I am absolutely amazed at the fall-out from the latest floods in Queensland.

What is wrong with people that they don`t take steps to protect themeselves from these regularly occurring disasters?

We saw the long lines of people queuing at the only Service Station that was operational, probably because it was the only one with a generator, ( and fuel tanks nor drowned ).

Any resident can purchase a 8/9kw Generator that runs on ULP for a modest $1500. The cost of getting an Electrician to wire-in a power board adapter to suit a generator costs around $100, making a total of $1600 to have a reliable standby Generator ready to go in an emergency.

It also appears that most people live from day to day and thus have very little in their cupboards in the way of food to handle an emergency, hence the Supermarket panic syndrome!

I have learnt that commonsense tells one to be prepared for disasters at any time of the year, be it Power Outages, Cyclones or Floods.
I keep my cupboards well stocked with foods. I always have on hand at least 200 litres of ULP, to power Generator or to keep vehicles running.

If an emergency like the current one in Queensland occurs, it only takes the loss of one freezer and refrigerator full of frozen foods to cover the cost of a Generator, so it is a matter of logistics in purchasing one to be prepared for any emergency.

Crackup,

Probably you are in the country and have a free-standing fuel storage tank that meets the Australian Standards. You would be a larger fuel user than the ordinary person to need the approved tank/s and access/availability problems to makes it worthwhile. Thinking of fuel going stale, filtering rust water (esp alcohol added fuel) etc.

I wouldn't like to see the public encouraged to hoard fuel, or store it outside of their vehicle's fuel tank. They are bad enough where handling small, but still very dangerous quantities of petrol are concerned, for the mower perhaps. I worry how some amateur boaties dispose of their stale fuel. For those who are not aware, fuel down a drain is very dangerous, for years.

Generators
There is a special place in Hell for that neighbour not far from me who started that el cheapo Bunnings generator during the recent black-out (possums or people growing large trees where they shouldn't are the usual culprits). The cheap ones are unreliable, likely to bow electronics ('dirty' power) and are loud - made worse where the inconsiderate sod operates one with a wall behind that magnifies sound.

Petrol appliances that are not used regularly are subject to petrol glazing in the carby and stale fuel.

Again for safety reasons I would not like the public to be buying up home generators, especially from the hardware shop. Every time the subject is mentioned and more than one electrician is present there is a no-holds-barred argument and NO resolution of the required earthing, safety switch operation and safe operation. Don't anyone here presume to advise either.

Crackup, you may know what you are doing. For most I would suggest that keeping the fridge relatively lean is prudent home economics, less waste. More refrigeration (we have heaps so I know) is costly to run and often the savings are illusory (waste, extra power use). More dried foods, eg brown rice, dried chick peas, beans and so on are stand-bys that can improve health if used and supplies replenished (to avoid the inevitable moths).

I agree that panic buying causes shortages.

My 'bow electronics' should be 'blow electronics'. Computers and so on may be trashed by cheap generators.

If anyone really must get a small genny, buy a Honda EU1, or preferably EU2. It will always start (if run occasionally with fresh fuel), is quiet, produces clean power and enough for a fridge and a couple of low wattage lights. With matched batteries back-up and an inverter life is easier.

Onthebeach you are short selling a lot of people, who can happily run small petrol engined equipment occasionally, & keep them healthy. You only have to turn the fuel off, & run the carby dry, & you will have no problems. I also drain the fuel tank with expected long disuse.I used a Honda powered fire pump, which had not run in 4 years recently. It started first pull after adding fuel. Yes I was amazed too.

Crackcup we lost power & were flooded in for 5 days in the last flood. My 600W camping generator was pretty useless, & I guess I deserved it when I found my 2.5 KVA petrol unit could not start the fridge/freezer. Should have checked it could do the job when I bought it.

I have since bought a 10 KVA diesel 3 phase or single phase unit new for just under $1000. I also bought a single compressor fridge freezer, which the 2.5KVA can start.

Now fully prepared, I expect I have ensured this community will not be flooded again. However with the greenies fighting like hell to stop Energex clearing the transmission lines well enough to ensure power reliability, I have already used it for a couple of extended blackouts.

Unlike city folk, no power means no pump, & no running water. It is nice to be back in control, I & recommend it to anyone.

Hasbeen,

You are right, I am selling most people short if you want to put it that way.

I go camping and I volunteer. The outdoors, practical Aussie is a myth. I often wonder how many people survive where the State isn't looking out for them. Very few people have been allowed to take those limited, calculated risks when they were young and have been highly protected.

