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There are all kinds of bad weather. There are thunderstorms, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards — the list seems endless, especially if you are living through one of them.
Those of you from the northeast have had a lot of bad weather lately. If you’re there now, you’re might be getting even more Humpty Dumpty Weather as you read this. It’s been tough, too – many people have gone without electricity, water, heat, hot meals, showers, and more.
As my grandmother used to say, “It can wear a body down.”
Coming from Florida (aka The Hurricane Magnet State), I feel your pain. I’ve been in that situation before, although in 100 degree heat and not frosty ice — and frankly, I’ll take the 100 degree heat.
I’ve lived through flash floods, severe thunderstorms, a few hurricanes, and several tropical storms. If there’s one thing I’ve discovered about bad weather, it’s that preparation is key.
Oddly enough, though, some of the best prep info I’ve gotten has come from other sufferers rather than the generic ‘how to prepare’ websites. In fact, the best hint I got was from a guy I used to work with who suggested that we freeze water in ziploc bags and then, when the electricity goes out, put the now-ice bags in the fridge where they’ll keep the food colder while the water thaws into drinkable liquid. Brilliant!
So, in the spirit of shared knowledge, tell us about your bad weather experience(s) and help us all be more prepared. What’s the worst weather you’ve ever experienced? What’s the longest you’ve gone without electricity? What did you miss the most? Showers? Hot meals? Heat or A/C? TV? Other things? What one thing would do to prepare now that you didn’t think was necessary before? What did you do to pass the time? And what was your biggest challenge?
74 Comments on “Roll thunder roll.”
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I have lived through some bad weather but nothing like what you Americans have been lately. If you remember the news from last year in January, we had some fairly shocking weather with loads of rain, floods, cyclone, more floods and now recently bushfires. We didn’t lose electricity but we did lose water and couldn’t flush the toilet for several hours and needed to boil water to make it safe to drink. So I guess I would make sure we had a rainwater tank and plenty of containers to put it in.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 5:30 am.
I have a friend who lives in Maine in an old farmhouse and they use rainwater to water their plants. It’s a pretty nifty set up and could easily be used in their house if they boiled water. It would certainly fill up during a storm, wouldn’t it? Good idea!
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 8:34 am.
Karen, I’d suggest you move to Europe. Here in Belgium we seldom have such bad weather (yeah, we do have enough rain and sometimes a bit of heavy wind, but that’s about all in my region). I’ve never experienced being flooded, but my grandparents and mother once got more than 1,5 meter of water into the house (same one as I’m still living in). They were lucky to have a stove in one of the bedrooms, and could just carry enough coal upstairs to keep it going. My mother said they did not miss a lot, as food was brought, and of course in those times they did not have a shower etc. so they could not miss them!
What we learnt from this however, is that all our sockets for electricity are not on ground level, but somewhere in the middle of the wall, higher than the water stood.
And of course in my country the electricity lines are all underground, which provides less risks when there are high winds.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 6:44 am.
Nickie, ‘move to Europe’ … ah, that would be lovely. I adore history and it always amazes me that there are buildings still standing from the 12th century and earlier. Amazing.
Sockets above ground level … now that’s a terrific idea. If I ever build a house, I’m doing that.
Much of our electric lines are underground except in the older parts of the city and yup, that’s where I live.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 8:36 am.
DH and I have been batting around the idea of building a house. I’m going to tell him about this idea of above ground level sockets, should we get around to it in the next few years
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 10:15 am.
It’s a cool idea, isn’t it? And it makes sense, too. I’m jealous you get to build. You’ll get everything you want, then.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 6:25 pm.
I have been pretty lucky. I have never gone without power more than two days and have usually had somewhere to go (a family mamber’s house or a friend’s) that had power. One thing I have learned though, have everything charged. We have a portable DVD player for the kids that has saved us several hours of complaint. Cell phone service can be spotty but it’s best to have it for when you can get through. Also, a smart phone can be entertainment while you’re waiting for the power to come back on (games that don’t require the internet). Battery powered lanterns so you can read and hand-crank radios so you can dance and sing are wonderful, too. Food from the refrigerator is what I miss most – you don’t wan to open it and let out cool air but there’s so much in there that you want when the power’s out that you didn’t care too much about when the power was on!
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 7:02 am.
Liz, having everything charged — that’s essential! I just mailed a handcranked radio to my daughter, too, who lives in Brooklyn.
And yes, when you’re not allowed to open the fridge, you find out how many times a day you open it and stand staring inside. I do it too much!
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 8:38 am.
Here in NC we get hurricanes too. We’ve lived through some doozies here, inclduding Fran, which left us without power for 5 days, when I had a new baby.
