Ok, update. Power is slowly returning to the area. We had some serious flooding (the piedmont has some fairly steep and narrow hollows), and a lot of trees down.

We have generator power again via a portable unit (2 portable units if you count the derelict that a neighbor remembered he had in a barn and brought back to life just for our well).

Many lessons learned from a preparedness perspective:

- you can't do it alone. From the neighbor that remembered he had an old generator in the barn to the neighbor that happened to have equipment to clear downed trees, to the friends that found a stack of generators at a store and grabbed one for us, a network of like minded people is critical

- defense in depth should be explored. PACE applies to many areas.

- no matter what, some things will go wrong. Our backup power was solar. Which for our risk assessment made sense. But we didn't account for a once in a lifetime storm. Our water source is a well, but the batteries needed to run a pump for a very deep well wasn't doable.

- which leads to being aware of interconnected systems and overlapping risk. Hard to really get this right, so expect some failures

- finally for now: be thankful for what you have and remain positive. Things have a better chance of working out if you look for success instead of wallowing in failures