Winter stroms and other things to be prepared for

[Marcus Auerbach]

Woke up this morning to -9F and howling winds, turning my phone on I learn we have 2 tenants in Milwaukee with heat out.

Having a furnace go out is during winter is a major inconvenience during "normal winter weather" because people are cold. Normally you have a couple of days before the temperature in a house will drop enough for pipes to freeze, but the wind has the ability to create a bit of a vacuum on the lee side of the property and literally suck out warm air and can bring inside temperature to below freezing quickly. By the time you call someone, go to the big box, they might be sold out, so we carry a selection of equipment ready to go. I have first accumulated things as we needed them, but it has become a part of what we do to have things ready. 

Here is my "first response stockpile" we can deploy quickly before we can get a contractor on site.

- several electric space heaters

- mobile AC units

- a couple carpet blower fans

- a couple high capacity dehumidifiers

- an electric submersible pump with hose in a bin ready to go

- a puddle sucker pump

- a shop vac to suck up water and a big squeegee

I have not yet had the need for a generator. Wonder what everyone else keeps on hand?

[Nathan Gesner]

Space heaters, shop vac, tarps, etc.

The most important thing for me is a list of responsive vendors that will answer my calls at 11pm on a Friday or 6am on a Sunday.