We survived another Northwest storm this last week. Living at the coast, we have learned to be prepared for such occurrences, which are somewhat frequent during the winter months. We felt fairly prepared when we heard that a storm was coming, and we weathered that storm and its aftermath fairly well. However, I feel like we had it pretty easy.
For one, we have a gas water heater, so even though we spent 38 hours without power, we could still have a hot bath or shower when we wanted to, and we could do dishes (we don't have a dishwasher installed in our kitchen...we use the old fashioned kind...ourselves). A lot of people in the area have electric water heaters, and were suffering for want of a shower. Now, if this had been some other kind of disaster that was not just a storm with 100mph winds that knocked the power out for a couple of days, we might have really been hurting. We had a case and a half of bottled water...about...50 bottles I think. Divide that by seven people and its not as much water as you would think. Not to mention that if we had lost our water all together, that bottled water would have had to go not only for drinking, but for hygiene, for cooking, and etc. 50 bottles (I think they were 16 to 20 oz bottles) would not go far at all. Water is one of the ways that we are very unprepared for a problem.
Ways that we were prepared for a power outage included:
1. Having non-perishable canned food, and a way to heat that food for eating. We have a camp stove, made to be used outside, we have a BBQ, made to be used outside, and we have a small single butane burner that can be used inside...it is made for catering and etc. We cooked chili, soup, omelets, cocoa and etc on that burner while the outage was going on. We also have a great stove top popcorn popper that works great with that burner as well. We had snack foods such as crackers and granola bars as well.
2. We have a Kerosene heater. Its a smaller one, but it will keep our main living area pretty warm. We hung a blanket between the front area of the house and the kitchen to contain the heat. It worked pretty well. However, we would not have had enough Kerosene to keep us warm for more than a week or so. Luckily, we only needed it for a couple of days. I would love to have a woodstove or at least a fireplace someday, but we are not equipped for that at this time, and we don't have the funds to get one either.
3. We have a phone that doesn't have to have electricity to work. We also have a cordless phone, but it doesn't do you much good in the case of a power outage. We also have a cell phone and a way to charge its battery in the car during outages.
4. We have flashlights with extra batteries as well as flashlights that you wind to recharge. We have lanterns that run on batteries, we have candles and we have four oil lamps. You would think with all that light we would be able to see well, but it was still pretty dim. We also had (we used them up) glowsticks. They really help little kids to feel more secure in the dark and they are fun to boot.
5. We have a well stocked freezer. I know you are thinking this would be a great detriment but because it was so stuffed, the things inside didn't melt even with the power being out for as long as it was. Plus, we were able to put a frozen turkey in the fridge and it kept that cold enough that we didn't lost much food.
6. We have sleeping bags and blankets. Our house got cold at night, but we were able to stay warm in spite of that.
7. We have a small radio that runs on batteries. We were able to stay updated on the situation, and even enjoyed some nice Christmas music along the way.
Now, for a power outage...we feel like we have things pretty well in hand. But going through this experience has made us realize how unprepared we would be in a larger catastrophe. Water is an essential that we would not last long without. We have a good first aid kit, but not a specific place we keep it so it floats from place to place and can be hard to locate in a hurry. All of our essential papers and things we need are not gathered in one place for quick evacuation. That is something we need to work on. We need to brush up on our emergency preparedness. This includes drills of what the family should do in various situations.
All in all the experience of having no power for a few days taught me that we need to think ahead better. It also taught me that we shouldn't depend so much on TV, computers and other electronic devices to entertain our kids and ourselves. My kids did a lot more reading during the outage than they do on a normal day. They had more creative play, and I think that we would be better prepared if we did more reading and creative playing every day, and not just during outages. I think I learned that less really can be more...
Are YOU prepared for a disaster? Think about this...not just a physical disaster, but a financial one? An emotional one? What can you do to be ready? Something to think about.
For one, we have a gas water heater, so even though we spent 38 hours without power, we could still have a hot bath or shower when we wanted to, and we could do dishes (we don't have a dishwasher installed in our kitchen...we use the old fashioned kind...ourselves). A lot of people in the area have electric water heaters, and were suffering for want of a shower. Now, if this had been some other kind of disaster that was not just a storm with 100mph winds that knocked the power out for a couple of days, we might have really been hurting. We had a case and a half of bottled water...about...50 bottles I think. Divide that by seven people and its not as much water as you would think. Not to mention that if we had lost our water all together, that bottled water would have had to go not only for drinking, but for hygiene, for cooking, and etc. 50 bottles (I think they were 16 to 20 oz bottles) would not go far at all. Water is one of the ways that we are very unprepared for a problem.
Ways that we were prepared for a power outage included:
1. Having non-perishable canned food, and a way to heat that food for eating. We have a camp stove, made to be used outside, we have a BBQ, made to be used outside, and we have a small single butane burner that can be used inside...it is made for catering and etc. We cooked chili, soup, omelets, cocoa and etc on that burner while the outage was going on. We also have a great stove top popcorn popper that works great with that burner as well. We had snack foods such as crackers and granola bars as well.
2. We have a Kerosene heater. Its a smaller one, but it will keep our main living area pretty warm. We hung a blanket between the front area of the house and the kitchen to contain the heat. It worked pretty well. However, we would not have had enough Kerosene to keep us warm for more than a week or so. Luckily, we only needed it for a couple of days. I would love to have a woodstove or at least a fireplace someday, but we are not equipped for that at this time, and we don't have the funds to get one either.
3. We have a phone that doesn't have to have electricity to work. We also have a cordless phone, but it doesn't do you much good in the case of a power outage. We also have a cell phone and a way to charge its battery in the car during outages.
4. We have flashlights with extra batteries as well as flashlights that you wind to recharge. We have lanterns that run on batteries, we have candles and we have four oil lamps. You would think with all that light we would be able to see well, but it was still pretty dim. We also had (we used them up) glowsticks. They really help little kids to feel more secure in the dark and they are fun to boot.
5. We have a well stocked freezer. I know you are thinking this would be a great detriment but because it was so stuffed, the things inside didn't melt even with the power being out for as long as it was. Plus, we were able to put a frozen turkey in the fridge and it kept that cold enough that we didn't lost much food.
6. We have sleeping bags and blankets. Our house got cold at night, but we were able to stay warm in spite of that.
7. We have a small radio that runs on batteries. We were able to stay updated on the situation, and even enjoyed some nice Christmas music along the way.
Now, for a power outage...we feel like we have things pretty well in hand. But going through this experience has made us realize how unprepared we would be in a larger catastrophe. Water is an essential that we would not last long without. We have a good first aid kit, but not a specific place we keep it so it floats from place to place and can be hard to locate in a hurry. All of our essential papers and things we need are not gathered in one place for quick evacuation. That is something we need to work on. We need to brush up on our emergency preparedness. This includes drills of what the family should do in various situations.
All in all the experience of having no power for a few days taught me that we need to think ahead better. It also taught me that we shouldn't depend so much on TV, computers and other electronic devices to entertain our kids and ourselves. My kids did a lot more reading during the outage than they do on a normal day. They had more creative play, and I think that we would be better prepared if we did more reading and creative playing every day, and not just during outages. I think I learned that less really can be more...
Are YOU prepared for a disaster? Think about this...not just a physical disaster, but a financial one? An emotional one? What can you do to be ready? Something to think about.
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