We had a power outage last night starting about 9.30 pm. It was throughout our neighborhood - everything was pitch dark. No internet.
And the times being what they are, I realized that we had no idea about what the cause of the outage was. Back in the day, everyone had a little battery-powered transistor radio. We don’t have those anymore.
So we didn’t know if the outage was in our town or in all of Boston or across the eastern seaboard.
It turned out to come back on a little later, although we still don’t know the cause.
Anyway, it got me wondering about steps people take to prep for a power outage. There are some people, in more rural areas, who have installed their own generators.
I don’t need to go that far. But I know the care that this group takes to anticipate and prepare for adverse events, so I was wondering what you guys do, and what you would recommend.
I think I’ll ask my local utility too … so stay tuned.
Here’s a little more about power outages from years ago from @ClaudnDaye
I used to live in an area of suburban NYC that had terrible infrastructure and would lose power for days at a time during storm season. Honestly it never impacted diabetes care, even though it was a pain in the ass in many other ways.
My power company lets met set up texts telling me when the power is out, what areas are affected, and how long it will likely be out for. That provides some information at least. I have no plan for dealing with long term outages, however, and while I live in the city I should really still make one.
You don’t really need to worry about keeping insulin cold. It’s fine. I survived college without ever putting my insulin in the fridge. And some of my dorm rooms did not have air conditioning.
The main thing is making sure you have adequate food, water, and warmth if there is a natural disaster. But that’s the same for everyone.
As far as the 'betes stuff, I think the main thing is to have the ability to charge your phone or pump if you use something like that for insulin.
If you have a car, then having a full tank of gas will give you many days of charging ability. Having some portable chargers that are all charged up is also very helpful. If you depend on a phone or pump, make sure you can charge it!
People generally have an adequate supply of their 'betes stuffs available. Unless you are making weekly trips to the pharmacy to get new supplies, your 'betes stash is probably fine. But it is a good idea to have it overstocked a bit, for any possibility. So make sure you have built a good stash.
And the other thing specific to the 'betes is to have adequate sugar sources available.
Other than that, I think a power outage is the same for us as it is for anyone else. It sucks, but it isn’t too much of an impact on the 'betes.
Our power goes out fairly regularly (it’s our new reality, because it never used to), so I purchased a gas generator and 2 end of the world coolers. I keep a bunch of refreezeable ice packs in my freezer to use in the coolers just in case. We have food, water, medical supplies and personal hygiene products for myself and my spouse plus our pets to last 4 weeks. I also added cash and coins to our kit so we could barter if necessary.
We also happen to live in earthquake country so you never can be too prepared. After reading what I just wrote, I guess I s come across as a crackpot prepper. The generator however has paid off what it cost in just the first 2 years.
Well pump…No power…No water. Keep some extra water on hand for flushing the toilet. You can get by with no power, but no water becomes a much bigger issue.
We, too, have a generator and it’s been very useful during winter power outages (infrequent but we have an all-electric house built in the 80s). We have also upgraded almost all the heaters to more energy efficient units.
The food that we used to toss, especially the dairy based items that were ruined because we were unable to keep them cold enough during the outages used to be a bummer. Now I just plug an extension cord from the fridge to the generator and nothing is lost. No waste, all savings.
@Eric , that’s a stellar idea! I may have to do that one summer day this year. I might also p+++ off more than a few of my neighbors doing so, but then again you only live once so why not have fun doing it! I wonder what it costs to rent a slushy machine??? Adult slushies anyone?
So it has to be a hot day, the power has to go out, and you have to be ready with slushees to sell on your front yard, courtesy of your backup generator. send pix. (and thanks for the explanation).
rule of 3–you can stay alive 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food. not that dying of dehydration over 3 days is recommended. most people forget about water, focus on food.
I’d guess that insulin can keep well without refrigeration for a good amount of time. don’t refrigerate my humalog after opening, don’t notice loss of potency over the month before I discard. guessing the one-month discard rule is also very conservative. ditto lantus, unrefrigerated up to a week when I’m camping. camping teaches electricity optional.
live 5 miles from Northern Hayward Fault, probably highest risk for 7.0+ quake in lower 48. unlikely in my lifetime, but my kids… substantial prep, no need to go into details. if announced outage, crank refrigerator up to max in advance, don’t open until power back. keep frozen water (packets/bottles) in unused freezer space, will add cold thermal mass to unopened refrigerator.
