Living without Electricity

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Living without Electricity
Written by Janie Harris, M.Ed., CRS Housing and
Environment Specialist Modified by Vincent
Mannino, County Extension Director
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Its Going to Happen

• A sudden ice storm
• Tornado
• Hurricane
• Severe thunderstorm
• Tree falling on your own personal segment of the
  grid
• Man-made
• Faulty power company equipment
• Accident-related

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Effect is the Same

• Everything electrical in your home or business
  stops working
• Unknown when it will come back on
• May be off for minutes
• May be off for hours
• May be off for days

4
Loss of Power Loss of Normalcy

• Cooking meals
• Lighting after dark
• Keeping warm or cool
• Information
• Water supply
• Septic system or sewage

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What Can You Do If the Power Goes Off?

• Learn now what you can do to mitigate your
  difficulties
• Learn what you can do to keep your situation
  under control
• Dont depend on utility companies to help
  immediately

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Five Areas Critical to Daily Survival

• Light
• Water
• Cooking
• Heating/Cooling
• Communication
• Septic system for some
• Reference Backwoods Home Magazine, Anita
  Evangelista

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Light

• Flashlight
• One for each family member
• Three extra sets of batteries for each flashlight
  (all same size, if possible)
• Store where you can reach it easily
  in the dark
• Consider rechargeable batteries
• DC-powered rechargers or solar rechargers

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Light

• Lantern
• Better for groups
• Three extra sets of batteries for each lantern
  (all same size, if possible)
• Store where you can reach it easily in the dark
• Consider rechargeable batteries
• DC-powered rechargers or solar rechargers

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Light (continued)

• Candles
• Oil (kerosene) lamps
• Solar-powered lamps
• crank-generated power lamps

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Water

• Public water supply
• Electrically powered home water pump
• Store water now
• Bottled water
• Rainwater harvesting system
• Other sources of water in home
• Determine your household water
  needs IN ADVANCE

1 gallon per person per day
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Cooking

• Grilling or barbecuing
• Charcoals
• Wood
• Matches
• Propane bottles for grill
• Campfire cooking
• Propane/butane camp stoves
• Solar cooking

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Food Safety During Power Outages

• Use food in the refrigerator first.
• Freezer second
• - make a list of foods in the freezer to reduce
  of times the freezer door is opened
• Emergency food supplies third

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Word About Refrigerators/Freezers

• One person is in-charge of
• Opening refrigerators/freezers
• Removing food
• Deciding what foods to eat/prepare
• Storing left-overs

Try Me!
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Keeping Foods Cool

• Ice Chests not all the same
• Buried old broken freezer or refrigerator
• Kerosene refrigerator/freezer
• Portable battery-powered refrigerators
• Refrigerator that runs off DC and AC power that
  can be plugged into your car battery through the
  cigarette lighter outlet or into a solar power
  system

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Keeping Foods Cool

• Not all foods need to be refrigerated
• Refrigerate meats, dairy products, and leftovers

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Keeping Foods Cool

• Keep Frozen Food Safe
• Keep an appliance thermometer in the freezer.
• temperature for a deep freezer is 0o F
• Store meat/poultry on lowest shelves.
• Food in the freezer should stay frozen for 1-2
  days depending on how full it is.
• Keep a list of foods inside freezer and
  refrigerator to keep from opening it too often
• One person should be in-charge of taking food out
  of the freezer or refrigerator

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Keeping Foods Cool

• Keep Frozen Food Safe
• If thawed, many frozen foods can be refrozen IF
  ice crystals are present.
• If food is thawed but freezer temperature stays
  at 40 or below, the food should be safe to eat.
• If frozen foods have thawed and been at 40?F or
  warmer for 2 or more hours, some will need to be
  thrown out.

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Foods that do not need refrigeration

• Grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (in a can or
  jar)
• Butter and margarine that is wrapped or in a
  covered container
• Raw fruits and vegetables (that have not been cut
  up)
• Peanut butter, jelly,
• relish, taco sauce,
• mustard, catsup, olives and pickles
• Worcestershire, soy and barbeque sauces

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Foods that do not need refrigeration

• Vinegar-based dressings
• Dried and candied fruits and dates
• Hard cheese (Cheddar, Colby, Swiss, Parmesan, and
  Romano)
• Processed cheese
• Bread, rolls, cakes, muffins, quick breads and
  tortillas
• Waffles, pancakes and bagels
• Fruit pies
• Fresh mushrooms, herbs and spices

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Keeping Foods Cool

• Pot-in-Pot method to cool fresh produce (use 2
  unglazed clay pots, identical shape, one larger
  than the other) (plug holes in bottom)

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Food Safety

• A fact sheet and PowerPoint presentation
  developed by Dr. Jenna Anding, Nutrition
  Specialist, focuses on
• Importance of food safety
• Handling food and water safely after a disaster
• Keeping food safe when to keep it and when to
  throw it out after a disaster
• http//texashelp.tamu.edu

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Heating

• Wood-burning fireplace
• Wood stove
• Propane heaters
• Kerosene heaters
• Solar heat

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Cooling a Residence

• Battery-powered fans
• Solar-powered fans
• Open windows (screens needed)
• Shades over outside of windows and doors where
  sun rays hit
• Hang a wet sheet over an open window, and let the
  wind blow through it

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Communications

• Battery-powered radio
• Batteries or radio plugged into car battery
  through the cigarette lighter
• Battery-powered TV (must be digital )
• Phone plugged directly into the phone jack
• Shortwave radio
• Satellite Internet hookup that uses a
  battery-powered laptop
• Citizens band radios (CB)
• Short range FM-band devices

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Keeping Things Normal

• Keep routines as close to normal as possible
• Do the same things you do when the power is on
• Practice living without electricity
• Try campouts,
• Outdoor cooking

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Practice, practice, practice!
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Do What Survivalist Do?

• Practice no television, radio or computer one day
  per month
• Cook entire meals outdoors once every two weeks
• Learn to use a Dutch oven outdoors

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Do What Survivalist Do?

• Camp in the backyard on day per month or local
  campground
• Learn home food preservation
• Plant a garden or an edible landscape

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Do What Survivalist Do?

• Preparing for an emergency
• Assemble your disaster supplies kit
• Pack enough supplies so you can take care of
  yourself and your family without any outside help
  for AT LEAST 3 days
• Kit contents will depend on
• Size of the family
• Special needs

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Do What Survivalist Do?

• What is in a Disaster Supply Kit?
• Food Water (3-day supply)
• Utensils
• Clean air items (masks, plastic sheeting)
• In case of chemical explosion
• Extra clothing
• First aid kit
• Emergency items (e.g. battery operated radio,
  flashlights, batteries, garbage bags, baby wipes,
  toilet paper)
• Special needs items (diapers, medications, etc)

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Do What Survivalist Do?
Foods to include in a disaster kit

• Protein bars Ready-to-eat cereals
• Fruit bars Smoked/dried meat
• Granola bars Canned soups/stews
• Formula/baby food Foods for medical cond.
• Dried /or canned fruit Multi-vitamins
• Nuts/peanut butter Comfort foods
• Crackers
• Canned juices
• Canned meats (tuna, chix, beef)
• Meals ready to eat (MREs)
• Shelf-stable milk

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Do What Survivalist Do?

• Storing your emergency supplies
• Pack in air-tight containers or heavy duty
  plastic bags to keep moisture and insects out.
• Watch best if used by and/or expiration dates.
• Rotate food supplies
• If flooding is a concern, store off the floor.

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Questions ???
Resources
http//texashelp.tamu.edu
http//www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/evangelista
73.html http//www.fema.gov/