Your Family’s Disaster Recovery Plan
We were very lucky during our four-day blackout. Still, there were a few moments during those dark days, when my thoughts turned dark too, and I began to wonder, “what will happen if…” One occurred when I was driving to get milk for hungry kids and found the grocery store coolers abandoned like an eerie ghost town. Lack of traffic lights made the ten-minute drive a 35-minute drive, while one kid in the back seat moaned, “I want to go home; I’m so hungry I’m going to be sick.” When you’re responsible for others; your mind starts running more quickly in survival mode.
We were lucky. A neighbor’s generator kept our refrigerator and freezer running. Yet, the generator runs on a lot of gasoline; there were times when my husband couldn’t get gas because of long lines, while the price of gas soared this week. (A recent report in the WSJ found that despite our 60% increase in energy efficient cars, gasoline consumption has increased about 40% since 1981. Another dark thought that tended to creep into my mind while our life seemed to be hanging on the availability of fuel.)
We have a gas water tank, (like most people here) making it possible to take hot showers. It amazed me the amount of people who did not know they wouldn’t run out of hot water; or if they had a gas stove, they could make a can of soup, a cup of tea, or even pancakes.
Once the power comes back on, we quickly forget how rough it was; and how dark our thoughts were. A family disaster plan, I’m beginning to believe is vital today. We live in a world where strong winds can paralyze an entire city; and keep the kids out of school for three days. (When I was a kid, we had to go to school in the wind!) With so many people living close together in such a concentrated area, a run on supplies can spell disaster if you don’t run first.
You can search the Internet to create a family plan tailored to meet your family’s specific needs; and I suggest that you do. They’ll list the amount of water you’ll need, a first aid kit, batteries, and etc. However, there are a few things not covered in those plans that I would never dream were so important. Things like:
- A Generator. Before this storm, I always thought that the people who bought generators were those same crazy paranoid freaks that thought the world would end on Jan 1, 2000. One neighbor has had one for years, and we all laughed at him. That same sweet soul let us run an extension cord out of our basement from our freezer to his generator this past week. When you really need a generator, the store shelves will be empty; so get one while the sun is shining.
- Dry Ice. There is a line in my freezer manual, that I ignored, that clearly states, “Keeping Dry Ice In Your Freezer Will Keep Your Freezer Cold During A Power Outage.” Of course, once the storm hit, there had been a run on dry ice, and there was none left. You can never find ice during an emergency. Never.
- A map of your freezer and fridge: This would have been GREAT. I had food in the freezer to cook; the kids were hungry, but I couldn’t find it. I didn’t want to leave the door standing open while I hunted; still, I found myself poking around lifting and pulling things out, while valuable cold air escaped. I wish I had a map; or had been organized enough to put all the meat on one shelf, veggies on another… you get the idea.
- Forward your phone to your cell phone. We have Vonage phone service; which means we do not have phone service when the power goes out. Fortunately, I set up our Vonage service to “multi-ring” to my cell phone. No calls were missed. If you have traditional phone service, all you need is an old-fashioned plug-into the wall phone and you’re golden.
- Baking Soda: When the drain in your garbage disposal sits unused after awhile, it starts to smell. So does your dishwasher; especially if you had dirty dishes in there before the power went out. Baking Soda will eliminate those odors pretty quickly.
- Take Pictures: Take pictures of the damage to your home, pictures of the contents of your house that you might lose – your insurance company will expect those. If you don’t have them, you could miss out on some benefits.
- Root Beer. I really needed one; and we didn’t have a single drop in the house.
- Electric-charged flashlights. Batteries are fine to keep around the house; but they expire. If you do go out and get that generator; you’ll be able to quickly charge your flashlights with an extension cord without too much trouble.
- Powdered Milk. The uses are endless… you can even make peanut-butter milkshakes for hungry kids. If you’re really adventurous, whip up pancakes, and cook them on your gas stove.
- Lawn and Garden Bags: Believe it or not, there was a run on these too. And we needed them. Trash service stopped; so our bins were full of garbage, and we had no place to put the lawn debris the city promised to pick up for free.
- Be kind; and look for kindness in others. As I scanned the list of school closings, I also ran across quite a few church and community activities that were cancelled. This one stood out:
Visit those family disaster recover sites; and be prepared. And I’m sure, some of those smart chicks that live in the Hurricane belts have even better ideas than the ones I’ve listed here. I’m off to make some blueberry cobbler for the sweet souls who kept my blueberries alive… if only I could find a store that has eggs. And, while his brothers are at school today, my little guy will be busy playing on his brand new game. Read more, here:
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We still have no power.
But, I have to admit, it hasn’t been too bad. The kids have been playing outside, I can’t do laundry or cook or be on the computer so I am playing with them constantly. (unless I am at work) I think it is God and Mother Nature’s way of telling us all we need to slow down, think about what is really important, and though no power is a minor inconvenience, we can Thank God we don’t live in Galveston.
And, my kids get an extra day off school because they are at Grandma and Grandpa’s today!
You could take it a bit further, and get crank-powered radios and flashlights, so you can recharge them yourself!
Root beer–definitely a disaster-preparedness necessity.
I’m sorry to hear you were without power
Great ideas for next time, but hoping (obviously) there is no next time!
My husband always laughs at me when I stock up on things, but should something like this happen to us, he won’t be laughing. Great tip on the dry ice, I’ll have to mention that to the hubs. We haven’t lost power here for any extended time for quite a while…we’re probably due.
Excellent suggestions! Thank you for allowing others to learn from your experience.
We have well water and an electric pump, so we lost our water when we lost our power. The electricity went out on a Sunday evening. It wasn’t until Monday morning when I listened to the radio that I realized it may be out a while. So, I went to Wal-Mart and bought as much water as I could fit in my cart. A few hours later when I went back for more, it was gone. No water. The next day, still no water at the stores. That’s the moment I started to get a little scared. The third day, Dave bought some while he was up north for work and soon our power was back, but I’ll never forget how vulnerable I felt at that moment.
A disaster recovery plan is a good idea!