The fires, winds, mudslides, dried up wells, and power outages should be survivable — but no guarantees
It’s been quite a year. I’m awake now—climate change is real. My well finally went dry so I have been camping in the house for a few weeks. The aquifers and mountain springs are drying up.
Normally, it takes a few years to get a new well drilled in these parts but I got lucky. There was a company from Montana in the area drilling a few and they agreed to tack me onto the end of their list before they left. Of course, I had to promise them my firstborn, next lifetime. How to decide where to drill? I brought in the local water witcher. One of the last of an old tradition. When in Rome . . .
The drilling should start in a few weeks. Ever hopeful. Next, build a new well housing, pump, run the pipe. It means digging a trench through my yard. A yard I had just finished xeriscaping. Again. After two feet of mud poured in during a sudden and intense rainfall last year. Some friends helped me haul truckload after truckload of sheep shit and topsoil out of the yard. Then we dug a ditch and cut a hole through the fence so it has somewhere to run next time. For there will be a next time. Living on the side of a dried-up mountain has its drawbacks. Good thing I have a tractor.
I did get the bank my house is built on reinforced this week with metal T-posts. Back in the day, they built houses above the floodplain. Like the one across the road. The old timers were smart. With the extreme dryness and the new vole subdivision invading the eroding bank, I was worried about the house sliding into the plum trees. For the dogs, every vole hole is an invitation to dig. That hasn’t helped.
I had an investment mature this year and I ordered new appliances as mine were starting to go. Before I knew about the well going dry. They were installed this week. At least I can use the refrigerator. The washer/dryer and dishwasher are just sitting there looking pretty until I have water again. Water—a finite resource.
I spread my water pain points around the hood. One good neighbor fills water jugs for me. Another lets me shower and do a load of laundry weekly. My other neighbor is fine with me hauling a 55-gallon barrel over there every couple of days so I can get water for the trough. All of these neighbors have polar opposite political views to me. Just goes to show you, being a human being is more important than who you vote for.
I had also just bought new blinds, cords were starting to go on the old ones. And after three weeks of triple digits when it didn’t cool off at night, it was unbearable. I replaced them all with cord-free blackouts. Not the top of the line but they look okay and they drop the temp considerably. They have better-looking ones but since Trump’s tariffs everything has skyrocketed. We now have two-plus months of triple digits. Fun. Not. Fortunately, work pays me well although I just work part-time. Retirement and all.
Power outages are the norm now and they will only get worse. With the big winds and constant wildfires, power is often shut off as a precaution. Big winds are new. It’s nothing to have 50 to 70 MPH winds now. As much as a 100 MPH sometimes. One morning I woke up to a missing 30-foot shed. Wasn’t much left when I found it. Everything that could possibly blow away or down—has. I hope. Big wind is scary. It can move the fires fast.
No cell service here. My workaround for the internet and phone was to install Starlink and get a couple of little solar generators so I can keep working when the power is out. Works fine but those in the know said to expect more and longer outages. No power, no pump. No pump, no water. And everyone will be hit.
I am installing a propane backup generator that kicks in when the electricity goes out. Runs the whole house. Not even a blip when it changes over and tests itself every month—sending me a report. I have three full freezers that need to stay cold. There is no grocery store close by so stocking up is critical.
I don’t want or have aircon but if need be I will install a ductless mini-split after the backup generator is in. They are not too expensive. The wood stove heats the house fine so I am hoping I won’t have to put one in for the high temps. If I do I will still have cool when the power goes out and the heat is unbearable. Bonus.
Fires, floods, tornados, hurricanes. The debt load on people and resources is astronomical. Don’t expect insurance companies to help you out. When the odds are no longer in their favor, they bail.
Other than that, my wildfire prep continues. The local forest service applied for a wildfire preparation grant and if they get it they will help me clear all the sagebrush from my property. I should survive. No guarantees. I was going to start clearing this summer but I don’t function well when it gets above 90 anymore. I learned that one bucking hay bales this summer in 100-plus degrees. I wrote about that. Plus the wildfire smoke gets pretty intense. Like smoking a pack or two of cigarettes a day.
My bubble burst with the Moose Fire in 2022. Started about a mile from here as the crow flies and I was fortunate there was a ridge and a river between me and it. Ready, set, go. We were officially evacuated. I moved the sheep to a friends farm south of town. Sheep are hard to wrangle in a hurry so I wanted to get them to a safe place. I stayed behind with the four dogs. Two sheep guardian dogs—not really domesticated. You can’t just drop them off at a friends. And my house dogs.
Here’s the thing about a large fire event. There is no one to put the fire out if a burning chunk of tree lands on your place. Which it did nightly. I and a few other folks in the hood, who stayed behind, spent our days and nights watching for trouble. Ready to put out a small fire before it became a big fire. After 20 years of drought, I live in a tinderbox. I didn’t get much sleep for four months.
Those government people tried to bully and scare me into leaving. Then they wanted me to sign a waiver so they wouldn’t be held accountable if I burned up. I refused on both counts so I earned a long red ribbon tied to the post at the end of my driveway. Pretty sure it meant—Danger: cranky old woman lives here.
Fires are still burning all around this area. Evacuations have replaced summer picnics. I used to love summers here, now they are something to dread. Climate change.
At least rattlesnake season is over. The drier it gets the more they show up looking for water. My neighbor got bit a couple years ago. It messed with her neurological system on top of the neurotoxic effects. She never fully recovered.
Winter is almost here. Snow up top so I must get more wood split and stacked soon. Way behind on that one because of the heat. And I have a load of gravel to spread outside my yard to hopefully slow down future mudslides. Hopefully.
I think this means I am officially a prepper.
There is a climate risk assessment site, First Street, that is fairly accurate. Their flood map of North Virginia was 7 times more extensive than FEMA’s, the government one. And if you aren’t in a flood zone on FEMA’s map you can’t get flood insurance. Many folks were wiped out. How do you rebuild from nothing when you have retired? Or just starting out. With no insurance. Article here if you are interested.
The funny thing is, I consider myself lucky. For a city girl I’m learning to future proof my life as much as possible for what’s coming as climate change evolves. And I have the means to do it. Many don’t. Many just don’t want to know. It’s too overwhelming to think about.
That’s all she wrote. For now. Never a dull moment in Idaho. As climate change changes everything.
The planet is warming. That’s a given. Will you survive?
Hope for the best—plan for the worse.
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