Scenario:
We live about 400 miles inland from where Hurricane Helene made landfall.
Earlier in the week we received almost 10 inches of rain, so when the remnants
of the hurricane blew in before sunrise last Friday, trees came crashing down
and we lost both power and internet.
Intense wind and rain continued that day, but by mid-morning, folks were
already out in their cars. My guess is that with no electricity, they went to
get something to eat. But the power outage was so widespread that all the
restaurants, stores, and gas stations were closed.
By afternoon, the wind and rain had died down somewhat and Dan ventured out.
Some roads were blocked by trees and downed power lines. He had to travel a
distance to find anything open. Lines to the gas stations were blocks long.
He talked to some folks who had traveled down from a neighboring state,
trying to find gas and food.
On Saturday, the wind and rain had died down, so I went out because I'd
missed my regular Friday shopping trip. We really didn't need anything, so
it was mostly curiosity. I saw numerous trees caught up in power lines and
one power pole that had snapped in half and dumped a transformer on the
ground. Not a utility truck was in sight. Stores with electricity were now
open, but traffic was blocked by long lines at the gas stations; many people
were hauling gas cans or generators to fill.
I passed Walmart and noted that the parking lot was packed. I doubt there
was a parking place to be found. But I was headed to Aldi where there was
plenty of parking, and with the exception of bread and bakery products, the
store was well stocked. Typically, after a power-out event, store shelves
are stripped bare of anything that doesn't have to be cooked: bread, rolls,
buns, bakery goods, lunch meats, cheeses, plus fruits and vegetables that
can be eaten in hand, anything and everything that doesn't require heating
or cooking.
|
|
| Besides numerous trees down in the woods, our only property damage was a fence. |
|
|
|
Sadly, it was our only wild persimmon tree. The fruits were always too astringent for us, but the goats and wildlife ate the ripe ones. |
Three days without electricity was a real good reality check of our level of
preparedness. I've never claimed to be a Prepper, but I've always pointed out
the practicality of being prepared. We don't have a generator, but we did have
some items that really helped. In this blog post, I'd like to share some
things we're glad we had, small things that even apartment dwellers or house
renters can have to ease the discomfort of emergencies.
Things I'm glad we had
|
|
| emergency candles |
These are short, 5-hour dripless candles that I got at Dollar Tree. Regular
candles will work too, but they burn faster and usually drip, so I prefer
these. Also needed is a candle holder and a way to light them. Lots of people
like to use lighters, but I prefer wooden matches because there is no plastic
to throw away and no worry about whether the lighter fluid has evaporated. If
you don't live near a Dollar Tree, they are fairly economical
at Amazon too.
Of course one needs safety smarts to use candles, but I was able to place one
in rooms we visit frequently at night so we weren't stumbling around in the
dark. To amplify the light, place the candlestick in front of a mirror.
|
|
| solar light bulbs |
I was so happy to have these. They come with their own little solar panel, so they can be recharged in a sunny window. I kept one in the bathroom and one above the kitchen sink, which we moved to our little kitchen dining table when we ate breakfast. The hook on top makes them easy to place. They are estimated to burn 4 to 6 hours on a full charge, although we rarely kept them on for more than 30 to 60 minutes.
I recommend getting ones without remote controls. Remotes seem more convenient,
but they require watch batteries to operate, which is another thing to keep
on hand. And I don't think watch batteries are rechargeable. The bulbs are easy to turn on and off with a button on the top, and offer
much brighter light than a candle.
You can find them
at Amazon. I think they
are an excellent option for small children in the house or wherever there are candle safety concerns.
