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'Carbon monoxide epidemic' brings the death toll to 14

cnn.com — Four family members were found dead Monday in their home of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning, bringing the death toll from the Northwest's worst windstorm in a decade to 14.

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  • mrharvey518, on 10/12/2007, -8/+21This is natural selection at work.
    • elricbillman, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10@mrharvey518
      As bad as that sounds it's true. People should know this stuff! This is the kind of stuff your parents should tell you about, mine did.
    • devindotcom, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1Even if they didn't know it... wouldn't they figure it out when they started getting lightheaded and their kids pass out?
    • fletchowns, on 10/12/2007, -11/+2So true. This isn't a "death toll" it's a "suicide toll"
    • fletchowns, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Uh, did they just change the title of the story? Epidemic has been removed. Somebody at CNN is reading digg...
    • signal15, on 10/12/2007, -0/+24A malfunctioning furnace at my brother's office made him come home tired everyday and sleep for 15 hours a night. He took a CO detector into work and found out why he was tired all the time. 2 weeks later, my dad passed out in his office from a malfunctioning furnace.

      I've got 6 CO detectors in my house, including my garage. I brought one with me in my car once after I noticed I was getting tired on the 10 mile drive home, and the thing went crazy. Minor exhaust leak under the hood, and it was getting sucked into the air vents when the defroster was on.

      If someone came out with a keyfob sized battery powered detector, they'd make a fortune. This is way more common than people think.
    • fletchowns, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5They just changed the title again from "Death toll" to "Storm toll"
    • DaveV, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0@signal15:

      Ok, I will.
    • chapium, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Thats got to be one of the coldest most insenstive comments I have read. If I were freezing to death, I'd start taking some chances with CO too.
    • HappyScrappy, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2Call me crazy, I'd drive to the airport and pay for a ticket to San Diego or any place with heat.

      Surely that can't cost over $300. How much is your life worth?

      (Yes, the airports have been open.)
    • neolit2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@signal15
      they have invented battery powered small detectors
      check here for Europe, the same could be found for US somewhere
      http://www.trenka.co.at/messtechnik/gas_detectors
    • nepawoods, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@BearOwned

      "Can you still qualify for a Darwin Award if your stupidity takes your kid's lives as well?"

      Having had children does not make one ineligible for a Darwin award.

      http://darwinawards.com/rules/rules.children.html
    • modestmouse, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I live in Seattle and the local news stations are reporting that many of these people were recent immigrants from warmer parts of the world. They are not well versed in dealing with this type of weather.
  • trunkster, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7If only they were digg users, their lives would have been saved.
  • ktan91, on 10/12/2007, -23/+0Why are people calling this a epidemic. 100 people die from CO.. That is not a lot. Plus, people are retarded so they were going to die from another stupid thing anyways. Hope this tells other rednecks CO kills.

    also, http://www.digg.com/tech_news/Who_said_that_no_one_ever_donates_money_to_free_websites
    digg it and donate
    • devindotcom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Not often someone is wrong, an idiot, and a spammer all at the same time like that. Trifecta!
  • zaibatsu, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1We're expecting 1 - 2 feet of snow here in Denver. The stores were packed today with people stocking up on supplies. My only problem is that I have a gas fireplace, I guess the gas lines don't go out, lol.
    • CedEx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0If your electricity goes out, but your gas line remains on, then your fan to exhaust gases won't run (assuming like most gas fireplaces, it uses an electric fan for exhaust), leaving you potentially at risk of CO poisoning.
  • countrygirl31, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9I lived through this without killing myself or my family.. 4 days..not asmany as some

    Who would bring a BBQ indoors? We had no heat, no lights...

    Blankets and jackets work wonders, flashlights are great...Oh and cooking..outdoors...

    These people have never gone camping
    • HoosbinPharteen, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2ya seriously, put on some sweatpants and a sweater.
    • rpgivguru, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"A source of heat is required."

      As long as they had food, they had a source of heat; the heat generated by their own bodies.

      Since they were indoors and thus dry and out of the wind, it would have been easy to keep warm with everybody snuggled under a couple nice thick blankets.

      Growing up in Ohio, I recall a couple of winter storms and one blizzard where all of the family ended up in one room covered by blankets.

      During a rotation through the US Army Northern Warfare Training Center in December with temperatures of -55 f and wind-chills of -135 f, I learned that for immediate treatment of hypothermia, you strip the victim and a volunteer down to their underwear and put them into a sleeping bag together.

