RV Traveler readers tell how their RVs came in handy during the big Power Blackout
Dear readers,
RVs are great for camping and for full-time living for those who are able and inclinded to do it. But there's another "Plus" to owning an RV, and that's having one in an emergency. During the big Eastern power blackout of early August (2003), countless RVers moved from their homes to their RVs to take advantage of their onboard power systems. While most of the 50 million people in the U.S. and Canada in the blackout area coped without the use of anything electrical (including water, which, in some communities, was unavailable due to electric-powered pumps that were offline), RVers simply adjourned to their rigs where they had most of the comforts of home.
Here are a few letters from readers of RV Traveler who reveal their "Power Blackout" experiences. Other readers, who were not affected by this widespread power outage, tell about similiar times and how their RVs came to the rescue.
Most of the letters below were edited for space. I was not able to print all those that I received, and excluded those that were unsigned. Thanks to all of you who wrote!
Chuck Woodbury, editor
RV Traveler
RV NOT LONELY ANY MORE
We were one of those people who took advantage of our RV sitting outside during the power outage. We have a 27-foot Wilderness fifth wheel, self contained, which looked lonely sitting outside on the beautiful afternoon of the 14th. After we realized that the power was not coming back on and the whole Northeast was also out of power we hooked up to our F250 and pulled out of the driveway and went about 10 miles to my parents who own a 200-acre farm on top of a mountain on a dead end road in upstate New York. We parked the RV on their lawn facing the sunset, opened the windows for the beautiful breeze, and invited my mom and dad over to play cards. Our dog was happy since she had run of the farm visiting her friends and swimming in the pond. We appreciate our home on wheels and all the comforts that it enables you to take with you. — Dorine Muller
WORRIED ABOUT FOOD IN THE FRIDGE
During the recent outage, the only thing I was worried about was the food in my refrigerator and freezer. After a couple of hours, I hooked up an extension cord from the RV, started the generator and plugged my refrigerator into it. Everything kept just fine. Since my generator is a small one (for my 21' Rialta) I didn't try to overwork it. I have also used this method to use my gas furnace in the winter during ice storms. I had a box attached to the furnace so I can turn off the electricity and use my generator whenever I feel the need to heat the house. — Hazel
RV HELPS POWER UP SON'S HOUSE
About five minutes before the power failure, we returned from the U.S. to Canada, crossing the bridge at Cornwall, Ontario in our Holiday Rambler Vacationer RV. Until we arrived at our campsite about an hour later, we were not aware of the failure. Setting up, we turned on our generator, set up our satellite, and learned of the extent of the problem from our TV. We ran our generator until midnight, not realizing until then that the power had, in fact, come back on about 9:30 pm. Our families in Ontario were all without power, but we were essentially unaffected. The next day, returning our grandchildren to their Ottawa home, we powered our son's home refrigerator from our generator until his power was restored, fortunately just a few hours. — Dick Taylor
RV IS COZY AND CONVENIENT
My husband and I own a Roadtrek which we keep in our driveway in Rochester Hills (just north of Detroit). When we lost power last Thursday, we waited a while, then ran a cord from our RV generator to our home refrigerator. We also used the RV generator to cook meals and make coffee. If the power had stayed out another night (we got it back Friday evening) we may have slept in the camper and run the air conditioner. It's a cozy and convenient little unit. — Heidi Bowen
RV HELPS CALM TERRORISM RUMORS
I am an engineer for a major railroad in New York State, and around 4 p.m. my wife had called me to say the power had gone out at our house. When I got home later that night I went out to my 29-foot RV and fired up the generator, air conditioner and then turned on CNN to see what was going on. At the time of the blackout the local police told us that it may have been the result of terrorism. They were scared because the train I was running contained many full tank cars of gasoline. If I had not owned an RV we would have been in the dark about what had happened and what was going on around the world. I love the freedom an RV gives you at the time of a major problem. — John Sabatino
GRABBED A GOOD BOOK
Our RV came in handy. We fed the power from our RV generator in to our house power to keep the refrigerators and freezer operating. We then turned our RV air conditioning to cool down the rig and then turned our radio on, grabbed a good book and settled in, topping the evening off with the late national news on TV. For us, no big problem! — Don and Dora Gimpel
