We city-dwellers are a dependent group. Several days ago, a large water main burst in our section of town, spewing liquid like a geyser and filling the parking lot of a nearby shopping center. I watched the chaotic scene unfold on a local TV news program-probably thanks to someone’s iPhone-and wondered if our water supply at home would be shut off. [See KOMO News]
Thankfully, it wasn’t. But within hours our water turned a most unattractive, murky brown. A neighbor, a retired plumbing engineer, assured me the discoloration was due to metal in the pipes, not sewage. But still, no way would I drink it. Yuck! I figured I wouldn’t launder a white load in the near future and was going to have to scrub the toilets as the discolored water left a residue. And I worried the sludge would accumulate in our hot water tank. This worried me so much that I started looking into sites similar to Water Heater Reviews (https://waterheaterreviewssite.com/) just in case we needed to replace ours.
We relied on bottled water for drinking that evening, but our supply was dwindling. The water quality improved the next day, but my husband dashed out in the morning and purchased more bottles for coffee. With the copious amounts of rainfall we get in the Northwest, it seemed almost humorous to buy bottled water! But we weren’t laughing. It really looked like we had to seek professional help from water suppliers like Switch, (find them here on switchwatersupplier.com) who might provide us a solution for the apparent apocalyptic situation that we were in at that time.
This scenario got me thinking: What should we have in the house to last us a few days, if not longer? I wish we had an Amish cellar teaming with canned goodies and a pump house out back that didn’t rely on electricity. My husband and I don’t eat much processed food, but I guess I should buy canned vegetables and fruit to keep on hand. Not to mention more water! I am going to seriously stock up on the water – you don’t realise how much you use until you can’t use the taps. I might even order from Custom Water so that I can advertise my blog and books on them. That way, when someone comes round I can give them a bottle and they can take it home. Water and free advertising; two birds with one stone!
Do you have any nuggets of advice for me in case we find ourselves without water or electricity? One of our friends recommended getting a water pump, as they recently had one installed after hearing about a good firm and going to visit their website, if only we lived by a well!
Someone who leaves a comment will win this cute Amish-made coffee/tea towel, plus a copy of either Pennsylvania Patchwork or Leaving Lancaster! USA only. Winner has one week to respond.
I’ve been without both at one time. I used a charcoal grill to cook and use bottled water to drink. It felt like back in the olden days.
Thanks for writing, Sandi! I stocked up on water once and the plastic bottles leaked! Fortunately they were in the basement.
Would be thrilled to win either of the books.
Thanks for writing, Bonnie! I’d love to have you read my books!
Coleman stove and Lantern or oil lamp and bottled water and most of all a purkulater coffee pot
Thank you for leaving your comment, Gerri! I shudder to think what would happen if I went a day without coffee!
Gas grill and a generator!! Our electric was off once so my husband had to hook the generator so our granddaughter — about three at the time — could watch tv! Because “Poppaw fixed it!” — we had one happy lil granddaughter!! Bottled water is always good to have on hand! Thanks for the chance to win the lovely potholder and one of your books!
rcourts@twc.com
Thanks for leaving a comment, Tammy, and such a sweet story about your husband. Is he a nice grandpa or what?
would love to win. angelachesnut246@gmail.com
Thanks for visiting my blog and entering the contest!
My husband and I keep a supply of canned foods on hand–just in case. We worry it’s not enough in case of a power outage. We’ve had storms come through that knocked our power out for five days–and we live in the middle of a large suburb.
Five days without electricity would be hard, Judy! I assume everything in the refrigerator and freezer went bad. I wonder how much nonperishable food and water is really needed.
Feel empty gallon jugs with water for drinking or whatever you need water for. Have a generator for electricity.
Loved Leaving Lancaster & would love to win Pennsylvania Patchwork & the adorable tea towel….thank you for the opportunity Kate
I’m glad you enjoyed reading Leaving Lancaster, Lorraine! Thanks for leaving your comment!
I never have been without water, thank God, but without electricity when we had bad storms in NJ and in KS. I always have canned and non perishable food and bottled water. Also, a regular (not electric) can opener. and touch lights that you can get a a dollar store. If their is a gas leak, candles might be a problem.Would love to win the tea (or should I say COFFEE?!?) towel .
