| Are you prepared for an emergency? The loss of electric, water, natural gas, phone and/or cable. An ice storm hit Lexington KY on Saturday, February 15, 2003. 115,000 Homes without electricity. I learned a lot about readiness. At 2:00 a.m. Sunday, February 16 we lost power to iced downed trees breaking electric, phone and cable lines in the city. We got power back Friday, February 21 at 4:00 a.m. As of Friday, 22,000 homes were still without utilities. | ||
| HEAT | ||
| When the electric went out we lost the ability to heat the house. I have a natural gas furnace but no electric to run the fans. Temperatures ranged from 32 degree days to 25 degree nights. Some homes heated with Kerosene heaters and some with fireplaces. I have a fireplace and a propane heater designed to burn hot enough to be usable indoors. Local stores sold out of Kerosene heaters within 24 hours. Kerosene fuel was sold out by Tuesday. When trying to provide emergency heat close all doors to unused rooms and if possible add a pot of water to the top of the heater. If you raise the humidity with steam the room will feel warmer. Seasoned firewood was difficult to get by Tuesday, two days into the outage. I burned about 10 logs a day in the fireplace. Never sleep with a kerosene or propane heater burning. If Carbon Monoxide builds up in the house you could die in your sleep. If your home is powered by above ground lines and the weather head attached to your home breaks loose, get it fixed right away. Power was restored to neighborhoods but homes with the weather heads pulled loose we disconected by the power company. Getting the power company back out to inspect the repaired weather head and restore power to the home is taking 3 days. Homes with sump pumps in the basement flooded. Lot's of neighbors didn't know how to open their garage doors without power. | ||
| HEAT - Preparedness list | ||
| Firewood - 10 logs per day of need | ||
| Kerosene Heater with 5 gallons of fuel | ||
| Propane Heater with 20 lb. fuel tank | ||
| Large pot for heating water | ||
| Matches or lighters | ||
| LIGHT | ||
| Light was provided by candles and flashlights. A small pocket size flashlight operated on 2 AA batteries was most useful. I carried it in my pocket and didn't have to keep going looking for a flashlight everytime I needed one. Candles are a must. A small volia candle will only last about 6 hours. Candles are a big fire hazard. Never leave them unattended or near other flameables. I bought an electric generator (5,600 watts/8,600 surge watts with 10 hp gasoline engine) and was able to power the refrigerator, computers, lights, TV and microwave. | ||
| LIGHT - Preparedness list | ||
| Candles | ||
| Flashlight with fresh batteries | ||
| Lantern with fresh batteries | ||
| Lantern with propane or white gas | ||
| Oil lamp with fresh lamp oil | ||
| Generator with extension cords | ||
| COMMUNICATIONS | ||
| The biggest lesson I learned was that there were two views of this storm. The view of those who had power and the view from those who didn't have power. Those without power relied on battery operated radios for information. Those with power watched TV as it the outage was in a far-away land. Most lost their phone because they had cordless phones which required electricity to power them. I had an old phone which reqired no external power. | ||
| COMMUNICATIONS - Preparedness list | ||
| AM/FM Radio with fresh batteries | ||
| Phone, standard old style phone which does not require external power | ||
| TV battery powered with fresh batteries | ||
| WATER | ||
| We didn't loose water pressure so it wasn't a problem. I do have 3 blue plastic water contaners which hold 7 and a half gallons each. My hot water heater is heated by natural gas so I had hot water all through this outage. Homes with electric water heaters weren't as lucky. Water should be stored in sealed plastic containers and kept in cool, dark locations. Date each container and change the water every three months. | ||
| WATER - Preparedness list | ||
| Water containers (one gallon per person per day) | ||
| FOOD | ||
| We ate out, but did have a few days supply of canned and dry foods. | ||
| FOOD - Preparedness list | ||
| A supply of non-perishable packaged or canned food and a non-electric can opener | ||
| Camping stove with propane, white gas or sterno | ||
| OTHER ITEMS | ||
| First Aid Kit | ||
| Fire Extinguisher | ||
| Carbon Monoxide Monitor | ||
| Chain Saw with correct fuel | ||
| Fully charged Un-interuptable Power Supply (UPS) | ||
| Extra Cash | ||