Preparing for medium to long term power outages at home
Greg High copyright 2018 All rights reserved
What does it mean to “be prepared”? There are many levels of preparedness. Some would like to survive anything the world
can throw at them; nuclear war, biological war, pandemics, hurricanes,
tornados, earthquakes, fire, flood, and terrorism to name a few. If you want to build bunkers and wear
radioactive proof suits and gas masks and respirators, then this information is
not for you. There are plenty of sites
for survivalist. I am talking about just
basic preparedness.
Ted
Koppel wrote a book recently that is called ”Lights Out”. It describes in some detail what would happen
if we no longer had electricity for weeks, months, or years. The projected death toll is staggering and in
the millions for a long term power outage.
The main reason for the deaths is starvation and civil unrest caused by
the search for food and medicines. It
would be kind of like the TV show “The Walking Dead” only without the
zombies. For example most large cities
only have a 3 or 4 day supply of food in their grocery stores. This is a problem because most citizens do
not have any kind of food supply storage and in days or weeks would have none
as there is no way to replenish the food supplies without transportation or
power. Imagine millions of people trying
to get out of a major city like New York City all at the same time. Then there is the problem of where do they
go? Mr. Koppel goes into this in detail
if you would like more information on city disasters in extended power
outages.
For
a cyber hack the power could be out for days up to a month or two but for
electromagnetic pulse (EMP) the power could be out for years. The reason for that long time is that the EMP
could damage one of a kind power producing equipment in many different states
and there simply are few to no spares waiting to be called up. The EMP could be caused by a nuclear device
being exploded 80 miles above New York City for example. That burst could shut down all the electricity
from New York to Florida and from the east coast most of the way to the
Mississippi River. Even a simple Scud
missile launched from a beat up old freighter off the coast of the U.S. could
do this. This is the worst of the two
scenarios as most cars built after 1972 would no longer run and we would have
no lights, no power, and no transportation.
Read Mr. Kopple’s book if you want more information on EMP.
With
that in mind everyone should have a little food and water in their vehicles
because in the event of an EMP your car will cease to work and you will have to
walk home. So just be aware of that
possibility and prepare accordingly. I
don’t worry about it if I am only going 2-5 miles away but more than that I
take a small back pack with a few items in it including at least 6 bottles of
water. Remember food left in a hot or
freezing car will deteriorate so your food for trips should be kept in the home
and then put in the car just for the trip and removed and placed back in the
home after the trip.
Things that could cause very long term power
outages:
A comet or asteroid striking the Earth
Terrorist action (hacking the grid or setting
off an EMP)
A super volcanic eruption (such as the
calderas in Yellowstone and Naples Italy)
A super solar flare such as happened in 1859
We
can all survive short term power outages caused by storms or equipment
failure. That is really not the problem
as we have all done that many times. The
problem is when the power goes off and doesn’t come back on for an extended
period of time.
It
really doesn’t make that much difference what causes the power outage. Our society has grown more and more dependent
on electrical power. When it goes out
you still have to feed and care for yourself and your family. It is in that light that this document has
been produced to help you cope with a no power situation. This information should be helpful for any
amount of time without power. The longer
you go without power, the more prepared you have to be.
For
Hurricanes and small limited area disasters the government will help you but
for any disaster that affects several states at once the help from the
government is just not there. Do not bet
your life on the government help, be ready to help yourself. After the
hurricane in Puerto Rico the power was out for many months with a death toll in
the thousands mainly from having no power or access to medical supplies.
We
are not talking about a few days or weeks of power outage after a storm
although the information in this guide can help you with that as well. Our main concern here is being able to feed,
clothe, house, and protect your family in the event of mid to long term power
outages. The categories we will discuss
are:
Water
Food
Waste
Management
Medicine
and Medical Devices
Shelter
Normal
Chores and tasks
Protection
The Boy Scouts have a motto and it is simply “Be Prepared”. Good advice that many fail to heed. We will take these topics one at a time and help you see some of the steps you may take to safeguard yourself and your family and friends.
