I wasn’t tracking the weather, but I heard that a storm was coming. When I woke the following morning, it was apocalyptic. I slept through the entire storm like a baby. Fortunately a large tree missed the house, but it could have easily killed me, other houses and vehicles directly next door weren’t so lucky. Total losses.
The homeless in the area started looting deserted homes a few days into the disaster (not too much, but a little in my area, nearby cities imposed a curfew), gas was impossible to get, and there was no power at all if you didn’t have a generator.
FEMA and other contractors like electricians took every hotel room in town. If you were unhoused after the initial storm, you were going to stay that way, for hundreds of miles in any direction.
No one had a chainsaw.
Hardly anyone had a generator. When they did get one, (after paying a premium price) it was too small, not enough to power large appliances, with fuel tanks too small to keep power for more than a few hours without needing to be refueled, some people I knew were up all night fueling there generators and didn’t sleep more than a few hours a night for weeks.
Everyone lost food, probably thousands of dollars worth each.
No one had fuel, and hilariously, drove around wasting fuel to look for fuel and ice, because no one had anything better to do. Traffic was unbelievable, and without stop lights, it was surprising there weren’t more accidents, but there were dozens.
When some power was restored, specifically the gas stations, things became extremely tense, with fights and I heard, even shootings.
While work was cancelled for many people, some industrial plants stayed open, you were at risk of losing your job for not reporting to work, despite warnings from the government to stay indoors.
If you made your living on the Internet, even if you had power, you probably couldn’t connect, unless your Internet connection was cellular based, satellite, etc.
Where I was, there was still water pressure , so toilets and showers still worked, although obviously cold water only, until two weeks +/- later, where the management at my apartment purchased a generator large enough to power a water heater for a few hours.
What I know now:
- Have two 5 gallon buckets (at least) and industrial strength trash bags. Keep them stocked with toilet paper, powdered detergent, cat litter, and hand sanitizer.
If you need to wash clothes, flush a toilet, make a toilet, or bathe, you can do it with 5 gallon buckets.
For making a toilet, put in a trash bag liner, and put in some cat litter. It will keep the contents solid, absorb moisture and odor.
For bathing, you can heat a pot of water to boiling, and add it to cold water in the 5 gallon bucket until it’s comfortable enough to bathe in. I did this in the bath tub, bringing all my dirty clothes with me, and after the soapy water saturated my clothes, I walked on them like grapes until the water that squeezed out was clear. That’s how I kept myself from stinking like a corpse. I made a parachute cord clothesline outside to dry my stuff after.
Because we didn’t have much of a grill for heating water, I pulled the oven rack out of the oven, and put it on top of a pair of cinder blocks, there was plenty of wood to burn, so fuel wasn’t a big problem for cooking or heating water.
- Buy a power Inverter that you can attach to your vehicle, to use as a generator.
There are some on Amazon that are powerful enough to run tons of household appliances, and they are much cheaper than a generator. You can get one for anywhere from $50 and up, the bigger the better though.
To keep your vehicle from overheating when sitting at idle, park in the shade if you can and open the hood.
A large generator, that runs on propane or diesel would be best. You can store those fuels a really long time, unlike gasoline, an inverter isn’t much good for your family if you drive somewhere without them, but if you can’t afford a generator, get a inverter instead.
-A small chest freezer is the most practical appliance you can get. It stayed cold longest without power, and was most efficient on power useage.
-Get a decent handgun and a weapon light, bare minimum. A holster too.
-The point of emergency preparedness is to be prepared BEFORE a emergency. Stay off the road and stay indoors.
-Don’t go local for Internet . Get star link Internet, or a cellular based one from your cellphone provider.
-Have enough emergency lighting, and batteries. A head lamp, backup batteries, adapters and lots of cables and drop cords. You can’t have too many.
-Have at least two 5 gallon gas cans.
-Chainsaw, tow straps, axe, tarps, hammer, nails, etc.
What would you add? What could you have done better?
