to me as if it was the albaziaz that have caused the most damage elsewhere. i was surprised when i left my little retreat to find that people had boarded up their windows with roofing tin or plywood, We simply shut the curtains when things looked a bit hairy. i think building your cabin with hurricane ties is probably a good idea i am glad i am off grid, but i have been glad about that for some time. i do think that these things help bring communities together though. not that i am advocating disaster as a way of increasing your social network, but you can see what i mean. it gives people common ground and the chance of generosity. sometimes i wonder about 'society' even tucked away as we are in hawaii. the storm and other events like it always restore my faith in humanity. there are always such stories of courage and help, and this is no exception. i appreciate all of you, despite not knowing any of you.

#10048;