Most people have flashlights, which require a supply of batteries. We used to
have a nice little solar flashlight (like
this one at Amazon), but
the problem was the on and off switch. Flashlight switches used to be hard plastic,
but they've all gone to a soft cover over a teeny-tiny switch and it was this
teeny-tiny switch that failed and made the flashlight useless. We've been much
happier with our solar rechargeable headlamps.
|
|
| rechargeable solar head lamps |
Cooking and heating water can be more challenging, especially for apartment
dwellers. I know some folks BBQ on their balcony, so that might be an
option. Plenty of fuel is a good prepper item for that. Campfire cooking is
good, but requires a campfire, no rain, dry firewood, and cast iron
cookware. Table top camping stoves are another option, with Coleman being
the standard (look-see at
Amazon here). It's a
double burner, but requires Coleman propane cylinders to operate. Less
expensive ones are at Amazon too, just search camp stoves.
If we'd had sun, I would have used my solar oven.
|
|
| Sun Oven solar cooker |
But it was rainy and cloudy, so Dan cooked some of our meals on his big BBQ. For water heating and one pan cooking, we used this . . .
|
|
| rocket stove type cooker |
The company I bought ours from no longer seems to be around, but a similar
model can be seen
at Amazon. That
link will take you to the wood stick model, but you can see a dual-fuel wood
or charcoal model there as well.
Girl Scout tip: rub the bottom of the kettle, pot, or pan with
dishwashing liquid before cooking. Makes washing off the soot a lot
easier.
The nice thing about one of these is that they only require sticks, and not
very many at that. The caveat is that sticks and kindling need to be dry!
(That's a prepper note to self; thankfully we had plenty in the house). It
can become tedious to keep feeding them to cook say, something like rice,
but for that, it can be paired with a haybox cooker.
|
|
| You can see more photos and how Dan made it in this post. |
Mine is in a cooler with scraps of wall insulation to help keep in heat.
Hay or straw was used traditionally, but people use old quilts or
comforters to good effect. It continues the cooking the food and frees up the rocket
cooker for another dish or the water kettle.
Morning coffee? That wake-up cup was one indulgence we didn't have to give
up without electricity. We have a stovetop percolator, but found it quicker to make it the night before using the
kettle, French press, and Thermos.
|
|
| 2-mug French press and 40-ounce Thermos vacuum bottle |
The French press link is actually the one on my wish list, a 34 ounce size.
Mine is 21 ounces, but it would be nice to get seconds for us in one press.
You can find one-mug sizes as well.
The secret to keeping coffee hot overnight in the Thermos is to preheat it with hot
water before pouring your hot beverage of choice into it. These simple accessories solved the
waiting-on-the-water-to-boil-for-coffee-first-thing-in-the-morning dilemma.
Next up is battery charging. Rechargeable batteries are typically plugged
into a wall socket to recharge off the grid. But what are the options when
the power goes out?
Our set-up is a little more complicated than many may want, but it has some distinct advantages.
|
|
|
It was originally set up for a
back porch kitchen vent fan. The problem was the fan was too much for the battery, so it got moved to the greenhouse. We use the battery for recharging. |
Our setup consists of
- 100-watt solar panel (on the roof)
- small MPPT charge controller
- 55 amp-hour 12-volt wheelchair battery
- appropriate cables and wires to hook it up
The charger has two USB ports to charge batteries or anything with a USB
hookup, like a cell phone. The advantage of having a 21-volt battery is that we can still recharge
things without sun. I use it for the solar light bulbs and headlamps above,
plus I have a multiple battery charger for our rechargeable AA and
AAAs.
|
|
| PowerOwl 8-bay battery charger |
And I run a USB solar light bulb from it for over the stove. This set-up is very handy.
Other options are
solar phone chargers
and a standalone
solar AA and AAA battery charger. Those links will show you some options. The caveat is that without sun, no electricity is made.
One last option for a home emergency kit is a solar and handcrank radio,
flashlight, and phone recharger with USB ports. The one I'm linking to has a pre-programmed NOAA
weather alert channel. The handcrank feature is really nice to power it up with no sun. More information at this Amazon link. I've added it to my own wish list.
But by relying on simple, inexpensive things, we were able to maintain a
comfortable three days with little impact to our lifestyle. Maybe some of them will be useful to you too.
Our internet just came back up yesterday evening, but it's still spotty as they continue to get the rest of the region back online. So I'll hit "publish" now while I've got the chance.