We Learned...

By DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
United States
April 30, 2025 8:17pm CST
There was a tornado that went through, not our city, but the countryside just to the West of us... It took out power mains in the countryside leading to our city, some telephone poles and repeaters for the internet. So, while we do have 24 hours of battery backup power here, when power mains are destroyed, 24 hours isn't long enough. Pretty wants to look into buying a portable generator... That's my mistake. We haven't lost power for that long since we had a major ice storm that took out the power in Southern Missouri for a week at minimum and over two weeks for the unlucky person living in the house where the power cables were ripped off the outside of the house. (Yeah, you know that unlucky bas... uhm... person. ) Power was just restored and, while internet supposedly was restored yesterday evening, we used up the battery backup before then. We survived and I'm glad to be back.
27 people like this
27 responses
Four Walls
@FourWalls (74715)
• United States
1 May
I’m thankful all you lost was electricity. I’ve been watching coverage out of Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, here (a tornado warning just north of Louisville in southern Indiana…wasn’t even raining in Louisville!), and now Illinois. Wow, it’s been a wild spring. Glad you’re okay and you have your power back.
6 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
1 May
Thanks... It wasn't fun, especially during the night. I'm too used to the CPAP machine helping me breathe while I sleep and going one night without it left me exhausted! I kept waking up every half an hour (roughly) because I felt like I was smothering. We have a boil order in effect until someone can check the water quality... They think the water was contaminated during the high winds. (Someone said a leak in a sewer line, possibly.)
6 people like this
Lenore Plassman
@sallypup (64329)
• Centralia, Washington
1 May
@DaddyEvil That's awful. I'm glad it was just that one night.
5 people like this
Marie Coyle
@MarieCoyle (43820)
•
1 May
@DaddyEvil Here in Illinois if you have a CPAP or a medically necessary machine needed for health, you can get a form from the electric company to have your doctor sign, saying you have this need. In the event of a long outage, they will try to get to you along with a list of others with the same problems, Maybe Missouri is like that, too.
5 people like this
Lenore Plassman
@sallypup (64329)
• Centralia, Washington
1 May
I'm glad both of you are okay. I hope you didn't lose any food. I'm also glad the outage didn't last longer than it did.
4 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
1 May
Thanks... Everything in the freezer is still rock solid since I reminded Pretty not to open that door. We both were in the fridge a few times getting bread, meat and cheese for sandwiches. I don't think we lost anything.
4 people like this
Lenore Plassman
@sallypup (64329)
• Centralia, Washington
1 May
@DaddyEvil I'm glad the food was still okay.
3 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
1 May
@sallypup Thanks. We are, too! We just bought groceries. I worried about them staying good and think I've made my self sick with worry...
3 people like this
OceanTiara
@RebeccasFarm (94685)
• Arvada, Colorado
1 May
Its back up now?
2 people like this
OceanTiara
@RebeccasFarm (94685)
• Arvada, Colorado
1 May
@DaddyEvil Thank goodness. Yeah would be good the generator like Pretty says.
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
1 May
@RebeccasFarm It will take a while for us to save up enough to buy a small one but I think, in the long run, it will be worth it.
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
1 May
Yes, power and internet both came back up around 7 pm last night.
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (474395)
• Italy
1 May
I am sorry to know you had a hard time with horrible weather. I am glad you are fine and I hope everything is back working now.
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (474395)
• Italy
2 May
@DaddyEvil I hope your car is also ready and all this is over. We are having some very warm days right now.
1 person likes this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
2 May
@LadyDuck Thank you. I picked the car up this morning and it seems to be running much better than it was. I spent the day working around the house and playing on myLot trying to catch up again. We reached 73F/23C today. It felt really nice outside.
1 person likes this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
1 May
Thank you. Yes, everything is back up and working again now. We're just waiting for the mechanic to call and say the car is ready to be picked up now.
2 people like this
Eva James
@wolfgirl569 (116147)
• Marion, Ohio
1 May
Glad it's back working. We do have a small generator if needed for the freezers in the summer and it can run the pellet burner in the winter if needed
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
1 May
Thanks... The backup battery kept the fridge/freezer running for a little over 24 hours and my CPAP machine running one of the two nights... I found out I DO need it or I don't sleep well, waking up about once every hour I sleep feeling like I'm being smothered if I don't have it. I'm glad you've got a small generator to use if you need it. We'll be looking at buying one for the fridge/freezer and to run heat in the winter and air in the summer if a blackout goes longer than the 24 hours the battery lasts.
