Prepping for a Winter Storm Power Outage, Part 2

In part 1 of this series on preparing for a winter storm power outage we covered the most important needs for a family’s comfort and health: lights, heat and water. Without taking care of these three basic necessities, it is difficult to take on other duties you will need to address.

With limited daylight hours, being able to see what you’re doing is essential. In the winter, we need to stay relatively warm to avoid things like frostbite (which is pretty extreme), but just to maintain manual dexterity and the desire to get out from under the blankets to take care of business.

And, of course, we need water to keep us hydrated.

Read Part 1 here.

Once we have those basics covered, it’s time to look at some other essentials for daily living during a loss of electricity: communication, food, medical needs, and taking care of pets/animals.

          Communication connections

          In today’s world, communication systems are taken for granted. But for families in rural areas, loss of power often means no internet, no cell service, no radio or television.

It’s surprising how many people assume everyone has cell phone service or at least Wi-Fi available to them 24/7.  I can you tell you from experience that thinking is very frustrating. We have satellite internet (thank goodness for Starlink) or we would not have cell service. As soon as we head down our driveway, we lose cell service for at least ten minutes and then it is hit and miss until we get to town.

When the power goes out, we lose our internet, and in turn, our cell service. We chose to keep a landline so when the power goes out we have a way to contact the power company, emergency services, friends and family. The important thing to know about this system of communication is you must have an old-fashioned phone you can plug directly into a phone jack. Those handy-dandy remote phones that rest is a charging cradle do not work when there is no electricity.

If you are fortunate to live in an area where there is cell service available, it’s important to be in the habit of keeping your phone charged. Some people make use of solar charger or charge their phones in their vehicles. Having access to a telephone can be very important in case of an emergency. Plan ahead for maintaining an effective way of communication.

I have also made use of a walkie talkie. I lived here for almost a year before my husband was able to join me. The first three weeks I had no phone and no internet. (It took that long to get someone up here!) Fortunately my good friend, and closest neighbor, had a walkie talkie. I borrowed my husband’s, then my neighbor and I made sure they were on the same frequency. We set up a plan to contact each other every morning before I left for work and again in the evening. It was a simple way of checking in and letting her know everything was alright with me. We live one mile apart, close enough for the radios to work and near enough to do a quick in-person check-in if we didn’t hear from each other.

My husband has a CB radio in his work truck which is another option if you have some else with a radio you can contact in case of an emergency. And it might be a good idea to have a battery-powered or hand-crank emergency radio to receive weather updates if it looks like it might be a lengthy storm.

Establishing a communication plan with neighbors and family can reduce a lot of stress during a power outage, even if it’s just a simple “how ya doin’?’

Food and meal prep

One of the unspoken rules of Murphy’s law is that as soon as the power goes out and things calm down, you realize you’re hungry. I think it’s the boredom effect. What else is there to do?

If you live a country lifestyle, you probably have a good stock of canned goods and other non-perishable food items. It’s what we do to avoid countless trips to town. During a winter storm, easy to prepare meals will make waiting out the storm much more pleasant.

I have home-canned meat, fruits, vegetables, and soups. And I have store bought items like soup, beans, tunafish, peanut butter, etc. It’s important to include food that doesn’t need to be cooked just in case you have no way to heat things up.

      Think about waiting out a storm as similar to camping without electricity. Make sure you have a manual can opener. Keep a stash of paper plates, cups and disposable utensils. This will make clean up much easier.

Dig out your camp stove or fire up your outdoor grill, if possible, to use for cooking. Or use your woodstove if you have one. One pot meals work best in these scenarios. And plan for longer cooking times in many cases. Remember, a camp stove will need to be used outdoors so try to find a location that’s “out of the weather.”

There are quite a few YouTube videos and Facebook posts providing “simple” hacks for heating food using things like candles and muffin tins, etc. It may be worth checking them out. However, those tips aren’t very helpful if you are not stocked with the items they suggest using.

As for your refrigerator and freezer, avoid opening them as much as possible. Depending on the size of your freezer, a well-stocked (meaning full) freezer will keep food frozen for a couple of days. If the freezer is half full or less, things will start defrosting in about 24 hours if you avoid opening it. The food in your refrigerator will only last a few hours. If the weather is cold enough, putting some items in a cooler outside or in an unheated garage might be an option for you.

Medications and First Aid Kits

An unexpected power outage will upset the daily routine of any household. It shouldn’t interfere with taking necessary, prescribed medications.

Keep your prescriptions filled and well-marked. You don’t want to mistake one med for another. Or discover you’re about out of your blood pressure meds with no way to get to the pharmacy. It may sound obvious, but there are so many conveniences we take for granted that may not be available to us during a power outage. Like access to your local drugstore.

This goes for over the counter essentials like ibuprofen, cold medicine, and antacids.

First aid kits should be a home staple whether the power is out or not. Make sure you have at least the basic bandages, tape, wrap, antiseptic cleaner, and ointment. A box of Band-Aids is nice but often doesn’t help much in a real emergency.

You can purchase ready-made first aid kits. But it may be a better fit for your family’s needs to create your own. You can always use Goggle to get started on the basics and work from there. This would be very important if you had special medical needs like allergies or diabetes.

Animal Care

Our furry friends, big or small, may require extra attention during a winter storm.

In the first of this series, I mentioned the need to keep water available to your animals during a power outage. Loss of electricity means your well won’t be working. Keep your water troughs full every day.

If the well isn’t working, the electric trough heaters won’t be either. You will need to check the water troughs throughout the day and break up any ice buildup. Letting it go too long makes chopping ice a real challenge.

Animals may need additional feed and bedding during extreme weather conditions. Stocking up well ahead of time, as most country living folks do, will save a lot of stress and money.

If there’s a lot of snow, a path may need to be plowed to water troughs and feed areas. Although this doesn’t seem to have much to do with a power outage, remember barn lights and other outdoor lights won’t be working. Just something to think about.

House pets, like dogs and cats, may have difficulty getting through snow to relieve themselves. Some may just avoid the white stuff altogether. Consider this when clearing walkways. You may have to clear a place for them to poop and pee if you don’t want to be cleaning up the mess inside. And if the house isn’t well lit, you may discover the “accident” in the worst way.

We have friends that use heating pads in their dog houses. During a winter storm and/or power outage, they create a special place inside for their dogs. I’m sure most of us would do the same, if we aren’t already sharing the couch with our fur baby.

Well now you have taken care of the basics and other necessities. You should be prepared to weather the winter storm if the power goes out.

In the third, and last, of the series, we well take a look at some activities or tasks that may not be considered requirements for surviving a winter storm and power outage. But they can go a long way in making the situation better for you and your family.

Many of the things we do to prepare for a power outage, we would do for other natural disasters. In some cases, it is typical preparation for daily life in the winter months if you live a country lifestyle. The problem is we get a little too comfortable or familiar with winter prep and forget some of the little tweaks required of a power outage.

Don’t be one of those people.

Click here to get a copy of "Uh oh, The Power's Out," a very simple, very basic, preparedness checklist. It's free and includes a fill-in the blank copy to add your specific needs.