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

[enjoy the ride]

My main issue when the power goes out is that the normal purification of water is down. A building mistake not fixed. I do have a plan for really long term problems but it would not be worth the work to reconfigure for a problem lasting a week or two.
So I usually have a short term back up plan when I know that there's a storm coming and the power will almost certainly go out.
However I was so busy rushing to stack up wood and get it tarped before the rain came with this storm, I forgot to do some of my usually pre-storm preps. I forgot to put some treated water in a small tank in the garage . I have 5,000 gallon of untreated water but would rather not use it for some things. And I had forgot to fill the stock tanks.
Well I woke up this morning with no power and no stored treated water- blast.

So I want to make a pre-storm list of things to do so I won't forget
again.

1) Charge up the cell phone
2) fill stock tanks to the max
3) Cook a few easily re-heated items that need little time to get ready
4) Change the goat feeding location to inside a shed (goats hate to get wet,)
5) check the batteries in the lantern and flashlights are good.
6) have a full tank of gas in the truck
5) do a quick check of my normal supplies to make sure I have enough of what I typically use daily.

I'm sure I'll think of more to add.

What do you all do to cover a period of loss of power or other storm related-prep for the short term?

 

[Dace]

It has been so long since we have lost power due to a storm...probably 5 yrs and even then it was only for an hour or two
So I really don't even consider the possibility as reality. What I do need preps and a good list for is 1) Fire evacuation and/or 2) Earthquake

I should have a list though and this is another good reminder I will be interested to see the suggestions of others.

 

[ducks4you]

We're in Zone 5 and we always get at least one ice storm every winter. DH was really concerned when we moved out to the country that we'd lose power and freeze our water pipes. (The 1989 "St. Valentines Day Ice Storm" had left some folks in the country without electricity for 2 weeks, so we had good reason to worry.) Well... while we were digging, the power company put up all of those flags and we discovered that we could easily hook into natural gas. We now have our boiler powered by it and our generator (which is also hooked up to a deep marine battery kept charged by a trickle-charger.) The advantage? The Natural Gas lines are all buried. They can't be blown down. Fortunately, we only have to run the generator a few times each year. Previously, one of the owners had installed it in the basement and barely touched it, so it's in great condition. Just thought you might want to know that this is an option.

 

[big brown horse]

We get a bit of wind and rain around here. Our power lines were down about 4 times last fall, winter and spring.

The main concern is our well. It is operated by an electric pump. So we always have water stored in the basement for toilet flushing, hand washing and ALL the ANIMALS! Horses drink a bunch, so we have a few rain barrels, and always keep their stock tanks filled to the rim which is about 500 gallons.

Other than that, I have a wood stove, a shed full of wood, and flashlights and a radio that can be hand cranked. I have a weather radio (just got for my birthday!) that can be hand cranked too...it even has a place to recharge cell phones etc. We keep tons of candles too for card playing etc.

We keep the freezer packed, and since it doesn't get too warm here things keep pretty good if you don't open the fridge too often.

A full wine rack is nice b/c it can be stored and drank at room temp.

 

[keljonma]

While we can have tornadoes, earthquakes, high winds, ice storms, and blizzards, blizzards are the number one reason for power outages in our area.

We usually lose power for a total of two or three weeks every winter. Sometimes we have entire weeks without power and other times, it is a couple days here and there, adding up to our longest time without power of 3 1/2 weeks.

In years past, we were in all electric house, with oil furnace and water tank. We used to keep extra diesel in storage, which could be used in a pinch for fuel oil.

Hand crank flashlights
Hand crank radio
Lanterns
Fuel for the lanterns
Extra gasoline for the car
Fuel for the grill for cooking
Bricks - to heat on the grill for bedwarmers
Bottled water
Instant coffee
Tea Bags
Eggs
Canned foods
Dehydrated foods
Dog food for Titan
Lots of blankets and quilts
We usually eat the refrigerated and frozen foods first

We have propane heat & stove now and haven't any idea what the situation will be this winter.

 

[sylvie]

While we can have tornadoes, earthquakes, high winds, ice storms, and blizzards, blizzards are the number one reason for power outages in our area.

We usually lose power for a total of two or three weeks every winter. Sometimes we have entire weeks without power and other times, it is a couple days here and there, adding up to our longest time without power of 3 1/2 weeks.

In years past, we were in all electric house, with oil furnace and water tank. We used to keep extra diesel in storage, which could be used in a pinch for fuel oil.

Hand crank flashlights
Hand crank radio
Lanterns
Fuel for the lanterns
Extra gasoline for the car
Fuel for the grill for cooking
Bricks - to heat on the grill for bedwarmers
Bottled water
Instant coffee
Tea Bags
Eggs
Canned foods
Dehydrated foods
Dog food for Titan
Lots of blankets and quilts
We usually eat the refrigerated and frozen foods first

We have propane heat & stove now and haven't any idea what the situation will be this winter.

I can't improve on this list so I'm just going to print it out for my hard copy file, when I can't access the computer due to a blackout.
I never considered heating bricks on the hearth for bed warmers. I use the hair dryer, but in times of need and high electricity bills-bricks are going into action here!

 

[ducks4you]

A full wine rack is nice b/c it can be stored and drank at room temp.

That's right, BBH--can't forget the staples!

 

[enjoy the ride]

Ducks4you- I have a propane power generator. But the building mistake I mentioned is that it does not power the pump house where the purification system is.

Dace- for Earthquakes- I would have a lot of water saved up. For at least 2-3 weeks for all. Sewer and water pipes are under ground and are likely to be disrupted. You can also get a little Portapotty for a hundred dollars. Also, I would have a tent or tents available big enough to sleep all, in case your house is not safe to inhabit so you can camp in the back yard if needs be.. Then of course the usually supply of food stuffs not needing refridgeration including pet food. But the most important in So Cal would be water unless you are lucky enough to have a pond or stream and even then I would worry about contamination. Also a bugout bag.
for fire- each family member ought to have a bugout bag that they can grab with a change of clothes and underwear, a pair of shoes, a couple of days supply of water and packaged food, medications. some first aide supplies,etc/ Anything that will last you a couple of days.

It seems to me that help is usually available if you have to evacuate for fire but earthquakes cause a lot more disruption of roads and power and help can be slow to come and roads blocked so it's hard to get out.

 

[ducks4you]

Propane is great, too. ANYTHING but electricity.

 

[enjoy the ride]

Propane is bad- at least here- when I was w/o power for a couple of weeks and ran the generator only 4 hours per day, it ended up costing me over $250 per week in propane. Ouch. I only spend about $35 per month on electricity in winter.