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The towns of Greer, Alpine, Nutrioso and Blue, and some other outlying areas have been evacuated today due to being without power for several days. I believe there is no phone service, either. The people were sent to the middle school here in Round Valley.

Last night we had several people check into the motel who were "tired of roughing it" without power, although almost all people who live in those areas do have wood stoves, and keep candles and kerosene lamps on hand, and many also have generators. I personally would love to live in Alpine instead of Eagar, and would definitely want to have my house set up to operate off the grid in case of power outages. In our current house we would have to camp in front of the living room fireplace, but at least we could keep warm. And we do have candles and battery lanterns. And a big woodpile.

I expect that there were some people who said, "You want me to evacuate? Why? No way!"

At Hidden Meadow Ranch, the resort near Greer where I worked last summer, a few staff remain there to feed the 50 head of horses, and are encamped in the Ranch House, which has a big fireplace and, oh yeah, a generator... A friend of mine tried to drive there yesterday but could not get there.

azbackpackr wrote:evacuated today due to being without power for several days.

I don't object to people seeking alternatives on their own, but being without power (or heat) for days or even a week is a pretty much annual winter occurrence around here, sometimes more often than that. Evacuation seems like overkill.

If for some bizarre reason I had no power for more than a day, I wouldn't evacuate. No heat, no power, what you've never camped? Do I evacuate when the temperature dips below 32 if I am camped? No, I wait until the temperature rises because its too cold to do that.

I wondered about it, too, but some of the people I've seen are elderly. And some of the residences up in Alpine, hard as it is to believe, have no woodstoves. And you said something about 32 degrees, which may have been the daytime high, whereas the low would have been more like 10 degrees. And one woman told me she wanted a hot shower. Anyway, all kinds of people with different needs. But I expect a lot of others did stay put, either because they are well-set-up, or because they have stock to feed, or both.