Thursday, August 25, 2011

What Next, A Hurricane?

You Got It...On the Way

Looks like we are going to get nailed by hurricane Irene. I am miles inland, but that doesn't help too much. If the winds are really bad, trees will go down and that means no power.

Out here in the country, that means no water, as my water comes from my wells and the pumps are electric. I do have a generator that, I think, would run a pump if it gets really bad, but I need to prepare regardless.

The house is not a big issue. I have bottled water on hand and extra water stored in 5 gallon containers. I have a gas stove, so that doesn't need power so I can cook. Food in the refrigerator will keep for several days if don't open it much, and again, the generator would run that for periods of time.

It's water for the horses that worries me. I will fill two outside tubs, add at least one manure tub of water, and fill all the buckets I have. Two, at least in each stall, and the extras, along with the water containers in the horse trailer. That should hold us for a few days, just in case.

I am sure I could find a way to bring water over here from the sandpit across the way if I needed it. All I'd have to do is get permission from the owner who happens to be my hay guy. They might even be able to help me some other way as far as water goes.

The trick of living in the country is to be as self-sufficient as you possibly can be. And that means being prepared for emergencies. I have candles, flashlights and batteries. I will fully charge my laptop, tablet, wifi and, of course, my cell phone so I have light and communication. The laptop might sound a bit strange, but I do get a lot of news and information through the Internet, so with the WiFi connection, I can get online. I won't waste the power posting too much, but I will let my blogging friends know that all is well here.

I keep hoping this storm will change course and go out to sea. It doesn't look too promising, but it's happened before. We can only hope.

Tucker is already stuck inside because we had some more soaking thunderstorms today. I'll put him out in the riding arena tomorrow, but from the forecast, he'll be inside for the bulk of the weekend.  I feel bad for him, but I can't risk his losing a shoe at this point because his feet are already on the brink of being too short and if he breaks off any more hoof I don't think Scott would be able to get a new shoe on.

Fortunately, he does not fuss too much about being in.

7 comments:

  1. I hope you get through this unscathed. I choose earthquake over hurricane any day.

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  2. I was just looking on the national weather map. NJ has a watch, not a full warning, yet anyway. So you might escape the worst of it. It's hard to imagine that you would be without power for too long but even so you sound prepared.

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  3. Scary! I lived in south Texas when I was little, and we happened to be gone to California during the worst hurricanes, but one year we were home, and decided to stay. (we didn't have animals to worry about though). boy, was that scary. we lived 45 miles inland and it was scary, winds, tornadoes, a motherload of rain. hopefully you get missed, or at least not hit hard!
    - The Equestrian Vagabond

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  4. You sound well-prepared. I hope you escape teh worse of it.
    Good luck, and let us know how you are doing, or I will think of you.
    (((((((hugs))))))))

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  5. Good luck, we're gonna need it!

    I've filled up the kid's pool and all the available muck tubs with water for the horses. Out here in the boonies it could be awhile before we get power back. I'm also going to braid dog tags into the horses' tails and paint my phone number on them with weatherproof livestock paint, just in case they get loose.

    Stay safe!

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  6. I'm hoping by the time it gets up here it's downgraded. That doesn't mean we still won't lose power because that can happen in a lesser storm. We're preparing like you, the water being the most important thing to have on hand ahead of time. We've been through that before and bucketing water for seven horses from the bathtub by candlelight is no fun.

    Shannon had a great idea for identification in case a horse gets loose. I'm hoping that wouldn't happen since they'll all be in the barn. Today it's cleanup the lawn furniture and put flying objects away. Stay safe.

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  7. Oh my, it looks like it's coming your way. I too like Shannon's idea - a very visible ID on each horse. Thinking of you!

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