BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture New England Travel Gorgeous Ice Storm in New England

We have a gas one, too. It's a Briggs and Stratton with a pull start. It's nothing fancy and probably rattles the neighbor's windows even though it's not as noisy as some I've heard in the campgrounds. They are certainly helpful in saving your frozen goods that would otherwise ruin without power for days.

When we use ours, we actually get phone calls from people riding down the street wanting to know why we have power when they do not!

My brother lives in Albany and he lost power. His GF's son lives in Troy they lost power. GF had company all weekend as she was spared (or was she..LOL) My brother said it wasn't as bad as ours back in 1991. We still see damage from the storm. From the photos I saw in Albany area they looked just like ours except it took the whole city down for 3 days and then about two weeks or more before all got most power back. It did look so pretty and eerie though driving in a world of ice. Only silience.

Our neighbors have a generator and it is LOUD when it goes on. It's a main reason I don't want a generator. I thought it was wonderfully peaceful when the power went out - the whole house was actually SILENT. It is amazing how much "ambient noise" there is normally from clocks, fridges, etc! Never mind TVs and actual noisy things.

There are still tons of people without power around here, so this is pretty serious.

I definitely think everyone should have a hand-crank radio and flashlight as bare basics for an emergency. That way you can see and know what's going on.

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Yeah, they can be loud. The running of the motor doesn't bother me in emergency situations or in town. When it gets to me is when you go camping to get some peace and quiet and one of your neighbors has the camper hooked up and the generator running full tilt both night and day.

That does sound troublesome msbaby! Yes you can understand it in a true emergency - maybe someone in the house has a medical problem and they need the electricity to stay alive. At a campground it is a bit excessive! Although I *suppose* the same could be true ...