Preparing for the short term, not-the-end-of-the world

[ducks4you]

Natural gas is a lot cheaper. We run (daily) our On-Demand hot water heater. I know that earthquake prone areas aren't a good place for that. HOWEVER, everybody likes to forget that we live near the New Madrid Fault, and we've experienced tremors here off and on for decades.

 

[Mackay]

We are building in a deep freeze area. All the plumbing is designed with the ability to drain it should we loose power for any length of time. But neighbors say it never happens.

 

[enjoy the ride]

I forgot that one of my pre-storm preps is to do all the laundry- another chore not to have to worry about for a couple of weeks just in case.

Well- the power came on for a couple hours then off for a few more then on. My generator is behaving peculiarly. I feel a repair bill coming on. :/

 

[River Runner]

Some great ideas here, but if you are going to use propane, wood or any other means of heat, especially if you do not normally use them, make sure you have CO2 detectors and fire extinguishers, and know how to operate them, as a safety precaution. Remember for a fire extinguisher use the acronym PASS
P - pull pin
A - aim at the base of the fire, NOT THE FLAME
S - squeeze the trigger
S - slowly sweep back and forth
And remember, cordless phones do not work in a power outage...have a corded phone in a handy place.