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
1 May
@wolfgirl569 Yes, even though we'll probably never need it after we spend a small fortune on it.
2 people like this
Eva James
@wolfgirl569 (116147)
• Marion, Ohio
1 May
@DaddyEvil Glad it kept most things going for you. It's worth having a generator when you need it.
2 people like this
Judy Evans
@JudyEv (353597)
• Rockingham, Australia
1 May
I'm truly glad you're all safe. A backup generator would be good insurance but I doubt they're cheap.
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
1 May
Thank you. The price is the reason I opted for the backup battery in the first place... But see now that I should have bought the backup generator instead. No matter how much it costs, having electricity when the power grid goes down is more important than saving some money.
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
2 May
@JudyEv With one day without power, we left the freezer closed so we didn't let the cold escape. Everything was still frozen solid when I checked it right after the power was restored last night. Several days with no power and we would have lost everything in the freezer.
1 person likes this
Judy Evans
@JudyEv (353597)
• Rockingham, Australia
2 May
@DaddyEvil And if the power goes out for any length of time you could lose all your frozen goods which would be costly.
1 person likes this
Amber
@AmbiePam (98230)
• United States
2 May
I’m glad to hear everything is back to normal again. Well, as normal as things can ever really be.
2 people like this
Amber
@AmbiePam (98230)
• United States
2 May
@DaddyEvil No, thank goodness. The storms were insanely loud, but the power never went out here. We had extensive flooding in the area though.
1 person likes this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
2 May
@AmbiePam We're still getting flood watches and warnings here. I'm glad you didn't lose power and hope you don't with the storms coming this week.
1 person likes this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
2 May
Thank you. Did you have any problems during the last few days?
1 person likes this
snowy
@snowy22315 (189562)
• United States
1 May
Glad you are too. Was wondering where you were. MY GM discussion showed a lightning strike near Chicago.
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
1 May
I could actually see the whole time, too. I saw that. Hope they get power back soon.
1 person likes this
rebelann1949
@rebelann (113979)
• El Paso, Texas
1 May
It's a good thing you had backup but I'd go nuts without my PC and all the websites I like to touch on.
2 people like this
rebelann1949
@rebelann (113979)
• El Paso, Texas
1 May
Welcome
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
1 May
Thanks... And yeah, neither one of us were happy about not being able to go online. That reminds me I need to download some more free books from Amazon. I started the last one I had this afternoon.
2 people like this
Judy Story
@jstory07 (144055)
• Roseburg, Oregon
1 May
That's good that the power was restored.
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
1 May
Thanks. Yes, it is very nice to have electricity again.
2 people like this
Marie
@Tampa_girl7 (52426)
• United States
1 May
I’m glad that you survived.
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
1 May
Thank you. I appreciate that.
1 person likes this
Kareng
@kareng (74193)
• United States
2 May
@Tampa_girl7 Are you getting bad weather up your way today (Thursday)?
1 person likes this
Marie
@Tampa_girl7 (52426)
• United States
3 May
@kareng We haven’t had anything major. Just storms and rain.
1 person likes this
RasmaSandra
@RasmaSandra (85026)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
1 May
G;lad you survived and i hope the storms are a thing of the past now,
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
2 May
Thank you. The forecast is calling for rain and storms for the rest of this week. Hopefully, nothing bad again, though.
2 people like this
Kandase
@Kandae11 (56427)
•
1 May
I was wondering where you were. Glad everything is working again.
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
1 May
Thank you. It wasn't fun but, the car even came home this morning and seems to be working well again
2 people like this
Kandase
@Kandae11 (56427)
•
1 May
@DaddyEvil Great.
2 people like this
Marie Coyle
@MarieCoyle (43820)
•
1 May
I am glad you didn't get hit, but sorry you were without power for some time. I know that is annoying, and so hard to cope with--we are all used to our electricity, and count on it working! Where I used to live, I had a generator if it was needed. Here, I would have to be super sneaky, as they are not allowed in a rental in my city, unless purchased and installed by the landlord.
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
1 May
We both had trouble finding enough to do without the internet. I'm glad I had several books already downloaded to my phone. Pretty kept taking my phone and leaving me with nothing because my phone battery lasts so much longer than hers. (She gets about 4 hours on one charge where I get two to three days on a charge.) We can't install the battery backup we have or a generator the way they're supposed to be installed so they take over as soon as you lose power. Anything we attach to the house becomes the property of the owner of the house. That includes wiring something into the fuse box.