Water
After
air, water is our number one need after a disaster. You may choose to stock up on bottled water
which is available at most stores. Your
cheapest route is to use stores like Aldi’s, Save-a-Lot, or other discount
stores in your area. As of this writing
a case of spring water at Aldi’s is $2.69.
We try to keep between 4 and 10 cases at home. It doesn’t matter what
size bottles you buy, just get what you think you need. In
addition you need cooking water and toilet flushing water and clothes and dish
washing water. Cooking water needs to be
as clean as drinking water but toilet flushing water can be water that is not
good enough to drink.
There
are companies on line (Beprepared.com for example) that sell 55 gallon to 320
gallon and more water containers but they are not cheap and do take up some
room. If you get advance knowledge of
the event such as a hurricane, you can fill up your bathtubs and all your pots
and pans before the event occurs. In
addition several online companies sell a bladder like object that fits in your
tub and you fill that up. They are very
inexpensive and it would be a great thing to have. (Go to: Be Prepared.com to
see this item) This works for known events but what do you do after the water
shuts off and you are not ready? It is
most likely that any terrorist action that takes out the grid for an extended
period of time will come with no warning at all and no time to prepare at the
last minute.
In
addition there are water purification kits, water purifying straws, and tablets
that will purify water. A few drops (8
drops of plain bleach per gallon of water) can be added to whatever water you
have available, and let it sit for 24 hours with the top off so the bleach can
work itself off. Never use scented
bleach or anything but pure bleach and do not drink it right after adding the
bleach.
I
bought a device from Be Prepared.com (other stores carry it too) for about 90$
that will purify 1000 liters of water (one liter at a time) and I got extra
filters which were very cheap so I can make about 5000 liters of pure water
with this filter. The drinking straw
devices are from 9 to 30$ and you can drink out of a mud puddle if you have
to.
If
you have to get water from a source like a puddle or pond you can always boil
your water for 20 minutes and then if needed strain it through cheese cloth to
get good clean water. Cheese cloth can
be purchased at stores that sell sewing goods and material. Avoid water sources
that could be contaminated by pesticides or other chemicals from cars or
industry. Another idea is to get a few cheap small
kiddie pools (these are sold at a discount at the start of winter) so you can
put them out for rain collection for additional water needs later on.
So
number one item you need is water and lots of it and a way to purify it.
Food
Depending
on your money availability, you can spend thousands and get a whole year of
food for your family at anyone of the emergency preparedness online stores. These
year-long food kits are sold by many online survival food companies and you can
get a year of food for one person for anywhere from about $2,000.00 to
$5000.00. They also sell 6month
supplies, 30 day supplies all the way down to 72 hour supplies. Most of these last up to 25 years but check
to be sure as some items have a shorter expiration date. You can also buy
individual cans or buckets. We have a 40
pound bucket of wheat and one of oatmeal both with a 25 year shelf life. I don’t have the money to buy the year’s
supply so I have to do the buy at the grocery store and rotate method. But you can shop the survival food stores and
pick up a few things and they often have sales and discontinued items at a
discount. I suggest the oatmeal or dried
beans for maximum food for the least price for a large bucket of food that will
last 25 years. Get what you think is
best for your family.
Most
of the emergency stores also sell MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat) that are the same
thing the military uses to feed troops in the field. Most of these taste good but they do have a
limited shelf life of around 3 to 5 years.
Also be advised that MRE’s have a habit of causing constipation in many
folks. So you might want to stock up on
Metamucil or other stool softening over the counter products. The other issue with MRE’s is that they are
not cheap. You may pay over 8$ for a
meal. Also if you buy them on Ebay or
even Amazon from a supplier you may get meals that only have a year or so left. Some say they can be eaten safely for 10
years, use your own discretion. I used
to take them to work for lunch when the expiration date was drawing near.
