Generator owners barely feet aftermath
By Lois K. Solomon
Sun Sentinel
Turn the generator on. Clean the leaves out of the pool. Turn the generator off.
That was David Blechman's routine on Friday, Blechman, who lives west of Boca Raton, spent most of Friday baby sitting his 4,400-watt generator, which was powering two refrigerators after hurricane Katrina knocked out his electricity about 4 p.m. Thursday.
He didn't stay at home Thursday, but beginning about 10:30 a.m. Friday, uncertain about poisonous fumes emitted by some gas-operated power sources, he turned the generator on and off for 45 minutes at a time throughout the day.
"I'm not an electrician,' said Blechman, a computer consultant, "If It's On, I'm checking It."
Others without electricity rested easy, having spent as much as $30,000 to power their homes.
Theodore Lerner's $14,000 generator kicked in automatically one minute after he lost electricity Thursday, "I hardly even realized it went on," said Lerner, who also lives west of Boca Raton, "It's the best thing I ever invested in."
About 77,000 FPL customers in Palm Beach County lost power during Katrina, but according to FPL only about 3,800 were still without electricity as of 8 p.m. Friday.
After hurricanes Frances and Jeanne In ^004, Palm Beach County permit requests for generators soared. Neighborhoods have complained about ear-splitting noise, gas-storage dangers and unsightly generators, which can be twice the size of air-conditioning compressors.
These units, usually 7,000 to 12,000 watts, require a city or county permit, an additional transfer switch and, depending on their size, an underground fuel tank. The flood of permit requests forced some communities to draft new rules' Boca Raton limits permanent generators to side or back yards after a resident Installed unsightly 50,000-watt unit in his front yard.
County rules under discussion would exempt temporary, gas-powered generators.