Another generator situation

Probably 5-10KW would be adequate. That would require about 10-20
horsepower
to be conservative. We wouldn't run the whole house on it.Just 'life
support'.
And it may never happen again in my lifetime.

We managed to keep the deep freezes closed, and the food stayed good
although
some of it was beginning to soften.

We have natural gas (at least we had it this time), but could cook with wood
or
charcoal if necessary.

My friend bought a 5.5 kw unit, and ran romex strings to the refrig,
freezer,
window unit, etc so that he could keep the power isolated from the grid.
They were out of grid power for 2-3 weeks, but got by okay. Noise was
irritating,
and it cost him about $30 a day in gasoline to run the thing.