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What to do when the power goes out

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Natural disasters, storms, solar events, cascading equipment failure and cyber attacks could shut down local or regional power supply. Possibly for many days, or even weeks. We take the advice from those who have been through black out situations, and bring this to you here:

What do you do when the power goes out?

ADVICE FOR INDIVIDUALS and RESIDENCES:

1) Stay together and do not panic
Research shows that in a disaster most of us want to help others. It is not until a crisis or disaster drags on, that must of grow desperate. Dale Jobes, director of the Energy Huntsville Initiative, is quoted in a 2011 article from Popular Mechanics saying her experience with no power after tornados deveastated the grid in her town,
"All of a sudden you had to be neighbors, whether you wanted to or not,"Everybody was sharing everything they had in their freezers because the food was going to go bad. It was a really neat dynamic."

2) Make sure you always have emergency lighting

For home power outages a battery or hand-crank lantern will give all around lighting to a dark space. Supplement this with either a flashlight or headlamp and you will likely be fine. If you are away from home and caught in a windowless building or at night, with no back up emergency power, a small flashlight or keychain light could be invaluable.

Candles or oil lamps are generally not recommended by the agencies like the Red Cross, or local disaster responders, because they can cause fires. However, a candle in a tall glass, or a clear jar, may provide enough light to help you, and family make your way in an otherwise darkened house or apartment. Make sure you have dry matches to light these.

3) If you health depends upon electricity, make sure you have a back-up plan

If you have a dependency on an electrical device, such as a nebulizer, home kidney dialysis, or any other plug-in medical device, make sure you have a plan for back-up power. Buying a small back-up generator may be necessary if you life in a single family residence. If you live in a multi-family apartment or condo unit, work with your building owner to see if emergency power generation is possible - if only for medical devices. There are nebulizers that are capable of running on rechargeable batteries as well as 120/240V. You can charge these batteries with a solar-powered electrical charger. If you cannot find power your necessary medical devices, bring them to, and use them at a local hospital, since it will have on-site back-up power sources. Police stations may also have back-up power sources as well. Also, if you have depend on refrigerated medication, make sure to have enough ice packs stored in the freezer to keep the meds cool for many hours. Call your pharmacist to inquire about how long your meds can stay good without refrigeration.

For disaster preparation and power outages, experts recommend a hand-crank radio so you can keep up to date with news and reports. Quite a few hand-crank radios include flashlights and cell-phone chargers. Hand-crank style flashlights and lanterns can be ideal for extended power outages because these need no replacement batteries at all. Instead, you turn a handle for about a minute, recharging the internal battery. Battery powered flash lights work fine too, as long as you have good batteries in them, and additional batteries when needed. Obviously, when the power is out, recharable flash-lights can not be recharged unless you have a secondary power source, such a generator, or possible, a recharge fron your car.

4) Food in Refrigerators and Freezers

Refrigerators typically maintains a temperature a bit above freezing (37 to 42 degrees F). Household freezers typically maintain temperature BELOW 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Ice cream will start to soften between 6°F and 10°F (great for serving, but not for longer storage). Some yeasts can start to grow around 15°F.

When the power goes out, check the time. It is important to know how long your power has been out. Food in the refrigerator will stay safe for a few hours. Opening the refrigerator door lets cold air out and warm air in. Do not open and close the door to check food.

Even if the food looks and smells fine, it may not be safe to eat. Bacteria that causes food poisoning does not make food look any different. It will not smell bad or look funny. If the food has been warm, above 40 degrees, for more than two hours throw it away. Do not taste the food to see if it is still good.

If there is space in the freezer, transfer as much food as possible to the freezer. Use block ice in the refrigerator. Place the ice on a tray or pan in the refrigerator. The ice will help to keep the refrigerator cool for about a day.

Food in the freezer will stay frozen for about a day. Food in a freestanding freezer will stay frozen longer. A full freezer will keep food frozen for about two days. A half-full freezer for about one day. Food will stay frozen longer if the door is not constantly opened and closed.

If your freezer is not full, rearrange it. Group all the frozen packages together. Separate meat from fruits and vegetables. The packages will stay frozen longer if there is no air space between them. Use crumpled newspaper to fill in the spaces.

Thawed fruits and vegetables can be refrozen. Raw meat that still has some ice crystals can be refrozen. Meat that is still cold can be refrozen too. It may suffer some quality loss, but it is safe to eat. Discard any cooked food that has come in contact with raw meat juices.

5) BBQ

If it looks like the power is going to be out for more than day or two, consider sharing your frozen food with your neighbors, friends and family. If you are have a working gas stove or over, obviously you can cook indoors. Otherwise, a BBQ may be your choice.

6) Communications

Battery powered or hand cranked radios are a good way to stay in touch. If you have gas in your car, consider tuning in using your car radio.

7) Cash is King

When the power goes down, so do the local ATM machines. Consider keeping some cash on hand... even if it is only in your children's piggy bank.

8) Consider Major Hotels / Walmart - Target - Home Depot for services and for communication hubs

Major hotel chains and stores have an excellent national network to respond to a local or regional disaster. They often are can supply support and supplies from outside the impacted area, and may be the best place to find free phone or internet services.

 

Useful Links about emergency iighting

ConsumerSearch Flashlight Review

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