Blackout Post-Mortem - What would you do different?

[JrzyGuy30 0]

Well I learned alot from this 3.5 day power outtage.

#1 >> Can never be over prepped and wife realized how awesome I am that I have some prep sense in me.

#2 >> Always keep enough propane fuel for the generator stocked.

#3 >> I think I'd like to get an extra handgun and shotgun for around the house hidden. The idea of having to run upstairs to the bedroom to get a firearm while some idiot might be at the front door or outside stealing gas or my genny doesn't seem efficient.

#4 >> Find a better way to run the power inside from the generator out back than drop a pair of heavy duty extension cords through the sliding door and unable to shut the sliding door all the way.

#5 >> MORE FUEL

#6 >> Wireless alarm chirper things. I'd mount it on the gate to my generator - the front door and garage for when my alarm system is disabled. All I need to do is make sure I wake up if some idiot is taking something thats mine.

#7 >> More LED Coleman Lanterns. Best LED lanterns ever.

#8 >> Gas canisters that can be filled right before another "sandy" situation arises.

#9 >> Extra plywood and some 2x4's just in case

#10 >> Build an area around the generator area to conceal it more. Not fun when you're the only neighbor who has a genny running and people are stir crazy, wandering around and eyeing down your house because they hear the generator going and you have lights on. Hmmmm.

 

I'm sure I'll add to this list as my wife and I chat about this situation we experienced the last few days.

[Jaws 1]

 

 

Now that's I great idea I never thought of

 

You can do the same with ziplock freezer bags. Stuff them anywhere you can in the freezer, works great.

[Teky0101 6]

We did not loose power but often times the bigest problem in a crisis is people wanting to take what you have. A generator is a great idea but keep it chained up! Other good ideas include chem lights, matches, wood to burn, food, cooking pans, sleeping bags, lanterns, backpack, poncho, portable radio, gas, trash can of water, plastic bags, lyme for saniation, medical supplies, axe, firearm for defense (Life and Dead Situation) toilet paper and trash bags!

[diamondd817 828]

Installation of natural gas powered whole house automatic standby generator.

[Tactical Turtle 11]

Lets see.... more canned food....i had plenty of batteries and these nifty puck lights that we used to replace candels. Wife is a yankee candle freak so my house smells like yankee candle. We have a propane interior heater we are using to heat the house... of course using a carbon monoxide detector. Have a 50lb tank and a spare bbq tank so i will have heat for a while. So besides food we are doing fine using the vehicles to charge our phones and laptop. Downloaded movies onto the ipad so watching them to help pass the time. Oh yeah and i need to get diapers today ugh with gas low and police taking over the gas stations for there use and otger first responders i dont know what to do

[BillC. 26]

Got lucky our power was only out 12 hrs, so I could take my generator to my mom.

 

need more gas cans, couple more Mag Lite LED's

 

And another generator for my mom.

 

My power came back on. Took the gen to my Moms, got her all set up. Returned home to no power. Luckly it was only off a couple hours and came back on before dark

[Kaiser7 33]

You live in Cherry Hill and didn't think to prep your weapons? Hell, I would think that would be a prime target for looters, had the power been out for a longer period of time, I mean, it's no secret Cherry Hill has money.

 

Of course, that being said, this IS NJ, so even if you prepped your weapons, it's not like you could use them to protect yourself.

[BigHayden 77]

We didn't lose power, but I found quite a few shortcomings in my preparation plans. Now that I'm reading this thread, I'm finding even more.

 

many gallons of clean drinking water.. (many of which I freeze prior to loosing power so I can cycle them into my fridge allowing me to maintain temperature without electric while I consume the perishable food first..)

 

I turned my freezer and refrigerator down to the lowest settings to prepare for a short outage, but next time I'm doing this as well (in ziplock bags, as someone else suggested).

 

lots of peanut butter..

 

I have to find an alternative form of good protein, as 2 of my 3 have a peanut allergy...

 

propane small camp cook stove...

 

Another good one to put on my list. I have a small grill that we use on vacations, but it doesn't seem ideal for boiling water, etc.

 

More cash on hand.

 

Camping lanternS!!

 

Solar powered charger.

 

I second cash. I'd recommend a variety of bills too. $1's and $5's take up more space than $20's, but you don't want to get stuck having to give someone $20 for a $5 item.

 

We kept my wife's van in the garage. This way, if we needed to recharge cell phones/FRS radios during the storm, we had a place to do that.

[this_is_nascar 162]

I was one of the lucky ones to never lose power, however my "blackout plan" was to utilize one of the two campers I have sitting in the backyard. I had both of them powered-up, so the frig was cold and each had full tanks of propane. We would have been good for a couple weeks, at least.

[Sandy 44]

I am happy with all the preparations we made. The only thing I was worried about was water in the main living area which would force a roll out. Did not happen. I had bags packed for a full 10 days for each member of the family , meds , food , clean clothes in case we had to go. We did not flood though..the Passaic for some odd reason held in our part of town.

