Surviving a Lengthy Electrical Power Outage
Before the Power Outage
No matter how confident you are that you will not lose power there is always the chance that the one extraordinary event may occur. Having lived in Florida for a year and having lived through several outages caused by hurricanes, we knew the importance of being prepared. Preparing for a winter power outage is not difficult; it requires some prior foresight and some imagination on your part.
When to expect Power Outage
The weather stations are forecasting an Ice Storm, Blizzard or Thunderstorm. It is time to start preparing. Make sure everyone has an emergency task/duty that they are responsible for. This makes children feel important. Do not procrastinate.
Suppliers that should be kept on hand:
Flashlight: Have your flash light readily available. If it requires to be charged, make sure that it is fully charged. If it runs on batteries make sure that the batteries are functioning. Check your flash lights periodically so as not to let battery corrosion ruin your flashlight.
Extra Batteries: These are always extremely useful. Have different sizes to replace the batteries in your flashlight and portable radio.
Battery Powered Radio: The radio will keep you connected to the outside world. We kept our radio tuned to a weather station to keep getting updates on what next to expect with the weather and nighttime temperatures.
First Aid Kit: Keep your first aid kit handy in case of any unforeseen emergencies. We keep an extra supply of commonly used medications in the kit (acetaminophen, ibuprofen, burn cream, and bandages among other supplies)
Bottled Water: If your water supply is from a well like ours was bottled water was a necessity. Have at least a week’s supply of water on hand.
Lantern: Candles are useful for short-term use in power outages but if your power is out for more than one night, it’s advisable to have a lantern. Make sure you have backup fuel for your lantern. Use your lantern in a well ventilated room. Place the lantern on flat surface.
Candles: Never be without candles. We used candles for trips away from the main warm room.
Can Opener: Stock up on can openers. (The electric one is useless without power!). Have an extra opener and store it with your canned goods.
Cash Money: When the ice storm hit the northeast, having cash was an asset. We were able to purchase kerosene from the local gas station. Having cash also allows you to purchase supplies like wood in a pinch from neighbors.
Wood: If you have a fireplace or woodstove be sure to have a chord or more of wood for use in case of a power outage.
Coals for the Grill: If you have an electric stove you may need to use your grill to cook on. Make sure you have coals on hand.
Food: Store plenty of non-perishable foods (canned foods, dry food goods etc) for easy and simple meals.
Phone: A cell phone may or may not work. Have a phone that doesn’t need a power source to function. If the phone lines are not down let your family and friends know that you are doing fine.
Surge Protectors/Suppressors: When power returns you need these to protect your appliances incase of surges.
Heater: Invest in a kerosene space heater to keep one room in the house warm; designated “warm room”. Make sure the room is well ventilated. Do not refill the heater indoors to avoid fire.
Coolers: We used coolers to store our food from the refrigerator. We placed the food inside the coolers and placed the coolers outside on the porch.
Sleeping Bags or Blankets: Know where the sleeping bags are. The family can camp out on the designated warm room.
During the Power Outage:
Check the fuse box: Once the power goes out, check the fuse box to ascertain it’s not an internal problem.
Check in with Neighbors: Make sure they too have lost power. Be neighborly and see if you can be of assistance especially if your neighbors are elderly.
Unplug Appliances
Keep Fridge door closed: Keep the temperature in the fridge cool by refraining from opening the fridge often. This will keep the food from spoiling.
Avoid downed power lines: If you have downed lines due to the storm keep away from them. Chances are they are probably still live. Put a call into your local electric company.
Cooking: If you have a propane stove then you can cook as normal. If you have an electric stove you have to find an alternate method of cooking. A portable camping stove or grill can become handy. You could also fire up your grill (outdoors please) and grill some hot food for dinner.
Stay Warm: Dress in loose layers to keep warm. If you get too hot take off layers appropriately.
Keeping food safe: The fridge serves as good storage initially. After the first 24 hours of no power, we put our food in coolers and stored them outside on the porch. You could also store food in a cool corner in your garage. Make sure the food is well protected from visiting critters.
Drip Water Pipes: If you lose power in the winter and are on the town’s water supply, keep faucets dripping as you normally would when temperatures dip below freezing.
Basement Flooding: Our basement sump pump stopped working during the outage and the basement started flooding. Luckily for us the local fire department made rounds of houses in our town throughout the power outage pumping out basements.
Close doors to unused rooms: Localize the heat by designating a “warm Room”, this minimizes the amount of heat required to keep the house warm.
Stay Busy: Pull out crossword puzzles, coloring books and fun activities to pass the time.
After the Power Outage
Plug Appliances Back in: Wait a few minutes before plugging them all in.
Replenish your emergency Supplies: Keep you supplies topped off for the next power outage. You never know when it could happen.
Invest in:
A Standby Power Supply: These outdoor units kick on as soon as there is a power outage. They cost US$2100 and above. They run on natural gas or propane.
A Portable Generator: These generators cost approximately US$300 and above
Above all stay calm and do not panic. If you are not prepared find a friend or family who has power and is willing to put you up during the outage.
