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Our area was recently impacted by Hurricane Helene, which I think for many people turned out to be much worse than they expected. We are one of those families that tries to always stay prepared for these kinds of events, but based on what I saw friends and family saying on social media, it seems like most people were taken off guard.
It’s still very much hurricane season in the Southeast, so it’s not too late to start preparing for the next storm. For most of the people I know, the biggest issue with this storm was losing power. There are some people in our area who are going on almost a week without power. Losing water is also a concern, but in this post, I’m going to focus on the essentials to have in case of a power outage.
For more general advice about preparing for an emergency, check out this post!
How to Prepare for a Power Outage
Get cash from the ATM
While you may get power back quickly, other places in your area may not. You want to be able to buy food and gas if businesses aren’t able to take cards!
Stock up on non-perishable food
Think about what your family likes to eat that doesn’t have to be refrigerated or heated up to eat. A few things to have on hand or buy in advance of bad weather could be:
bread, peanut butter, tuna pouches, canned chicken, protein bars, beef jerky, fruit/apple sauce pouches, jelly, nuts, crackers, dry cereal, shelf stable milk, canned vegetables, apples, and bananas
Get gas in your car
In many areas of the Southeast, gas stations ran out of gas as people filled up to try to get out of dangerous areas. It’s best to fill up your car before the bad weather hits, because roads may be impassable after the fact.
It’s also very helpful to have a small 3-5 gallon gas can. You don’t want to use your only gas sitting in your car waiting for gas. Having a gas can could allow one person to drop you off to wait.
Buy disposable dinnerware
This is more of a convenience than a need, but having paper plates and silverware is nice if you’re not able to wash dishes or use the dishwasher.
We live off a well for water, so with no power we have no water. Paper goods are a necessity at that point!
Charge your solar powered battery pack
In our world where we have come to rely on electronic devices (maybe to a fault!), being able to charge and recharge a cell phone with a solar powered battery pack during a power outage is a necessity. When you hear of a storm building go ahead and charge this as it won’t charge during the rain storm.
Get out your weather radio
A weather radio is helpful if you’re in an area where storms are lasting for several days. Additionally, even after some of our friends lost power, they still didn’t have cell phone service. It’s important to stay on top of emergency announcements.
Buy propane
If you have meat or other food in your freezer that is slowly thawing during an outage, you can still cook it if you have propane and a grill or camp stove! Being able to eat hot food during a power outage is a real morale booster.
Charge your solar powered fan
You may not need this if your power goes out in the winter, but at least during Hurricane Helene, it was still extremely hot outside, and many of us are used to having AC all day long. A solar powered fan can keep air moving in your home and keep everyone cool.
Get out your LED lanterns
Having several of these lanterns could really help everyone’s mental health during a power outage, because kids can use one to go to the bathroom alone, or even allow you all to do a puzzle or read a book in the evening.
Make sure you have your medication
Gather all important daily medications together before the storm hits so you can find them. Some friends of ours left town when the power went out, and in the chaos, the wife left all of her medication at home. Thankfully, it turned out OK, but thinking about this ahead of time can help.
Buy batteries
It’s always a good idea to have extra batteries on hand. I’m linking to AA batteries, but make sure you have the batteries that work for what you have!
Charge your rechargeable lightbulbs
I only recently found out that these were a thing! If charged, these lightbulbs will last about 4-5 hours. These could be really helpful to have in one room for the evening hours before bedtime. Just make sure they’re charged before the storm!
Find your first aid kit
You may have plenty of bandaids in your house, but having a whole first aid kit in one place where you can easily find it when the power goes out is helpful. Use a large bin and let that be where you keep some of the items on this list so they don’t get used up when you’re not having a power outage.
Clean your cooler
Buying ice ahead of time and filling your freezer will let you preserve food and hopefully not waste too much. You can move expensive food items like meat and dairy into a cooler with ice and still be able to use those things for a few days.
I wanted to share one more piece of helpful information that I’ve also shared with friends and family: How do you know what you can keep in your fridge and freezer? This post lets you know what you’ll need to throw out depending on how long your power was out.