We also get ice storms in the winter, occasionally. Several years ago we were stuck without power for 7 days, and the state didn’t make it out to plow our road until 9 days had passed. The cold is definitely harder to deal with, but we have a wood stove, thank goodness. The hardest part was that nearly everyone else got power back after 3 or 4 days. School started back up. Everyone else got back to normal, and I was still coping. And longing for a shower!
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 7:25 am.
Deb, I don’t even want to THINK about not having electricity with a small baby! How difficult. Whew.
I miss showers more than anything when the electricity goes out. That’s how I wake up, darn it. And it always seems as if it’s my street that’s last to get power when it’s down, as if they know how badly I want it.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 8:41 am.
Growing up in Ohio, the worst weather was the blizzard back in the 70′s. I can’t remember being without power or heat. Since DH & I now live in central Indiana, the worst weather we’ve had was an ice storm several years ago. We live in the country and even with 4-wheel drive, he didn’t/couldn’t get to work for two days.
I would say have a radio with good batteries; keep your phones & iPads charged. Have plenty of drinking water and in the winter lots of blankets. We have a gas grill and DH said that if we ever lost power like they have on the East coast, he’d take all the meat in the freezer and cook it. You can eat that cold, but you can’t eat it spoiled. And have a good cooler to keep stuff in. In the winter, you can always put frozen items on the porch. And one thing to remember, don’t keep opening and closing the doors on the ‘fridge and/or freezer. Food in the freezer will keep for up to 48 hours and in the ‘fridge for 12-24 hrs. (I used to work for a company that repaired household appliances so I do have some knowledge about this stuff).
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 8:02 am.
Sue, very useful tips! Hot Cop and I made coffee on our grill during one hurricane. It worked pretty well, too. What we didn’t have was a cooler and we had to venture out in the aftermath and find one. But now, we have it and it’s HUGE and it’s the first thing I wash out when the weather guys say we might be in for it.
I had no idea on the time lines for the fridge and freezer. That’s good info to have! Thank you!
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 8:46 am.
This is not weather related but refrigerator/freezer related. Several years ago I was visiting a friend and her husband. The fan went out in the freezer so the cold air wasn’t moving around. He kept opening the freezer door to check the temperature with his hand! As time went on panic set in and he started tossing food out “It’s Spoiled!” Mind you this was less than half a day elapsed time from when the problem was discovered and discarding commenced. And the food he tossed wasn’t even warm. argh! we had worked hard to make that potato salad!! As a result of my questioning why he kept opening the door I was banished. sigh. They are no longer married <>
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 6:09 pm.
Sounds like your friend lost both good food and then, later, a lot of uneccessary ‘dead weight.’
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 6:26 pm.
It’s never fun, that’s for sure. I’ve gone without power for over a week, and during that week we lost water for 24 hours. THAT was the worst. No water. It was truly frightening.
~Purell, hand wipes, baby wipes . . . anything to keep things clean.
~Plenty of water in the tub to dump down the toilets.
~Candles cast a warmer, broader light than flashlights, plus you get tired of holding the flashlight, plus you feel less like a burglar.
~A gas stove! Must have. Even with no water and no electricity you still get a hot meal.
~Store up on eggs—they don’t require refrigeration, they’re filling, hot, protein rich—of course, you need the gas stove to make a variety of egg dishes.
~We slept more! Funny how that happens when there’s no electricity to light the way. We instantly went back to a natural rhythm of life, up with the sun, to bed at dusk. No trouble sleeping either!
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 8:27 am.
Claudia, I had no idea about candles casting a broader light, but that’s good to know. I want a gas stove, but they haven’t yet linked our neighborhood to the pipeline. But when they do, I’m THERE. It was not easy making coffee on the grill.
We slept more, too, with the lights out. Well, I did. Hot Cop was pulling 12 hour shifts every day. But it really is amazing how much sleep we might get if we lived like that, isn’t it?
Btw, I never knew that about eggs. That’s good to know!
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 9:28 am.
Karen, Mr Coffee has a coffeemaker for your camp stove, I love mine, remember to transfer the coffee into a thermos to keep it hot.
If you have hurricane chimneys for your candles it gives even more light. If you don’t, putting the candle into a jar or glass works well too and protects the flame from drafts.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 6:43 pm.
We once got 10 inches of rain in an hour on top of a lot more rain. We live by a river, though we are on higher ground. THe street started to flood, IV was away and the boys were little. I remember thinking “the dog can swim, someone can hang onto him.” Then I went downstairs and got the water wings and sat them on the table.
