Do You Have An Emergency Kit?

Everyone in the area experienced power outages last spring and summer due to severe weather, and this year has the potential to be just as voliatle when it comes to the kind of storms we can expect to see. From uncomfortable heat to lost food and medicine, we were all affected in some way, shape or form, and in some cases the power was out for over a week!

While there isn't anything we can do to prevent the power from going out in the event of severe weather, there are steps that we can take to help get us through until the power comes back on. Here are some helpful suggestions:

-Keep enough bottled water in your home for one week. The average person needs one gallon of water per day. Keep gallons or bottles off the floor, elevated on a shelf.

-Keep one flashlight per person in a central location, and change the batteries every six months. A good time to do this would be every time change we have; just as we change the batteries in our smoke detectors, change the batteries in your flashlights just as often.

-Food in the freezer can last up to 48 hours if the freezer is full, and 24 hours if it's half full, provided it's not opened and closed frequently during this time. Food in the refrigerator will only last about 4 hours in a power outage. Throw out any dairy, meat, cream based dressing or leafy green that's been in a refirgerator with the power out for longer than 4 hours.

-Keep one weeks' worth of non perishable food in your home at all times. Peanut butter, canned foods, granola, peanuts and the like are all excellent foods to keep on hand, along with any foods that can be heated on an outdoor grill.

-When in doubt, throw it out!

-Enjoy the silence! One of the things that I personally found last summer during the several days my power was out was how peaceful and quiet things were, especially at night. Without the usual light pollution we normally have, it was fantatsic to see the starscape and everything else out there and up there. Take advantage of the downtime to read a book, relax, play a board game and enjoy the company that you keep.