 

There was only one glaring oversight on my part. Instant coffee. The tea bag style kind. I won't get caught out again.

 

BTW - for 20 bucks I am happy with the water BOB thing. 100 gallons fresh drinkable water good for up to 4 weeks.

 

I'm more of the mindset of prep like you won't have power or fresh water for 2 weeks ..the genny is great , but consider it a luxury. I am hearing of too many people who relied on the genny , are now out of fuel , and did not do the necessary stock up of non perishables and such because "they have a generator"

[Old Glock guy 1,127]

There was only one glaring oversight on my part. Instant coffee.

 

 

Funny you wrote that, because two items I was going to mention that have made life a lot easier for me have been instant coffee, which I just thought of a few weeks ago; and an LED lantern, which provided plenty of light to read and to move around the house.

 

This is a great topic. I looked at this event as a chance to test my preparations. (As of this morning, my house was still without power.) I sat down and wrote out a couple of pages of notes on where I was adequately prepared and where I could use improvement. I have plenty of food, water, and other supplies. And I was able to keep my house somewhat warm with the wood stove insert in my fireplace. OTOH, I wonder what would happen if we lost power from a blizzard in frigid temperatures. How would we keep our pipes from freezing?

 

I do not have a generator, and I'm still not sure how I feel about them. I don't know if the convenience they provide is worth the inconvenience of having to haul, store, and rotate gasoline. Plus there is the danger of CO fumes and the possibility of being a target for looters, as others have mentioned. I might tolerate the last two considerations if I could run a generator on either propane, heating oil, or solar power.

 

I guess the bottom line is that our preparations are always a work in progress, and this storm presented the opportunity to test them under conditions that for most of us were not life-threatening.

[bulpup 98]

I was thinking about a large genny for the house but now I know i can get a smaller one and really the only thing i need it for is the furnace.

 

I consider this a great lesson learn experience (not to make light of those that lost everything, friends and co-workers have) and I think how different it would have been losing power in February when days and nights are in the 30s. Frozen water pipes are a disaster.

 

 

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[bulpup 98]

 

Funny you wrote that, because two items I was going to mention that have made life a lot easier for me have been instant coffee, which I just thought of a few weeks ago

 

 

My wife bought something similar to this years ago.

 

http://www.reuseit.com/store/reusable-coffee-filter-frieling-p-3761.html

 

For when we go to my parents house because they only drink decaf. Ours in gold plated for some reason but has held up great. Almost 12 years now.

 

 

 

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[TanJovi 5]

I lost power for a few days the winter before last when we got clobbered by a few blizzards. It sucked (I ended up leaving). I hear people complaining that it's cold - it really isn't too bad. I'd take this weather over dead of winter or heat of summer any day.

 

Coffee is a must - I love my Cabelas stove-top percolator. All metal, no filters - has lasted me years. I can't stand instant coffee.

[9X19 125]

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[BlueLineFish 615]

So I'm guessing you didn't fill both tanks.

[benboga37 2]

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First thing I did.

[RobertJames 14]

I filled both motorcycles, the car, and two five gallon cans before the storm. Fortunately, I haven't been to work since Friday, so it's mostly all there still. If I was driving 80 miles a day all this week I'd have been SOL at some point. So a couple more cans full of fuel in reserve would be top of my list. Also, more food. When I'm bored I eat. Now with that being said, I've been extremely lucky, I lost cable for a few hours on Tuesday, and lost power for maybe 20 minutes Wednesday when lines somewhere nearby were being connected.

 

And whoever was going to make instant coffee, Yuck! get a French Press. If you can boil water, you can make a real, delicious pot of coffee.

[CMJeepster 2,780]

More whiskey... and then the only things after that were discovering the wife's mini Mag was broken and soldering it wouldn't work. I had 29 gallons of gas available and two vehicle tanks ready in dire straits (punctures or minor mechanical operations thanks to the check valves). Everything else seemed sufficient. Water, heat, food and power were fine. Might want to do a few more gas cans and battery buys/rechargeables, but we were good to go for the 72 hours without power we had. Didn't even touch our water or food reserves thanks to the generator (chained to the house with a cable and secured by firepower).

[matty 810]

We were lucky,had time to prep abit with getting gas, a small genny, lot of leftover food from a party

Chainsaw and newer hand saws

Plywood

Bigger gen to run heat and reefer/lites/tv at same time

Bigger/more gas cans for same

Crank radio

led lamps

More Firewood

More canned goods

Really gotta buy a shotgun already

More comfy holsters

Blankeys

Remove all candy from house to keep small children alittle less hyper

water--wife bought from dollar store name brand gallons, should try the bob

Fire starter

French press

Extra dog food

Extra dog

 

 

 

 

[Jon 264]

#4 >> Find a better way to run the power inside from the generator out back than drop a pair of heavy duty extension cords through the sliding door and unable to shut the sliding door all the way.