Rita
godskid91@gmail.com
Thanks for leaving a comment, Rita! You’re right about candles. I singed a light shade by my bed one night while trying to read in the dark … I’ll have to look into finding touch lights at the dollar store!
Love your books, Kate, thanks for the contest. We are out in the middle of Tennessee farmland. rlepree@musfiber.com
Thank for your nice comment, Rachel, and for entering the contest!
would love to win either of these books as I havent read them. And the towel is adorable.
mike_michels2005@yahoo.com
Thank you for visiting my blog and entering the contest, Barbara! Good luck!
We’ve been without water and power on quite a few occasions. Try not to open the fridge or freezer too much or you may have to cook everything lol. If lack of power persists, buy ice and coolers for the frozen foods. If you have warning about the lack of water, fill buckets or the tub for a source of water for flushing the toilet.
Thank you for your sensible and useful advice, Carol!
Bottled water
and can goods, A non electric can opener…lots of candles plus oil lamps with oil stored separate. Would love to win 🙂 Pennsylvania Patchwork….Love your books!!!
hutchgurl54@msn.com
Thank you for leaving your comment and entering the contest! I hope you get a chance to read Pennsylvania Patchwork
A large quantity of water to flush toilets Candles, or flashlights or oil lamps
A wood stove, a camp stove, a sterno to heat things
keeping your refrigerator and freezer closed to keep them cold
Your books sound wonderful
God bless you May I ask where in the Pacific NW you live
Chris Granville small town in very SW Oregon
granvilleATfrontiernetDOTnet
Thanks for your great advice and for entering the contest! I’d love to have you read my books! I live in a large city that comes to a halt very quickly. When it snows, the town nearly shuts down.
Donna Taylor
We use our fireplace for heat when electric is off. Gas grill for cooking. And always keep bottled water on hand. Love the contest. Thanks for chance to win! God Bless.
donnac.taylor@hotmail.com
Thanks for your advice, Donna, and entering the contest! I guess the bottom line is bottled water in containers that won’t leak over time. I’ll have to check and see if they have an expiration date
small propane stove…. 5 gallons water per person…. canned and boxed food that can be made using only heat and water. bcatkinson@email.com
Thanks for your good advice and for entering the contest! We do drink a lot of water in this house. Good luck!
small propane stove, matches, bottled water, granola bars, GORP, coco & instant soup cups or packets. flashlight, nice candles, BOOKS. blankets, etc
Would love Penn. Patchwork!
mandn@wisper-wireless.com
Thanks so much for your suggestions and for entering the contest! I’d love you to read Pennsylvania Patchwork!
We live in tornado country and have a basement; I keep homemade canned fruits as well as canned items from the market-such as beans, soups, corn etc. I also keep several bottles of juice-apple and some tea and bottled water. As for the power going out-we have a gas bbq outside but do have a camp stove as well. We lost power in the ’08 tornado that destroyed much of our town-the markets gave out dry ice for freezers and coolers-which we used. We have candles and camp lanterns also. Our fireplace is gas and furnace is gas so the house stayed warm but we have lots and lots of quilts.
Thanks for this post.
Noreen
Thanks for writing, Noreen. Living where you do, I imagine you are well prepared! When I lived in CT, we had a small tornado and lost electricity for almost a week, but it was during the summer so we were warm. However all our food went bad. My husband & I have a gas fireplace, but it doesn’t put out much heat. When our furnace died a couple years ago … brrr!
As everyone else said–lots of warm blankets and bottled water, but the one thing ppl tend to forget is water for flushing the toilets! And that can be water that may or may not be clean–you could fill the tub, so it is near the toilet and handy.
Plus plenty of foods that can be heated easily, or eaten w/o heat, and we have a Propane BBQ & a Propane camp stove and a Propane Lantern, but I believe all of those would have to be used OUTSIDE. Make sure you have plenty of Propane on hand & flashlights & fresh batteries for them. Also, a battery powered radio would also be good. Hmm–have I forgotten anything? Probably. Do I myself have everything? Probably not where it is handy ‘just in case’! Guess I should get more prepared as well.
And yes, I would love to win a book!
Vicki
vmarney at hot mail
Thank you for your great suggestions. Just the other day I was out in the yard tipping over buckets of water that I should probably keep … we do have a couple battery operated radios and clocks, but I should check on our battery supply! Good luck on the contest!
