October 2, 2024

Prepper Check (Courtesy of Hurricane Helene)

Scenario:

We live about 400 miles inland from where Hurricane Helene made landfall. Earlier in the week we received almost 10 inches of rain, so when the remnants of the hurricane blew in before sunrise last Friday, trees came crashing down and we lost both power and internet.  

Intense wind and rain continued that day, but by mid-morning, folks were already out in their cars. My guess is that with no electricity, they went to get something to eat. But the power outage was so widespread that all the restaurants, stores, and gas stations were closed. 

By afternoon, the wind and rain had died down somewhat and Dan ventured out. Some roads were blocked by trees and downed power lines. He had to travel a distance to find anything open. Lines to the gas stations were blocks long. He talked to some folks who had traveled down from a neighboring state, trying to find gas and food. 

On Saturday, the wind and rain had died down, so I went out because I'd missed my regular Friday shopping trip. We really didn't need anything, so it was mostly curiosity. I saw numerous trees caught up in power lines and one power pole that had snapped in half and dumped a transformer on the ground. Not a utility truck was in sight. Stores with electricity were now open, but traffic was blocked by long lines at the gas stations; many people were hauling gas cans or generators to fill. 

I passed Walmart and noted that the parking lot was packed. I doubt there was a parking place to be found. But I was headed to Aldi where there was plenty of parking, and with the exception of bread and bakery products, the store was well stocked. Typically, after a power-out event, store shelves are stripped bare of anything that doesn't have to be cooked: bread, rolls, buns, bakery goods, lunch meats, cheeses, plus fruits and vegetables that can be eaten in hand, anything and everything that doesn't require heating or cooking. 

Besides numerous trees down in the woods, our only property damage was a fence.

Sadly, it was our only wild persimmon tree. The fruits were always
too astringent for us, but the goats and wildlife ate the ripe ones.

Three days without electricity was a real good reality check of our level of preparedness. I've never claimed to be a Prepper, but I've always pointed out the practicality of being prepared. We don't have a generator, but we did have some items that really helped. In this blog post, I'd like to share some things we're glad we had, small things that even apartment dwellers or house renters can have to ease the discomfort of emergencies. 

Things I'm glad we had

emergency candles

These are short, 5-hour dripless candles that I got at Dollar Tree. Regular candles will work too, but they burn faster and usually drip, so I prefer these. Also needed is a candle holder and a way to light them. Lots of people like to use lighters, but I prefer wooden matches because there is no plastic to throw away and no worry about whether the lighter fluid has evaporated. If you don't live near a Dollar Tree, they are fairly economical at Amazon too. 

Of course one needs safety smarts to use candles, but I was able to place one in rooms we visit frequently at night so we weren't stumbling around in the dark. To amplify the light, place the candlestick in front of a mirror. 

solar light bulbs

I was so happy to have these. They come with their own little solar panel, so they can be recharged in a sunny window. I kept one in the bathroom and one above the kitchen sink, which we moved to our little kitchen dining table when we ate breakfast. The hook on top makes them easy to place. They are estimated to burn 4 to 6 hours on a full charge, although we rarely kept them on for more than 30 to 60  minutes. 

I recommend getting ones without remote controls. Remotes seem more convenient, but they require watch batteries to operate, which is another thing to keep on hand. And I don't think watch batteries are rechargeable. The bulbs are easy to turn on and off with a button on the top, and offer much brighter light than a candle. 

You can find them at Amazon. I think they are an excellent option for small children in the house or wherever there are candle safety concerns. 

Most people have flashlights, which require a supply of batteries. We used to have a nice little solar flashlight (like this one at Amazon), but the problem was the on and off switch. Flashlight switches used to be hard plastic, but they've all gone to a soft cover over a teeny-tiny switch and it was this teeny-tiny switch that failed and made the flashlight useless. We've been much happier with our solar rechargeable headlamps. 

rechargeable solar head lamps

I couldn't find the original brand I bought on Amazon, but this link is to something similar. Head lamps leave both hands free and give a good strong light. They are rechargeable via a USB cord, but they last quite awhile. We use them regularly. 

