This past year, my entire coast was hit with a harsh thunderstorm. Storm clouds hovered overhead for nearly a week before dumping record amounts of water fall. A lot of neighborhoods experienced flooding plus power outages all along the eastern seaboard. There was a fantastic deal of destruction at my house and property. A pine tree fell into the backyard and destroyed our garden shed that housed our lawn mowers and shovels. Because of the loss of power, the sump pump was no longer operational to filter the water from the flooded basement. There was over six feet of water in the basement, which ruined the washer plus dryer, plus caused troubles with mold growth. Despite the abundance of rain, the weather stayed steady with harsh and humid conditions. All of us were without running water, lights, internet, refrigerator plus a/c. All of us couldn’t even open the windows to get a breeze or set up box fans for a light breeze. It was impossible to get comfortable or sleep at night. All of us suffered without electric for days, plus spent weeks cleaning up after the mess. The whole ordeal was a terrible experience that made me ponder moving to a different part of the country. If the power outage had occurred in the winter, we’d have been forced to live into a hotel. There’s no way the two of us could survive without the gas furnace. The outside temperature in this area is often well below zero. When I hired a local Heating plus Air Conditioning contractor to inspect the a/c for water destruction, I asked about the cost of a supply generator. While a permanently installed generator is relatively expensive, it’s definitely worth it. If there’s another power outage, my family will still have use of the a/c, gas furnace, sump pump, plus all other appliances for a few days, as long as we have gasoline.