When we have lost power in Florida. We used candles, lanterns, flashlights. In North Carolina we use oil lamps and flashlights. We use a wood stove for heating our house in the winter. They flushed are lines on Saturday and our water turned the same color but after letting the water run for just a little it got better then back to normal. Yes as you do we drink bottled water.
Thank you for writing, LeAnn! Right now, warm Florida seems pretty nice!
We keep a hurricane lantern and candles just in case. Propane stove and grill. We also catch rainwater so we will have water just in case no electricity. I love the battery candles. Great since we have allergy problems. We live in the country so I keep a well stocked pantry. I would love to win the fowl and book. fishingjan at aoldotcom
Thank you for your suggestions, Jan, and for entering the contest! You mentioned allergies … and it made me think that too much smoke in the house makes me sneeze. I’m going to buy some battery candles!
A 72 hour kit is a must. We keep emergency necessities in the basement. There are many useful websites for provident living that can answer how much per person, etc. It is good that you reminded people to prepare for emergencies that occur. Sometimes we just think of emergencies on a larger scale, such as earthquakes, etc. However, they can be a simple and local power outage, due to a car accident, a broken pipe or such and then we might find ourselves in need if not prepared.
You are right, Sonja. Up in our beach cabin, we’ve lost electricity when a car hit a tree and also from branches breaking the power lines. Then we lose our well water too, as it relies on an electrical pump. I like the idea of a 72 hour kit!
If you lose power and have solar lights outside,bring those in and use for light.Keep a cooler available and then fill with ice to put things in that you need to keep cold.If you have a freezer keep bags of ice in it to keep the frozen food froze.Always save jugs and keep fresh water in just in case.When you change the water,use to water flowers or etc.Always keep gas in your gas grill,and hand can opener to open cans.Keep a supply of batteries and candles.
Great ideas, Jackie! Thanks for writing. I wonder how much gas is in our grill’s tank. We tried using solar lights in our yard, but never got enough sunlight. How’s that for depressing?
Power outages for us mean no water because the well is electric. We store water, cases of it. We also have a water barrel. Before a storm, we fill large buckets and have them ready in the tub and shower stall for flushing. During a ten-day power outage in 2008 after a bad ice storm, we managed quite well because we also filled up ten empty cat litter buckets with water and had that ready in the garage for flushing. We have an electric stove with a gas cook top. We can cook on the gas cooktop simply by lighting it with a match because during outages the electric start won’t work. We also have cooked in our wood stove with Dutch ovens. Knowing how to can your own food is a great skill to have. In the power outage we had, my small chest freezer started to defrost and I was able to can all my frozen berries into jams and juices, and canned all the meats, as well. Nice to not lose anything because of the outages. If you go this route, you need to keep stocked up on jars and jar lids. It is good to have a supply at home just in case. I can’t tell you how many times we have appreciated that we didn’t have to go out for something because we were prepared. I keep batteries, tarps, camping gear, and other things at the ready, too. The freezer contains reusable “ice” things so I can always put stuff in a cooler and have long-lasting cold. Right after Christmas, you can buy candles dirt cheap, so stock up on those. I also make hand dipped beeswax candles because I know a beekeeper and get wax cheap. Have a car charger for your cell phone. If possible, have a hand crank charger for it, too. These have really been lifesavers for us. Also, get a car charger for your Kindle or Nook. Remember that during a prolonged disaster or power outage, you will be tired. Pace yourself. Get enough rest. Try to do big jobs in the morning so you don’t run out of light. Trust that you have prepared. Try not to worry. Pray for strength to handle whatever has happened. Check on neighbors.
Wow, you are amazing, Judy! Thanks for sharing your strategies with us! A hand crank charger sounds like a perfect gift for my husband for Christmas, plus one for me. I bought him a battery charged generator last year, but it turned out to not produce enough juice to even charge a computer let alone boil water in our electric kettle.
We keep several 2 liter bottles of water and soda(diet coke) in a pantry off the kitchen, and some juice in quart containers just in case. We lose power a lot in the fall/winter here (we’re in the PNW also), so canned foods like chili, veggies & pasta that can be heated on the woodstove (or a camp stove) are handy to have, and they’re usually good for a long time. Might want to think about getting a filtered water pitcher, like a Brita or Pur system, just in case it happens again. Brown or rusty water sounds icky. 😛
Would love to read your books. 🙂 Karen R. kjrochon40@msn.com
Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment, Karen! Good thinking about the filtered water pitcher. I’d love to have you read my books too! Good luck on the contest!
