[Bologna]

The American south has been getting cooked for over a month now.

Being a northerner I am curious how those living in the south would deal with the heat if they were without power for extended periods.

Keeping yourself, infants and the older population safe is my main interest.

 

[delta88]

For myself we have a window mount AC in addition to the Central AC. We can hook it up to the Generator and then just close the door to the room the window mount it in. Just someplace to go cool off for.
Do yard work in the early mornings/late evenings.
Stay hydrated.

 

[Skeer]

That depends on how extended the period is for. My condenser unit went out two years ago. So we had power but no AC, we ended up diving into a local hotel for those 4 days. Granted it wasn't as hot then as it is this year however the wife could not take it.
Which is the main reason that we'd end up bugging out in SHTF.. neither of us are from here and neither of us even like it here ;p

 

[mellis95]

Hydration would be the most essential! It would be vital to stay near a decent water source. Other than that I would say try to limit activity to the very early morning, late evening, even night. Mid day might be a good time to nap in the shade!

 

[VINCENT]

this is a heat wave??? seems to me to be a typical florida summer. high 90's possibly into the low 100's with a heat index of 115 degrees? you mean the rest of you dont go thru this every year like we do? how do you stay warm?

oh yeah i forgot to add, we dont have a hydration problem because it rains every afternoon at 4pm, and the relitive humidity defore and after is in the 90% range.

 

[fisck]

I'm from the TN hills and I've talked to my grandparents about it and they swear they don't remember it getting that hot, even when cooking with a fire in the kitchen. (they never had electricity untill they after they had my dad) LOL My grandmother laughs about it and guess's you just never notice what you think of as normal. I can say that the houses wear different back then. I've stayed in some homes so old no one had A/C when they were build and they don't get as hot as the newer houses if you turn off the A/C. Mostly they just have better ventilation, and at least there home you could open the door to the stairway and it would turn into an oven up stairs but be a little cooler down stairs. And I'm sure in a bad heatwave you could just move to the basement. It never got over 80 on the hottest day even with the big door open.


P.S. Both of them swear your "NUTS" if you think "those were the good old days".

 

[MikeK]

The American south has been getting cooked for over a month now.

Being a northerner I am curious how those living in the south would deal with the heat if they were without power for extended periods.

Keeping yourself, infants and the older population safe is my main interest.

Simple, I sweat. I don't use A/C here, so I tend to feel the heat more than most. But I avoid being out in the sun in the middle of the day if I can help it. I get my outdoors things done in the morning or evening. I open windows to get cross airflow in the house.

I also use a collar that has water absorbing crystals in it. It lasts for hours and is amazingly efficient for removing heat from the body. But of course, depending on evaporation means it'll only work in dry climates. They make them that can be worn in other places too such as the wrists, as a headband, and even a full vest. They are a valuable investment when you're in the heat without any climate control. I highly suggest getting a full compliment of them for each family member.

As a society, we've become spoilt to climate control. We basically refrigerate ourselves. And as such, we've lost the ability to tolerate temperature changes outside a very narrow, artificial comfort zone. There's much to be said for allowing your body to acclimatize. If you've seen roofers or road crews working during the hottest part of the day, you've seen it in action.

For the elderly and infants, the water absorbing gel products are an extremely good choice. Keep them out of the sun and well hydrated. Moving air is always a big help. Even if it's just a small fan ran on rechargeable batteries or a small solar setup.

 

[VINCENT]

i hear canada is nice this time of year

 

[hkgonra]

People need to look into earthship and underground home tech. If the lights go out for good you would we would all be better off.

 

[seawind]

Climate issues always seem to get short shift when it comes to prepping. There are preppers up north with no way to heat their home if the power goes out. In the South you have a lot of people who can not handle the heat and humidity without the AC. In both situations its as if they believe the S will HTF but the power will not go off or if it does it will be temp. outage. They both practice all kinds of skills except acclimation to their climate and seasons outside of a weekend camping trip. I wonder how many will, despite all their supplies find themselves so miserable due to the cold or heat that they don't see the point of going on.

 

[Medic73]

Yesterday it got up to 115 actual temperature here with a heat index over 120. The actual temp reported in Death Valley yesterday was only 117 to compare what we've been dealing with the past 5 or so weeks. Our July was the hottest EVER since they started keeping records and our rainfall is lower than during the Oklahoma Dust Bowl times right now. Even after 10:00 pm, it's still over 100 degrees.

We're running window AC units at our house and even with one in each room, the house only gets down to around 80 to 85 during the day and maybe if we're lucky down to 75 to 80 at night.

If we lost power (which has been happening all over the area due to record electrical usage and equipment failures) we would probably set up our camper and run it using our generator. I keep 60 gallons of fresh stored fuel at all times for just such an emergency. I'd set up shade awnings over the camper to keep it as cool as possible before trying to cool it by it's AC, but it should do fine.

Our camper is our BOT, but we've used it a few times in the past when the power went out for a week at a time from the power being taken out by Microburst or Squall Line Wind Storms. We even lost power from Ice Storms for extended periods of time and did the same.

