Submitted by mofoyoyo t3_zubi8f in Connecticut
I haven’t lived in Connecticut long and have never lost power for more than a couple hours. Sounds like tons of people are losing power for extended periods. What should I do to prepare myself and my apartment in case that happens here? Thanks!
Invest in an indoor safe propane heater.
No power = No heat
They have ones that are safe to use indoors that run off those small camping propane tanks that can heat up a room pretty well.
Get some extra cash — no power means no ATM or credit card transaction. Fill up your car’s gas tank — gas station pumps need power to operate. Stock up on flashlights and batteries. Be sure your electronics are charged up. Find out in advance the locations of any emergency shelters near you. Be prepared, but don’t overly worry. More densely populated areas get their power restored more quickly than outlying rural areas. Repairs to bring 1000 people back online get done before those to restore just a couple of customers.
Other than those things already mentioned: fill your tub up with water to flush the toilet with.
Buy a couple of those emergency charging things and keep them on hand, fully charged.
Battery powered flashlights are always good. Camping lanterns are great for lighting up a whole room and have 0 risk of fire like candles or oil lamps. Buy some D batteries and keep them on hand.
Heated rocks in the oven last quite a while after power goes out.
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My main things are--do the dishes, charge up all electronics and maybe download a few movies, make sure I have PB&J, snacks and something for breakfast. Make a large pot of coffee, locate my flashlights, make sure I have some cash on hand, and get gas for my car. If I have time then I'll do laundry and make sure I have disposable silverware and plates/bowls.
Buy all the bread and milk you can.
Fill the tub with water. And use water to flush
Download some content on your device to watch. Buy an external battery backup for your devices. If you filter your drinking water, then fill it up in some pots and pans.
Make sure you have a way to get your car out of your apartment complex. Do you have a shovel/ice scraper for your car? If it’s a multi-day outage, you’ll need to venture out when roads are cleared at some point. Locate where your town warming center is as well. They tend to have places you can charge your phone etc, some are in schools and you can shower as well. Obviously only leave once you know it’s safe out there but generally speaking, the roads get fixed up faster than the power outages.
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They do have ones that have sensors and will automatically kick off of the CO or O2 levels are dangerous.
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Booze. There is no other correct answer.
Everything everyone else already recommended , and a small Honda generator would be a great investment. A little pricey, but they start every time, hot weather, cold weather, zombie apocalypse, Armageddon, and so on. Just enough to keep the refrigerator going and have some extra juice for your reading lamp. Steer clear of that Harbor Freight crap.
And they are all dead now.
How long is "not long"? I would talk to the neighbors, to see what generally happens in the neighborhood. Some towns and neighborhoods rarely go down. Some go down at the first snowflake. Get an idea from a few neighbors of how often it goes out. Also, for how long.
Depending on the answers, other posters have offered a range of levels for how bad it will be, and good things to do for that.
At the least, making sure you have things charged up, and maybe a spare battery or backup to charge from can come in handy. Some non perishable food, extra ice in the fridge and freezer for down time, stocking water are reasonable.
I also keep a few good candles around. It's enough to heat a can of soup lol.
Fill your freezer with gallon ziploc bags of water and let them freeze in advance of a storm. Move some to your fridge. They will keep your food cold for a while if the power goes out. Don't open the fridge and let out the cold air.
Buy staple foods like canned tuna, peanut butter crackers, cereal. Get an adaptor for your car so you can charge devices with your engine if you need to. Be sure to have full tank if a storm is predicted. During winter or hurricane season, try not to let your tank get below half full.
The wrong kind of rock can explode
AvogadrosMoleSauce t1_j1i2bsr wrote
Have your battery powered things charged up, have some flashlights, candles, food you don't need cooking. If you have extra space in your freezer, freeze some water to help keep things cold should the power go out. Some means of amusing yourself without power is good too; puzzles, games, books...