Do you have an emergency kit for power outages?

[AnnieA]

I have the necessary items, but they are not assembled into a kit.

Where I live there are very, very few natural disasters.
The worst we get is significant snowfall every now and again. The roads are clear with 24 hours and we don't lose power.

Much of the grid is antiquated and is vulnerable to more than weather.

From energy.gov

https://www.energy.gov/oe/addressing-security-and-reliability-concerns-large-power-transformers

Large power transformers (LPTs) are critical to the nation’s power grid, with more than 90 percent of consumed power passing through high-voltage transformers at some point. LPTs, however, face a number of challenges that make them one of the most vulnerable components on the grid.​

​

They are expensive, difficult to transport, and typically custom-made with procurement lead times of one year or longer.​

​

Many of the LPTs currently used are beyond their peak age. In addition, LPTs could be affected by natural and man-made threats facing the nation’s grid, including severe weather, space weather, and attacks. The loss of critical LPTs could disrupt electricity services over a large area of the country. With the nation’s security and economy dependent on the reliable delivery of electricity, the impact of extended outages from the loss of one or more LPTs is a significant concern.​

 

[CallMeKate]

I don't have an actual kit like with things all at the same place... but I *do* have the supplies that would be needed for a lengthy power outage. The longest one (knock on wood) was early last year and lasted 18 hours, so nothing drastic although it was January and very cold. Everything that would be needed is within easy reach.

The risks here would be tornado, heavy wind storms, severe thunderstorms, blizzards, and floods since I'm in a river town. Direct flooding wouldn't affect me, but the town would be cut off, so still an issue.

 

[Twostep]

OK, I was just looking to see what I could find online. I don't see anything that would apply for me but checking with a vendor is a good idea. Thanks

SO said we bought the one in OK through the power company. CKenergy. There was no info on the web site.

 

[That Lady in PA]

Much of the grid is antiquated and is vulnerable to more than weather.

Maybe so, but not in my area. The grid is quite well maintained.
We have lived in the area since 1983 and lost power once, when an oversized truck pulled down a power line a half mile away. Power was out for six hours.
I think were are good!

 

[Oldeagle66]

No, but I'm the process of getting an apartment sized generator to put in the closet and solar panels for window I can attach.

 

[hollydolly]

I stay pretty well stocked with water, food, propane, etc. I don't have a generator and need to get one that will run the water well and refrigerator at least.

same !...I often think I need to get a generator to at least run the freezers... but we rarely ever get power cuts of any magnitude here...

Having lived for many years and still own a property in Spain, I was laughing at them panickinng just one hour after it happend.

I understand people unable to get home because the trains were crippled, traffic lights weren't working so that was causing chaos on the roads as taxis were being fought over by those brought out of the train stations and trying to get to their destinations.... ... hospitals had their own generators, so that was ok... but one hour after the power cut.. people were already crying that they needed to get food, water.. petrol, and cash ... I mean.. don't people already have that... ?

Talk about panic.. that was completely over the top... less than one day.. and the supermarket shelves were stripped..

 

[January]

no, not really - I have emergency candles and torches, that's about it - and there would be enough food in pantry to not starve and I have a rainwater tank anyway.

we lost power for about 3 days one time, that is the longest I have known. no loss of water supply though

Mini outages of a few hours occur semi regularly over summer - but no need for emergency supplies for them.

 

[ChiroDoc]

80% of Mississippi was without power for at least a week post-Katrina. Coastal towns wiped off the map obviously had to have grid infrastructure completely rebuilt. NOLA's flooding was in the news more post-Katrina but landfall and progression inland hit Mississippi directly.

Yeah, our house in Pass Christian, Miss. is 3/4 of a mile from the beach at 37' elevation, so Katrina didn't flood us, nor did we have severe wind damage to the house. BUT-- no electricity for almost 3 weeks. We're at the end of the line. But we bought a generator over in Mobile, so was able to run one window air conditioner and some lights. We have our own well, so had plenty of fresh water.

Still have the generator but doubt if I'd use it again. We keep plenty of candles and lanterns. We don't stock food. If the power were to be out again for more than a day or two we'd probably skedaddle to the in-laws in Mobile.

 

[Twostep]

same !...I often think I need to get a generator to at least run the freezers... but we rarely ever get power cuts of any magnitude here...

Having lived for many years and still own a property in Spain, I was laughing at them panickinng just one hour after it happend.

I understand people unable to get home because the trains were crippled, traffic lights weren't working so that was casing chaos on the roads as taxis were being fought over by those brought out of the train stations and trying to get to their destinations.... ... hospitals had their own generators, so that was ok... but one hour after the power cut.. people were already crying that they needed to get food, water.. petrol, and cash ... I mean.. don't people already have that... ?

Talk about panic.. that was completely over the top... less than one day.. and the supermarket shelves were stripped..

