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random20190826 t1_j1xauxx wrote

Reply to comment by Muscled_Daddy in Western NY death toll rises to 28 from cold, storm chaos by novotlr

Well, the home is not old. It was built in 2006.

How did you manage to survive without heat when it was -10C outside?

Power outages are rare enough where if they happen, we can stay at a hotel.

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sea_bird t1_j1xmijy wrote

I'm in Buffalo and we didn't have power or heat for 36 hours. It sucked and we were cold, but I can assure you we're not dead.

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PlumLion t1_j1z7ir6 wrote

People are downvoting you and telling you you’re wrong, but not really giving you any suggestions. I’ve been through extended power outages in extreme cold several times and I can tell you that once your instinct to keep warm kicks in you start finding ways to stay warm enough to get by.

Everybody wears extra clothing and you make a big all-family (and pets) blanket fort in the warmest small room in the house. You hang heavy blankets or tablecloths or whatever you have over windows to keep the heat in, but if you get any reasonable amount of sunshine you pull the cloths off those windows to take advantage of solar heat gain. You start digging around in the junk drawer to find those disposable hand heaters you bought for watching your kids football games. If you have a gas cooktop you make endless cups of tea and hot chocolate and find excuses to bake bread and huge pans of lasagna. You discover that a jar candle can bring the temperature of a small room up by several degrees, so you keep one lit in a secure spot whenever there’s an adult awake to keep an eye on it. You eat a lot of carbs and keep everyone moving to stay warm.

I’m not telling you it doesn’t really suck, but you become resourceful really fast

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