We have come through the most significant ice storm of 2018 for our area. I thought this would be a good chance to review what we did to prepare and what we could have done better. This storm was hardly an inconvenience for us but was a major pain for thousands. A total of 400,000 people lost their power in Southern Ontario and, as of Tuesday morning, 36,000 were still waiting for power to be restored according to the CBC.
Some folks in the Peterborough area apparently will have to wait for the weekend for full power restoration.
We had a full couple of days warning for this one, thanks to current weather forecasting capabilities. There is not much excuse if you were caught unawares. If you are a reader of this blog, you probably are at least part of the way along with being able to deal with this kind of weather-related emergency. I posted the following on a Facebook group I belong to Ontario homesteaders, preppers, foragers and off the grid living!
How many people in the way of the ice storm took any special precautions? We filled a couple of tub/totes with water for general cleanup etc. We have about 150 gallons of potable in our system. Moved a propane tank from the RV to the garage, along with a portable BBQ and adapter hose for the tank. Cooked up a pot of soup so it was ready. We can heat it on the freestanding woodstove by removing a grill on the flat top. Not much else was necessary that I could think of.
I got some great responses. A lot of people’s actions were different because of their circumstances, but I collected all the suggestions and made a list. I have reproduced it below. There were a few things that I didn’t think to do that I should have. I have grouped some of the suggestions into categories. Let’s take a look.
Water
- Filled Rubbermaid totes with water and located in each bathroom
- Filled bathtub with water
- Topped up water supply for animals inside and outside the house
- Checked cases of water
- Take showers before potential power loss
- Do laundry before potential power loss
These are pretty much automatic for anyone who has read even the most basic literature on emergency preparedness. A number of people in the FB group had off-grid or rural situations and had their own water supply (some with hand pump capability or electrical supply (battery bank or generator to run pumps).
A lot of people are aware that their water tank holds potable water and can be accessed through the drain valve. Remember to shut off power to the water tank if you are draining down the water to prevent problems when the power comes back on. If you are in a two-story home with running water in the upper floor, there can be a surprising amount of water just in your homes water pipes. Easy to access by turning on a tap at the lowest level.
Anyone with a hot tub or indoor pool also has access to a lot of water that is fine for washing or flushing toilets. Of course, with snow on the ground, you can access water for hygienic purposes by melting it, assuming you have enough fuel for cooking and melting. If snow is melting, putting containers under the downspouts of your eavestroughs can provide a lot of water relatively quickly. This goes double for rain in the warmer months.
At our place, we have a couple of 250 gallon totes to collect rainwater for the garden (amazing what a long hard dry spell one summer will prompt you to do). We also have a couple of rain barrels to collect water off of the garden shed roof. Having too much water isn’t much of a problem. Having not enough sure is.
Here is a one-page chlorination guide you should print out and stick in a binder.
Cooking/Food
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A simple one burner stove fueled with a portable propane bottle will make more than a dozen one-pot meals. Moved a propane tank into a sheltered area with portable BBQ grill and adapter line for 20lb tank
- Moved single burner (portable propane bottle fueled) camp stove into a sunroom/porch/overhang
- Precooked a pot of soup (or any other easy to deal with meal) – easy warmup on a flat-top woodstove
- Have snacks on hand (apples or other fresh fruit, bread for sandwiches, etc.) for a quick energy boost
- Turn the refrigerator and freezer temps down to their coldest level, so they start any power outage as cold as possible
Different times I have moved our barbecue into the garage when we planned a grilled meal and the weather tried to interfere. Of course, I always make sure the cooking space is ventilated. I don’t mind cooking outside, even in the rain, but a stiff breeze makes it difficult to control heat levels. If you are planning to possibly put up with no power for a few days, spending five minutes or less to move the ‘cue is time well spent.
Energy
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Battery powered night lights or closet lights come in pucks or strips. Batteries will last a long time. Check wireless LED push/touch on strips of pucks (bedside table or closet style)
- Check LED camp lanterns
- Checked power packs for cell phones
- Checked battery supply
- Made sure flashlights were available
- Checked candles and matches supply
- Checked oil lamps available and fueled
- Topped up gas in vehicles (most second vehicles/ATV’s etc are a handy place to store extra gasoline if you have a transfer siphon
- Checked spare gas cans
- Checked fuel supply in emergency generator
- Checked location of the inverter for the vehicle
- Brought in extra firewood
- Picked up bioethanol for ethanol fire pit
We have 3 or 4 little push button LED units as spotlighting for our closets. Our last house had an automatic light come on when you open closet doors. That kind of spoils you. Portable stick on units aren’t as good but are waaaay better than no light. Ours don’t stick on. They have bases that are mounted and then the units themselves are held on with magnets, so are easily moved to another location. However you choose to go, units like these are available for under ten bucks in packs of two. Lie them on their back on a flat surface and they provide useable area light during an outage.