No, some people do not have food, water, gas and cash. Spain has not yet forgotten the floods. Have you ever been in a situation such as mayor power on or a natural disaster?

 

[Twostep]

no, not really - I have emergency candles and torches, that's about it - and there would be enough food in pantry to not starve and I have a rainwater tank anyway.

we lost power for about 3 days one time, that is the longest I have known. no loss of water supply though

Mini outages of a few hours occur semi regularly over summer - but no need for emergency supplies for them.

We were out of power during a blizzard in Alabama for a week. National disaster was declared. Basically everything was snowed in. We were the only house on the street with a working fireplace and plenty of wood. It was interesting to live with parrots, dogs, children and other folks in a tiny 3-bedroom.

 

[AnnieA]

people were already crying that they needed to get food, water.. petrol, and cash ... I mean.. don't people already have that... ?

Apparently a good many didn't and it'll take some areas a week for power to be restored.

 

[AnnieA]

Yeah, our house in Pass Christian, Miss. is 3/4 of a mile from the beach at 37' elevation, so Katrina didn't flood us, nor did we have severe wind damage to the house. BUT-- no electricity for almost 3 weeks. We're at the end of the line. But we bought a generator over in Mobile, so was able to run one window air conditioner and some lights. We have our own well, so had plenty of fresh water.

Still have the generator but doubt if I'd use it again. We keep plenty of candles and lanterns. We don't stock food. If the power were to be out again for more than a day or two we'd probably skedaddle to the in-laws in Mobile.

Wow! You got power before my sister in Ridgeland. They were out four weeks. I'm glad you have the well.

 

[Lilac]

Our weather can include high winds, tornadoes, snow/ice storms & thunderstorms. We are fortunate not to have a flooding problem in our immediate area.

When we moved to a rural area, we started putting some things in place, but some was added as we had the money.

When we built we went with LP gas since there is no natural gas available. Our furnace, cook stove & water heater all run off of it. We also included a wood burning stove for when the power would be out with a wood shed that can hold 4 cords of wood plus an area on the side for overflow of wood.

I always wanted a hand pump for our well & Y2K was the excuse for putting one in. We needed to have a source of water for us & the animals. It's also been used to flush the toilets, water for showers & drinking when the power was out.

We got our portable generator in 2008 during Ike. Later we upgraded to a whole house generator & 1000 gallon LP tank.

We do a lot of canning from the garden, so we have a decent pantry. Also plenty of bottled water & juices for variety. I remember reading to store what you eat & eat what you store. Cats & dog have their supply as well.

Spare gas, kerosene & diesel along with extra propane tanks for the grill & charcoal for the regular grill.

Weather radio is used all year around & is loud enough to wake the dead when it goes off in the middle of the night.

For the animals, we have plenty set aside that's in rotation. Enough crates, leashes & harness for all cats & the dog.

I love Aladdin oil lamps & have their particular fuel on hand so we have those ready to go at all times. I also have the Lamplighter Farm oil lamps that places like Walmart have for sale along with oil for them. Plenty of flashlights & back up batteries for those & the AM/FM radio. We also have kerosene lanterns for being outside at night & can be hung up in an outside building to see what we are doing.

There is a store in Ohio Amish country called Lehman's Hardware that is a great source for different things you may need in emergencies.

The one thing I do is that after something happens somewhere else, I think about what I may have done in that situation & figure out if I need to change what I'm doing now. Like anything else, it's a work in progress.

I had an instructor that always said we don't plan on failing, but we may fail to plan.

 

[hollydolly]

Apparently a good many didn't and it'll take some areas a week for power to be restored.

yes Annie but my point is..I know these people, I know how they are, I lived among them for years... we always used to joke that they were all secret hoarders.. ..in our village the house that look the poorest were often the richest people.. so crying after a few hours about no food, or fuel... just doesn't wash with me...

These are people who do at least 50 % of their shopping at street markets.. as well... and who use Calor gas for their cooking...

 

[SeniorSally]

We have a full house generator, back up heat, food and bathroom supplies. What we don’t have are extra medicines (how do you stock up on prescription meds?) and drinking water. We have water that we could flush with but not enough to drink.

Any suggestions how to get extra prescriptions when your insurance company will only let you get them fill a couple of days early.

 

[January]

We were out of power during a blizzard in Alabama for a week. National disaster was declared. Basically everything was snowed in. We were the only house on the street with a working fireplace and plenty of wood. It was interesting to live with parrots, dogs, children and other folks in a tiny 3-bedroom.

That would be challenging.

No chance of blizzards where I live thankfully.

 

[Imogene]

We have a full house generator, back up heat, food and bathroom supplies. What we don’t have are extra medicines (how do you stock up on prescription meds?) and drinking water. We have water that we could flush with but not enough to drink.