We are very lucky here and if the power goes out it doesn’t stay out long. Not sure why. The longest was 2 days. I did miss showers. If we don’t have power we don’t have water either since there’s no well pump.
I have no tips beyond fill a bucket with water when a storm approaches, have wood handy for the fireplace and don’t throw out the water wings.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 8:51 am.
10 inches in an HOUR? That’s tropical storm level. It’s scary waiting to see if you need to run or not, and then thought of running into the elements – and with kids – whew. That’s scary. But good for you for thinking of the water wings!
Much of our rainwater is pumped out via pumping stations, so if the electricity goes out during a hurricane, then the water begins to back up and will eventually contaminate our regular water supply. I always have gallons and gallons tucked away during hurricane season, and we fill the tub so we can flush the toilet, too. It never feels like enough, though, when you’re watching that huge storm swirl your way.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 9:31 am.
Hey Lori, here’s one for you. Make sure that you have some solar powered chargers for your laptop, iPad, iPhone, android etc. That way you don’t lose time if you are without power and are on deadline. There’s also the added bonus of it being green energy so it makes you feel better by using sustainable energy instead of unsustainable energy.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 9:42 am.
My heart goes out to those who are still trying to recover from Sandy, and now this.
I lived through the Blizzard of 77, but I was quite young and don’t remember much other than being in my grandparents warm and cozy house. Then I have experienced two huge ice storms. Both times I lived in a more woodsy area and all night all you could hear was tree limbs cracking and falling hard to the ground. Sometimes the limbs were so big you could feel the ground shake a little. Those nights were the worst I experienced. You just never knew if a limb, or tree, would fall on the house.
The last ice storm left me without power for a week. I built a fire and huddled close to it. I cooked on a grill, and always had flashlights and candles handy. People say to fill the bathtub with water so you have water. I was lucky because my brother and his family only lived about ten miles away. They only lost power for a couple of hours so when the roads were safe we went and stayed with them until I couldn’t take it anymore!
I will say you tend to miss everything when you don’t have it. You yearn for a warm shower, a hot, hot meal, and just a sense of normalcy.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 9:14 am.
Kelly, I lived in Georgia for a while and we often got ice storms there and wow, did those pine trees creak and groan when they hit.
You described the feeling of being without power exactly — yearning for basics and ‘just a sense of normalcy.’ That’s precious, isn’t it?
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 9:33 am.
We are pretty lucky where I live in Ontario. We don’t get hit with extreme weather. We get the odd Tornado warning and some heavy rain,a lot of snow but nothing that can’t be handled. I feel for those in the US right now who are going without, and I can’t even imagine what they are dealing with.
The longest I have been without power was 3 days, and that was during that big blackout of 2003 (I think it was August 2003). Although, it wasn’t so bad because we stayed with my mom and dad who have a pool. It was actually really nice to spend quality time with my family. There was nothing else for us to do, but sit around the pool. Luckily, we had plenty of gas in the bbq. We used it for everything from making tea to making mac n cheese. We had all the essentials, and we made the most of it. I think the fact that it was August and not January made it a lot easier.
I really need to put together some kind of emergancy kit. I don’t have one in the house right now, or in my van.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 9:21 am.
Amy, you do get closer to your family when the electricity cuts out. Like you said – there’s nothing else to do but hang out.
I’m with you on the heat v cold lack of electricity. It was super hot here when Hurricane Charley hit – in the high 90s and low 100s, and yes, it was hot. But we had water, so I just took a BUNCH of cold showers, which are usually horrible, but under the circumstances, were quite blissful.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 10:29 am.
Growing up in Northern Wisconsin we got used to massive snowstorms and tornadoes. I have lived through three destructive tornadoes and have shoveled more snow than should be allowed. But, we rarely lost power. I don’t remember being without power for more than a day.
SW Ohio is a different story. We have gotten some doozy ice storms and although most of our power lines are buried we have been without power for up to 5 days – more than once.
We keep a stash of canned foods in the basement. A gas range, emergency radio, and water filled bathtubs keep us going. But my best recommendation: be very good neighbors.
I have family and friends living through this right now in the northeast. What a heartbreaker!
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 9:56 am.
Kez, as scary as hurricanes are, tornadoes terrify me. Living inland, it’s the tornadoes spawned by our hurricanes that do so much damage, too.
I’m surprised you guys in Ohio go without electricity if your lines are all buried. It seems as if that’s a fool proof plan. Who knew?
It’s tough for the people in the NE. Thankfully, the current storm seems not to be as strong as they’d thought, but the cold temps — !!!! Not good.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 10:32 am.