  • sfacets, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Which idiotic reporter would call 14 deaths an epidemic?
    • fletchowns, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12It's CNN. They overhype everything, I can't even watch it anymore. Wolf Blitzer in the SITUATION ROOM makes me want to vomit. BBC News is where it's at.
    • yvovandoorn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Well a lot more have been poisoned (well into the hundreds). I was without power for 5 days. Glad to have light again though.

      If anything its an epidemic of stupidity.
    • CedEx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Wow... I wonder what they'll say about the average flu? It takes about 1500 lives in a city of 1 million on average. With CNN sensationalism, that'll be called "The end of the world!"

      On a serious note though, how many people on average die from CO poisoning?
  • HappyScrappy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5"One was using a portable generator in his living room."

    Dumb beyond belief. The people with the generators in the garages were ordinary dumb, this guy really takes the cake.
    • shakin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Couldn't they have opened the garage door part way?
  • signal15, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You can actually buy indoor gas heaters that are designed not to vent to the outside. They are legal here in MN for permanent installation. I would never install one though, I've heard that they can still produce a significant amount of badness if the conditions are right.

    Personally, I think the best option if you live in a northern climate is if you buy a house, finance in a natural gas powered generator which will kick on when the power goes out. Brand new, they run about $4500, and if you look around, you can pick up insanely huge ones for around the same or less. My buddy got a 30kva unit for $5k. I don't have one in this house, but my next one is going to have an integrated generator for sure.
  • scilec, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4The wanton ignorance that sometimes flourishes in the digg comment section never ceases to amaze me. It's easy to sit in front of your computer in the relative safety of your own warm, powered home and make idiotic comments about Darwin Award candidates and rednecks, But as somebody previously mentioned, a lot of these victims were immigrants from Asia and/or Africa who weren't used to living in extremely energy-efficient homes. I live near Seattle and I was without power for 4 days. The temperature got down to the 20's at night and most stores quickly ran out of essential supplies such as batteries and even food. Many gas stations didn't have fuel and all of the street lights were out, making driving a nightmare. In my case, my family and I were lucky enough to have a gas fireplace that kept one room in our home up to 60 degrees. And, I bought a power inverter that I connected to my car in order to power a space heater and a lamp as well as occasionally using it to keep the food in my freezer cold. My point is that the last week as been very difficult for everybody who went through this and a lot of people became desperate. Digg me down all you want, but (for you arm-chair know it all's) kindly refrain from sharing your smart-ass remarks in regard to a situation that you clearly don't understand.
    • HappyScrappy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I can hardly believe you. Freezers take a ton of power. the only thing that takes more is a space heater. If you put an inverter on your car you'd run the battery down in no time.

      A car battery could hold 600Wh. That means if you used a 200W space heater (puts off only slightly more heat than two 100W incandescent light bulbs), it would run down in three hours.

      Honestly, with the amount of energy a space heater takes from your car, the smart thing to do if you didn't have power would have been to take the limited gas in your car and use it to drive to a place that has power and heat.
    • scilec, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@ HappyScrappy

      You made some really bogus assumptions.
      First, I have a low-wattage chest freezer. Secondly, my "space heater" uses radiant heat (without a fan) and takes less power. Third, I didn't use a 100w incandescent bulb. I used a 60W fluorescent bulb. Fourth, I alternated between the freezer and the light/heater. Fifth I only ran it a few hours at a time with my car running & therefore I never drained my car battery. Finally, my power inverter provides 7500 watts of continuous power and can handle up to 6.52 amps.
      Next time, try asking instead of assuming.
    • HappyScrappy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1First of all, I referred to the incandescent bulbs only as a reference for heat output. I was assuming you ran no lights at all. You cannot have a specially efficient electric radiant heater, all of them are essentially 100% efficient, it's easy to turn electricity into heat effectively.

      I have never heard of a fluorescent bulb as large as 60W, BTW.

      The amount of power your inverter can supply is immaterial. I'm talking about the amount of energy in your battery, not overloading your inverter power rating. Also, I find it shocking your inverter can do 7500W. If you tried, it'd overload your car instantly and stall it and probably blow some stuff up. If the input power is 14.4V, the input current would be 520 Amps (assuming 100% efficency). For comparison, a house with an up-to-date electrical system can do 200 amps. and it does it over several huge conductors.

      At the amp rating you give (6.52 amps), to output 7500W, your inverter would have to produce 1150V. This isn't an easy task, and it's pretty useless, as nothing is designed to run on it. I'm guessing it's more likely your inverter outputs 750W, (6.52A at 115V).

