Hurricane Florence, Typhoon Mangkhut create the need for emergency generators these precautions must be taken

Hurricane Florence is ripping its way into the Carolina's displacing many people, the flooding has taken historic proportions with millions of people being affected. Typhoon Mangkhut is tearing it's way across the Philippines, the South China Sea and landed in Hong Kong with 167 miles per hour winds. I want to acknowledge them and express my deep concern for the victims although I have no first-hand knowledge of the challenges any of the victims are facing. As is usual the human suffering is the hardest to witness when shown on the news channels, monetary contributions and prayers are in order.

Florence three days ago.

The Hurricane season was right on the heels of wildfire season, and it is a rip-roarer for sure. Florence is a monster, sections of North and South Carolina will remain inaccessible for another 37 days possibly longer. Millions of citizens are without electrical service, water resources, and food. Many electrical generators have been purchased and are being employed to supply much-needed power. For severely ill people electricity is a matter of life and death, medical equipment to sustain their lives is mostly electric powered. Food in a freezer is able to be saved with the use of one of these machines, there are many homes outside the flooded areas suffering from power outages as well.

A vehicle in a garage with the doors closed is a poisonous trap when an internal combustion engine is started and left to run, an electric generator is the same type of machine. There are other dangers of carbon monoxide as well, outdoor grills when used indoors for cooking or as a heat source when left unvented produce the toxic gas. Unvented heaters when burning a combustible fuel, oil, kerosene, wood, or natural gas can produce an extremely dangerous situation in a confined enclosure.

The devices are not limited to being toxic in a closed up room, or compartment, when placed outdoors next to an open vent, door, or window the exhaust is able to enter the home and become a dangerous situation. In a garage even though the big door is open may create a draft and send the fumes inside the house if the access door, a window, or a vent is open or ajar.

Carbon Monoxide, odorless, colorless and heavier than air is a stealth-like invader we don't always know is in the atmosphere. It's poisonous to animals and humans when it is concentrated in air greater than 35 ppm. Cattle produce it, most mammals do, in an enclosed space it is able to collect if there is no outlet.

Typhoon Mangkhut

Carbon Monoxide is heavier than air, it sinks in other words, making ground vaults extremely dangerous, they have no vents or ventilating air inlets or outlets to create a circulation of the air. An exhaust vent is needed with any device using a combustible material as fuel. An enclosed area is called a "Confined Space." Confined space training is mandatory for people who must enter these compartments. A confined space could be a tank, cargo trailer, processing machine or any vessel or room that has one entry, no vents, windows or fans. Prior to entering a confined space, the atmosphere must be tested to be sure it is gas free and the correct concentration of Oxygen is present. The confined space has an entry of some sort, normally it is an airtight and watertight type of "hatch" or a swing door that is bolted all around. Before entering a confined space for entry it must be set up, a person is assigned to watch the entrants, test the environment inside and keep track of the sign in and sign out list. The entry is typically called "the hole", the person assigned as the attendant is called the "hole watch". The watch must go through training, he has a lot of responsibility. No one is allowed in the hole without an attendant present when the hole watch leaves everyone must leave the confined space. The attendant covers the entry with red caution tape, prior to that he takes a muster to be certain everyone is out.  When the attendant returns he/she removes the caution tape, test the atmosphere of the space, makes sure everyone has their safety gear on, he signs them in the entrants must sign the muster sheet in and out. If an entrant collapses inside the confined space, everyone must leave, the injured person may be carried out if people are in there with him or her. If a person is inside the space alone and collapses, do not enter to help him out. There is a reason that caused the person to collapse, it may be a deadly gas or all of the oxygen is gone for one reason or another. Many people have gone in a confined space due to someone being unconscious, many died with the originally stricken person. Do not attempt to "rescue" someone from a confined space unless you are a trained "confined space responder", a very organized and well-trained group of people. Such is a description of an industrial confined space unless a person is exposed to them during their employment the chances are they are not aware of the seriousness of the threat. It is important to describe this procedure to raise awareness of the precautions taken by the industry as an example of the seriousness of carbon monoxide poisoning.

There are procedures for rescues, please don't take shortcuts.