You can check an earlier post on this site under the category of “Survival Harvesting Purchases” to see our purchasing philosophy. There is virtually never a need to check battery supplies around here. Modern batteries can be stored for years with virtually no power loss. Duracells claim no drop off for seven years, guaranteed. So we always have a 3-4 year supply on hand. When we drop down to 3 years, we buy another pack or two when the next sale comes up.
The cell phones get charged every night as a matter of course, but I also have three different size portable battery packs. One stays in the family auto and gets plugged into the DC power socket for any drive of more than a couple of hours. One stays plugged into my desktop and one is small enough to fit in a side pocket of my shoulder bag when I go out.
This past storm we forgot to top up the gas tanks in the truck and SUV. Both were at the quarter tank mark, so due for fill-ups. Our bad. We did have a couple of five gallon containers with spare gas on hand.
There are lots of flashlights around the place. We do have several sets of headlamps. They are so inexpensive now, and so handy when you have to work on something in a cramped space, or are walking through the property at night that I bought extra to ensure the vehicles always had at least one onboard.
Just a word about bio-ethanol fire pits or fireplaces. I don’t own one but am familiar with them. They provide around 2000BTUs/hour per burner. Don’t expect them to heat your home, but they can take the chill off a room and remove dampness in the air. They are not meant for continuous use or to heat food. Essentially they are meant to be decorative and provide ambiance, but there is no discounting the fact that they do provide some heat.
I looked up their emissions just to be sure. I knew that the by-products of perfect ethanol combustion should be CO2 and water but checking twice is never bad. The International Society for Environmental Epidemiology says that in testing, ethanol burners released as much as 2000 ppm of CO2 as actually measured in an emissions chamber. NO2 levels reached 350 µg/m³, which would require anyone with a respiratory condition, children, and older people to limit their exertion.
The US Navy operates their submarines in levels of CO2 that reach 8,000 ppm. That tells you something about the dangers of CO2 in the 2K ppm range. The NO2 measurements in an emissions chamber were just at the threshold were human effects could be measured in a lab for people with chronic conditions who were exercising.
Use your own judgment. I wouldn’t be concerned in a situation where I had no heat. Elderly people are at risk when exposed to cold. And I don’t think the average house is equivalent to an emissions chamber. Having said that, I am not an environmental epidemiologist.
Communications
- Checked portable radio was available
- Checked family was on Zello
- Checked Two Way radios had batteries
Zello is a free app for your smartphone that provides the utility of two-way radios as long as the cell service is available. That would be about five days in a power outage after the various upgrades that were put in place after the NE Power outage of 2003 and the Katrina fiasco of 2005. It allows you to broadcast your message to a group or to an individual. very useful.
The little portable and inexpensive two-way radios broadcasting on public channels are handy if you have to venture outside in bad weather. You can keep in touch with the people in the house while you are in the yard. Also excellent for car-to-car communication. It forces structured conversations since you have to wait for the other person to be finished. And then they are waiting for your response.
Hygiene and First Aid
- Checked pack of baby wipes available
- Check stock of diapers
- Checked prescriptions filled
- Checked first aid supplies
If travel is disrupted for a few days, you don’t want to be running short of prescription medications, even if their lack doesn’t put you in a life-threatening condition. Having to deal with the stress of no power for a few days, AND a very irritating rash is not necessary
Miscellaneous
- Checked security of loose items in high winds
- Checked supply of salt and sand in a handy container
- Took measure to protect young fruit trees
- Removed glass tops from growing beds
- Arranged for activities for children (and adults)
Of all of the above checks, after food, water and heat, I think making sure you have something to occupy young minds is probably the most important survival action you can take. It could turn a few days of misery into an adventure. And that is what you want, ideally.
When you go down this list, you can pretty much see that getting ready for a winter storm is going to get you and your family 80% of the way to being ready for almost anything. As the level of emergency goes up, you pretty much only need to extend your stock of expendables. Even if you have to relocate, you will have most of what you need on hand. We will cover evacuation in another post.
I’d like to thank the members of the “Ontario homesteaders, preppers, foragers and off-grid living” Facebook page who responded to my original post asking about their preps. I should mention that I have expanded on the suggestions that were made, provided links to some background information and added additional explanations. If you have additional suggestions, don’t hesitate to contact me.
If you would like to download a PDF version of this post, you can get it here.