It is only astute design and lack of availability of some things that protect people who are unused to thinking for themselves. Baby-sat by the TV since birth and wrapped in cotton wool for their parents' benefit - it is easier for her/them.

On a brighter note, some smaller, useful, diesel generators are becoming available at reasonable prices.

I guess you may be right onthebeach. Thinking about it, I guess most of the people I mix with are the more competent type, even the city slickers. Most of them have boats with outboards, off road vehicles or bikes, mowers camping generators, so I'm probably not seeing the rich bureaucrat type, who can pay someone else to do everything for them.

Hell even my 22 year old daughter could gas up & fire up a long out of use mower when she wanted to borrow, [pinch actually] it.

I have perhaps forgotten the neighbour who needs help to get his expensive ride on mower going on a regular basis, or the cousin who could not figure out how to dip the oil in his new car.

The cousin can be forgiven perhaps, as the only people who can check the oil in his new Audi are those with the right computer program, as they no longer have a dip stick.

His big mistake was in buying a stupid European car in the first place. Your right, many people are fools, & yes he's a bureaucrat.

OntheBeach:
You are right, I live on a property and have no problem with storing ULP fuel.

The Generator that I quoted is an Odes 8/9KVA, powered by a Honda engine. It is electric start (with remote start and shut-down) and with a full tank of approx 20 litres, will power all the house, with the exception of the Airconditioner(which is an ageing 1HP LG reverse cycle, and very heavy on electricity) for around 16 hours of constant running. NB: I must mention that living in a regional area, I try to be prepared for anything that may happen, and run 3 Refigerators, 2 Deep Freezers and a Bar Fridge, so I have a reasonable current draw.

I have an exterior red warning light on the side of my Power Box, which is illuminated when the Mains Power is restored, thus saving me the hassle of ringing neigbours to check if the power has been restored.

I would NOT be without my generator set-up, as it has saved me from losing hundreds of dollars worth of food, plus the fact that in the hot Summer ( which now seems to be with us most of the year )I still have the ceiling fans to cool the house down somewhat.

I have thought ahead and have a 10KW roof-top Solar array, plus a Solar powered Bore, a Honda Firefighter powered Bore and a rooftop spray system (in case of bushfires). NB: The rooftop spray system is only covering the side of the house that is in danger from the trees, as obviously I cannot spray the other side of the roof because of the Solar array!

I cannot hear the Generator running as it is behind my garage and is pretty well muffled, but for anyone worried about upsetting neigbours,
a simple buried in the ground muffler system works well, as most of the miners at Coober Pedy and Mintaby in SA will attest to.

I hope that this has been helpful to anyone now contemplating purchasing a Generator

A large part of the problem with the power is the greenies. In many cases they have area managers running scared, & in some arrears have infiltrated the organisation.

We were losing power about 20 times a year, & Tamborine mountain had outages a couple of times a week. A smart local found the area manager, [one of the greenie ratbag brigade] interpreted the 2 meter clearance rule to include 2 metres above the lines as well as side clearance. Thus we had overhanging gum trees ready to droop onto lines in heavy rain, & drop branches in wind.

The local arranged for the manager to attend a community association meeting, where he was goaded into telling us he was not going to turn the place into a treeless desert, just so we didn't have power outages.

When the tape of this was played to his superiors, he disappeared & the new manager fixed our problem, by clearing above the lines. Unfortunately it is getting back to too many outages again, hence my need for a gen set.

Perhaps some greenies require squashing again.

In the cities there is the inheritance from the ridiculous political correctness that decrees that Australian natives were to be always preferred (except strangely for Jacarandas and the like) and free trees for rate payers and government plantings were all gums, bottlebrush and so on.

In schools the previous shade trees were even removed to be replaced with the obligatory natives, enormous Peppermint Gums and the like that threaten life, limb and structures. Native is sacred!

From the green PC of recent decades we now suffer power 'outages' from the incessant dropping of heavy gum branches onto power lines. At the schools and public areas there are plenty of jobs for contract tree inspectors, who wouldn't detect the pipe up a gum if you milled it and don't comprehend that a young trees is likely the same.

Fire Risk
I sincerely hope that one day some courageous fire authority will go to bat against the prevailing political correctness and inform governments of the fire risks of the low water usage plantings of highly flammable natives in the suburbs and in parks - with heaps of litter. One day with the wind the wrong way on a fire and it will be 'Remember Canberra's fire disaster', but too late.

Everyone is forced to vote and I support that. The problem though is that only a small number of the easily led and useful idiots is required to put in yet another glib, narcissist career politician with PC bible in hand and spruiking the sort of BS that the equally frivolous and ill-informed media love.