Cooking and heating water can be more challenging, especially for apartment dwellers. I know some folks BBQ on their balcony, so that might be an option. Plenty of fuel is a good prepper item for that. Campfire cooking is good, but requires a campfire, no rain, dry firewood, and cast iron cookware. Table top camping stoves are another option, with Coleman being the standard (look-see at Amazon here). It's a double burner, but requires Coleman propane cylinders to operate. Less expensive ones are at Amazon too, just search camp stoves.

If we'd had sun, I would have used my solar oven.

Sun Oven solar cooker

But it was rainy and cloudy, so Dan cooked some of our meals on his big BBQ. For water heating and one pan cooking, we used this . . .

rocket stove type cooker

The company I bought ours from no longer seems to be around, but a similar model can be seen at Amazon. That link will take you to the wood stick model, but you can see a dual-fuel wood or charcoal model there as well.

Girl Scout tip: rub the bottom of the kettle, pot, or pan with dishwashing liquid before cooking. Makes washing off the soot a lot easier. 

The nice thing about one of these is that they only require sticks, and not very many at that. The caveat is that sticks and kindling need to be dry! (That's a prepper note to self; thankfully we had plenty in the house). It can become tedious to keep feeding them to cook say, something like rice, but for that, it can be paired with a haybox cooker. 

You can see more photos and how Dan made it in this post.

Mine is in a cooler with scraps of wall insulation to help keep in heat. Hay or straw was used traditionally, but people use old quilts or comforters to good effect. It continues the cooking the food and frees up the rocket cooker for another dish or the water kettle.

Morning coffee? That wake-up cup was one indulgence we didn't have to give up without electricity. We have a stovetop percolator, but found it quicker to make it the night before using the kettle, French press, and Thermos. 

2-mug French press and 40-ounce Thermos vacuum bottle

The French press link is actually the one on my wish list, a 34 ounce size. Mine is 21 ounces, but it would be nice to get seconds for us in one press. You can find one-mug sizes as well.

The secret to keeping coffee hot overnight in the Thermos is to preheat it with hot water before pouring your hot beverage of choice into it. These simple accessories solved the waiting-on-the-water-to-boil-for-coffee-first-thing-in-the-morning dilemma. 

Next up is battery charging. Rechargeable batteries are typically plugged into a wall socket to recharge off the grid. But what are the options when the power goes out? 

Our set-up is a little more complicated than many may want, but it has some distinct advantages.

It was originally set up for a back porch kitchen vent fan.
The problem was the fan was too much for the battery, so it
got moved to the greenhouse. We use the battery for recharging.

Our setup consists of

The charger has two USB ports to charge batteries or anything with a USB hookup, like a cell phone. The advantage of having a 21-volt battery is that we can still recharge things without sun. I use it for the solar light bulbs and headlamps above, plus I have a multiple battery charger for our rechargeable AA and AAAs. 

PowerOwl 8-bay battery charger

And I run a USB solar light bulb from it for over the stove. This set-up is very handy.

Other options are solar phone chargers and a standalone solar AA and AAA battery charger. Those links will show you some options. The caveat is that without sun, no electricity is made. 

One last option for a home emergency kit is a solar and handcrank radio, flashlight, and phone recharger with USB ports. The one I'm linking to has a pre-programmed NOAA weather alert channel. The handcrank feature is really nice to power it up with no sun. More information at this Amazon link. I've added it to my own wish list.

But by relying on simple, inexpensive things, we were able to maintain a comfortable three days with little impact to our lifestyle.  Maybe some of them will be useful to you too.

Our internet just came back up yesterday evening, but it's still spotty as they continue to get the rest of the region back online. So I'll hit "publish" now while I've got the chance. 

34 comments:

1st Man said...

This is an EXCELLENT post. We have many of these items (being here in Hurricane country) and when we get the house built, we're going to take a lot of this into account with our planning. I've already got a list but you've reminded me of a few things. Thank you! Glad you all are safe.