Though I live in “tornado alley”, I’ve never been without power for more than 3 days. We were able to go to relative’s places, so it wasn’t too much of a hardship.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 10:16 am.
Amanda, thank goodness for relatives with power!
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 10:32 am.
First, my only tip, learned from experience. If you electricity goes out, empty the ice maker so there is no ice to melt and drip down onto your hardwood floors,which will warp and remind you for years that you goofed. As for bad weather, we have only had it so bad that we lost electricty for several days once. 3 days I think but it felt longer. Showers were missed most. It got old fast. DHwas all set to move to a hotel when the lights came back on. I lived through a huge blizzard in Chicago in the ’70s, but it did not stop me and I did not mind it too much.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 10:16 am.
Ow! That’s a hard lesson to learn. I’m getting ready to replace my kitchen hardwood for tile — a beautiful slate, so it has just as much character, but isn’t so reactive to leaks.
My daughter didn’t mind the hurricane there, but I think that when you’re young and sleeping on a futon is still ‘fun’, you’re more apt to enjoy the camping aspect. Now, not so much.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 6:28 pm.
I’m very blessed to live where we really don’t have much in the way of severe weather. We have had ice storms and flooding, and those things have caused power outages, etc. but that’s pretty much it. Our A/C went out a month or so ago, but we were very lucky because it happened in late September rather than August in 100+ heat.
I know it must be so scary to be without power for several days or to be faced with a possibility of being flooded out of your home, etc. Thankfully, even with all the political turmoil, I think it is fantastic how we come together to support the people that are impacted by these storms. We can’t be that polarized if we all work together so well in times of trouble…I guess I’m just an eternal optimist.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 10:20 am.
Julie, flooding is frightening, whoever you are. It is lovely to see how the people of New York are working together, though. What a terrific community spirit they have!
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 6:29 pm.
I have lived through tornadoes, blizzards, ice storms and a flooded basement.
The ice storm was the worst though, was without power and heat for 2 days, TV was out for 7 days.
I learned you can get through anything with a good sense of humor, a flashlight and a radio that runs on batteries.
Let’s not forget the warmth and companionship of a cat.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 10:21 am.
Angela, oh yes, the animals — I don’t know what I’d do without mine. They never seem to mind the weather. Well, one dog is a little nervous in storms, but that’s it. Meanwhile, they make us laugh. My daughter has two bunnies and they kept her laughing all through the storm.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 6:31 pm.
During Superstorm Sandy, I only lost power for two days, although the girls are still without power with no forecast as to when they’ll get it back. They still have hot water and are able to cook and shower because they have gas for that, but Jes says the house is so cold at night, she just can’t get warm. Mer has been taking Leia to a friend’s to sleep and she showered over here in the warmth last night. I lost power for four days during Irene but we still had water, so it wasn’t too bad.
My only fear is having a problem with dialysis as the dialysis center is in a flood plain. Luckily, they didn’t flood this time.
I had a near miss during a tornado when I was fifteen. I was sitting on the couch listening to music and got up to listen to a song. Everyone else, the smart ones, was in the basement. I was listening for weather reports. As soon as I got up, the huge tree in our front yard came through the window where I’d been sitting. Had I still been sitting there, I’d been a goner for sure.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 11:10 am.
Dbrown, I’m so glad your dialysis center didn’t flood. That’s tough to replace. Your poor kiddos! It’s been way to long to be without power. I hope they get it soon.
As for your tornado escape — wow. I can’t imagine such a close call. I’m so glad you moved!!!!
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 6:33 pm.
A couple of summers ago, when the fires were really bad, I kept the important stuff — birth certificate, passport, things like that — in a lock box in my car. If I had to flee at a moment’s notice, I didn’t have to worry about it. Plus, I knew where it all was if I needed something, which is not normally the case.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 11:28 am.
Julia, I always cringe when I see wildfires. My dad was a forest fire fighter for Virginia when I was little and I still remember him coming home all soot-black, his eyebrows gone, his skin red as a tomato, black holes burned into his t-shirt, which he wore UNDER his safety suit. Fierce, fast things, fires.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 6:42 pm.
