Storm preparedness?

[JDgreen]

We just had a horrid storm and were without power for 3 days, we weren't exactly ready for it, what are some suggestions to have done ahead of time, just in case? Especially with winter storms on the horizon.

I have lived in a rural area for 20 years and feel qualified as to provide advice (free, yet) about the subject. Most of it is common sense, keep a good supply of bottled water and canned food like soup and canned meats (high energy canned foods like tuna and salmon keep well). I also keep about 50 gallons of non-potable water in a plastic barrel downstairs to use for toilet flushing. It is a nice thing to have a genset, I paid maybe $550 for a good size one 17 years ago but have probably only used it 30 hours total in that time. I use mine to run lights, fridge, freezer, well pump if needed, sump pump if needed year around.

Needless to say, keep your vehicles, cars, trucks, snow removal power equipment full of fuel just in case, and I keep about 15 gallons of diesel fuel for my tractor, and 20 gallons of gasoline for other engines during the winter. BETTER TO HAVE IT AND NOT NEED IT, THAN NEED IT AND NOT HAVE IT.
And while you may never need them, it is just common sense to have a lot of extra water and several large fire extinguishers handy...if your power is out, can you really depend on your local fire department to get there if you need them?

DO NOT USE CANDLES, period. Ditto fuel fired space heaters indoors. I have a kerosene salamander heater that also burns diesel that I would use as a last resort but would probably sleep in a running car first. I keep a HUGE stock of batteries and flashlights and cordless flashlights with batteries.

As someone mentioned, keep a stock of food for your pets...and it would be nice to have a backup battery for your cell phones if you were unable to charge the one battery you have. For those who don't have a stock of non-potable water to flush a toilet, line a 5 gallon pail with a garbage bag and pretend you are camping...:laughing: just be sure you have a good stock of toilet paper. LOL

And for thiose who do have a genset, PLEASE, PLEASE have a proper hookup if you connect it to the house wiring...I lost a friend 20 years ago because someone hooked up a genset and plugged it into their electric dryer outlet, which backfed into the power lines and killed him. Few people really need to power their entire house if they lose power in a storm.

Thanks to all for letting me have my say....:thumbsup:

 

[monica123]

I am going to ask a stupid question, what is a genset? I have never heard of one. We now have a huge supply of batteries, flash lights and lanterns, we are avid campers so we have a propane stove and bbq, but it is hard to bbq in snow. We do have a wood stove though.

 

[Honey]

We were stuck in a similar situation and my husband has decided to rig up a barrel from the down spout of the eaves trough so that we have water to flush the toilet and we have an extra 18 L of drinking water.

 

[RobertBrown]

I am going to ask a stupid question, what is a genset? I have never heard of one. We now have a huge supply of batteries, flash lights and lanterns, we are avid campers so we have a propane stove and bbq, but it is hard to bbq in snow. We do have a wood stove though.

I think JD was refering to a generator when he used the word genset.

 

[JDgreen]

I think JD was refering to a generator when he used the word genset.

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[RobertBrown]

CASH

Cash is something that could be very important in an extended power outage. Your credit card is good for scraping your wndshield if the store has no power to run the credit card.

 

[mois25]

We were going through a Business Resumption Plan today and that is when it struck me that disaster preparedness is something I kind off shove away a bit.

Nice thread! :biggrin: