Thank you for reminding me of all of this. I like how you made it succinct and simple. I do have enough food for over a month stored. Simple products like pasta and beans and canned vegetables. Also canned peaches. I don’t know why we keep procrastinating buying a camp stove, but we do have the gas grill for now with two tanks of propane. I also have been procrastinating about getting a water purification kit. so thank you so much for this article because I’m going to receive it as another wake up call.
Also, I’ve been lax about the packed emergency kit.
I still hold to my great appreciation of the book Lights Out by Ted Koppell. I consider it a practical, informative, must read for all citizens.
Yes! Lights Out is a great resource. Thanks for the reminder. And water purification kit is now on my list. Costco offers a variety of emergency food collections. https://www.costco.com/emergency-kits-supplies.html
Thank you for bringing emergency strategies to our attention, as well as questions to be aware of. Beyond important, and something all of us need to address. We are partially ready for the 15 minute evacuation, mostly from the standpoint of getting our animals (horses, dog, cats and ourselves) out of the way of immediate danger. Documents, etc what would we take at the last minute need to be designated.
At the area I grew up in, the power went out (and still does) often, year round. So being prepared to go without power for any length of time is like second nature to me. Besides water (a gravity flow spring provided water no matter if there was electricity or not), a wood cooking stove and fireplace, we had a generator primarily to run the freezers as we did not want a year's supply of beef and frozen food to thaw and spoil.
I find the concept of evaucation far more daunting than sheltering place. Like you, I am well prepared to do the latter. But each spring I look at my evacuation to-do list and think about my stuff - I want to pack my books, my yarn, my artwork, etc. It's a bit heart-wrenching and I suspect is why so many people avoid the process.
Yes, deciding what to take, especially in an evacuation with little or short notice, would be hard. A person would have to decide on the few most important, important things, then not waver at the moment of leaving. I imagine this would be most difficult, and heart-wrenching as you say.
I'm fortunate to live in two benign places in terms of climate, with relatively few risks at the moment. Probably a tree falling on the house in a windstorm would be the worst threat. Or an electrical fire caused by red squirrels. But I'm very mindful of the risks that so many people face.
In Quebec, we definitely lose water if the power goes out, as the well pump won't work. And even though we have a wood stove, it definitely would be colder in winter without our electric convection heaters (and certainly no stove aside from our wood stove). Fortunately Hydro-Quebec does quite a thorough job of maintaining the lines, much better than in Western North Carolina.
I had to have several very large Douglas Firs removed because they were too close to the house. I am also working on firewise work on the property. The goal is to have a landscape that a fire will move through quickly but it's a lot of work for my 65 year old body! Thanks for sharing your experience.
So good of you Sue to be reminding us of how we want to be as best prepared as possible for any disruption that can happen. When I first 'moved to the country' my neighbor would call if there might be a power outage due to high winds. She reminded me to 'batten down the hatches' so to speak by taking a walk around the yard and gathering anything that could become airborne with the winds. Lawn furniture, trash bins and such all needed to be undercover. Knowing I was on a well, she suggested filling the bathtub with water in case it was needed to flush the toilet or even to boil for washing needs. My laundry should be done, and all thermoses were to be filled with boiling water that could be used for hot drinks and soup. I would help her round-up her chickens and secure the horses in their stalls. She kept enough canned goods to feed many people for a good long time! I still fall into these habits automatically now whenever I think we might lose power. The filled thermoses are lined-up on the counter and the laundry is done, just in case. 👍 🙂
Good tips! I have 20 or so plastic one-gallon jugs filled with water under each sink and stashed in closets. I also fill up the tub when a storm is predicted and actually leave the tub filled during the winter months. I am learning how to can more food instead of freezing. During that 2012 ice storm, I lost a portion of my veggies and meat that were stored in the freezer. I now keep a large cooler next to my freezers so I can toss items into it during an extended power outage.
Sue, thank you for this. Like you, we are learning to live warily. Our cabin was involved in the New Mexico Calf Canyon--Hermit Peak fire (2022). We were lucky. We weren't there when it happened and had to watch from Texas, via the internet, while the fire took those lovely mountains. While I agree that preparing helps us survive most disasters (like your 5-day power outage of 2012 and ours of 2021) and that everyone should absolutely have a plan. But Hermit Peak taught us that
sometimes we simply have to prepare to live with the loss and move on. Climate change will bring us more of these lessons.
I remember that fire in NM. And yes, loss is part of the process. Already, I have lost the safe feel of my sanctuary and joy of summer. It's only the beginning.
I’m thinking this was a previously posted article. Thank you for re-posting as it serves as a timely reminder.
Thank you for reminding me of all of this. I like how you made it succinct and simple. I do have enough food for over a month stored. Simple products like pasta and beans and canned vegetables. Also canned peaches. I don’t know why we keep procrastinating buying a camp stove, but we do have the gas grill for now with two tanks of propane. I also have been procrastinating about getting a water purification kit. so thank you so much for this article because I’m going to receive it as another wake up call.
Also, I’ve been lax about the packed emergency kit.
I still hold to my great appreciation of the book Lights Out by Ted Koppell. I consider it a practical, informative, must read for all citizens.
Yes! Lights Out is a great resource. Thanks for the reminder. And water purification kit is now on my list. Costco offers a variety of emergency food collections. https://www.costco.com/emergency-kits-supplies.html
Thank you for bringing emergency strategies to our attention, as well as questions to be aware of. Beyond important, and something all of us need to address. We are partially ready for the 15 minute evacuation, mostly from the standpoint of getting our animals (horses, dog, cats and ourselves) out of the way of immediate danger. Documents, etc what would we take at the last minute need to be designated.
At the area I grew up in, the power went out (and still does) often, year round. So being prepared to go without power for any length of time is like second nature to me. Besides water (a gravity flow spring provided water no matter if there was electricity or not), a wood cooking stove and fireplace, we had a generator primarily to run the freezers as we did not want a year's supply of beef and frozen food to thaw and spoil.
I find the concept of evaucation far more daunting than sheltering place. Like you, I am well prepared to do the latter. But each spring I look at my evacuation to-do list and think about my stuff - I want to pack my books, my yarn, my artwork, etc. It's a bit heart-wrenching and I suspect is why so many people avoid the process.
Yes, deciding what to take, especially in an evacuation with little or short notice, would be hard. A person would have to decide on the few most important, important things, then not waver at the moment of leaving. I imagine this would be most difficult, and heart-wrenching as you say.
I'm fortunate to live in two benign places in terms of climate, with relatively few risks at the moment. Probably a tree falling on the house in a windstorm would be the worst threat. Or an electrical fire caused by red squirrels. But I'm very mindful of the risks that so many people face.
In Quebec, we definitely lose water if the power goes out, as the well pump won't work. And even though we have a wood stove, it definitely would be colder in winter without our electric convection heaters (and certainly no stove aside from our wood stove). Fortunately Hydro-Quebec does quite a thorough job of maintaining the lines, much better than in Western North Carolina.
I had to have several very large Douglas Firs removed because they were too close to the house. I am also working on firewise work on the property. The goal is to have a landscape that a fire will move through quickly but it's a lot of work for my 65 year old body! Thanks for sharing your experience.
Good reminders, Sue.
So good of you Sue to be reminding us of how we want to be as best prepared as possible for any disruption that can happen. When I first 'moved to the country' my neighbor would call if there might be a power outage due to high winds. She reminded me to 'batten down the hatches' so to speak by taking a walk around the yard and gathering anything that could become airborne with the winds. Lawn furniture, trash bins and such all needed to be undercover. Knowing I was on a well, she suggested filling the bathtub with water in case it was needed to flush the toilet or even to boil for washing needs. My laundry should be done, and all thermoses were to be filled with boiling water that could be used for hot drinks and soup. I would help her round-up her chickens and secure the horses in their stalls. She kept enough canned goods to feed many people for a good long time! I still fall into these habits automatically now whenever I think we might lose power. The filled thermoses are lined-up on the counter and the laundry is done, just in case. 👍 🙂
Good tips! I have 20 or so plastic one-gallon jugs filled with water under each sink and stashed in closets. I also fill up the tub when a storm is predicted and actually leave the tub filled during the winter months. I am learning how to can more food instead of freezing. During that 2012 ice storm, I lost a portion of my veggies and meat that were stored in the freezer. I now keep a large cooler next to my freezers so I can toss items into it during an extended power outage.
Sue, thank you for this. Like you, we are learning to live warily. Our cabin was involved in the New Mexico Calf Canyon--Hermit Peak fire (2022). We were lucky. We weren't there when it happened and had to watch from Texas, via the internet, while the fire took those lovely mountains. While I agree that preparing helps us survive most disasters (like your 5-day power outage of 2012 and ours of 2021) and that everyone should absolutely have a plan. But Hermit Peak taught us that
sometimes we simply have to prepare to live with the loss and move on. Climate change will bring us more of these lessons.
I remember that fire in NM. And yes, loss is part of the process. Already, I have lost the safe feel of my sanctuary and joy of summer. It's only the beginning.
Sue, we are definitely inspiring each other. I'm going to write about this again, and I'll refer folks to your post. Thank you.
Your post did inspire me. I had this topic listed on my to-write list but realized that now was the best time to post it.
Janisse, please do. We need all the prompting we can get on this subject.