One thing to remember though... If everyone lost power and you are running a generator, you had better really secure it. We've got a large loop of 3/4" piece of rebar buried in concrete that I use to secure the generator with a big hardened steel chain and big padlock. If somebody did try to steal it, it would make a lot of noise and that's only if the big dog doesn't get them first!

If I was powering up the genny, I would also power the fredge and deep freeze and maybe one or two window AC units in the house.

Medic73

 

[Bearman405]

i hear canada is nice this time of year

It got to 30Deg C here today.................the snow is still melting off the mountians.........:thumb:

 

[Teslin]

I am an older northerner (Canadian) living in the south and I find the heat (especially with high humidity) hard to bear but we don't have central AC. Just this summer, we finally invested in a small window ac unit for the bedroom. Till now, we really just rode it out. However, the Siberian was suffering, and the cat wasn't too happy either .. so we gave in to their wishes. I find it hard to do a lot of cooking in this heat.

I didn't have a/c in even a car till 1996 but I moved to TX that year and I was not able to function at all outside there in the summer so I have succumbed over the years to the desire for a/c indoors.

Now in the mountains of NC, I manage to get through hot days and nights without a/c but I honestly do about nothing during the day when it is very hot and humid. I drink a lot of cold tea (not iced, just refrig temp, no sugar). I use a hot water bottle (with cold water in it) to cool my feet at night - I find that helps to let me go to sleep.

I was outdoors a fair bit in upstate SC today ... and it was not pleasant at all. Even the a/c in the car was not pleasant however because it is not even - if you are hot you blow it on your face or hands to cool off but then you end up with a stiff neck or the rest of you feeling hot by comparison with the body areas where the a/c is directed. Nothing is perfect.

It can and does get as bad (hot and humid) in eastern Ontario as it does here - I didn't tolerate it any better up there really .. though I was younger and that makes a big difference. I never had a/c there either and, as I said, we managed - and dreamt about fall.

MikeK - I have several of those soak/cool scarves too. Great invention - and cheap to make your own. They work wonders.

 

[whiskyrebellion]

basement. my electric went out a few weeks back and after a couple hours i had to go to the basement to go to sleep.

 

[Tommee]

I guess Im some what adapted to it. Due to low finances I regularly kept my central AC at 83-85 degrees for the last 3 years. I live in a trailer so basically a large toaster oven and the power goes out alot around here, but usually comes back on in less then an hour. The longest time it happened while I was here, it was a little scary. The animals were not doing that well. If the power had stayed out I would have gone outside under a tree and sprayed myself and the animals down with water and let shade and evaporation keep us cool.

I would be ok under a good shade tree, just sitting there and have lots of water. I eventually got tired of sweating all day and all night though so now I have two window air conditioners. They don't get turned down too low, its a good thing to be able to take the heat, for financial and prepping reasons. This morning it was 81 degrees in the house and I thought it felt sooo good this morning.

 

[FNG33]

i live along the coast and staying cool is a problem but we are use to 90% humidity and high heat index its the cold that kills us. but personaly i wear a thin white shirt at work and shorts. drink plenty of water and use your head get the work done befor it gets hot .but without power i would drink alot of water and stay in the shade.

 

[Apocalypse Now]

The American south has been getting cooked for over a month now.

Being a northerner I am curious how those living in the south would deal with the heat if they were without power for extended periods.

Keeping yourself, infants and the older population safe is my main interest.

F' em...they think Global Warming is a liberal myth,so let them fry.
Droughts, record heat waves ,wildfires , tornados... oh my!

 

[BigJerm]

Maybe I am just crazy but I remember it being this hot a lot of summers. When I was a kid I remember plenty of 100+ days in the summer. My family was poor and the A/C was usually broke in the summer time so you got up and did what you had to do early in the morning or late in the day. The rest of the day you spent inside or at the pool. Others have already said it... basement. Parents house had a garage under the house and it was always cool. Went to change out the air filter on my A/C unit here yesterday and the crawl space was very cool inside while it was over 90 outside. Crawl space is deep enough to stand in some places but not big enough for a basement.

 

[Ikesiked]

I hate Texas heat. I have lived here all my life and the summers just seem to get hotter and hotter. I adore the cold. I can't wait until winter and hate to see it leave. I should have been born in Colorado, or at least get rich enough to pack up and leave this state.

Our AC unit went out at the beginning of summer. Our house was 90 degrees during the day, that is with all the windows open and box fans and ceiling fans blowing. At night I would put my night clothes in cold water, wring them out and sleep in them while a box fan was blowing on me. Kept me really cool.

 

[Greataxe]

The whole South and Southwest US was sparsely populated until after the 1950's when air conditioning made it tolerable. In a SHTF situation, the old and infirm would be dead quick around summertime, and you'd see most people moving out this place here (in the deep South) with its hellish heat and humidity.

You deal with it by staying inside with the A/C.