[CTSARA] Storm

[kb1ylq at gmail.com]

Since TS Hermine is expected to be a major wind event, we can expect significant numbers of trees to come down, especially because of the drought (makes the trees less resilient).  Trees coming down means power lines coming down so we may see some significant power outages here in lower Fairfield County.

Some things to remember about power outages and wind storms:

1.  It is not too late to go out and stock up on ater and basic food supplies (especially food supplies that don't need refrigeration or cooking like bread and peanut butter).  Figure a gallon of water per day per person, minimum of three days.  Don't forget food and water for pets and for your kids (depending on whether or not you like your kids).  If you have teenagers - well, then double or triple the amount of water and food needed.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO GO TO THE SUPERMARKET, DO IT EARLY THIS MORNING - THERE WILL BE A SIGNIFICANT RUSH AND SIGNIFICANT INVENTORY OUTAGES BY THIS AFTERNOON!!!

2.  It is not too late to go to the hardware store and stock up on batteries, plastic sheeting, tarps, and duct tape.  Batteries in case of power failures, the rest for covering broken windows and leaks in case of damage to the house (e.g., from falling trees).  And while you're at it, get a couple of extra LED flashlights or room lights.

3.  It is not too late to stock up on any prescription medicines you need, just in case!!  Don't forget basic first aid supplies such as antiseptic creams, bandages, and tape.

4.  It is not too late to get to the phone store and buy an external battery for your phone.  These things can be used to recharge your phone without wall power.  NOTE:  many of the external batteries are waaay undersized for smart phones.  For example, those cute little cylindrical ones (2200 mAH) that Bed, Bath and Beyond and CVS sell can only charge a smart phone battery to about 30%.  Go to the phone store and get one that will fully recharge your phone.

5.  Remember to take in outside objects that can become missiles in strong winds, such as lawn/patio furniture, kiddy pools, other junk that's laying around outside (bicycles, kiddy toys).  Take in your garbage pails, or at least move them out of the wind and lay them on their sides.

6.  Remember that GPS, Data (3G and 4GL), and Wi-Fi eat cellphone batteries like crazy.  Unless you absolutely positively need them (and we usually don't), turn them off if power is out (how to turn them off depends on the phone).  It does mean that you may have to wait to post those 873 photos to Facebook/Instagram, but we all have to make sacrifices.

7.  Your cell phone's basic phone function eats battery like crazy if it can't find a cell tower signal, so turn it off if you don't have a good cell phone signal.  You can go into Airplane mode instead of turning it off.  Some phones (like the Samsungs) have "ultra" power saving modes but the "ultra" modes will still use battery if you don't have a good cell phone signal.   

8.  It's not too late to make a communications plan with people outside the storm area.  Something that will reduce the amount of time you spend using your cell phone.  For example:  "we will call Susan (our eldest) every four hours and give her an update.  Please call her for an update, do not call us.  If you call us, we will not answer (and may even have the phone turned off).  Susan's phone number is .... ".

9.  If you can't get calls through on your cell phone because of cell tower overload (you have signal, but calls just never connect or they keep dropping after a few seconds), remember that text messages will probably get through (because they use a small fraction of the cell tower resources that a phone call uses).  A quick "we're okay" text message is more than enough, you don't have to give a wind gust-by-wind gust, raindrop-by-raindrop description to people while power is out.  Plus of course, it frees up the cell towers for important use.

NOTE:  Contrary to popular belief, most cell towers in this area have stayed up during major storms like Irene and Sandy.  At worst, their batteries ran out after 48-72 hours, which is equal to or even better (in some cases) than what AT&T landlines (now Frontier) can do in the areas that use fiber optic cables (most areas of Stamford below the Merritt and most areas of Norwalk below the Merritt).

Steve KB1YLQSent from my Verizon 4G LTE Tablet