RV MAKES LIEE EASY DURING 30-HOUR OUTAGE
Here in Michigan we didn't get our lights on until the 30th hour of the outage. Just like many others, we went right to our fifth wheel and lived for the day like nothing was wrong. The power outage could not have come at a worse time as it was hotter than heck here. Anyone from Michigan knows just how humid it gets, especially along the Great Lakes. We have a generator which we promptly hooked up to our fifth wheel and with our refrigerator on propane and our two deep cell batteries, we were good for at least a week. How fortunate we are to have our spare home right here in our driveway. I don't know how we ever got along without it. — Darlene Sylvia
MODERN CONVENIENCES EVEN DURING BLACKOUT
Living in central New York, 20 miles from Syracuse, the power went out about 4 p.m. My first concern was all the food in our freezer. Our Class C motorhome was sitting in the driveway, so we turned on the propane then the refrigerator. As soon as it was cold, we transferred the contents of our refrigerator in our house to the one in the motorhome. Then we realized, (duh!) that we have a generator in our RV. So we powered it up and ran a cord to our chest freezer in the house, keeping the refrigerator in the motorhome running as well. After that, we put the TV antenna up and watched the news. We could have prepared supper in our motorhome as well, but cooked hamburgers out on our gas grill. I'm definitely spoiled with modern conveniences and thanks to our RV I can continue to enjoy those conveniences even when the outside world cannot. — Denise in central New York
HUSBAND GETS EARLY BLAME FOR BLACKOUT
We are on eastern Long Island, a small town called Oakdale. My husband was doing some home repair when the power went out so, of course, I immediately assumed he blew the circuit with his power tools. When I went outside all the neighbors were wondering what had happened. With no phones or electricity in our home, we went to the motorhome, turned on the generator, and listened to the news on the radio. Later, we moved my daughter's 23rd birthday from the house to the motorhome; put on the air conditioning and had a great time. Since our TV cable was also out we watched videos and then slept in comfort through the night. It was annoying to be without electricity but with the motorhome not an inconvenience at all. — Joy Bergmann
WHO NEEDS GENERATOR? 12-VOLT SYSTEM WORKS FINE
As the power outage began I regretted that I had just traded my generator-equipped motorhome for a fifth wheel without one. However, I quickly discovered that my 12-volt TV worked well in the new RV and I was able to stay abreast of the news. I transferred milk and other perishables to the RV fridge,then used the gas stove to prepare dinner. Having onboard hot and cold water meant that we had full bath facilities as well. When darkness came we sparingly used our lights to conserve the deep cell battery. This experience certainly puts our mind at ease concerning future power outages, and has caused me to consider adding a second battery to our unit. — Bob Bristol
POWER INSPIRES DINNER BY CANDLELIGHT, ROMANCE
Our motor home came in very handy. We had dinner by candlelight on the back porch under the stars — very romantic. Then we went to the motorhome, turned on the generator and read our books until bedtime. We turned on the refrigerator in case the power didn't come back on in the morning. Luckily, it did. I hope others enjoyed the back out as much as we did. — Chuck and Marilyn Millard
JUST-BOUGHT RV SAVES THE DAY
I bought my first class A motorhome two weeks ago and never dreamed it would be such a delight in an emergency like the above. We live in Eastern Ontario in a small farming village. As you can guess, private wells need hydro power to propel the water pumps. No hydro, no water, which means no toilets or washbasins. It's amazing how we take water for granted. Well, I hooked up an extension to my MH generator and bingo, water! And, what a cushy thing to be able to just move into your little home for the night while the whole village is in total darkness. And if that wasn't enough, the local voluntary fire station needed a little power for the garage doors and water pump and guess where we spent the night? My little Fleetwood Flair more than paid for itself. — Mashoud Janjua
RV POWER PROVIDES ONLY LIGHTS ON BLOCK
As a recent "transplant" to Florida, from Long Island, NY, this is what we do to deal with the power outage. We added an outlet to the outside of the house. During a power outage, we make sure the main circuit breaker is off in the breaker box, turn on the generator and plug it into the outlet. This takes care of the whole house. The only thing we can't use is the microwave and electric stove and oven. But at least it keeps the refrigerator and freezer on, so we never lose any food. During this power outage, it was fun being the only house on the block with lights. — Vikki Pietras
