We were driving home and saw red cones on the highway blocking a road near us. So, we went up via another access road only to see a tree having fallen in the middle of the street having brought down a power line. However, the lines (at least four or five lines are so taught that any of the lines could snap at any moment so it is potentially dangerous to be within 100 feet of such a situation for anyone. Likely they might bring in heavy equipment somehow so if a line snaps no one will be cut in two. We thought this might have cut off our power but when we got home we were still okay. I have a gasoline powered generator if our power goes off. We had already found another tree in another direction on Wednesday that had uprooted from the winds and rain and fallen across another paved road headed towards the beach from our house. It was at least 2 to 3 feet through at the base so a very big tree. But, at least it hadn't gone through a house just fell all the way across a paved road with access to the ocean so no one could drive either direction until the fire department or other locals brought their chain saws and cut it up in pieces and moved it.
Here's the thing. If we have 500 dollars worth of food in our refrigerator. (now we have two refrigerators because we had a total of 10 people here for Christmas so we bought a second one and put it downstairs in the garage next to our washing machine and dryer. But, anyway if you are going to lose 500 dollars worth of food the next time your power goes out and if you are like us where you might lose power 1 or more times a year this more than pays for what you pay for a gasoline powered generator as long as you are comfortable around generators and electricity and understand both and that you cannot put this anywhere the exhaust is going to go inside your home where you have to breathe it. Because people are dying all the time from carbon monoxide poisoning who let the exhaust drift into their living quarters and they faint and pass away. Also, you don't want to put it in direct rain or snow either because you could get shocked when you plug anything into it.
So, unless you are competent around generators and electricity be very careful and at the very least read up on these things before you buy one. But, the point originally I was trying to make is even if you only use this thing once a year if it saves your food in your refrigerator it just paid for itself the first day you have to use it.
So, if you have 500 dollars worth of food in your refrigerator AND you pay 500 dollars or under for your gasoline generator it just paid for itself the first day you need it to keep your refrigerator running.
Depending upon the size of what you buy make sure it can at the very least run your refrigerator and one light in your kitchen (at the very least). I had an Onan in my motor home I used for this but now I bought a free standing one with two wheels and a handle where you can tow it behind you like a two wheeled cart anywhere I need to use it and start it up any time of year. I store it when I'm not using it in my garage.
To be kind to my neighbors I usually start it (when the power is off) from about 8 am to 9 am in the morning until about 9pm at night. This is usually enough to save all our food from spoiling in the refrigerator.
Even then it's best to start eating your frozen foods first during a power outage because these are the first usually to go during a power outage.
Later: Also found out that most of the city of Carmel has been without power now since Wednesday night so far. 6 trees along a Street named Carpenter went down and caused complete havoc with their power coming into Carmel and they don't know when it will be fixed. There may be other cities with power knocked out between Salinas and San Francisco and the Oregon California border. Some of the winds were so strong throughout the northern part of California that it sheared off the tops of trees like Monterey pines and others from the intense gusts of winds in this last storm. Like I said before there hasn't been a storm this intense in Northern California for at least 3 to 5 years since the worst of the droughts began.
But, it should also be said that this IS an El Nino Year when we tend to get the most intense storms too.
Even later: Power went off at 11pm Thursday night here where we live along the Coast of NOrthern California. We always keep battery powered lanterns and rechargeable lanterns in the house and candles too. My wife also has a couple of candle lanterns that are good for walking around the house. We also have rechargeable plug in lights that we plug into wall sockets around the house so when power goes off they automatically turn on and then you can use them like rechargeable flashlights to gather candles and battery powered lanterns if power goes off in the house so you don't hurt yourself in the dark before you get to a light if the power goes off in the dark.
By 2:30 AM they had the power back on. It likely was the power company fixing the above downed power line that was held down ready to snap by a tree in the middle of the road. They likely brought in heavy equipment to make sure no one died if the lines snapped 100 feet or more. The danger is you don't want someone accidentally to be cut in two if lines snap from being brought down by a large tree like the one in the middle of the street about 2 blocks from us.
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