Several years ago, my family was living in Huntsville, Alabama when a hoard of tornadoes passed through, leaving behind a wake of damage.
We were fortunate, as our side of town didn’t receive damage, but we were left without power for nearly a week. Please don’t take that as a complaint.
I was grateful that our friends and family were all okay and that our house was still standing. But I did learn a thing or two about that experience that I’ll share in the hopes that it may help someone else.
I now have an emergency kit, a large Rubbermaid container where I store everything that I may someday need during a power outage, whether that would be a tornado, a severe thunderstorm, ice storm or blown transformer due to any other act of God.
10 Things to Keep on Hand for a Power Outage
1. Keep enough gas in your car that if you need to leave the area, and are able to, you can. Don’t assume that your local gas stations will be open or accessible.
2. Keep canned food on hand for emergencies. Preferably something that can be eaten as is, straight out of a can. Even if you don’t make it a habit to eat processed food- let’s face it- the shelf life for a can of Ravioli is a lot longer than organic fruit. I also have a camp stove with fuel that has come in handy more times than I care to count.
3. We were fortunate to have water throughout our power outage, but it’s wise to have a minimum of several gallons of water on hand at all times.
4. Keep emergency cash on hand. Bank accounts are nice, but if your area loses power, you can’t touch your money- even with an ATM (unless they DO have power). And, if businesses can’t process credit cards, chances are they will insist on cash.
5. An old fashioned radio may be your only lifeline to the outside world. Make sure you have a working radio and once again, make sure you have the proper batteries.
6. Candles are not only useful for making your home smell good- they certainly come in handy when the lights go out. Keep some unscented, long burning candles on hand with matches somewhere you can find them. Have a stockpile of flashlights with working batteries- and a supply of extra batteries.
7. Car chargers for your cell phones are very helpful. If the power goes out, you won’t be able to use your home phone (if you even have one these days). There’s also no guarantee that your cell phone will work, but if it does, you will want to make sure that it continues to work. Depending on its strength, a power inverter for your car can also charge cell phones, run laptops, power TV’s or portable fans or heaters.
8. You should have a first aid kit with a minimum of Tylenol, Polysporin, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, sterile bandages, and cold packs.
9. Keep a few extras of anything you wouldn’t want to be without. Think necessities. Can you make it through a week without your medication? How about diapers or toilet paper, assuming you have water and access to facilities?
10. Finally, if you ever needed a reason to keep up on your laundry, this is it. What would happen if you had no clean clothes and weren’t able to do any laundry for a week or longer? Not that I would know or anything.
Have you ever been in a situation where you were without power for several days? What tips and recommendations can you add to the list?
© 2011 – 2019, Tonya Prater. All rights reserved.
Tonya @ Live the Adventure says
But that is certainly a good argument of why you should steer clear of the new, "better" or "more enhanced" services. 🙂
Tonya @ Live the Adventure says
Yes, you are right. With a true traditional landline, you won't lose power. Unfortunately, our phone provider offered digital service so our phones didn't work. No worries, our cell phones did the majority of the time. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
jamworks says
Re: "If the power goes out, you won’t be able to use your home phone." I just went through a period of almost 48 hours with no power here in Los Angeles because of a wind storm. My landline phone worked fine through the entire time; traditional phone lines carry their own small electrical current. The mistake people make is depending on cordless phones, or giving up their plain old telephone service for VoIP or cellular service.
Karen Terry Cagle says
Lessons I too learned this past week. We were NOT prepared for 5 days w/o power. Now I have a box with things we got from this storm; batteries, flashlights, a battery operated lamp, a Sterno stove, charcoal. The gas was an issue for us too. I only had 1/8 of a tank and was afraid to travel to find gas in case I didn't find gas. Oh and I now have a car phone charger! Glad you made it through the storm Tonya.
Robyn says
These are great tips. Thank you for sharing them. I'm glad you are safe.
Tonya @ Live the Adventure says
The cast iron pan is a great idea! I used my kitchen pans over the fire and I've still not been able to wash all the soot away. 🙁 We don't have a grill at all but I did find a small bag of charcoal and you can be sure that we put it to good use.
Lucidlotuslife says
Hmm, I have been putting off going to Target for diapers. I guess I'd better get off my butt because I certainly don't want to be living without those:)
Jenilee Goodwin says
wow… some great advice for all of us! I can't imagine being without power for a week. I think we'd have to take off and go camping! 🙂
Stacee Maree says
I would also like to recommend a small charcoal grill and a bag of coal. Through hurricane Charlie in Orlando (2004), I learned how to cook frozen pizzas this way! Also, maybe have a small cast iron pan. You can heat up anything on the grill with this.
Julie C says
Great tips for all of us to remember.
Naomi P says
Yikes, glad your family made it unscathed and so sad for those who didn't.
Great list to use to stay prepared!
Tonya @ Live the Adventure says
Thought someone would appreciate that one. I've been playing catch up all day. 🙂
Tonya @ Live the Adventure says
14 days? Whoa.
We have a propane camp stove in storage in Ohio that I was really missing. Great tip about the water.:)
Tonya @ Live the Adventure says
You can bet I'm gonna be stocking up on some rain barrels! That is a great idea.
Tonya @ Live the Adventure says
Thanks for sharing, Evielynne! 🙂
Jessica Bowers says
Great list
Jessica Bowers says
We've had more than our share of power outages in Texas in the past several weeks. Although they have only lasted a few hours. This is a great list to keep us prepared.
Evielynne says
It's just terrible what's going on with Mother's Natures Wrath. Your article hits gold again. And again I am sharing your helpful info with my facebook and twitter friends and family….
Hugs…
Evielynne
Amy Friendlyshoe says
Great list – thanks for sharing. Glad you are safe.
Jessy says
We've been without power for 2-3 days. (Nothing like others.) During those times, we were thankful to have our propane grill. We could warm up food and water, which was especially nice when the inside temperature dropping into the mid-40s. We always have 15 gallons of water stored in the utility room for drinking, cooking and washing up, but Julie's idea is GREAT – we have a 50 gallon rain collection barrel (for the garden) that would work awesome.
Julie says
We were without water for a week, and without power for 14 longs days after hurricane Ivan in 2004. All of your tips are very good. Propane comes in quite handy for cooking or boiling water. And 5 gallon buckets off water collected off the rain gutters from the roof will give you at least 2 flushes each.
mnewell0293 says
Great list! I love the laundry one 8)