Wal-Mart,
Aldi’s, and Save-A-Lot type stores are your best bet for canned goods. Most canned goods have expiration dates of
2-3 years and are good a couple of years past that with some exceptions. Anything with acid like fruit or tomato
products will not last as long but are usually good for a year or so. A product that I use is Aldi’s canned ravioli
product. It is 69cents a can and tastes
pretty good. It’s fully cooked so it
does not have to be heated for safety.
So that’s $8.28 a case of 12 which is 12 meals for one or 6 for 2
people.
Dollar
Tree stores sell dried white beans for 1$ a pound and that is the best price I
have seen anywhere. I believe they also sell Pinto beans for that same
price. I keep 15-20 pounds of dried beans on hand. As for
all our store of food we rotate it and eat it normally throughout the
year. Now a tip on the dried beans: Normally I soak my dried beans for 24 hours
and then cook them in the crock pot for about 6-8 hours along with other
veggies and chicken stock. If you have
limited cooking abilities such as a propane gas stove or a grill you don’t want
to be cooking beans for 6-8 hours and wasting your gas, wood, or charcoal. So simply soak the beans 48 hours instead of
24 and then you can cook them in about an hour or so as they will already be
soft and easy to chew. You can also buy
small canned hams to put in the beans for flavoring. Those who don’t eat meat can flavor with
herbs and spices. One good item to have
around is a couple of jars of chicken bouillon (or beef) which can be used to
flavor the beans if you have no meat.
Suggested recipe for quick
beans:
One Pound of whatever
bean you enjoy soaked 48 hours in clean fresh water
Chop up one onion or
use onion power or fresh garlic or garlic powder
Put the beans and all
in a pot and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer at least one hour
(depending on how hard your beans are and how hungry you are)
When the beans are
warm and soft it’s done. (if you used
raw meat 167 degrees for at least 20 minutes) For canned cooked hams you don’t
have to worry about that.
Add your favorite
seasonings, and if you like add canned carrots, potatoes, or green beans for a
stew-like meal. It tastes great and has
a lot of protein.
Another
good item from Dollar Tree is their boxed milk.
It is good for about 1 year and tastes every bit as good as regular
milk. They have it in 1%, 2%, and whole
milk and soy milk. Remember everything
is 1$ at Dollar Tree and you can even order a case of 12 cartons of milk online
and pick it up at the store.
When
the power goes out from hurricanes here in Florida where I live it is really
great having some nice fresh milk to put in the coffee I make with my
percolator on the propane gas stove. It
is the little things like that that help you keep your cool in an emergency
situation. So along that line of thought
be sure to have an old fashioned percolator type coffee pot as you can’t put
your Keurig or Mr. Coffee on the grill or cooking fire. Camping supply
companies sell big ones and you can buy a simple one most anywhere. It doesn’t hurt to put back a few pounds of
coffee and/or tea for your use during power outages.
Aldi’s
and Save-A-Lot have great deals on canned veggies. You can get a case of 12 cans of green beans
for less than 6$ and they have carrots, mixed veggies, new potatoes, crushed
tomatoes, several varieties of beans, most of these run between 49cents and
69cents a can. I get one or two cases
every payday and put them back for a few months as emergency stock. Rotate your stock and don’t stock things that
you don’t like to eat. I check my pantry twice a year for dates, it takes less
than an hour and older items are moved forward to be used first.
Other
items I recommend (you buy what you like) are instant oatmeal , instant grits
(again don’t get the regular kind as the cooking time will waste your fuel)
instant mashed potatoes (69 cents a pouch at Aldi’s, serves two well), Instant
rice, and anything you can mix with hot water to make a meal. Note that the instant white rice is the best
for cooking time and yes brown rice is better for you but we are talking about
eating in an emergency situation so you buy whatever kind of instant rice you
want. I stock several boxes of instant
white rice, its cheap, quick to make, and tastes good.
Here
is a list of other items you might want and remember and don’t forget the pets
in the home they need to eat too.
