Understanding North Idaho Hardships..... (Sandpoint, Clark Fork: power lines, house, water heater)

[Sage of Sagle]

While I love it here in North Idaho, and wouldn't leave, I think it's important that people who are thinking about relocating here have a very realistic understanding of the true sense of "doing for yourself" that we have up here....

Last week (Friday) there was a freak storm that whipped through the area. By 3PM there were some 18,000 of us in the area without power due to dozen up dozen of trees felled across power lines.

So that means life on generator power. Well, that covers fridge and freezer and some lights, but no water (water pump is 240V and requires 6Kw to run). So this meant the forest on our ranch became an outhouse until we were able to get water hauled from the creek, enough to manually fill toilets. Of course, showering meant cold showers using camp showers filled and hung in trees. No phones, and had to drive to town for internet coverage since I have to stay in touch with my business projects.

Now, it's July and it's 90 degrees here....but no power for AC or fans, nada. So we're doing dishes with water from jugs, showering outside, but needing to because everyone around here was pretty ripe.

And we're calling the power company, but finding that so many areas are without power that the power lines, which have now been down in our road for 24 hours, are still way out in their priority, so we'll have to expect to stay on generator power for a few more days. We wound up off the grid for 3 days...and this wasn't even in the dead of winter with -5 temps and deep snow....

So compared to metro/suburban areas where a "power outage" means 6-12 hours without power while they fix a blown transformer or a line down, power challenges here mean that you do for yourself, or rely on your neighbors, and it can be for days...

My point is...for those currently living an urban or suburban lifestyle but are considering a move to north Idaho...you should be ready to face a much higher level of self-reliance when you're living here, unless you're moving right into the main subdivisions in CdA or PF. Just something to consider...

[SergeantL]

Originally Posted by Sage of Sagle

While I love it here in North Idaho, and wouldn't leave, I think it's important that people who are thinking about relocating here have a very realistic understanding of the true sense of "doing for yourself" that we have up here....

Last week (Friday) there was a freak storm that whipped through the area. By 3PM there were some 18,000 of us in the area without power due to dozen up dozen of trees felled across power lines.

So that means life on generator power. Well, that covers fridge and freezer and some lights, but no water (water pump is 240V and requires 6Kw to run). So this meant the forest on our ranch became an outhouse until we were able to get water hauled from the creek, enough to manually fill toilets. Of course, showering meant cold showers using camp showers filled and hung in trees. No phones, and had to drive to town for internet coverage since I have to stay in touch with my business projects.

Now, it's July and it's 90 degrees here....but no power for AC or fans, nada. So we're doing dishes with water from jugs, showering outside, but needing to because everyone around here was pretty ripe.

And we're calling the power company, but finding that so many areas are without power that the power lines, which have now been down in our road for 24 hours, are still way out in their priority, so we'll have to expect to stay on generator power for a few more days. We wound up off the grid for 3 days...and this wasn't even in the dead of winter with -5 temps and deep snow....

So compared to metro/suburban areas where a "power outage" means 6-12 hours without power while they fix a blown transformer or a line down, power challenges here mean that you do for yourself, or rely on your neighbors, and it can be for days...

My point is...for those currently living an urban or suburban lifestyle but are considering a move to north Idaho...you should be ready to face a much higher level of self-reliance when you're living here, unless you're moving right into the main subdivisions in CdA or PF. Just something to consider...

Good post. This is also applicable to large metropolitan areas. I lived in an older and typical tract development about 50 miles north of San Francisco. Earthquakes, Pacific storms, wildfires, overloads, or traffic collisions into power poles knocked out the power all the time, and many times it was not a matter of a few hours. On three occasions, I was without power for over a week. The first time motivated me to buy an 18Kw generator. It came in real handy, especially in 1989 after the Loma Prieta earthquake. The Oakland Bay Bridge might have been out of business but it was business as usual at my house.

It’s also very important to total all necessary power loads, and buy a generator adequate to the task. 18Kw was overkill for my home, but it allowed me to keep refrigeration and lights going for the three surrounding neighbors.

[Sage of Sagle]

Very true, and is worth the mention.

But here in this area, our closest neighbor is just under 1/2 mile away, and in winter you can get a 4wd SUV stuck if you're not careful. The closest grocery store is 12 miles (30 minutes in bad weather) and the closest gas station that has a small mini-mart is 4.5 miles away.

So even relying on your neighbors can get very tricky. Just a bit of a reality check for people who may think they can run to the corner store if things get dicey.

[Xa'at]

I'll drink to this...
I was with my fam. in Kootenai when that happened. We didn't get power back until 5:30 am on the third day. We lost all the food in our fridge.
Back home now, thank goodness.

[brokencrayola]

I live outside Clark Fork but we were on our way to Coeur d' Alene with our 4 children when that storm hit. The highway was closed for about 20 min. until a downed tree could be cut enough for people to pass. Debris was flying everywhere and a big branch hit the top of our car and scared us all half to death. The highways all the way were littered with leaves, branches and fallen trees. Coming home town after town we went through were just black because they had no power. Lights were not working, nothing. When we got home we had no phone service. Cell phones never work where we live, so we could not use our cell phone to report our main phone line was down. We simply had to wait and hope it came on soon. I would rather see this happen now than the times I have seen similar things happen in the winter. Unless you have a wood stove during those times you have no heat at all. If you have an electric water pump for your water, as many do, you have no water as well. With no heat your pipes will freeze, not to mention you too if you do not get heat soon. It is a beautiful place to live but do not expect the same things you get in a big city, won't happen.

[Sage of Sagle]

Yup. And without taking anything away from SergeantL's post (since it's true that it can be tough anywhere in an outage or emergency), my goal here was to bring a bit of reality in. The local developers are selling CdA as "suburbia in the forest" and Sandpoint as "Jackson Hole on the lake" to some degree, but I think it's important that people who move here from urban or suburban areas get the whole picture and understand that your level of self-reliance has to step up pretty dramatically in this area.

[YOU-CANT-EAT-SCENERY]

Great post Sage. I like seeing these reality check posts.
It is true, we take certain things for granted, until we lose them. Then it's like, HUH! What do I do now?? I can relate to what you are saying, as I, myself, having lived here in Southern CA all my life, have never experienced a power outage of more than a few hours.
Now adding a generator to my list of needed items for when I move. Good thing I have 6 more years to compile this list. Might not be a bad idea to invest in a little 5 or 10 gallon water heater, that runs on propane.

[Sage of Sagle]

If you're building, budget in a 10-15KW generator. You don't need the auto type, just so it has elect start and you can walk outside and hit the switch. Water pumps often run off 240V, but if your gen is between your pedestal and your house, it's not an issue. Otherwise, just make sure the gen has at least one 240V inverter outlet with at least a 30-50 amp breaker. I just checked our well house and our water pump only requires 4750Kw to start up, 1500Kw constant. But up here when you're on well/septic, when you lose power, you have no water...so it's a consideration.

[SergeantL]

Originally Posted by Sage of Sagle

I just checked our well house and our water pump only requires 4750Kw to start up, 1500Kw constant.

Sage, I think you mean 4750 watts and 1500 watts. 1500Kw equals 1,500,000
watts, and that's one hot line!!!

[Sage of Sagle]

Sorry...brain fart....yeah...