This summer’s stormy weather across Central New York, with power outages stretching from hours to days for some areas, not to mention this fall’s extreme weather crises in the southeast, have left us considering how we could update our preparations and resources to be ready for the next time. Some of the basics are the same, but technology has made a few leaps since we published Brian’s feature on preparing for a storm.
Related: Preparing for disaster: Is your home ready for the next storm?
Flooding can be unpredictable. Photo courtesy Watkins Glen Police Department.
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So, what have we learned this year from our neighbors with extended power outages and from the recent storms across the southeast? It’s important to have shelf-stable food on hand so the refrigerator and freezer can stay closed, and because we may not be able to cook. Drinking water, too, since home wells will stop right away and municipal water may not last much longer.
Basics like Food and Water
As Brian wrote back in 2011, the first priority is clean, drinkable water, plus more for cleaning needs. New York State Electric & Gas offered bottled water to residents without power this summer, and the American Red Cross and local municipalities have done so in the past as well. If you can get dry ice quickly enough, it will help keep your freezer from defrosting and your refrigerated food from spoiling, but Purity Ice Cream ran out of their supply temporarily and NYSEG got dry ice to only a couple of distribution points around the region this summer — probably too late to save people’s food.
Related: Dry ice and bottled water distribution for those still without power
Utilities and other agencies supply water in situations like this because when homes are without power, their own wells stop working, and when towns are without power, municipal water supplies that rely on pumps to fill storage tanks won’t last much longer. We’re better off if we have some of our own supply.
A good rule of thumb is one gallon of water per person per day to cover drinking and cleaning needs. Please understand that this is a bare minimum — most people drink 2-3 quarts of water in a day. Carrying cases of water isn’t for everyone, but a spare case makes a good addition to a grocery delivery order that can be brought right to your door, along with an occasional shelf-stable food item like granola bars or an allergen-friendly alternative that meets your needs.
Buy a case of water bottles once in a while when the brand you like is on sale, or grab the store brand.
Getting water shipped is inefficient, but if you can’t carry cases of water, it’s an option these days. A 24-pack of 8oz Pure Life bottles is just $3.38 from Amazon for Prime Big Deal Days, and yup, Prime shipping is free.
Or, you can store water on a short-term basis in washed and sterilized two-liter soda bottles. Wash them in hot soapy water and rinse well, then rinse with a dilute bleach solution (1T:1gal), a final rinse with potable water, then fill and cap tightly. Replace the water in these bottles every two to three months.
A final option is the “ WaterBOB .” This is a one-time-use storage bladder designed to fit in a standard bathtub. The concept is good, and if you have time to prepare before the water supply becomes unusable, an extra hundred gallons of fresh water is worth its weight in gold.
For shelf-stable food, sure, there are two-week emergency food supply buckets , but those require potable water to rehydrate your meals, they require cooking, and no one’s going to mistake them for gourmet food. We also like to have things like Nature Valley protein bars on hand. Still not a gourmet meal, but quick and easy and will satisfy a little hunger as well as a sweet-tooth-craving.
Dry beans and white rice are great staples to have on hand for when you’re able to cook, as well as cans of soup, tuna, corned beef hash, and so on. Make sure you have a manual can opener , or make sure all your canned food has pull tabs!
Now you’re cooking with gas
If your home has a gas stove and either doesn’t rely on electric ignition, or you’ve figured out how to light the burners with a match or lighter, you’re all set! You can boil water, make coffee, or cook to your heart’s content.
If you don’t have a gas stove in your kitchen, you can use your patio charcoal or gas grill, or pull out the Coleman camping stove . Make sure you have plenty of propane canisters on hand, or if you already have full-size propane tanks on hand, use a bulk propane adapter to attach them to your small propane appliances, and store them all safely. Speaking of safety, don’t use propane or charcoal to cook inside the house or right next to an open window, even if it’s still raining outside! Sure, you can make s’mores.
Backup Power
Here’s an area where we’ve really come a long way, thanks to advances in consumer-grade (and consumer-priced) solar power and batteries. Even if you don’t have solar panels on your roof or in your yard to power the lion’s share of your home’s electrical needs, portable power stations are easy to charge up — with solar panels, with an electric outlet while the power’s still on, or with a car “cigarette lighter” adapter cable — and depending on capacity, can let you recharge your phones and tablets at a bare minimum, listen to the radio for emergency info or for entertainment, fire up a fan to keep things comfortable when the AC is out, power a coffee maker or other small appliance, or even run a refrigerator for a while to keep your food fresh.
Jackery and Anker are two of the big brands in portable power stations, and they both have sharp discounts for Amazon Prime Big Deal Days.
The Jackery units start under $1,000 for 1KWh units — under $500 for Prime Day — and can provide a lot of power for hours or a couple of days. We’ve taken them camping or even just to power an electric grill at Cass Park, and they’re ideal for recharging phones and laptops.
Jackery is one of a variety of affordable consumer power packs that come in handy for camping or in power outages. 14850 file photo.
They’re not going to power your whole house unless you step up to much higher-capacity gear; the Jackery Explorer 3000 Pro has an optional transfer switch available that really will let you power the house, but you’d want to minimize what you’ve got turned on.
We’ve gotten to know Anker from their pocket power banks, such as for recharging your phone, and their PowerHouse line is the same idea at a bigger scale.
These portable power stations are often called “solar generators” because, when hooked to solar panels, they can “generate” the electricity they store for when you need it. If it’s sunny, and you have a high-enough capacity power station, you really can power quite a lot! But in less-sunny weather (we are, after all, talking about storms) or for longer periods without electricity, it’s worth considering a gas generator.
Westinghouse makes respected gas-only generators and dual-fuel generators (for gas or propane), and many of their models support a transfer switch connection to your house. Again, don’t run a generator indoors or near an open window.
Emergency Lighting
Solar path lights and spotlights are available at just about any hardware store (like Agway) or department store, and in addition to offering safety for your yard all the time, can be brought indoors when the power’s out to help light your way as you move around the house, or can be used to read by once things calm down. Just remember to get them back outside to recharge when the sun’s up.
There are also lots of solar spotlights and walkway lights sharply discounted this Tuesday and Wednesday for Amazon Prime Big Deal Days .
Solar pathlights are great for outdoor safety, and can be brought inside for nighttime light during a power outage. 14850 Photo by Mark H. Anbinder.
Rechargeable motion-sensor nightlights or sconces are great for hallways, bathrooms, and kids’ rooms, and they’re terrific to have on hand when you need a little illumination that can be carried around. Just remember to recharge these on a regular basis!
We’ve just scratched the surface, and we’ve tried to focus on some things that are relatively easy to gather, set up, and use even if you’re not able to carry heavy items home from the store. What are we forgetting to include? Let us know in our social media comments.
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