I haved lived in the mountains of the Appalachian where for over a month I was without power, without a car (it was buried and couldn’t find it) – I now live in Florida and have experienced a hurricane and tropical storms. It is amazing how similiar one must prepare. One thing that I think is just as important as getting food, water, matches, filling up the car – is to take money out of the bank. When power is out and you can find a place or someone selling what you need, cash is the key. I don’t like the flooding, but I will take it over ice, like you I will take the heat but not the cold. I think I make good time during the times of bad weather – read, play cards, and board games. I work on mending clothes, to making crafts, and when all else fails I rest, afterall it will be quite a clean up.Up north I had to melt snow for water, when I ran out of wood, we went around looking for broken branches, we layered ourselves that we looked like the kid in A Christmas Story, no rest longer than a few hours – to keep the fire burning and rationing out food (I think when you are cold you find some heat in eating). The worst part was the isolation (and a bit of cabin fever), I couldn’t even get to my neighbor who was 1/2 block away.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 11:41 am.
Carla, that’s an EXCELLENT thing to remember – get cash. I always forget that and regret it.
Btw, the kid in A Christmas Story — LOL! I love that movie and it gave me such an instant picture of you!
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 6:46 pm.
Got to love the hairy weather stories! Sounds like everyone has some experience under their belt. I do truly believe that you really can’t be prepared until you live through one.
We’ve had some super blizzards in Iowa during the winter months (and sometimes in to April)–that have knocked out power for days, etc. The worst with that is the frozen pipes that may or may not come along with it. When the power goes out, we fill the tubs then use that water to flush the toilet, boil for dishes, etc. This also helped drain the pipes so we didn’t end up with a big mess when everything was back up and running.
Luckily most of rural Iowa runs with the REC, and they’re pretty good about getting everyone back on line quickly. Growing up, the bigger issue was literally being snowed in for over a week. We lived on the tri-county line, which meant each of those three couties cleared the road everywhere else, before they made it down ours. The roads can be completely impassable when it gets like that. Snowmobiles are our friend in that instance, as sometimes the tractor doesn’t even get through. I can remember having to get on the snowmobile with my Dad and ride it 30 miles to the closest open pharmacy for my brothers meds and groceries. At the time I thought it was exciting. Now, I’m pretty sure I’d look at him and say “really, you should have refilled your inhaler last week when the storm warning came out”. Which is probably rule #1 in preparedness. Refill the perscriptions you’re running low on as well as other meds when you receive the storm warnings. That way you’re not stuck on a frozen island, waiting for the county to be your knight in road sign orange armor.
When the electricity goes out now, I use the old fashioned kerosene lanterns. They throw off a ton of light, but also some heat as well.
When a storm warning comes out, where we’re looking at issues with power, etc. we usually stock up on the following:
–hot hands (those air activated hand warmers)
–canned goods and bottles water for cooking
–we cook ahead of time with frozen soup, baked goods, etc. Then we just heat them up to eat.
–tune up all snow removal appliances including charging up needed batteries and getting fuel for all the mechanized engines
–charge cell phone battery & buy new batteries for the radio
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 11:46 am.
Medicine refills — Haley, that’s a great tip. VERY important. I love that you cook ahead of time. I never thought about that. I just sit and watch tv and get tuna and peanut butter. But why not have soup? We have a grill. Good idea!
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 6:47 pm.
I suppose the worst “weather” I’ve experienced is the firestorms here in SoCal (caused by the dry weather and hot winds blowing off the desert). Twice the kids were out of school for a week because of the smoky air. We had to help evacuate my in-laws (most terrified I’d been in my life, the flames were hot on my face as they raced down the hill toward their house). Not only was their local home at risk of burning down but so was their vacation home in the mountains.
After we had the great loss of power in the west, I did buy a hand crank radio and a hand crank cell phone charger. But I confess our earthquake supplies are probably out-of-date. Should put a new kit together!
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 12:11 pm.
Christie, ACK! Those fires scare the bejeebers out of me, too. I’m so glad you guys got your in-laws out.
I need a new emergency kit, too. Mine is probably out of date, as well. I always eat my hurricane supplies as soon as the season is over, though, just so the water and tuna, etc, doesn’t get old and I don’t know it.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 6:50 pm.
We were without electricity for 4 days during an ice storm. Remember to fill you tub with hot water (gas water heater.) Helps with heating and flushing. Remember to cover house plants in case the temp in the house drops below 30.
Without electricity this summer for 6 days, 105 degrees. We grilled a lot, neighborhood picnics (people were emptying freezers) and slept outside at night.
The common thing for both of these events was how quiet it was. Except for the generators. The ice storm was the spookiest because you could hear the ice fall along with the branches. We have wind up lamps and NOAA radio.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 12:15 pm.
Kay, I would have never thought about the houseplants, but that’s a great idea.
It really is weird how quiet it can get when there’s no electricity, isn’t it? I think our forefathers would have trouble sleeping if they visited today!
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 6:52 pm.