Goatldi said...

OMGosh! Isn't it amazing how much of a make do or do without we have in our emergency books just from having been in such situations or having been raised by post depression parents or grandparents. My prepared plans circle around wildfire since I have been in over 15 of them since 2007 when the first lightning fires hit California. It certainly has been a fast track in preparation.

Boud said...

I'm glad you weren't too hard hit, and thank you for this terrific post full of lived experience.

Leigh said...

1st Man, good to hear from you! You've had your share of bad hurricanes lately too. Building anew, you have a great opportunity to plan some things into it house. Retrofitting like we've done is doable, but a little more work.

Leigh said...

Goatldi, that's a worrisome thing to have to prepare for! I know they frequently shut the grid down because of wildfires, so being prepared for power-out is a necessity for you too.

I have picked up so many good lifestyle tips from reading old books! Humans have been living on the earth without electricity for a whole lot longer than with. But how quickly we forget! Our biggest inconvenience was losing internet. Thankfully, that's all it was, an inconvenience. My daughter and son-in-law both work from home and they are still without power.

Leigh said...

Liz, thank you! I know you occasionally get post-hurricane weather events. They definitely make for blogging material!

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Lowes sells light bulbs that charge when used, but when the power goes out that charging system keeps the light bulbs on for several hours. We plan to get some of those soon.

Leigh said...

Kristina, I looked at those awhile back, but settled on the rechargeable ones instead. It just seemed a wiser use of the expense. I imagine the ones you mention come in very handy, though, at least until emergency supplies can be found and set up.

daisy g said...

Glad you made it through okay. I found the headlamps to be invaluable when our power was out. We were also able to use our cell phones as a "hot spot" to connect to the internet. Our cell phone company was kind enough to give us unlimited service for a month, to help with the internet issue.
Y'all are more prepared than most. Take care.

DFW said...

So happy you guys are safe & sound. So many people are not prepared to have even the basic necessities to survive w/o power. Thank you for the list. Reminded me I need to get Greg to build us a rocket stove.

Leigh said...

Daisy, great idea about the cell phones. I've been meaning to look into hot spots as an internet hookup alternative. We don't have a smart phone, but I believe they can be their own unit. At least our local library lends them out.

Some areas had their cell service knocked out; I guess towers were toppled(?) It's nice to be able to connect to find out what's going on.

Leigh said...

Deb, thanks! If you can build the rocket stove in, say, a carport, you'll have it made. Their fuel efficiency makes them an excellent choice.

Ed said...

Fortunately I don't live someplace where long power outages happen and if they do, they are so localized, it is easy to go someplace that does have power. Still, we do many of the things you suggest such as candles, cooking on grills and single burners, and keeping a stock of batteries to power things. Probably the one deficiency we have in this modern time is a way to recharge electronic devices. I may look for some sort of USB charger that can be cranked. I'm not sure I care to have the radio attached to the same device since in the past, the local radio stations don't put out a signal when the electricity is out too. Perhaps some bigger ones from further away have backup generators but they aren't much use in an outage situation like our local station would be.

Michelle said...

Thanks for reporting in. First, I can't even imagine TEN INCHES of rain – then the rest. So glad you weathered it so well!

Leigh said...

Ed, that's why I like our 100-watt solar panel and 12-volt wheelchair battery set-up. The charge controller has USB ports and it can handle anything with USB charging, even without sun.

I have to say we've been pretty fortunate with our utility company, and rarely have outages for more than several hours. Still, severe weather reeks wherever it erupts.

Leigh said...

Thanks Michelle! Most of the hurricanes have missed us this year, so I reckon it was our turn.

Anonymous said...

Some great information. I’m glad you are sage and did not experience much property damage. Cecilia

Leigh said...

Cecilia, we feel really fortunate. Not only in staying safe, but in getting our power and internet back so quickly. Some folks in the area are still without.

Toirdhealbheach Beucail said...

