Backup generators and flooding

Geo-TH,In

Well-known Member
I saw the flooding on TV and wondered how many people had whole house backup generators and the generators are now 3 feet underwater? So would they have elevated backup generator?

Would you want to power up a house that was flooded without having wiring inspected?

News claims some will be without electricity for 2-3 weeks. Where you get gas to power generator? Roads are closed, gas stations are without power.

A large 500 gallon propane tank would be washed away in a flood.

I feel sorry for the flood victims. I also feel sorry for the people who didn't evacuate and now they have to be rescued.
 
Thing is there are thousands of people not flooded but have had their power knocked out by the storm.In my case I'm on the end of the electric line so my line gets put back up last most times
but about 4 miles from me is a Sheetz fuel station that is right next to a major power sub station. The power never goers off there so no matter what even deep snow I can go over there in
a 4WD tractor which I've done to get gas and diesel.
 
Yes, it's a mess, we are so lucky in MN, we get some snow, but very few bad storms. We have only used a generator for more that 4 hours once in 45 years.
 
From what I have seen over the years. If the generator goes under water. You might as well scrap it. They are rarely the same again.
 
"I also feel sorry for the people who didn't evacuate and now they have to be rescued."
I feel sorry for the people that have to risk their lives to rescue the people who didn't evacuate when told to.
 
If you are flooded you are flooded.
No fixing that in the short term.

Most around here install a generator or A/C unit at house level.
If the house is raised so is the generator or A/C.
The propane tank is strapped down to anchors.

Most whole house generators work on nat gas or propane so no hauling fuel.
Even with every elec pole down; water off because city water supply is down; Nat gas is usually still flowing.

While living threw a hurricane is stressful most of what you see on TV today is hyped up and people not willing to take care of their own.
They want and wait for help from others.
They tell us every year.
Prepare in advance; buy water and can goods in advance yet look at a store just before a storm hits.
It is a mad house of last minute shoppers.
They tell us to make a plan in advance.
I think most peoples plan is simply sit on the curb and cry.

I can remember as a kid we never ran from a hurricane.
We may have went to the local school or other strong multi level building but never left town.
After the storm had passed we never had FEMA or any other help.
We did for ourselves.
I can remember sitting on the highway at 7 years old selling milk after a storm just so we could get rid of it out of my dad's home delivery truck.
 
I agree with you John. My dad always told me. Never feel sorry for people that are to stupid to get out of the way. When I was a kid we helped each other. The ones that were in danger moved out of the way. Sure things got rough at times but we lived. Some were killed but most made it. We all came together to help each other. We didn't wait for the Govt to help.

After Katrina I serviced generators in several towns that took people in. I never saw so much damage,pawning and complaining in my life. I saw buildings destroyed by the people they were trying to help. One thing I will always remember them saying. Nagin never told us to leave. He left them to fend for themselves. While he was hiding out in Dallas.
 
Sadly, the nanny state has been created. The genie is out of the bottle and cannot be put back in.

Of course, folks are going to sit around and wait for the taxpayers to bail them out.

Dean
 
John,
Does FEMA require you to raise your house? It's common sense if your house is in a flood plain to raise your house.

I don't know all the details. BIL's pole barn burnt and he couldn't rebuild it until he raised the elevation 10 ft.

Another guy in Terre Haute bought a commercial property that had flooded 2 times in the past. He tore the building down and wanted to rebuild a new building. Can't rebuild unless he raised the elevation 10 ft.

So is raising the elevation a local building code or a FEMA requirement? Like I said it only makes sense to elevate after a flood.
 
I got a generator back in the 70's & haven't used it yet. It may be stuck by now as I haven't run it in years. In mid Mn. too.
 
George;
FEMA draws a flood map based on past floods.
For my piece of property it is 22 feet.
I will use it for reference.
My property ranges from 20 ft to 24 ft.
In years past you could build any where you wanted.
You just paid more for flood insurance if you were below the 22 ft.
Today zoning laws will not allow me to build below the 22 ft.
I can still build anywhere I want it just has to be raised to the 22 ft level.
If I build a pole barn on the 24 ft high land I can build it normal.
If I build this same pole barn on the 20 ft land the bottom of the tin needs to be at 22 ft.
The poles can be sticking down the 2 feet below the tin.

In all reality it is a big joke.
Some homes in New Orleans (that is below sea level) had 8 ft of water in them.
These same houses were raised to new FEMA levels and are now 4 ft off the ground.
Now tell what good does it do to raise a house 4 ft that had 8 ft of water in it.
Some houses were not raised at all; but any new construction in the area would require it to be built at the raised level.
 
John,
Thanks for clearing up the flooding issue.

In the case that a home burns down, then replacing that home will have to meet new standards.

Where an existing home is flooded it gets a wink.
 
We bought a little Coleman before Y2K, to build a garage at a location without power. We used it ocasinally to run the furnace and coffee pot during short outages in the St Cloud area. Then 2 years ago we were without power for 31 hours here in Bemidji, used it to run fridge, freezer, and coffee pot. I test run it twice a year with mixed gas to keep it lubed, its a 4-stroke.
 
You got that right.

If someone refused to evacuate and then had to be rescued, at minimum they should pay the cost of their rescue.
 
FEMA has various different flood plains---100m year, 500 year etc. Impractical to require a 500 year flood plain---so they call for 100 and expect to get flooded on occasion--nothing is designed for 100% safety--buildings,airplanes,bridges---its all based on probability.
 
3 of the deaths connected to hurricane and generators.

?63-year-old Mark Carter King and 61-year-old Debra Collins Rion of Loris, South Carolina, died of carbon monoxide poisoning from running a generator indoors.

A 78-year-old man was electrocuted in the rain while trying to connect extension cords for a generator in Lenoir County, North Carolina
 
George,
When hurricane Ike hit I had about 30 gallons of gas on hand for my 6000 watt generator. After about 2 days you just started carrying the empty cans with you and buy as much as possible when you found an open store that had some. We went 10 days with no power on the northside of Houston.
Last year in Harvey we never lost power.
 

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