Virginia Winter Storm (Introduction)

[fm2176]

Who else got some of this wonderful snow in Central and Northern Virginia?  I know many of you are from areas where under a foot is just a crisp fall day, but the family and I have been weathering in (for the most part), trying to stay warm and entertained in a modern (read: electric powered) house without electricity.  Both the local authorities and power companies were overwhelmed to say the least, while our outgoing governor and the state seem to have decided to play the blame game for why a state of emergency wasn’t called on Monday.

 

Anyway, this is just an initial post.  I started a much longer thread on my phone yesterday, when cell service was spotty, data almost nonexistent, and of course power a thing we still haven’t seen since Monday morning.  Admittedly, I was inspired by reading some back issues of Backwoodsman magazine (the only mag I still try to buy monthly), where I realized that we weren’t the absolute best prepared family, but we were far from bad off, unlike those stuck on I-95 for 18+ hours.  Virginia is one of those states that sees just enough snow each year to have adequate supplies and equipment for most winter weather as well as drivers who think they know how to drive in snow and ice.  Unfortunately, a lot of those from and passing through Virginia take for granted that there will be no overly extreme road conditions and that, if there are, VDOT, first responders, or other government entities will save the day within the hour.

 

Hope everyone around these parts and elsewhere are doing well and enjoyed your holidays.  I’ll post another thread (really, almost an opinion article) on my experiences and thoughts on the situation in VA in the next few days, once I finish writing and editing it.

[fm2176]

Two things I’ll touch on here, in case I forget to share them in the upcoming thread:

 

1) Being a tool guy has helped out tremendously.  Though we had a lack of service until last night, I have been able to keep five phones charged with my Ryobi 150-watt power inverter, a 3Ah battery, and two 6Ah batteries.  The DeWalt power station has been used to keep those batteries charged, and also in a failed attempt to power on the router (internet was down too).

 

2) Organization (or lack thereof) has been the bane of this experience.  The DeWalt power station is nice, but it isn’t exactly economical to use FlexVolt and XR batteries to charge Ryobi batteries.  I haven’t seen my DeWalt USB charger or its Ridgid equivalent since I moved here 3.5 years ago.  Not that it matters, my batteries are scattered all over between here and the flipper house 100 miles south, so even my Bosch and M12 USB chargers were all but useless (though I did find and charge a 4.0Ah M12 battery for the wife’s heated hoodie).

 

When I finally retire from this career, I plan to set up my tools and batteries so that they are both accessible and useful during an emergency, along with other basic preparations.  The Gulf Coast usually gets more hurricanes than snow storms, but my trip to Baton Rouge last February proved that anything is possible.

[Eric - TIA]

We were in Florida and just got back to Illinois for a couple of inches of snow.  Yes, as a tool guy, the one thing that is nice is always having chargers

[fm2176]

Very true.  I think I own USB hubs for every battery platform I'm on minus MetaboHPT.  I really need to find the DeWalt and Ridgid chargers; I have quite a few 10+ year old 12v Max batteries that would be perfect for a charge or two, and have a couple of Ridgid 9Ah batteries that would be good for multiple charges.