HOTTEST DAY OF YEAR! NO PROBLEM THANKS TO RV
We have a 5th wheel trailer, which we keep most of the year on a seasonal site in upstate New York, about 25 miles from our home. When the power outage occurred, we had no power at our home for about five hours. But there we were in our RV, not only with full power but air conditioning as well on what was probably one of the hottest days of the year. I love that we can live, if we choose, in our RV. — Tina
SLEPT SNUG AS A BUG IN DRIVEWAY
Our new 36-foot Vectra Grand Tour motor home in parked in our driveway. But because the driveway is on an incline, we had never spent much time in the motorhome while at home. For some reason, though, I spent quite a bit of time Thursday morning playing with the leveling system, getting the motor home as level as possible. I was surprised at how close to level it was when I was finished. I also cleaned it, inside and out. When the power went out at about 4:15, I immediately had a plan, moving right out to the motor home. I had every convenience I needed: cool air, lights, stove, 'frig. That night, I slept I slept "as snug as a bug in a rug." Who needs that big old house? — Cathy McGowan
BLACKOUT PROMOTES CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEA
My husband and I went camping in our motorhome with two granddaughter to see the tall ships come in Bay City, Michigan, this pass week. When we watched the 11 p.m. news we couldn't believe what we heard. I turned my phone on and I had 11 voice mails from our family here in Warren, Michigan. I had to wait until the next morning to call them from a pay phone to make sure they were all safe. They told me when we come home bring lots of water, because as it was, they had to boil theirs first. I know I'm giving them this year for Christmas — flashlights, candles, a battery-powered radio and lots of batteries — plus a few gallons of spring water. — John and Della from Warren, Michigan
MADNESS AT GROCERY STORE, BUT NOT AT RV
I was over here in Jersey City, NJ (right across from Manhattan) when the power went out. After determining that it was widespread and not just local, I fired up my RV generator and for the next 4 1/2 hours until the power was restored was nice and cool. We have a grocery store right up the street that stayed open and people were buy EVERYTHING — it was laughable. One the very bright side, people were exceptionally friendly (this area is not known for it's friendliness) and for the most part they took everything right in stride. — Tom Meservey, USN (Ret)
OTHER TALES OF POWER OUTAGES
STORMS TAKEN FOR GRANTED IN OKLAHOMA
When you live in Oklahoma severe storms are taken for granted. We have a Dodge van motorhome sitting in our driveway, but has used little for the past five years because of my wife's health problems. During one frigid January ice storm we sat snug as bugs in a rug in our van, with the generator giving us all of the power we needed to run our heater and microwave oven. Temperatures dropped into the fifties in the house before power was restored to our home. My wife has been after me to sell the camper. You can see why, because of that January day, I am reluctant. — Bob Rogers
MOBILE HOME PARK PRETTY MUCH NORMAL
Several weeks ago I was staying at a mobile home park that has nine camper sites in my Airstream in Bloomington/Normal Ilinois. There were a series of terrible storms including a tornado alert complete with sirens. The electric was out in most of the area. The mobile home park was dark. The nine campers were lit and I presume everyone switched to gas for their refrigeration. I even watched the TV between squalls. — Michael Ratner
ICE STORM KNOCKED OUT POWER FOR DAYS
I was not effected by this outage, but in Jan of 2002 the Kansas city area had a huge ice storm. My power was out for days. I got my motorhome out of storage, ran a couple of extension cords from it into my home, hooked up my fridge, TV and electric heater, cranked up the generator and survived the inconvenience quite well. — Mike Palmer
IN THE COUNTRY, RV OFTEN SAVES THE DAY
We live in the country and it seems that our power is the first to go off and the last to come back on. We have a 31' RV with a generator. Needless to say when the power goes off, we go to the RV, settle in, turning on the heater or air conditioner, and watch a movie. Who cares about the power? — James
READY TO ESCAPE HURRICANES IN RV
Living in South Carolina I was unaffected by the power outage. However, we own a travel trailer and have used it many times when power was lost due to hurricanes or other bad weather. I always get the trailer ready when hurricanes are in the forecast in case of loss of power, or worse, an evacuation is ordered. If I have to leave, I'll head for the mountains with my little home-on-wheels. — Bill Mihalovits
Hartsville, SC
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