Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

theora55 t1_j1qtr4l wrote

Make sure to you have a Carbon Monoxide alarm; cheap and might save your life.

LED flashlights & batteries. I use battery LED string lights for ambient light. Headlamps are super-convenient.
Candles & matches; they don't really give much heat but they are cheery. use a safe candleholder; tealights in a short jar work well.
Store water in 1-, 2-, & 3 liter soda pop bottles. They're food safe and easy to clean. Some people say to replace every 6 months; I don't - water doesn't go bad. (I get city water and have never needed to rely on stored water, but it's good to be prepared.)
Keep the fridge and freezer full. It's more efficient, and if you lose power, food will stay cold longer. I use bottled water if the fridge or freezer are not full of food.
I love my wood stove. It supplements oil heat and keeps me warm in a power outage.
Easy to prepare food. Canned soup, tuna, canned fruit, applesauce, etc.
Lost power on the 23rd, was warm and comfortable, had tuna on an english muffin toasted on the wood stove.
Keep the phone charged, and get an external battery. It was nice to be able to use the phone when I lost power. Emergency radio - Mine has a crappy solar charger but also charges with a plug, has a flashlight and will charge USB devices. It has a crank but that's a big pain to use.
I have wool blankets and a down comforter, and lots of winter gear to layer on to stay warm.

I was here for the Ice Storm, mostly kept power, but so many friends lot power - up to 12 days. Much worse in Canada.

2

theora55 t1_j1qw9i1 wrote

If you lose power, put a light source in the room you stay in, the bathroom, & kitchen. It's hard to stay organized in the dark. Know where your supplies are, keep at least 1 flashlight someplace where you know it'll be there.

1