This one is easy to answer for me, since I just experienced it with Hurricane Sandy. I live in an apartment that is run TOTALLY on electric, so when our power goes down, I not only don’t have lights & tv, I also can’t cook & have no hot water. The 3 things I missed the most were a hot cup of tea, a nice, warm shower, & my hubby, who works up the road at the hospital, so I didn’t seem him much because his department ensures that the whole hospital runs smoothly. When he was home & it was cold, it wasn’t so bad because I had him to talk to & cuddle with. He makes everything better. But the next place we live in will definitely have to have a gas stove & a water heater that’s anything but electric!
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 12:31 pm.
Maria, I’m with you — Hot Cop is gone from six to six when there’s an emergency, so I’m alone a lot of the time. And we don’t have gas, either. It’s not in this part of town.
The line actually stops two streets away (Darn it!).
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 7:12 pm.
I’ve been through blizzards, hail, tornadoes, earthquakes, outer edges of hurricanes and ice storms. Always interesting
Earthquakes are my least favorite.
anyway. I learned in the winter always keep at least one blanket, some water, a few chocolate or nutrition bars and a flashlight in the car in case you get stranded by a blizzard… a bag of old fashioned kitty litter (not clumping) is also great for getting traction on ice.
CASH. Always keep a cash stash. That way if the credit card machines are down, you can still buy some supplies.
From LA, I always kept a little “emergency bag” for my pets. It had some food, treats and a couple bowls, etc. It was easy to have that bit on hand in case I had to get out quick rather than scurry around to gather things up. (It may have also provided me with a backup of food in case someone *ahem* did not remember to get to the pet store.
Though some scoff.. I still keep a land line and a corded phone. I had a basic, no frills one in LA and when the cell towers were out or overloaded, I could still make a call.
Oh, another one.. if the power goes out in winter, herd everyone into an interior room in the house and shut it off from the rest of the place as much as you can. It will help (a little) keep it warmer a but longer and everyone can huddle together. Taping cardboard over the windows can also help insulate a bit – especially with old windows.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 12:37 pm.
Sheridan, the Car Kit is so important! We used to do that when I lived in TN, too.
The emergency kit for the pets is a great idea, too. I never think about that, and should.
And you’re so smart about heating one room instead of a house. We had one room that we managed to keep on a window shaker A/C when we went through the last hurricane and it let us sleep. Trust me on this — you cannot sleep when it’s 100 degrees, and it was easily that inside our house which had no electricity for two weeks.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 7:16 pm.
We finally got our power back yesterday after 9 days!!! Unfortunately many of my friends still do not have power restored. Our area lucked out with Athena (yes, they are now naming our winter storms) and only got a couple inches. This past week has been an interesting one to say the least. Thank God for my Mom and friends providing hot meals and showers. It’s nice to know you have people you can count on. Oh, and I’ve never read so much as I have this past week!
I’ve read some of the tips above – take the ice out of the ice maker and put it in the bags is a great one. I found this past week that the battery operated candles I ordered recently really came in handy. They are on a timer, so I set them at dusk and when we came home when it was dark, we at least had some light.
Here’s an important one for electricity:
When the power goes out, turn off all your breakers and the main breaker if you can (I know some people leave it on with the sump pump). When the power is restored, turn on one breaker at a time, waiting a few seconds in between. If you leave everything on, when power is restored it can cause a back surge and cause the panel to catch fire.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 12:52 pm.
Suzy, I’m so glad you had family and friends nearby. And huzzah on the reading!
And yes, the all important breaker flip! VERY important. I forget that, too, but fortunatly Hot Cop never does. We had that happen once — lost power and didn’t turn off the breaker, and when it came on, it blew our AC.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 9:40 pm.
We don’t really get extreme weather here, or so I thought until we had fires this summer. That was pretty extreme and scary, but you either evacuate or not, so it’s not so much keeping supplies around.
We do get blizzards, sometimes severe, but the power grid is mostly underground these days, so we don’t often lose electricity. The worst is not being able to get out until the snowplows make it to our street.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 2:02 pm.
Barbara, it’s tough when you get snowed in. I always laugh to see people always buying bread and milk for snow storms, or they did in TN. I don’t know why, but they did.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 9:41 pm.
I’ve been pretty lucky here in SoCal. No real extreme weather. I remember as a kid that my aunt & her family had to come stay with us for a few days after the Simi earthquake (their home was under a dam they were worried about). And a two/three years ago my sis had to evacuate because of a wildfire.
My tip, if your house is the “go to” for displaced family members, have a couple of extra toothbrushes & deoderants stored in the bathroom.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 3:27 pm.
Suzanne, always the hostess with the mostest!
