We’ve all been there: you’re in the middle of something important and the power goes out.
Maybe your football team was about to run it on fourth down or you’re about to find out who did it on your latest binge-watch, but suddenly, you’re in the dark.
Most of the time, the power comes back on relatively quickly and you can follow a few easy rules to minimize the impact on your life. Don’t open the fridge, light a few candles, and try not to use up your phone battery watching cat videos on YouTube. It seems easy enough, but depending on the cause of the outage, it could take days or even days to restore power.
If the power grid goes down because of bad weather, you were probably anticipating it. However, what if it happens because of a technical or large scale grid failure? It’s much better to make sure you’ve got everything ready to go.
Here is a list of important things to do when the lights aren’t coming back on:
1) Get Your Emergency Bag
Grab your emergency gear bag, which should be ready with everything you need to survive. Not sure where to start? Check out our Bug Out Bag Checklist, or better yet our fully equipped Survival Systems.
2) Get Connected
If you have a smartphone with data that’s getting signal, go online to check the news, social media, and the power company website for updates on the situation. Turn on your generator if you have one. If you don’t, your car can be used as a temporary generator to charge devices.
3) Stay Warm
Warm clothes and thermal blankets are a must-have in the winter. If the power stays out for a few days you need to make sure you conserve heat. Make sure you have extra layers ready in an easy to reach location.
4) Lights On
Pull out your flashlight and candles. You’ll also want to make sure to keep fully-charged back-up batteries in your bag so they’re ready for any situation. Solar-powered chargers can be helpful if the outage lasts for several days, but if the power grid goes down in the evening, you’ll want your battery charged. Check out The Zeus, which is a flashlight and dual USB Charger, to keep you at full capacity.
The Zeus can take your iPhone Plus from zero to 100% battery life at least 10 times. When used as a flashlight, the Zeus can supply light for days on end.
This portable battery charger will help keep you safe, fully recharge your power tools, and revive your dead devices or car if no power supply is near.
5) Food and Water
Food and water are crucial concerns in longer power outages. If you can’t get water fill a bathtub for filtration later. Fill locking freezer bags with water and keep them in the freezer. During a blackout, they’ll help the freezer stay cold longer. Move food to the freezer to prevent spoiling and try not to open the door often to conserve the cold.
6) Cooking Prep
Gather items that would be good as fuel for a fire if you need one. Try keeping a camping stove in your garage if you don’t have a grill for water filtration or cooking meals.
7) Protect Electronics
Unplug any electronics so when the power comes back on it won’t surge and ruin your TV or computer. That way you will be ready to communicate and not ruin any of your valuables in the process.