Leigh, thank you for the after event report. Glad you are okay (and prayers for your daughter and son-in-law).

Thanks for thinking of us apartment dwellers. The solar lightbulbs are especially useful looking.

A couple of additions, mostly from backpacking:

1) A hiker's rocket stove would be of great use to someone who lives in an apartment like we do where we cannot have grills on the balcony. It uses propane, but will heat water in 3-5 minutes.

2) A small storage battery is super useful for maintaining power for phones (assuming you have coverage, of course). Mine has been able to support phone recharges for six days.

Leigh said...

TB, thank you! And thank you for the excellent suggestions for apartment dwellers. I'm recalling that I used to have a hiker's backpack stove. (Once upon a time a long time ago).

Florida Farm Girl said...

So glad to hear you guys are okay. We dodged a big bullet when the storm nudged east a bit and wound up missing us. We did get about 8 inches of rain over the two days but since we were in drought conditions it didn't do much damage to us in flooding. No wind and no loss of power here on the hill. So many folks can be helped by your information. A storm kit can save lives.

Leigh said...

Sue, that's good news on both counts: safety and much needed rain.

I hope this blog post is helpful to folks. Yesterday I talked to a clerk in a store who's house was still without power. The devastation remains bad in some areas.

SmartAlex said...

We have a whole house generator, but I also have candles, oil lamps, a stock of lamp oil and a six pack of those big boxes of wooden matches. We could always build a camp fire and have plenty of wood. We keep our car tanks full and always have 5-15 gallons of gasoline in cans which we rotate out refilling our cars and then restocking. We run more risk of outages due to snow storms which has the added fun of freezing temps. We have family between N. August and Greenville SC who are still without power even now.

Leigh said...

Alex, preppers talk about backups to the backups, so it sounds like you have a good plan. We don't have a generator, but two of our neighbors do, so I was glad there wasn't a fuel shortage. The worst of that was in the first 24 hours, when there was no power to switch on the gas pumps.

There are a lot of people still without power throughout Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. It's a really tough situation.

Quinn said...

Just last night I made a note to buy another headlamp before Winter. My last rechargeable one had the little flap and teeny switch you described, and it was SO frustrating for a person with arthritic fingers. Thanks for your suggestions. And thanks for your comment on my blog - this is a hard one.

Leigh said...

Quinn, nothing is made with the challenges of the aging process in mind! And it's difficult to find quality any more. One of our headlamps has trouble with the charger plug; really frustrating. But at least it still works. Extras would be a good idea though.

Cederq said...

I am so glad you and your husband and 5 acres came through with a mere scratch! A treat for goats that love persimmon fruit, a neighbor had a wild one and would gather up the fruit and bring it over to me and it was candy on Christmas...

Leigh said...

Kevin, thank you. I feel incredibly relieved, now that reports are coming in from the worst struck areas.

The goats are really enjoying all those downed persimmon branches loaded with fruit! They seem to have their particular preference of ripeness. Yesterday i collected a gallon bucket of ripe ones for Dan and me.

Debby Riddle said...

Thankful you all are safe! We get some of both in California, including fire and flooding, but nothing like the hurricane damage some experienced this year. It does keep you thinking about preparedness. We need to create some solar battery charging and get another dual-fuel generator. It's always helpful to see what others are doing for that. Blessings

Rosalea said...

Great advice. Sure glad you folks came through relatively unscathed.

Leigh said...

Debby, I'm not sure it's possible to ever be fully prepared. But it sure helps to try. I will say that our solar charging station has been very handy!

Leigh said...

Rosalea, we feel very grateful for that. There are still lots of folks in North Carolina who are without power. So many lost everything.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Leigh, the link to Amazon for the solar light bulbs says they are not available. Do you have a link to another version of these? Thanks.

Leigh said...

Kristina, that must have been recent. Try these, Flyhoom Solar Light Bulbs. That's actually one of the brands I got. It's got a high, med, and low brightness and I'm very satisfied with them.