 

I've been fortunate enough to have my father cart his portable genny over once a day to run my freezer, so I ran an extension cord through the dryer vent. Totally secure, and very quick to go back to normal.

[woodentoe 14]

-Install transfer switch for portable generator with outdoor twist lock outlet (running extension cords is a drag) power up only essentials (furnace, fridge/freezer, and 1 room since we all slept downstairs)

 

-Install NG outlet alongside the transfer plug and install a tri-fuel adapter on my portable generator which at 5000w has been more than adequate. What hasn't been adequate is feeding it.

 

-Get a portable electric of hand powered siphon pup for transfering gasoline from the cars to cans. Even though I was able to crack into the fuel pump to siphon, I had to jack up the car to let the gravity do the work. a pump would have helped here. I don't have a large transfer tank...just cans. The large transfer tank is the 30 gallons sitting around in my car.

 

 

-Food-wise and water wise we were in good shape.

 

-Oh, and tranquilizers for my kids! lol jk.

[jeklog 7]

need:

-more firearm and ammo.

-mr heat, portable propane heater that can be use inside the house and propane bottles.

-5 gallon gas cans

-chain for portable generator and like wat people posted plywood and cinderblock to protect it from rain.

-gas powered chain saw, chainsaw oil or lube.

-good rope.

-tarp.

-rechargeable spotlight.

-portable tv.

 

i have and recomend:

-i have a 2 lanterns both battery operated, 1 is flourescent by craftsman 8D but the 2nd one was great! a dorcy twin bulb LED-4D batteries will last 350 hours on one bulb and i think 160 lumens.(both at sears but cheaper at walmart)

-have 4 dorcy push and light LED uses 4AA (comes with heavy duty batteries)less than $5 at sears, once batteries are change to alkaline will last 18-24 hours

[JrzyGuy30 0]

I've been fortunate enough to have my father cart his portable genny over once a day to run my freezer, so I ran an extension cord through the dryer vent. Totally secure, and very quick to go back to normal.

 

good idea. Our dryer is upstairs though by the master bedroom and vents out the attic ... so no can do.. hmmm

[halbautomatisch 60]

As other have said, the post mortem will begin when I actually get power back......... running on the genny now.

 

But......... going to look into a diesel generator (and possibly a large milsurp one) since I always have diesel around or could pull some out of the heating oil tank in a pinch.

[Rob0115 1,107]

Fuel storage for cars.

[mipafox 438]

I would have had my water tanks cleaned out and filled

 

I had plenty of drinking water in 5 gallon plastic camping totes (bleached for storage) but water was short for cleaning and flushing toilets.  I put 5 gallon buckets under my downspouts and had plenty of water every day to make up for it.  Which I bleached and let settle and then used for toilets or for dirty pail soap water for cleaning and hygiene (next to the clean pail).

 

I've gone consecutive weeks in the jungle with no shower and no clean water.  BDUs turned white with salt stains, drinking 2 gallons of mud per day but taking a piss only every other day.  Smelling so strong of excreted ammonia that there was no way to smell my BO. Sores on top of rashes and prickly heat at the bottom.  But that's no way to live.  I found that being short of water in a home made bathing a little more difficult than I had imagined.  I thought I would have two small dishes and sponge bathe myself.  Apparently, it's easier with a flowing stream.  I think I'm going to get a galvanized 20-gallon laundry basin like Mom used.  And probably a camping field shower bag to go with it if it works.

 

- Lots of bleach (check)

- Lots of buckets (check)

- All used dirty water except for toilet goes into a bucket when used up (check)

- Way more water

- Better plans for bathing and hygiene.

[BCeagle 12]

this is why I do not advertise..

 

People know I have firearms, but only because I try and convince others to exercise their rights. In a situation like this, unless they were helping me hold down my house, I would have to tell them I am down to my last box

[Whamo 5]

I need more rechargeable batteries and better fuel storage. I have gas cans but want to get a marine tank & hose to hook up to my Honda generator so I can run it for a week without refilling.

I also failed miserably trying to siphon gas out of my vehicles. I couldn't get past the check valve or whatever it is to prevent the gas from leaking in the case of a roll over.

[71ragtopgoat 23]

I was not prepared as well as I should have. Thank goodness I did not lose power. But I will be adding a nat gas Genny. Does anyone know if it can be converted to propane quickly.I did store 15 gallons of gas which I have given away to those without power who could use it. The one thing I did notice is its good to be a cop. The state trooper up the block got a Genny ASAP with no waiting on lines and has more gas then the local Exxon again without waiting. Even the local postal workers got gas for there private cars without waiting on line.

The other thing I noticed is be low key. One guy has a whole house genny and is lit up like lunar park. A very bad idea as people do talk. Glow sticks will be on order as will be a three point sling. I realy do need a top to bottom review. I should have done better with food items for a long haul situation.