If The Power Went Out for Three Days...

[TheRootedNomad]

Almost all AC and furnaces need electric to start. I might even venture to say ALL except there are always a few exceptions to anything. DH's company has spent the last week rewiring people's gas furnaces to generators. They're not something that can just be plugged in.

[savvy_sniper]

I live on the Texas Gulf Coast so I have been preparing all my life for an emergency - LOL! I got the FINAL item I needed for my emergency preparedness supplies - a generator. Hubby FINALLY bought we one for my birthday yesterday. DON'T LAUGH - I have been telling him I wanted one for Christmas and birthdays for the last two years!

I need one more heavy duty extension cord, a couple more 5 gallon gas cans, and some gas stabilizer. I can now say I am prepared to stay or evacuate.

I learned during Hurricane Ike that text messages will often go through when regular cell or land line calls will not. Car chargers are great if you have no power source. Heck there were people in our neighborhood that had generators that had signs out that you could come to their house and charge your cell phones (for free of course).

We were without power last year due to Hurricane Ike for 14 days. I am always amazed when a tropical storm/hurricane warning goes up for our area at the people in the stores buying stuff they should have had already! To me, when it is time to prepare, that means board up the windows, pick up and put up outside items, get out supplies, and decide whether to stay or evacuate, etc. To me it does not mean go to the grocery store, hardware store, gas station, etc. All that has been done!

[claytonpiano]

We've done this several times due to storms.

Essentials for my list became:

Quick, easy access to general first aid - band aids, neosporin, etc.
Water - We now keep at least 20 gallons stored. In the aftermath of a storm, you just don't have time to filter water and boil it. We were patching roofs and trying to remove trees, etc.
Instant food - I can most of mine, but cooking outside in the humidity on a grill after a storm was not my idea of fun. A small propane stove puts out less heat. We have beef stew, canned soups, chunks of roast, and on and on canned that we can heat and eat.
Instant food 2 - comfort food. Granola bar type items are great when you come in from working. So much easier than trying to create some snack when you are exhausted.
Heat - When ice storms took out power for several days, the propane heater became my favorite spot. The heat of the south in the summer after a storm is terrible, but nothing compared to being cold in an ice storm.
Candles and a way to light them - Batteries in flash lights go dead after constant use. We learned to use candles and hurricane lamps for general lighting needs.
Fire extinguisher - Never needed it, but always kept it out just in case.
Bug repellent - This was when we lived in south Texas. Anyone who lives in the south understands.
Sun Screen - Not fun to get sunburned and miserable when you are working outside on repairs with no air conditioning.

Understand that my list would be much different for longer than 3 days. When we were without power for three weeks after hurricane Fran with huge holes in the roof, just being able to take a bath was a wonderful luxury. A generator was a wonderful resource, but you can survive without one for a limited period of time.

[Judi Dial]

We lose power every winter. Not for very long normally, but we do. Last winter, for the 3rd time, we lost it for more than 2 days.

The big problem we've got these days is water. I had water set aside, for cleaning, but I'd forgotten how MUCH water it takes. We need to really spend some resources on water storage this year.

Beyond that, we're in pretty good shape. We have a phone that works even when the power's out, although no internet of course. We can cook on our propane stove and keep the house warm with the wood stove. We had pan bread (first time I'd made it) french toast (use up those eggs and milk!) etc. And unfortunately I had to toss most of my stored meat after the 5 days we were without electricity.

After 2 nights we went to a nearby motel. Not because we couldn't tough it out, but because DH had a work emergency he'd been working on and he HAD to go to work (he works via the internet). Nicely, the company reimbursed us for the 2 nights we spent in a hotel.

Judi

[savvy_sniper]

WOO HOO! Since hubby bought me a generator for my b'day, I KNEW I needed to get more gas cans. BUT they are expensive. We have a couple of 5 gallon cans and about 6 one gallon cans. I posted a wanted post on several of the freecycle groups in my area. TOMORROW I am picking up THREE 2-1/2 gallon cans for free!

A full 5 gallon can is hard for me to pour. So the smaller ones are great! I have to assume that I will be home alone with the dogs because hubby has one of those jobs that he HAS to report to and could be stuck there.

After Hurricane Ike between me and my brother we used 20 gallons of gas in cans, drained his 4-wheeler and his jeep before gas was readily available without having to drive long distances and wait in long lines.

[jantana]

We are in the hurricane zone too. I just bought 10 case of 3/1 gallon jugs of water. I plan on going back. I bought what they had. It's easier to store than individual gallons. If it's a mandatory evacuation, we have to leave due to foster kids. But if not, we stay. Our house got really messed up due to hurricane Rita. We were lucky no damages during Ike.
We have plenty of food but really need to work on other things. I plan on getting some rain barrels, we have well water , electricity goes out, no water. We do have propane. At least we can cook.

[Janbee]

Three days without electricity well I just experienced it. We had a wind storm come through and lost a bunch of trees and power lines. They just now turned the power back on. This is the first time that it has happened in the spring it usually happens in the winter.

We used the solar powered yard spotlights that I had got on sale at the end of the garden season last year. They worked really well lasted all night put one in the restroom and it was great. Used the oil lamps first and it was hot in the house and the oil lamps added to the heat so we just used flashlights.
Went to bed early and got up early everyday.
Need to get thing organized more as in when there is not very much light it is hard to find things.
Spent a lot of time getting things done to get ready for darkness.

Had much more time with out electricity and seem to get much more done lesson learned do not spend so much time on the computer.

We have a gas stove so lit it with matches.
Was able to get ice for coolers don't know what we would have done if we were not able to get ice.

We have no generator need to get one.

We made it fine. Though need to revisit preparedness issue of no electricity as I am not sure how long we could make it without.

[sunshine]

Our phones still worked, but we were wondering about when and if those lines would snap in the ice. Having a charged cell phone is excellent, but I wondered how I would charge the battery.

I bought my kids, a hand charger for their cell phones. . . you just crank it, to power up the batteries. I found them at Kohl's at Christmas.

[LastDragonfly]

I bought my kids, a hand charger for their cell phones. . . you just crank it, to power up the batteries. I found them at Kohl's at Christmas.

I need to get one of those. I also plug my cell phone into my car charger when our electricity goes out.

[fixer]

I need to get one of those. I also plug my cell phone into my car charger when our electricity goes out.

The crank powered radio I have will charge a cell phone. That sounds bad, it is crank powered even if I am not the one using it. It came with a coupon good for any adapter to fit whatever cell phone you have.

[Jakk]

I bought a small solar charger for the cell phones, I think I paid $20 for it on ebay. Our cell phones have a usb port and the solar charger fits right in. I lay the charger in the sun during the day and charge the phone at night.

I also have an emergency flashlight/radio that has a built in solar charger. I just put it in the sun and in a few hours its good to go. I have solar patio lights out back. They are not that bright but give off just enough light to sit outside.