Pedaling out of the dark: Build a double-backup home power supply - [Hands on]

AS THIS ARTICLE GOES TO press, Hurricane Delta is making landfall not far from where Hurricanes Sally and Laura came ashore earlier in the season. I live on the East Coast of the United States, and fairly far inland, so such storms are not as frequent or intense as they are in states bordering on the Gulf of Mexico. But they are still a concern, if only because they can topple trees and cause widespread power outages. And ice storms during the winter here are also apt to bring down power lines.