Power Outages... How Do You Prepare?

[WindyHill]

A few of you mentioned wrapping your freezers in blankets.... I'm a little confused. Are you talking about separate free standing freezers or the kind over the fridge? I just have a regular top over bottom fridge, so do you mean I should wrap a blanket around the outside of it??

 

[VickiLynn]

We live out in the country and have frequent power outages- fortunately they only last a few hours. I especially hate waking up in the morning to find the power is out! A few years ago I bought a little Storm Station. Its a rechargeable light/radio gizmo. We keep it plugged in, and the light comes on automatically and it makes a noise if the power goes out. It also has a removable flashlight and a place to plug in a cell phone or some other small things. Unfortunately, it wont take the coffee maker :/ , but that thing was a great investment!

We have a regular routine for power outages:
1. Gather flashlights, lanterns, etc.
2. Fill every empty vessel with water before we lose pressure.
3. Plug in the old corded phone and call the power company.
4. Cover the freezers with rugs and blankets.

 

[TanksHill]

Thanks for the link Jay. I have two books but not that one. I never thought about storing water in a 5 gallon bucket. Great idea.

VickiLynn... are you on a well with a pump? For some reason I thought you lived in the city.

Bee ..I did not figure you to be someone who would worry about her hair. That really made me laugh.

Deb..If your looking for something to use for hand washing the Lehman's catalogue has something that looks like a plunger. It's used with a 5 gallon bucket and I hear it works great. And it's cheap.

Free... you think more people would think about that. Those pellet stove are very efficient but if there is no power your up a creek.

g

Oh and yes I think the blanket wrapping is in reference to free standing freezers.

 

[Beekissed]

Bee ..I did not figure you to be someone who would worry about her hair. That really made me laugh.

I have few vanities.... but my hair is a little...uh...unmanagable. It is naturally curly, but a little wild if not "shaped" into something you can look upon without laughing.

Though I would love to give my co-workers and patients a chance to laugh at me, I have enough low self-esteem without allowing that!

I could shove it up into clips for the duration but it would still look a fright!

 

[baymule]

I live in east Texas, a couple hours drive from the Gulf of Mexico. Think hurricanes. Think really big hurricanes. Hurricane Rita (3 weeks after hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans) roared through here like a freight train 5 years ago. We didn't get any damage, but had no power for a week and a half and no food left in the grocery stores and no gas. I couldn't go to work because I didn't have enough gasoline to get me there and back. People fleeing the storm converged on our town by the thousands, they filled up our schools, churches, motels and even parking lots. We opened our home to friends and had a darn good time. I am a Red Cross volunteer, so I spent nights at the elementry school and a coupleof nights at our church. We ran out of food at church, so a local fast food resturant opened their freezer to me and I took a truck load back to hungry families. At home, we cooked over a pit we dug in the ground and placed the grill rack out of the useless electric oven over the hole.We pretty much cleaned out the freezer. One of our friends staying with us had a battery operated weather radio-our only connection with the outside world. A camp style coffee pot would have been worth its weight in gold, but we dumped coffee and water in a big pot and boiled it over the fire. A chunk of ice or egg shells dropped in it sends the grounds to the bottom so you don't have to strain it through your teeth. LOL

Two years later, hurricane Ike struck. Again, no power for 2 weeks. At least 6 million people in Houston stayed home and did not flood the country in blind panic. Businesses were closed, no power. Grocery stores had to throw out spoiled food. This time, we had a generator. The only problem with it was it cost $20 per day in gas, and getting gas was another problem. I had changed jobs, going to work at a garbage company as a purchaser. The company had a generator and we never lost a day of work. The boss sent out an employee every day with empty gas cans so the rest of us could have gas to get to work and to run our generators at home.

A huge 100 + year old oak tree fell on our home, crushing one end of it. Fortunately, I had the foresight to ask my DH to buy me a cheap box of wine the Friday afternoon before the hurricane hit. (I am not much of a drinker) I also baked brownies. Sooooo...... Saturday night, with a tree on my house, raining in my kitchen and dining room and abig mess everywhere, I ate brownies, drank my cheap wine and no longer cared if the house caved in or not.

All this being said, I think I am slightly qualified to make a list of things to do in power outages. All the above posters have very good ideas, I like wrapping the freezer in blankets.

You can also store water in plastic trash cans with lids.
Oil lamps are great, keep extra wicks and 5 gallons of kerosene.
Learn how to make flour tortillas, they make a quick wrap around scrambled eggs and meat.
A battery operated weather radio is a must.
Generators are good, but drink fuel.
Get a campfire type coffee pot.
Gas stoves are better than electric in the country.
Read a book.
A bar-b-que pit helps with the cooking.
Play board games or cards.
Have a car charger for your cell phone. In power outages, you can call or text your family and friends.
You can use 2 pie pans to bake biscuits over an open fire, use 1 as a top and flip over about 1/2 way through.
Wine and Brownies.

 

[Blackbird]

Here's to wine and brownies!!

 

[VickiLynn]

VickiLynn... are you on a well with a pump? For some reason I thought you lived in the city.

I live on a dead-end dirt road - 10 miles to the nearest town. We have well water.

I've always wondered, in an extreme emergency, if you could drain your hot water heater and use that water.

 

[Wifezilla]

For water jugs, you can get 5 gallon heavy plastic carboys or even 2.5 gallon size if the big ones are too much to lift. I have some in the quail pen I use for a heat sink and they haven't burst or leaked on me. Some of the 2 liter bottles I have used to help protect the plants from freezing do leak. Fortunately those are outside and just end up watering the plants so no biggie.

 

[Denim Deb]

For getting a shower, this is what I have. It works well, runs on batteries, and I can wash my hair, rinse, condition my hair and get washed w/less than 5 gallons of water. Depending on how long your hair is, you can even use less.

http://evergreen-outdoors.net/outback/shower.htm

 

[SKR8PN]

VickiLynn... are you on a well with a pump? For some reason I thought you lived in the city.

I live on a dead-end dirt road - 10 miles to the nearest town. We have well water.

I've always wondered, in an extreme emergency, if you could drain your hot water heater and use that water.

Yes you could. Remember to open a spigot (upstairs if your water tank is in your basement) to allow the water in the tank to drain. ALSO REMEMBER TO TRIP THE BREAKER FOR THE WATER TANK IF YOU DRAIN ANY WATER FROM IT!!! That way it has time to refill BEFORE you turn the power back on to it, and you won't be burning out the elements in an electric water heater! I don't know what you would do if your water heater is gas or propane, but I assume you want to keep the gas supply turned off until the tank is full, so you won't burn out an empty tank.


As far as water storage, I use a 55 gallon food grade barrel and a hand pump for our emergency water supply.