That’s a good tip, too — to be prepared to host your relatives in case you’re the one who has electricity.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 9:42 pm.
I am lucky that here in Southern California we don’t have the extreme cold weather. We do have to watch the wind and fires that we get every fall…..like now. I think the worst was the “Old Fire” in 2003. My husband stayed on our roof with a hose and saved our house and one of our neighbors. Another neighbor wasn’t so fortunate and we could look into their house from our roof. The gas company turned off the gas as they were worried of leaks, so we had no gas or electricity. We didn’t dare leave the house since the cops weren’t letting people drive into the neighborhoods for several days to make sure there was no looting. We have the best friends though, that lugged (walked about a quarter mile)ice chests full of water, hamburger patties, cookies and various food stuff. Another brought a generator and a small portable TV so we could keep up on the news.
Earthquakes are another concern. You just never know when one will happen. I keep several cases of water at home and am thinking about buying a generator. i just hope that if we have a big one, I’m not at work in this old 4 story building that rocks and rolls whenever the earth moves.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 3:32 pm.
Pamiam, I can’t imagine watching a neighbor’s house go up in flames while you just have a watering hose. Whew!
I hope you’re safe when there are earthquakes. I’ve felt two and they’re very unpleasant.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 10:10 pm.
I think everyone should have an ‘emergency plan’ including stuff like emergency cash, adequate meds, potable water, cooking method, manual can-opener, food, chargers, batteries, first aid kit, etc. It might be worth it to use a couple of plastic tubs and build yourself a little kit. Do you keep all your records in one place.. like birth certificates, insurance info, passports, or are they scattered in several places.. Some stuff should be kept in safety deposit boxes and duplicated for home info.. Do you have phone numbers written down or do you depend on being able to scroll thru your phone? Do you Regularly back up your computer/devices to separate drive or ‘cloud’? Do you know where the shut-off valves for your water/gas are?
Here’s a FEMA link for emergency preparedness.
http://www.ready.gov/basic-disaster-supplies-kit
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 3:58 pm.
Cate, that’s a great link! Thank you!!!
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 10:11 pm.
It has been a long time since we have experienced truly bad weather where we lost services. We had a 24 hr blackout about a month ago but even that was manageable.
A couple years ago I was traveling by Amtrak from Oregon to Mn and we were sidetracked for 17 hours in a blizzard in Whitefish, Montana. There had been an accident that melted the tracks and then we lost heat to the cars. I was in a lower car so the space was smaller and I had my silk blanket with me so I stayed nice and warm.
If I am at home or have enough warning I don’t have to do with hot meals, I have my camping gear, so even if I had to evacuate I could take my stuff with me.
My advice to anyone who experiences bad weather or other disasters would be to keep camping gear handy and easy to fix food with a shelf life of forever.Also have a crank flashlight, if it is one you can hook your phone up to even better, I have one in my car. Walmart has emergency meals that will feed a family of four for several days. That is on our list of things to buy soon. Solar shed lights are cheap and you can actually use them anywhere.
I really like the idea of freezing bags of water, that’s one I hadn’t thought of.
If you have to camp because for any reason and the weather is cold, if you have a tent & a pop-up canopy with walls (I do)put the tent inside the pop-up and you have instant insulation. Living in the Pacific NW we give a lot of thought to “what if..”.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 4:39 pm.
In my emergency gear I have six books because I read fast, a deck of cards, travel boggle game, and a backgammon set. And an extra pair of reading glasses, if I couldn’t read it would not be pretty.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 5:05 pm.
Being from Montana I’ve experienced some pretty bad blizzards and thunderstorms. While there were a few times that the power went out (doesn’t stay out long when you live in the town where there are 4 power plants), we always had heat because we had a coal furnace.
Some things that I learned in Montana are:
Always have a shovel, a board, and kitty litter in your car during the winter. Should you go in the ditch, you can dig yourself out. The board (if you’re in the ditch, one tire is always going to be higher than the other ones) and kitty litter will give your tires traction to get out of the ditch. It goes without saying that you have a sleeping bag, water, and nonperishable food items in your car during the winter.
If you’re stuck in the ditch and don’t have kitty litter, board, or shovel, “rock” the car out of the ditch by driving forward and then in reverse. Slowgoing, but you’ll get out of the ditch when you’re patient.
Use candles, but, also, have flashlights with fresh batteries on hand. It’s easier to walk to the bathroom with a flashlight than it is a candle (unless, you have cool candle lanterns like my mom had).
Always have games on hand. Uno and rummy were big at our house.
A radio with batteries is helpful, too.
Get a generator.
Always have a week’s supply of food on hand.