Foods
List
(get what you would normally eat)
Pasta
(If your fuel is low you can soak the pasta for hours before cooking to make it
cook faster) otherwise follow directions on the package.
Spaghetti
sauce (in jars if possible) Dollar Tree has Del Monte canned pasta sauce for 1$
a can.
Canned
meats (tuna, salmon, chicken, ham, SPAM, etc.): Canned Salmon has a long exp.
date. Dollar tree has luncheon loaf in a can which you can eat if you have to
but I use it as treats for my dogs.
Beef
Jerky is always a great source of protein but watch the expiration date and be
sure to store all foods in a climate controlled room don’t stick it out in the barn
or your car where heat and cold can drastically shorten the use by date.
Dollar
Tree has little kits of readymade tuna or chicken salad in a package with a few
crackers. They make a good snack and
have a pretty long use by date.
Packaged
bacon (Aldi’s less than 3$ a pack 12 slices of bacon and good for many Months
just heat and eat)
Dry
cereal (they last a year or more have a few extra boxes around)
Trail
mix, protein bars, snack cakes and it wouldn’t hurt to have some hard candy put
back or whatever type you like. Be sure
to rotate your stock.
Pancake
mix. (if you can’t bake because your stove won’t work, you can still make pancakes, corncakes, etc.)
Just follow the recipe and instead of putting the cake mix in the oven
just pour it on a griddle/skillet and make it like pancakes. It will taste just as good as baked and it
won’t waste your fuel.
Oil
(olive or corn whatever you like and lots of it) I use olive and I recommend it.
Non-stick
spray
Canned
fruit (watch your use by dates on this)
Sugar
and honey will last almost forever so if you cook with it or put it on your
flapjacks have some on hand.
Flour
and associated items like baking powder, shortening, etc. You can get a product like Bisquick or get
pancake mix where all you add is water.
You can stock up on syrup or honey to use on your pancakes. This is helpful when all your readymade candy
and cakes are long gone. Having treats
is a morale builder and a must if you have kids.
Saltine
crackers (They last a long time but don’t taste as good very long after the use
by date.)
Snack
foods:
Most of
the Lance products (peanut butter and crackers) can be bought at a good price
at Sam’s Club. You can also get chips
there in bulk. Again, variety during a
crisis is a big help to morale of your family.
Peanut
butter (if you are hosting others remember some have food allergies)
Jelly
Canned
nuts (the kind you like)
Boxes
or cans of Chicken broth (for stews and beans and soups)
Ramen
Just need boiling water for this, it isn’t great but it is filling and dirt
cheap.
Canned
Soups (or packaged)
Chips
Powdered
Eggs (get real powdered eggs not egg substitute) I tried the substitute and it
was not to my liking, try it before you stock up on it is my advice.
Canned
butter (freeze dried check the online stores) Even real butter will last quite
a while after the power goes.
B&M
(same people who make baked beans) makes a molasses based bread that comes in a
large can, it is about $39.00 on Amazon for 12 cans. It’s more like cake than bread and I like it
with some jelly on it. I am told that
folks in New England eat it with baked beans.
It is something kind of sweet that lasts many months.
We
try to keep a few loaves of bread in the freezer, it would not be a long term
solution but we could have bread for a couple of weeks after a disaster. You can make a flat bread on the grill or
camp stove just do the batter like for biscuits and pour it out on the skillet
like you are making pancakes. It’s
better than nothing.
Food
out in the Yard
In
the wild hunting for food can be done.
There are some simple things that can be eaten. First don’t eat plants growing by a highway
as they will be contaminated. But there
are many things that grow in your yard that can be eaten. Dandelions, acorns, clover, pine cones and
cat tails that grow in ponds are all eatable.
I suggest you get a book with instructions on what you can eat and what
you cannot but these few items I list here I have eaten. For Dandelions it’s all eatable except the
stem on the puffball. Cook the green leaves like you would spinach.
