Emergency Power Supply...

For those of you who follow Alaska's weather news, you've probably heard about the double whammy of storms that have hit us (especially Anchorage) the last 2 days. There are still a lot of folks without power, for the second day.

The local (Anchorage) newspaper is reporting this today.

I'd like to re-share an article I wrote a few years back...

Emergencies, and why we aren't as prepared as we think we are...

I can't stress enough how important it is to be prepared BEFORE a disaster strikes! Something as simple as no electricity will make things miserable very quickly!

A blustery day...

The wind here is crazy today.  It reminds me of last year when we lost power for close to a week!  The trees are having an incredibly hard time staying upright, and the 6 foot high chain link garden fencing is threatening to topple over at any minute.  Give those power lines a dose of heavy snow and they are going to start snapping, and we had our first snowfall a few days ago, so this is a real possibility.

This year we are better prepared for the inevitable power failure (see last years post here).  We have a generator, a stocked pantry (no electricity required,) and a game plan.  The house will stay warm thanks to the propane fireplace that doesn't require any electricity to function... (the fan won't work, but it will still heat).  We have talked to the kids about what to expect if the power goes out for a long period of time, and we have plenty of baby wipes, anticipating not being able to take a shower for several days.  We have books and crayons and craft projects, as well as lots of warm blankets and some comfort foods like hot chocolate.  The small television can be plugged into the generator, and we have kids music on my iPhone (which can also be charged via generator.) 

Last years power failure was really an eye opener for me.  Grown-ups might know what to expect when it happens, but children have lots of fears about the unknown, and its important for us to show them that there is nothing to worry about.  A few familiar things can make them a whole heck of a lot more comfortable, and when the kids aren't freaking out, EVERYTHING goes a lot smoother.

Are you ready to go several days without power?  What do you do to prepare your home and your family?

Emergencies, and why we aren't as prepared as we think we are...

This weekend was a big eye opener for my family and I.  Friday night we lost power, due to the unusually high winds sending an unusually high number of trees into the power lines.  No big deal, right?  We've weathered lots of power outages before!  They never last more than a few hours, and we have lots of candles and blankets.

Saturday morning came, and we were still without power.  Hmm.  We don't own a generator.  The 6 year old keeps forgetting to NOT flush the toilet, and now we have no water.  Should we try to find a generator?  Nah, the power will surely be back on in a few hours!

Saturday night, still no power.  DON"T OPEN THE FREEZER!!!  I have hundreds of dollars worth of food in the freezer, and if it thaws out, we're in trouble.  And its getting really cold in here.  Its 36 degrees outside.

Sunday morning, still no power.  The house is very cold, and everything in the refrigerator is spoiled, including all the green beans I just harvested from the garden and hadn't had a chance to process yet.  Husband decided that we have to get a generator NOW.  Off to town we go, and had to look at 6 stores to find one.  Imagine that, we weren't the only ones who decided we should get one!  $800.00 later, we're on our way home, sure that the power will be on now that we spent all that money.  Thank God we aren't burdened by credit cards any longer and had money in savings to pay cash.

What the Hell?!  Now its SNOWING!!!

Back at home, the power still isn't on, so we get the generator running, and get the fridge, freezer and furnace plugged in by running extension cords through the kitchen window..  No well pump, as we aren't wired to switch it easily to generator power.  If it was colder out, the well lines would all be frozen by now.  We all took baby-wipe baths and snuggled in to watch a movie on the little TV that we plugged into the generator.  If we hadn't gotten the generator, the freezers would be thawing by now. 

We ran the generator all night last night.  At 5:15 the alarm went off.  Time for Rob to get ready for work.  UGH.  But then, a flash and a buzz, and on came the power!  Yahoo!!!  It was off for a total of 60 hours.  If we hadn't left early Sunday to get the generator, they would have been all sold out and we would have been out of luck.

Top 5 things I learned from this ordeal...

1. Canning my produce, and even as much meat as I can, is a very good idea.  The freezer is not a dependable food storage solution.

2. This is ALASKA.  You need backup power.  Dependable back up power.  And you need the house wired for that backup power.

3. Kids get scared when the power goes off, even if they say they are fine.

4. Have emergency funds.  Since we don't have credit cards (thank God) we would have been in a much worse situation if we had no way to buy the generator and emergency food and fuel.

5. I want a woodstove.  You can heat with it AND cook with it.

38 Principles of Self-Sufficiency

Copy and paste this link to a very good post about self sufficiency...

http://thesurvivalmom.com/2009/09/04/38-principles-of-self-sufficiency/