In CA we have a gas stove, but if the power’s out, we have to light it ourselves since that part’s electric. Same story with our furnace. Should we lose our gas, we have a propane campstove.
We have a 55 gallon drum of water in a food grade container. It’s time to change it. Rain barrels are nice for watering the plants, but that water’s not fit for human consumption. I asked before we bought ours. It can be used for washing stuff, though.
Know how to turn off your gas and water lines. Keep the tools in an easily accessible spots.
Always have duct tape on hand. You’ll never know when or how you’re going to need it.
Give your out of state emergency contact information to your friends and family. Then, when there’s an emergency, your friends and family will know to contact them. It’ll help keep the phone lines free in the disaster areas.
Should the emergency happen when your family isn’t together, have an established meeting place where you know to go.
Oh, and I just learned this from our neighborhood emergency guru, keep all your supplies in easily accessible totes.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 6:35 pm.
We put our emergency gear into wheeled footlockers, easy to move and they can be locked for safety. We also have changes of clothes in with the emergency gear,they are in space bags with all the air sucked out so they don’t take up a lot of room.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 6:53 pm.
Tornado about 10 years ago in August. No power for 3 days, no a/c, no water, no fridge, etc. We ate out and after 2 days, our neighbor had power, and they let us run an extension cord to their house for a fan and the fridge. Dragged our mattress downstairs where its cooler and roughed it.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 7:20 pm.
We had a bad ice storm a few years back that knocked our power out for about five days. What I missed the most was not having heat. Our neighbor loaned us a karosene heater for a few hours to warm the house up. The next day we found out our brother in law had one he wasn’t using, we had hot water so we could still take a shower. We are more prepared now and will have heat if it ever happens again.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 8:54 pm.
Considering I’m from New Orleans, I’ve been in precious few really bad storms. The worst was actually here in North Carolina–Hurricane Floyd–when the power was out for 8 hours. In New Orleans, we always evacuated if a hurricane was predicted to be bad. And we had already moved by the time Katrina hit.
I WAS snowed in once in Ohio, and drove on sheets of ice to get back to Louisiana for college. That’s when I learned how to drive on ice (no sudden movements *G*).
The best tip I can offer is that if you have a snowstorm and want to be sure to be able to get out later, keep opening the outside door to create a space to get out. That’s what I did when we had our 21 inch snow some years ago, and it turned out to be a good move!
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 8:56 pm.
I buy 2 loaves of bread a case of water and Peanut Butter. If Armageddon happens I don’t really want to last much longer than what that would cover.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 9:07 pm.
I’ve been trapped in a house for three days with 8 cats (3 with colds) because of 32″ of snow, been terrified by ice coated trees (ice coated everything) that could topple into my house but nothing was as scary as Sandy. It seemed like we were just waiting for a 24 hrs for it to arrive, then waiting for the storm surge, then we all knew we were going to lose power.
How do I prepare? Do all the stuff I will need to before e power goes out : dry my hair, laundry, buy milk, collect ice for moving into the fridge and most importantly, and this is important Sheridan, bring in any metal birds you might have outside.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 9:40 pm.
It was kind of funny going from Hurricane Alley (aka Florida) to Tornado Alley (Oklahoma)… neither one believed the other had problems or knew what ‘they’ were talking about. Now that I’ve lived in both and added in Hotter-n-Hades Texas, Earth Movement City (Los Angeles) and Snow Bound Country (Jackson Hole, WY), they are ALL the worst when you are living it.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 9:58 pm.
Hi Karen.
I’ve been very blessed, I’ve only been affected 1 time, during a snow fall in 1993, here in Alabama, & knocked out power for several days. Other than that as I said I’ve been blessed. Where I live now, my utilities are underground so when my power goes down, it’s very short term. I continue to pray for those who were affected by Superstorm Sandy.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 11:07 pm.
We had a severe ice storm about five years ago. We lost power for over a week. Luckily, we still had water and since we have a gas water heater we had semi-warm water for showers. But, no heat. We unfortunately found out that myself and my Daughter can’t handle the fumes from a kerosene heater. We’ve learned that next time a propane heater would be best for us! (We don’t have a fireplace, darn it!) I like the idea of water in zip lock bags!
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 11:44 pm.
I’ve lived through some horrific cyclones. We usually have at least one big Mamma a year.
The most memorable weather condition was the Great Flood when 75% of QLD was under water. The way the state bounced back was a testament to all it’s people.
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 4:15 am.
blizzards, hurricanes, nor’easters, occasional earthquake–be prepared…have water, food, be prepared to evacuate if necessary…have a plan in place
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 6:06 pm.