Acorns were eaten by Native Americans and can
be ground into flour and used to make something like a corn cake on the
griddle. Be advised acorns do not
naturally taste good so you may need to soak them in 2 or more water change
outs and add sugar to be able to eat them.
They are nutritious but kind of a pain.
For the cat tails you discard the outer layer
of the long green stem and eat the inner part of that stem. It is a crunchy celery-like food. Do not eat the top part that looks like a
fuzzy hotdog.
For
clover you can eat the leaves and the little flowers.
Pine
cones contain delicious pine nuts and they are a pain to get out but if you are
hungry enough it can be done. You just
toast them in a skillet over a heat source.
These are just a few items that are in many
locations around the country and you should buy a book that gives you more
detail. You will need all your self-help
books in old fashioned book form as there may not be any internet to look
things up with.
Avoid mushrooms unless you really know what
you are doing.
Also many flowers (the petals) are eatable.
You can make a tea out of some pine needles
like the white pine which is high in Vitamin C.
These
are just some ideas, buy what you normally eat and rotate your stock. This is
not meant to be an all-inclusive list just some ideas, look in your pantry and
see what you need. You can always eat
your supplies during normal times if things get tough and when it comes to
rotating stock check it often and when you get within 6months of the expiration
date start working them into your daily meals and replace with new stock. Ask yourself this one question “If anything
happens how long I want to live?” Then
stock up according to your answer.
Fishing: If you are near any water with fish in it
then have some kind of fishing equipment as you may need to fish to feed
yourself or your animals. Use artificial
lures or worms or real worms or insects as bait. Hunting or fishing would be
good ways to supplement your food supplies. If nothing else you should be able
to feed your pets with fish caught near your home. You will need a rod and reel with extra
hooks, line and lures and pliers for removing hooks from fish. Most fish are eatable with some exceptions. Soft shell turtles provide a good meal as
does gator tail. The old fashioned cane
pole works too.
Also
put back some garden seeds so if you need to you can grow some veggies later
on. You can purchase seeds stored for
long term up to 20-25 years and you can just put them back for an
emergency.
Remember
most veggies take 30, 45 or up to 90 days to produce something to eat. I recommend lettuce and cherry tomatoes and
maybe green beans for the fastest garden producers. It will depend on what part of the country
you live in but lettuce can be grown in your window sill as can most small
veggies. Fresh food consumed weeks after an event would be most welcome by
anyone in your home. You may need to put
back some fertilizer such as miracle grow or Peter’s 20-20-20 both are water
soluble and can be hand mixed in small quantities for a window sized
garden. You will need something to plant
in such as flower pots or planters, and a source of clean dirt.
Waste
Management
A
bedside port-a-potty will be a good investment, the toilet that one puts near
the bed of a loved one who is to sick or disables to make it to the
bathroom. Many people discard them after
the illness passes so you can usually buy them at good will or the like. Failing that, try to have some extra black
plastic trash bags and a 5 gallon bucket handy.
Not ideal but better than nothing.
If you have a septic tank then all you need is to have water to pour
into the back of your toilet to flush it.
That water does not need to be drinking water. If you are on a sewer system know that the
civil authorities will not have power to run the sewage treatment plant for
long and after hours or days you may not be able to flush without
disastrous results. Remember you do not want to get sick if all
services are down, so use caution dealing with waste. You can bury it in your back yard as far away
from the home and any wells as possible.
Put back some extra rolls of Toilet paper and other paper hygiene
products as well in your kit.
Medicine
and Medical Devices
This
can be difficult. First always try to
have more than 30 days’ supply of the meds you take regularly. This is not always possible especially if you
take a narcotic for pain or the like.
Just know that you will most likely not be able to walk down to the
local pharmacy and get a refill if things go bad. I have about 6 months of blood pressure meds
put back.
Stock
up on simple things, Band-Aids, aspirin, pain relievers, cough drops, other
over the counter meds you take regularly. Especially have antibiotic creams and
ointments, anti-itch creams, vitamins, and something to make you go and make
you stop going. You know what you
normally use; do you have 6 months of it handy?