We have a couple LED lanterns we use for power outages, they require no batteries. We also have a rotating supply of drinking water in our pantry for those times also. Some day we hope to have a rain barrel going so we could use that for cooking. Hope you get some ideas out of this list – I’ve read some good ones!
lattebooks at hotmail dot com
I am getting good ideas, Susan! Thanks for adding to the list. I’ve never heard of an LED lantern that doesn’t require a battery and will look into that. I should also rotate our extra drinking water. As mentioned above, I stored some down in our basement once and the plastic containers broke down … water all over the floor.
Camping items come in handy. You can get the cookers that run on the small propane bottles. We always make sure we have oil lamps with extra oil and matches instead of battery lamps.
Thanks for your ideas, Mary! Why do you use oil lamps instead of battery powered lamps?
I love reading your books.would love to win.Have a Bless day
Thanks, Linda! To enter I need some contact info …
If you have the space it is always good to store extra bottles of water and some in the gallon size too for flushing the toilet if your electricity or water should be shut off. Also, it is good to have healthy snack bars on hand. A flashlight at the ready…making sure the batteries are working and several candles. Some good warm blankets/quilts are good to have on hand just in case you lose the ability to produce heat. Of course the usual…a battery operated radio too. When all else fails, check in to a B&B, Hotel, or Motel!!! 🙂
Blessings!
Judy B
judyjohn2004(at)yahoo(dot)com
Thanks for your useful advice, Judy! I like the idea of the B&B best … good luck in the contest!
Hello! Big bottled water dispensers are great. A nice generator can help with the power. Candles and gas lamps also work, such as kerosene heaters in winter.
Thanks for the good tips! A bottled water dispenser is a terrific idea.
plenty of bottles water and a grill
Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting,Trichie!
I would love to win.i love amish books.thanks 2 years ago we were in Lancaster pa.we loved it.denise gore
Thanks for writing, Denise! We love Lancaster County too.
You can never have enough water or board games!
Thanks for your good advice, Stephanie! I think you’re right about the water and we don’t want anyone to get bored.
Just bought emergency food supplies in 2 large buckets from Costco. Also have water, canned meats and canned vegetables. Hope to win today! sharon, CA
Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving your great comment, Sharon! Next time I go to the grocery store, and going to stock up.
Gas generators, weather radio & batteries, water, canned foods, charged batteries for laptop, etc., coolers & extra ice, oil lamps with oil, &/or other lights with batteries.
Thanks for the opportunity to win your book, Kate !
bonnieroof60(at)yahoo(dot)com
Thanks for your terrific suggestions, Bonbon, and for entering the contest! Oh, dear, my husband just told me we can’t swap batteries on our computers. Guess we need a generator.
We’ve been without both but at different times. We have a campstove we use when there is no electricity, but it must be used outside for safety. It’s always good to have an alternate source in case of emergency. And of course flashlights are always handy.
Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving your informational comment, Polly! You are so right about having an alternate source.
I lived most of my life in tornado alley, so we kind of got used to being prepared. In our tornado shelter, we kept flats of bottled water and food items that wouldn’t need to be cooked. Now, that we live in the north, we have added a camp stove and small propane containers to our stash. What about handling the toilet issue? A long time ago, my father had a simple “porta potty” that used plastic bags to collect the waste. I know that doesn’t sound pleasant; however, it does eliminate the need for water to flush the toilet.
You must have incredible stories to tell, Naomi! Thanks for the practical ideas.
I think everything you need has already been mentioned that i could think of. Lots of good ideas. Please enter me in this giveaway. Donna d.brookmyer@yahoo.com
Thank for visiting my blog and entering the contest, Donna!
Bottled water for drinking and cooking, jugs of water for flushing, bathtub filled with water if you have notice, canned foods, flashlights and lanterns, gas grill for cooking—we prepare for hurricanes and keep stocked up year-round! I would like very much to win one of your books as I haven’t read either of them. Thank you! jynhoffman@yahoo.com