It was a fairly quiet day. We had been keeping an eye on the weather. We knew severe weather was predicted for our area. But to be honest, in Arkansas, those predictions happen a lot! And while some parts of Arkansas have experienced devastating floods and tornadoes, we have always been fortunate to not get much truly "severe" weather.
And so we were totally unprepared when suddenly, without warning and for no apparent reason, the power went out.
Breaker checked. All good. Husband looks at weather on phone. Nothing on radar to explain outage. Calls power company but can't get through. Decides to walk down the road to the nearest neighbor to see if they have power.
He was gone a little while when suddenly the dogs started acting very oddly. Running to door. Back to me. Back to door. Whining. They have all been through storms before so it was very odd to see them behaving this way when I couldn't see anything happening outside. But dogs can often sense things before we can, and so I grabbed my phone to check the weather and that's when I saw it....
I had neglected to charge it the night before. It was now all but dead.
With no way to find out what was happening and no way to contact my husband to at least warn him that something odd was going on, I spent the several minutes more than a little apprehensive, I can tell you!
I am fortunate. All I was worrying about was no cellphone and a refrigerator full of food. Food can be replaced. But I have friends who are in electric wheelchairs which they now can't charge. Friends who use CPAP machines. My house is all electric, my husband and I, along with thousands of others, can be without heat or air conditioning.
And that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
An extended power outage can disrupt communications, water, and transportation. Stores may have to close. ATMS may not work. Gas pumps will be down.
You may be left alone, in the dark, with no food, no gas, no water, no money, and no way to get help.
Power outages don't only happen during storms. If you live in California, then you may have experienced a few planned power outages. PG&E now uses these as a way to avoid fires caused by downed power lines during high winds. (I don't think it's helping much, by the way).
And in this crazy time of escalating violence and civil unrest, an attack on the power grid would not be out of the question.
And if you think it won't happen to you, remember my story. Prepare NOW!
1. Take an inventory of all the items in your house that rely on electricity. Refrigerators, stoves, heat and air are all fairly obvious. But also think about medical devices that may need to be recharged. Cell phones that are essential for communication. TV and radio to keep informed of the situation. Determine which items are essential for your survival in the event of an extended power outage. Plan for alternative methods (batteries, generators, etc) to keep essential devices running.
2. Take stock of medical supplies. Does anyone take medication that needs to be refrigerated? How long can that medication be stored without refrigeration. Discuss plans with your doctor for any critical medications.
3. Install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors with battery backup on every level of your home. When power is restored, a surge can cause appliances to short and spark a fire. Generators and camp stoves or other cooking devices can cause carbon monoxide poisoning.
4. Keep your phone charged and get a solar powered charger.
5. Stock up on emergency supplies: Non-perishable food, water, flashlights, medication, first aid supplies, cleaning and disinfecting supplies, pet food if necessary, extra batteries, fuel for alternative heat and cooking methods (wood stoves, pellet stoves, camp stoves, etc).
6. Keep your car fueled. Never let it get below half a tank. If you have to evacuate, you may not be able to find working gas pumps in a widespread outage.
7. Ditto for your generator. Keep the gas tank FULL!
8. Place thermometers in your refrigerator and freezer. When the power is restored, check the temperature. If it's 40 degrees or higher, the food may not be safe to each and should be disposed of.
9. Get with neighbors to create a plan to check on each other, especially older neighbors or those with young children. Older adults and children are especially vulnerable to extreme temperatures.
My husband and I were lucky that day. After stressing for a bit, it occurred to me that I could go sit in my car and charge my phone with my car charger. As I headed out the door to the garage, all the dogs followed me. Very odd! When I opened the car door, all three scrambled into the back seat. Odder still. I opened the garaged door, got in the car, plugged in the car charger, started the car, and turned on the radio. And that's when I heard the news. While there was no threat in the immediate vicinity, the town of Joplin, Missouri had just been virtually demolished by an F4 tornado. Joplin is a couple of hours north of us. I will never know if somehow my dogs knew, even at that distance. But I know now that if they start behaving strangely again, something big could be coming!
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