Power Outages... How Do You Prepare?

[SKR8PN]

Stick it in a closet, or what Bee suggested, wrap it in windows!!

 

[newmochick]

When I was on a well, as soon as a storm was predicted, I will fill up the washing machine and each bathtub that would hold water for a long period of time.

Check your supply of batteries, you should catch them on sale this time of year.

Another possiblity is to store the drum of water in a bathtub.

You can find large poly bags (the web site escapes me now) that fits into a bath tub easily and can hold a large quantity of water (100's of gallons). They are pricey so put it on your wish list.

 

[WindyHill]

In a closet? Or cover it with a circular piece of wood and a tablecloth to disguise as a table? And I think it might be OK freezing as long as it is not all the way full.

Disguising it is a good idea, but I can't let it freeze, because if I have an outage, I'll need the water! My tap water isn't drinkable, so I need to fill something with store bought drinking water, and just keep it on hand, a permanent place, not in my tub, etc.. So I don't want it anyplace where it would freeze. I'm thinking disguising it in the house might be the best bet.

 

[AL]

another hurricane veteran here:
Ivan in '04 knocked out our power for 4 weeks because it pulled the electric meter off the side of the house and good luck finding an electrician! (the hospital I worked at finally sent one of our maintenance / electric guys to fix it). We had several minor storms in '04 and '05, and the eastern side of others (tornados) but Ivan was our booger.

We don't store water until the storm is at the door, then we fill the spare bathroom tub and sink, maybe a bucket or 2.

- didn't use oil lamps because it was 90*, just went to bed shortly after dark and got up by sunrise; but I would imagine they would be great in cold weather
- you can buy MREs
this site also has various "ready bags" from 72hrs on
http://www.survivalgearsource.com/Home/tabid/83/Default.aspx

- have a store of medications on hand, both prescription and pain reliever / fever reducer
- hand cranked flashlight / weather radio
- lots of batteries
- if you use a generator remember not to use it in any closed in areas!!
- ditto on the car charger for your cell phone. You can also buy coffee pots that run off of the lighter / outlet in your car
- kennels / food / water/ meds for pets ; make sure you have proof of ownership in hand and their ID on them (I used a fat magic marker to write my phone # on the side of my horses, since nobody would be able to catch them to look at their halter tags)

 

[murphysranch]

Because over 10K homes are without power yesterday and today, due to a freak snow storm, I dug out the oil lamp, got the gallon of oil and bought a replacement wick. Ready just in case.
Water? I have gallons stored in the garage and shop, not to mention the wine, the juices, the liquids from the canned goods, and the hot tub out back.

 

[freemotion]

We live a short walk from two farm ponds on the neighboring farm, and a short drive (less than a mile) from a good-size lake, so plenty of water for the critters, washing, and flushing. I'd filter it and boil it for drinking, however.

 

[baymule]

another hurricane veteran here:
Ivan in '04 knocked out our power for 4 weeks because it pulled the electric meter off the side of the house and good luck finding an electrician! (the hospital I worked at finally sent one of our maintenance / electric guys to fix it). We had several minor storms in '04 and '05, and the eastern side of others (tornados) but Ivan was our booger.

We don't store water until the storm is at the door, then we fill the spare bathroom tub and sink, maybe a bucket or 2.

- didn't use oil lamps because it was 90*, just went to bed shortly after dark and got up by sunrise; but I would imagine they would be great in cold weather
- you can buy MREs
this site also has various "ready bags" from 72hrs on
http://www.survivalgearsource.com/Home/tabid/83/Default.aspx

- have a store of medications on hand, both prescription and pain reliever / fever reducer
- hand cranked flashlight / weather radio
- lots of batteries
- if you use a generator remember not to use it in any closed in areas!!
- ditto on the car charger for your cell phone. You can also buy coffee pots that run off of the lighter / outlet in your car
- kennels / food / water/ meds for pets ; make sure you have proof of ownership in hand and their ID on them (I used a fat magic marker to write my phone # on the side of my horses, since nobody would be able to catch them to look at their halter tags)

AL, I love the phone # written on your horses. I only took pictures so I could prove they were mine, but none escaped. And yes, we used oil lamps and candles, even though after Rita it was 90's and into the 100's, not to mention the bird sized swamp mosquitoes blown in from the coast. We had a house full of people and they would have run into the walls at night without light

 

[Denim Deb]

The people or the mosquitoes?

 

[DuppyDo]

We get coastal storms here on long island that knock out the power once in awhile.We've been kinda lucky as far as hurricanes for a nmber of years.If i know bad weathers coming, i fill several large garbage cans i use just for emergency water and fill the bathtub.I have several oil lamps and make sure i always have enough propane for mu kitchen stove.I've been canning more foods and moving slowy away from freezing stuff.I don't have a generator.Installing a hand pump well is still high on my list of things to do.I try to keep a decent supply of my daily meds on hand.
Water would be the longer term issue for me.Keeping livestock watered, need to get that hand water well...! I have a Berkley water filter i bought years ago, for a hard core emergency, haven't needed it yet..

Windyhill, is there no way you can filter enough of your "bad" ground water for drinking..? Whats in it thats so bad..?

 

[sufficientforme]

Everyone has made some great suggestions but COFFEE is my comfort when all my conveniences are gone. I have had this for a while and I it, it makes the best coffee and it's non electric and perfect for SS. So I thought I would share. The cheapest place to buy the #6 filters is on Amazon (box of 12, 40 count) Here is the coffee makers website or you can buy it on Amazon also. https://shop.melitta.com/search.asp?SKW=MACM This seriously makes a better cup of coffee than my electric and I find myself using it more!