Essential Preparation can Save Lives and Property

Neighborly Network:  How vulnerable were you in our recent power outage? Was it because of your age, disability, physical limitation, living alone, or because you were unprepared that you felt vulnerable?  

To those in the Intermountain West: Were you suddenly, starkly aware that you were ill-prepared for the sustained loss of power and unseasonably cold temps?  Did your home/yard sustain damage?  Were you dependent upon others near-by?  

Avoid the Pain & Inconvenience of Power Outages

While You and I can’t prevent sustained electrical outages, we can Prepare to limit our pain/Inconvenience the next time it happens. 

For the most part, the three days my household was w/o power were not extremely “painful” because of preparation. This emergency was my opportunity to test gear and know-how and see if I could stand up to this challenge with my physical limitations.  I’m including my Lessons Learned in the topics below.   

Sensible Preparation and Response

Refrigeration:  We kept fridge and freezers closed to conserve cold.  I waited too long to save many refrigerator items, (foodsafety.gov says 4 hours) but acted quickly enough (48 hours) to save frozen meats/fish, etc., with bags of ice in well-insulated coolers.  This was a high stress item for me.  I’ll do better next time.  

I now keep 10 bags of ice in my freezer units, along with pre-frozen packs, that I can transfer to coolers early enough to save refrigerator items as well as frozen food.  

Hurricane Force Winds: Some Without Power for a Week

Has your usual experience with electrical outages been like mine – power is restored within minutes or a few hours at most.  Rarely power interruptions last into the next day.  

Who could have predicted an Arctic cold front hitting Utah, Idaho and Wyoming at the end of a very hot Summer?  Especially one that brought not only early winterish temps but sustained high winds, some of hurricane force surging to 112 miles per hour?