Any suggestions how to get extra prescriptions when your insurance company will only let you get them fill a couple of days early.

My doctor writes mine for a three month supply.

 

[fuzzybuddy]

I'm not sure that this thread is an omen, but at 7:30 last night the power cut off. Got out the candles and did the stupid things, like flicking on the light switch, while knowing the power is off. And since the TV is out, I know, there's my desk top- oh yeah.
Sitting in the dark by candlelight is boring as hell, I now know why the pioneers had 10-12 kids.

 

[jujube]

One small thing I did was order an 8-pack of plug-in small flashlights from Amazon. I keep one plugged in in every room and they turn on if the power fails.

This way, I'm at least assured of charged flashlights and don't have to scramble for batteries right away.

I also have a small "emergency radio" that I make sure has fresh batteries during hurricane season.

 

[Twostep]

Our weather can include high winds, tornadoes, snow/ice storms & thunderstorms. We are fortunate not to have a flooding problem in our immediate area.

When we moved to a rural area, we started putting some things in place, but some was added as we had the money.

When we built we went with LP gas since there is no natural gas available. Our furnace, cook stove & water heater all run off of it. We also included a wood burning stove for when the power would be out with a wood shed that can hold 4 cords of wood plus an area on the side for overflow of wood.

I always wanted a hand pump for our well & Y2K was the excuse for putting one in. We needed to have a source of water for us & the animals. It's also been used to flush the toilets, water for showers & drinking when the power was out.

We got our portable generator in 2008 during Ike. Later we upgraded to a whole house generator & 1000 gallon LP tank.

We do a lot of canning from the garden, so we have a decent pantry. Also plenty of bottled water & juices for variety. I remember reading to store what you eat & eat what you store. Cats & dog have their supply as well.

Spare gas, kerosene & diesel along with extra propane tanks for the grill & charcoal for the regular grill.

Weather radio is used all year around & is loud enough to wake the dead when it goes off in the middle of the night.

For the animals, we have plenty set aside that's in rotation. Enough crates, leashes & harness for all cats & the dog.

I love Aladdin oil lamps & have their particular fuel on hand so we have those ready to go at all times. I also have the Lamplighter Farm oil lamps that places like Walmart have for sale along with oil for them. Plenty of flashlights & back up batteries for those & the AM/FM radio. We also have kerosene lanterns for being outside at night & can be hung up in an outside building to see what we are doing.

There is a store in Ohio Amish country called Lehman's Hardware that is a great source for different things you may need in emergencies.

The one thing I do is that after something happens somewhere else, I think about what I may have done in that situation & figure out if I need to change what I'm doing now. Like anything else, it's a work in progress.

I had an instructor that always said we don't plan on failing, but we may fail to plan.

May I borrow that please?

What I do not see here or or expat forums is an escape plan, checking on one's circle and an emergency meet up location once away from the desaster area.

 

[Twostep]

That would be challenging.

No chance of blizzards where I live thankfully.

One house guest was the JSU librarian. He drove me crazy with wanting to play games. Cramped quarters, oil lamps and you want to do what? Too much food, a lot of tall stories were told and as soon as power came on I opened the front door and told everyone to get lost and not be seen for a week.
SO had to take one neighbor to the main road on my dirt bike. Medics could not make it up the hill.

 

[Eupher]

After encountering a power outage in Salt Lake City about 22 years ago that lasted about 2.5 weeks (yep), I swore I'd never own a house without a generator. That turned out not to be true when I lived in Ohio, but I was there only a couple years. I bought a 17kW Kohler standalone after moving to Missouri (most-of-the-house) generator in 2007 or so, and that addressed the few outages I had there.

My current (and last) house I put in a 20kW generator and that puppy powers the whole house when the entire neighborhood goes dark. Runs on natural gas and I service the Kohler engine every year and it runs just as should. Had a power interruption about a month ago that lasted about 6 hours -- not critically long -- but I felt bad for my neighbors.

 

[Rae]

The escape route here is the freeways that soon become stalled as people try to evacuate. We go to a hotel where they have generators and it seems safer than the shelters.

 

[Lilac]

Any suggestions how to get extra prescriptions when your insurance company will only let you get them fill a couple of days early.

I understand the need for your scripts. My hubby has to have a blood thinner & the price without insurance is threw the roof. If you have friends that are in the medical field, they may have suggestions on how to get extra to have in stock. Your insurance company probably wouldn't cover them, so they would be out of pocket.

I remember seeing the commercial for this company, but haven't ordered anything from them. Not sure it will be help or not to you:
Dr.Drew - Medical Emergency Kit

 

[AnnieA]

Any suggestions how to get extra prescriptions when your insurance company will only let you get them fill a couple of days early.

I've refilled early over the years so that I now have a months worth. It only takes a few months filling early to have a week.