<VV> Fwd: Sandy Update - I I

Wed Oct 31 14:34:04 EDT 2012

Folks,

Congratulations on escaping a flood. In the spirit of "the Lord helps those who help themselves," may I offer some advice (aside from prayer)? 

Last year we had water in our basement three times. No Corvairs or Corvair parts were down there (is that "required Corvair content"?), but lots of other stuff.  

Once it was due to very heavy rains (4 inches in just a few hours) overflowing our roof gutters and spilling water onto the ground next to one wall, which eventually leaked at its base. I fixed that by having the gutters cleaned and adding a downspout to increase drain-down capacity. So far that's worked, although we've not had real heavy rain to test it. 

Twice the water inflow (only a couple or three inches -- enough to make a mess but not enough to despair) happened because the sump pump quit working when grid power went out. There was a backup pump that took over for a while, but its battery ran down during the night when we were asleep. After the cleanup I got a new backup pump and battery. 

The second time the power outage lasted about 18 hours, long enough to run down the near-new battery. After that cleanup I bought a second battery and wired it in parallel with the first, so we should have enough juice to last 20 or so hours. 

However, I also went out and bought a gasoline generator set for about $650. That was a year ago March and I've not had to use it (wouldn't you know?), but I did fuel it and fire it up last summer for some tree-cutting with my little electric chain saw. Now I know the genset works and am glad I have it, especially as Sandy approached (but no, we didn't need it, but could've). 

So, I suggest that you go to a hardware or home-supply store and get a backup sump pump and battery kit. This will cost $250 to $300. If power goes down during the next storm, you'll thank the Lord you got it. Next, consider a genset. You can use it to power the primary sump pump, refrigerator, etc., until power returns. Then you won't have to pray as hard, or worry as much.

There's my three cents worth. 

--Tom in Ohio

________________________________
 From: Guy Brandes <vair140 at aol.com>
To: VirtualVairs at corvair.org 
Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2012 8:14 AM
Subject: <VV> Fwd:  Sandy Update - I I

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Regards,

Guy Brandes

65  VAIR 140

-----Original Message-----
From: judynrandy <judynrandy at comcast.net>
To: virtualvairs <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Tue, Oct 30, 2012 7:15 pm
Subject: <VV> Sandy Update - I I

I live in south central PA.  I also live right next to Yellow Creek. (Or around 
here: "Yella Crick")  We got well over 4 " of rain (at least)  monday.  And lots 
of high wind.   As a precaution, I moved the '63 to a friends house along with 
our riding lawn mower.  I also moved other valuables, too.  The '60 i'm working 
on is of course up on blocks with the drivetrain out in preparation for 
installation of a 4spd.  We came up with a continge ncy plan if the power went 
out.  My sub pump in the basement could keep things dry as long as the power 
didn't go out. 

   It's quite a feeling knowing  the largest hurricane on record is bearing down 
on you and there is absolutely NOTHING you can do about it but pray.  Well, we 
did.  Boy did we!  And I wondered how I would know if the power went out in the 
middle of the night, if I went to bed, so I could run down to the basement and 
keep bailing out  all the ground water that kept trickling in.  Well, my wife 
Judy, who got a "heart transplant" in 2007, was as calm as could be.  She said, 
"We prayed and asked the Lord to protect us.  Not our will, but Your will be 
done.  We either trust Him, or we don't."  So, we went to bed. 

   Well, the Lord WAS willing, and the "crick" didn't flood.  I didn't say rise 
because it did rise, to about 3 feet of the top of the bank, but never crossed  
i t!!!!!     Our power never went out, either. 

  Long story short, we're fine and I can truthfully say, "What a God we 
serve!!!!" 

Randy (Cap'n) Hook 

'63 ragtop 110/pg 

'60 700 4dr 80/ soon-to-be 4spd. 

'65 monza 4dr 84/pg 
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