Remember there may not be any medical help or pharmacy available for a
while.
Be
able to flush an eye with over the counter eye drops, have something for an ear
ache, something for constipation, something for the runs, something to reduce
fever, and something to put on a wound.
Remember there may not be any medical help of any kind if things get
bad. It’s up to you to care for your
family. A supply of multi vitamins would
be good.
You
should have plenty of toothpaste, mouth wash, and oral gel to stop toothache
and I suggest the kind of toothpaste that is for sensitive teeth you may not
need that now but if you do need it later you may not be able to get it. Just think about all this prepping as if all
the stores and services of all kinds are closed.
Medical
devices: I suggest you talk to your
doctor and come up with a plan something with battery backup or someplace to go
in an emergency. This gets deadly for
those on insulin or dialysis. Just look
at the thousands of people that died after the hurricane in PR last year. Most of the deaths were from the fact that
they could not get the medical help they needed. Have a plan and be ready to help yourself as
in some circumstances there will not be anyone else that can help.
Even
if you don’t drink alcohol have some whisky or vodka around for trading and
also to use to sterilize wounds if needed.
You can’t sterilize with beer but you can trade it for things you
need. It is the same with tobacco products. For example Early Times bourbon is about 10$
a bottle and there are plenty of brands of cheap vodka (I don’t recommend you
drink cheap vodkas they are not as pure as higher priced brands) But its fine
for sterilizing wounds. If you can’t
stand to have booze in the house then at least keep some rubbing alcohol in the
home.
Shelter
The
big cities will not be a place to be in a long term emergency. If possible have a place to go and a plan on
how to get there. If you live out in the
country you will be ok for the most part but hungry people will do most
anything they can to get food. I plan on
staying home as we are in the country.
Some
people want to bug out and live in the woods, and that may be fine for some
folks. It is really up to you where you
want to stay with no power and no open stores.
Think about it and do what is best for you and your family.
Normal
Chores and Tasks
A
couple of battery powered fans
Several
flashlights
Lots
of batteries for flashlights, smoke detectors, fans, and anything else you may
need that used them.
A
generator and gas to run it for at least a few days
Remember
to get the generator as far away from the house as possible so you don’t die of
CO poisoning. You will need several
extension cords and a supply of gasoline.
A syphon for getting gas out of your car for the generator would be handy
as well.
I
recommend having 10 to 20 gallons of gas handy and rotate that stock as
well. This may not work for apartment
dwellers but if you have a home and a lawn mower you need some gas anyway.
You
might consider getting safety gas cans which cost over 30$ each but if they tip
over they don’t spill.
2
to 4 fire extinguishers are also recommended.
You may be the only one who can put out your fire. There may not be any fire department either
and no way to call them in an EMP based power outage so have more than one fire
extinguisher and not just a little one.
The little ones run out quick and you don’t want your home to burn down
just because you don’t have 2 to 5 fire extinguishers. Check them frequently to insure they still
have their charge. I only have 3 right
now but plan on getting 2 more in the near future. I suggest you use battery
powered lights not candles for that reason.
If you must use open flame for any reason use extra care and be sure that no flammable objects like
carpet or bedding or curtains anywhere near the flames.
An Inverter is a good idea if possible. This is a device that hooks to your car
battery and you run an extension cord from the inverter to the house. This lets
you
use the gas in your vehicle to run your refrigerator or other appliance for a
few days (with a car that has a full gas tank).
Remember to get the special cables that hook to the battery when you buy
one, the cheap ones come with the cables the better and more expensive ones do
not come with the cables and they are useless without them. These are available through Harbor Freight
Company online or at the local store. I
wish I had one but cannot afford it at the moment. I do have a generator.
For
cooking use a charcoal or gas grill (remember not in the house or you will die)
or a camp stove that uses propane or Coleman fuel. You must do all your cooking outside. Trying to cook inside with a grill or camp
stove can be fatal not only from the fire hazard but from CO poisoning.
