Kelton Joyner wrote:

Do what we here in Florida. Fill the bath tub with water before the
power goes out. Put a bucket in the bath room, then use a bucket of
water to flush the toilet.
krj

Well that's what we do too - those of us that are prepared. But after
a week, you may run out of water. We used to pull water out of the
pond in that case. I don't know if the flooding would have impacted
the septic tank though.

Rosalie B. wrote:
(Parallax) wrote:

In 1985, got hit by Hurricane Kate. Didnt have power for three weeks.
Used our trusty carbide lamps for light. Not too useful for sailing
although they would be useful for JAX (throw some calcium carbide into
the bilge to clean it). So why is it that ppl in VA think not having
power for a few days was such a disaster?


In our part of the world, when we don't have power, we don't have
water either because the pump in the well is electric. So no flush
toilets, no water, and no heat (if it is in the cold months), no TV to
see the Weather Channel, and no computer.

Plus of course no refrigeration.

It's something when you go out to the boat to use the bathroom.

grandma Rosalie

grandma Rosalie

In article ,
Rosalie B. wrote:

In our part of the world, when we don't have power, we don't have
water either because the pump in the well is electric. So no flush
toilets, no water, and no heat (if it is in the cold months), no TV to
see the Weather Channel, and no computer.

In less rural areas, there are water tanks high on the hill or stilts.
As I recall from my childhood -- cold war stuff -- we had a week or
month's supply in the tank up the hill from us. Pressure drops when the
power grid goes out, but we still have water -- and telephones. Big
cities may be less fortunate -- other than the telephone system.

Plus of course no refrigeration.

It's something when you go out to the boat to use the bathroom.

A story appeared a year or two ago -- probably in Cruising World -- of
a boat that survived a storm in Oriental, NC. After a horrendous
night, they woke up, cleared some debris off the deck, put everything
back up, and did the normal morning activities. They then motored into
a town that had nothing and the surrounding roads were still flooded.
Was a while before the town got back to anything approaching normal.

-----

Returning to the original post: I've got a few of my grandparents' oil
lamps. Two in front of strategically placed mirrors on either end of
the livingroom give enough light to read comfortably. Our brightest
one has a taller and thinner chimney than anything else I've seen, but
this one comes close:
http://www.y2klanterns.com/html/dietz-oil-lamp.html The mirrors help
a lot.

'Course, a Coleman style puts out a lot more light. We have a
single-mantle propane one for camping and boating emergencies. If I were
really worried about losing power for a long time, I'd adapt the big
barbeque tank to a double-mantle camp light -- and cook on the barbeque.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/