2 people like this
Marie Coyle
@MarieCoyle (43820)
•
3 May
@DaddyEvil The first year I lived here we had a huge tornado nearby. We were down for days. The hand cranked weather radio with the charging ports, etc. has helped us a lot. It’s nice to know if everything is down for an extended period of time, phones can be charged.
1 person likes this
Kareng
@kareng (74193)
• United States
1 May
Welcome back to the real world. You probably didn't miss anything, that is anything important!!
1 person likes this
Kareng
@kareng (74193)
• United States
2 May
@DaddyEvil I agree! Is she blonde?
1 person likes this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
2 May
@kareng Strawberry blonde, yes.
1 person likes this
Kareng
@kareng (74193)
• United States
2 May
@DaddyEvil My husband loves to pick on our oldest, who is blonde.
1 person likes this
Always smiling
@allknowing (145788)
• India
1 May
I missed our interaction and was wondering where you had disappeared Good to see you back. Here load shedding is routine and we have a Home UPS that takes care of our lights, fans, tv and computer
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
1 May
I missed visiting with you, too. Thanks. We don't have load shedding here so something has to happen to the power here before it goes out for any length of time.
2 people like this
George B Vieto
@Deepizzaguy (109742)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
1 May
Thank goodness you are back with us.
2 people like this
jaishankar
@Shivram59 (41044)
• India
2 May
Glad to know power is back in your city. The storm didn't hurt the city; that's why you didn't have much damage there.
1 person likes this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
2 May
Tornados always circle around our city. We're on a high plateau here at the edge of the Ozark Mountains. Tornados damage the farms around the outside of the city but never come into the city. I always thought we couldn't be hurt by one but that's something else we learned was possible.... Thanks.
1 person likes this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
2 May
@Shivram59 I've seen lots of tornados. One chased my car when Pretty and I were going to an amusement park when she was around 7 years old. It was so close to our car that we could have reached out of the passenger side window and stuck our arms into it. Whirlwinds start up just like a tornado would. There has to be something for the wind to start swirling: a building, a hill, a cliff... anything that can block the wind from blowing straight ahead and make it curl around.
1 person likes this
jaishankar
@Shivram59 (41044)
• India
2 May
@DaddyEvil I have never seen a tornado. As a teenager I had seen whirlwinds in summer. But after the town got industrialized; I never saw them. Is there a connection between industrialization/big buildings and whirlwinds??
1 person likes this
Neil
@Neil43 (3938)
•
4 May
Oh! Stay safe out there, DE. How often do you experience tornadoes in a year? I am really glad that you and Pretty were good.
1 person likes this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
5 May
Thanks... We don't normally experience tornados in our city. They go around the city. So did this tornado but it took out infrastructure that was outside the city. This is the first time that I know about that this has ever happened. It took out electric mains between our city and a little city called Verona. It moved down a valley between the cities and took out phone towers and internet repeaters that left us without any services for about two days.
1 person likes this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
5 May
@Neil43 Yes, my area gets tornados every year during the spring. They can also appear during other parts of the year but are uncommon then. And yes, people lose their lives to them, as well as homes and businesses... Have I ever told you the story about a tornado going along beside my Daytona when Pretty and I were going to an amusement park? It's a good story and true, as well.
1 person likes this
Neil
@Neil43 (3938)
•
5 May
@DaddyEvil It is good to know that you don't normally experience tornadoes but some places in the US normally do, right? It's like depicted in some series I watched. It's horrible.
1 person likes this
kay lar
@jaylar (1414)
• Kingston, Jamaica
1 May
it happens all the time in Jamaica when we have a hurricane or a major storm. electricity, cell phone, internet. gone. lost connection for 22 days in Sept
1 person likes this
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
1 May
Wow! I'm really sorry that happens so often there. I'm glad they got your connections fixed and everything working as quickly as they could. I would suggest you come visit next time that happens but, with the political climate right now, that probably wouldn't be a good idea.
DE
@DaddyEvil (148372)
• United States
1 May
@jaylar Believe me, I understand. I'd be worried if you came here right now, to be honest. She's probably smart to carry her passport around with her.
kay lar
@jaylar (1414)
• Kingston, Jamaica
1 May
@DaddyEvil I really am scared to come up to be honest. A friend of mine who has beenin the US from babyhood and is now in her 40s walks with her US passport.... just in case
1 person likes this