      If your inverter is 80% efficient, then it would be dissipating 1500W itself. That would make it feel as hot as a hair dryer on the high setting. This is heat you could put to good use.

      Even if you could get 7500W into your inverter, how would you get the power out? There are essentially no 120V devices that consume more than 2400W, as that is the max on a 20A, 120V circuit. Over 99% of devices take less than 1800W, the max on a 15A, 120V circuit.

      A car with a big alternator (stock, there are larger aftermarket ones) will have a 150A alternator. This is only 1/4 the power you claim your inverter can take, so you'd drain your battery instantly. 150A at 14V is 2100W, BTW. You'd have to run the car at more than idle to produce this much, although I don't think much more than idle.

      You didn't mention you were running your car, I can see what you are doing now. To be honest, running the car to produce electricity to run a heater is kind of wasteful. Best thing (other than driving to a place with power) would be just to run the car and sit in it (outdoors!) and use the heat directly. This of course will not cool your icebox though. I kind of think your stuff in the fridge would do pretty well just sitting outside in the snow, actually.
    • scilec, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@HappyScrappy
      Yes, I typoed on the 7500 watt inverter. It's 750 watts. As for the rest, I'm not going to continue this "power" pissing match with you, as I think it's a waste of time. My point is, that regardless of how taken aback you may be by my story which is apparently riddled with technical inaccuracies, it really did happen. And no, I didn't need to run a small fusion reactor to do it. As for running my car and wasting gas, I agree with you there. But sitting in a relatively small car isn't very practical with a family of 4 including a young child. I did what I could with the resources I had available and it worked out great (and saved the food in my freezer).
  • osc1882, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Ok.
    I live in washington.
    I was in the wind storm.
    People are ***** retarded.
    Oh Noes, the power is out.
    IN the early 90's we had a worse wind storm and the power was out for 4 days in temps much lower then this.
    Cover your ass up with four blankets and wear thick clothes. Hell, if your able to, make a big bon-fire outside.

    Water still works.
    Telephone still works if your not a retard with only a cordless phone.
    Canned food still works.
    Dry food still works.

    Everyone is retarded.

  • imakee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Where exactly do you go when 1.5 million homes and businesses are outof power? Your friends probably don't have power. Hotels in the area won't have power. Shelters are overrun. RTFA. Western Washington was/is under a state of emergency because of the windstorm. There was no place to go. That is why people were making do with what they could in their own homes.

    I am just glad my area had no issues with power.

    BTW you could run anything off your battery as long as you leave enough juice in the battery to start the car and recharge the battery.
    • mancat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1You put on more clothes and get into a sleeping bag and THEN get into your bed. You don't even need to do that much, but it'll get you toasty warm.

      I didn't lose my power (Bremerton) but have lost power for days on end in past years at this time of the year - never had a problem. I can't believe that people are freaking out over this. It hasn't been any colder than 30 at night. Unless you have a baby or a very fragile elderly person, that's nothing.

      I want to feel sorry for these people, but I really have to agree with the first comment on the story. Natural selection in action.
    • HappyScrappy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1mancat:
      I agree. It's a bit weird that people would live in this area and wouldn't have some supplies for a couple hard days like this, even if just for the Y2K scare a bit back.

      Buy some cold weather sleeping bags, some space blankets, some real blankets and some dry food. If you're really smart, you can have a portable unvented kerosene heater and some kerosene. These are safe indoors within reason.

      Yes, you will be cold. But you'll probably survive.

      And keep enough gas in your car that if you run out of supplies, you can still get to somewhere where they have power. Keep your options open.

      Basically, I'm saying that you should be prepared to do a couple days without power in the area you live.
  • zaibatsu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Like I said before, we should get 2 feet of snow where I live, so I'll let you know how we dealt with it.
  • mesoed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Nothing like reading warning labels...
    I had CO poisoning once. Not a fun experience, and it takes over a month for it to completely leave your system.
  • szembek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Another good reason to have a wood stove in your house.
  • Elfman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Our fore fathers would be so disappointed. The power goes out and people start dying.
  • tommyhanks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I have to agree with mesoed. Warning labels on the generators. Warning labels on BBQ grills, Warning labels on bags of charcoal. Where is the problem? Why did these people die? Common sense it seems is not included.
  • Kevin108, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I heard on the radio yesterday that of the people that kill themselves in idiotic incidents like this are people who have come into our country without learning English like the dumb bitch that ran a baby through an X-ray machine at an airport.
  • M0b1u5, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Darwin award winners - one and all.

    They deserve to be dead - so good riddance!
  •  

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