You
can purchase a small grill for under 20$ at Wal-Mart or the like in the spring
each year. I believe I paid $13.50 for
mine at Wal-Mart. Even if you don’t have
charcoal or lighter fluid you should be able to start a fire with paper and
some wood as long as you have matches and a lighter. If you have a big grill that’s fine too.
You
will need disposable lighters and/or matches as you may eventually have to cook
over a wood fire. With that in mind you
need at least some kind of saw and axe or hatchet and a shovel.
Your
fuel will run out quickly if you are not careful. Try not to cook things that take hours and
that is why I suggest instant foods as much as possible.
Along
those lines If you live where it is really cold especially, put some food and
heating materials in your barn or outbuilding or tool shed so if the house does
burn down you have someplace for the family to go to at least long enough to
get your stuff together etc. These
things sometimes happen in the middle of the night. Have an evacuation plan and make sure the
kids know what to do.
Washing
clothes:
You
can buy an old fashioned washboard at Amazon cheap. Then use regular bar soap like Ivory or Naphtha
brand (it’s a special clothes washing soap).
Then use a clothes line and clothes pins to dry your clothes. Yes it’s a pain but it’s better than
nothing. A couple of rubber/plastic dish
pans can be used as a wash tub.
Protection
You
will want to have some way to defend yourself.
If you are against owning a gun that’s fine do what you feel is
right. Shotguns are best for
neighborhoods as pistols and rifle shots can go for a mile or more whereas
shotguns do not go that far. You can
also use the shotguns for shooting squirrels or fowl.
A
group of determined people with weapons will take what you have and you cannot
do much to stop that. Be ready to
bargain and hide some of your food. Things
should not get that bad for a couple of weeks as most people have some food in
their homes. After that use great
caution.
Communication:
Note
that cell phones and regular phones will not work in these types of power
outages. Satellite phones should still
work but you can only call someone who also has a satellite phone if all other
phones are down. If you have a relative or
good friend who lives within a few miles there are cheap walkie talkies you can
buy. These may not work if there is an
EMP but if they do work you could make an agreement with your family or friends
to turn on the walkie talkies at certain times during the day for a few minutes
so you can coordinate and check in.
Remember what you say on these may be overheard so you might not want to
give directions to your home. I don’t
have these yet but it is on my very long list of things to get.
Summary:
Please
do not consider this a complete work or all you need to do. Do what is right for you and your family and
friends. It is simply my goal just to
get people thinking about surviving a medium to long term power outage. If I have mentioned something you did not
think about then my effort has been worth it. I don’t have all the answers and
I am not an expert. I have simply spent
some time thinking about this and reading books and watching videos on
preparedness. Be prepared to help
neighbors if things get bad. Have tarps,
duct tape, hammer and nails, and other things people might need. I don’t have everything I need and I know
many of you don’t either. Just start with the basics, water, food, and meds,
and build your kit over time. Rotate
your stock. Even if you only allow a few
dollars per paycheck to buy a little extra food or water or supplies, it’s a
start.
Depending
on your neighborhood you might need to have a trading post which you can have
daily or certain days during the week where people bring in what they have and
trade for things they don’t have. It
would be kind of like a yard sale and you may be able to trade things with your
neighbors to the benefit of both of you. Trading or bartering things is better
than selling for cash as there may not be much cash available the longer the
outage continues. Also you cannot eat
cash. Anything useful can be traded.
This may not be safe to do depending on your
situation but it could help people if you can.
It is my sincere hope none of this ever
happens but it is better to be prepared than not. If the power goes off right now are you
ready? If there are no stores open and
no doctors, police and no fire department are you ready?
Just
be sure you have a safe place to be, food to eat, water and medicines and the
basic needs of life. All the items
discussed here are good in the event of any type of disaster, nothing will go
to waste as long as you rotate and use your stock. If you don’t have much money, just start by
buying one or two extra cans of food a pay period. Everyone deserves a chance to live.