I worked in and around confined spaces my entire career, it's a dangerous situation that is made safer through training. If you come up to a compartment or vessel, don't enter it unless proper precautions are taken. I worked in a plant where a man was killed after entering a confined space, everyone was on their lunch break. He went to the "hole" removed the red tape and entered, it was a very tall boiler firebox. The man climbed up four decks, the box was 110 feet high inside. A red hot "clinker" fell in a cyclone and filled the firebox with red-hot ash, he did not live through it. A terrible avoidable tragedy, there is a lot more to the story but the gist of it is, don't enter without training and an attendant. But that's an industrial site, around the ranch, farm or home there are confined spaces as well, do not enter any space prior to checking the atmosphere inside.

Don't mess around, make sure your devices are vented to the outdoors.

A garage is a confined space, a vehicle exhaust is carbon monoxide, if the car is running in a closed garage it is deadly. Leaving the vehicle entrance door open is not always a sure-fire safety precaution, it is possible for the gases to enter the home and endanger everyone inside. Burning of a combustible fuel in any form, charcoal, oil, kerosene, natural gas or diesel and gasoline in the garage must be monitored closely. When using the garage as a space in which one of these devices are being used there must be two doors open, the big door and a smaller door or window on the side or back wall. Never leave the access door to the house open while grilling or running a vehicle for use as an electrical source. Carbon monoxide may build up in places we do not suspect, such as the transom of a boat. The exhaust can collect in the vortex created when the boat is advancing forward with the motor running CO2 will collect above the swim deck and below the gunnel, although not real common it has happened twice on the river that runs by my house.

When using a device that generates electricity, the immediate suspect is an electric generator, do not energize it prior to setting up all electrical conducting cables. Water and electricity do not mix, there is a real possibility of electrocution. Connecting extension cords to a generator, while it is running and wet, will electrocute us when we complete the circuit to ground. The same precautions should be applied when using solar chargers that are connected to a UPS (Uninterrupted power source), which is charging and controlling a bank of batteries set up to supply 120 volts or more. It's all electrical power and while we supply our homes with 120 volts and more it is a danger. Disconnect all electrical generating devices with use of an isolation breaker or in the case of a power generator do not start it up until all connections are secure. Making sure all of the connections are off of the ground and protected to stay dry. If the cord is laying in a puddle of water leeching electricity when we come in contact with the water electrocution may result. That is a fairly common occurrence when docks on the water have electricity and the cord dips in the water endangering swimmers.

If there is a cellar or basement entry from the garage, CO2 will gather in the lowest places, your own basement could be a confined space. When a basement is flooded there are two dangers present and must be determined to be safe prior to entry. One is Carbon Monoxide, it will gather in the low spots unknown to us as it is odorless. The second is the danger of electrocution if the electrical service is on, the outlets, ignitors on water heaters and furnaces are all powered by electricity. If the power is off, before we enter a flooded space a recommended practice is to open the Main Breaker on your electrical supply box, the utility company may turn on the power while you are down there.

Carbon Monoxide will collect in any depressed area as well, a simple hole in the ground may harbor the toxic gas. Livestock creates methane, decaying organic material will as well after a flood recedes we don't know what nastiness may reside in an outbuilding, vault, or open ditches. The danger presents itself when we are seeking shelter from a storm, jumping into a ditch to protect ourselves from a Tornado may be a  jump into a poisonous atmosphere.

The places not to operate a generator.

During Florence, which is still going on as this is being written, two instances of people losing their lives when operating electrical generators powered with an internal combustion engine took place. My heart sunk when I read the accounts. One couple was running a generator inside their home when the fumes overtook them and lead to their demise. The second was a man who was connecting extension cords to a running unit when he was electrocuted. During neither instance were the people strangers to the equipment, what extenuating circumstances lead to the unfortunate outcome were not exposed in the article.

The intention on my part is to raise awareness by mentioning some dangers of entering an unknown space, and operating devices fueled with combustible fuel, in three words "please be careful". It's extremely important that if you look inside a space and a person is down do not attempt a rescue, you will most likely die. That is one of the hardest concepts to wrap one's head around while being instructed in confined space rescue, do not enter a space when someone is down. Unless we know for certain the victim fell and was rendered unconscious do not try to rescue him/her. Several times a year we hear of instances that a man is down in a tank and his coworkers enter the space only to meet their demise as well, it happens all of the time. We want to help people in distress but resist the urge to rescue someone down in a confined space.

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Thanks for reading, commit this information to your memory, in a disaster evacuation there are many undefined enclosed spaces. Don't assume the spaces are safe, they are not. Please comment, tell me a story related or not, suggestions are welcome, I'm open to anything.



jacquesandkate  EmergencyKitsPlus.com