When you don’t have a generator in NH, power outages can be long and drawn out affairs. While many summer outages only last a couple of hours during a heavy Thunderstorm it is important to remember that it could potentially last longer. Should we end up with another hurricane as we did a few years ago, or even come winter months when the potential for heavy snow is possible to lead to outages it is best to be prepared with things you wouldn’t think of until you are in the situation. This list from Wisebread actually takes a lot of things into consideration on top of the normal everyday necessities.
Coleman Stove/Sterno
This will actually make it so that you can have proper food when it comes to having an outage that could last a few days depending on how bad that power lines are. If you use a Coleman stove that runs on propane just make sure that you have a safe place outside that you can use it. Indoor stoves are useful as well. Heating things up with Sterno is actually a great way to survive it. The Sterno is actually safe for indoors and it is able to burn for a few hours each can. If you have a gas stove, make sure you have some matches handy.
Batteries
You can never have to many batteries. If you know there is a chance for a storm to be coming check your battery stash. That is the best way to go about it. You need to ensure that you have AA batteries, as a majority of things run off of these guys but also stash up on Cs and Ds as well because many of the large things like lanterns and emergency radios run off of the larger batteries.
Lanterns
It doesn’t matter is you have battery powered or oil lanterns just make sure you have some for of this. Also make sure that you have torches/flashlights handy as well. Lanterns are good for lighting rooms you are in but a flashlight will help you if you need to just switch rooms quickly. It may be a good idea to have both forms of lanterns if you have kids.
Ice and Coolers
While for about 4 hours your fridge and freezer will keep your food cold (should they be full mind you, the less in the fridge the fast it loses cool air) you should still make sure that you have coolers with ice for the things that you need to keep cold. Try to limit how often you search the fridge, freezer or cooler for that matter as it will definitely need to keep whatever cool air is in there trapped the best it can.
Canned food and “junk food”
Go ahead and get things you wouldn’t normally get. Stock up on a bunch of Spaghetti-O’s for that matter. They don’t need to be heated, though they always taste better warm. Also consider getting some other small things like cereal bars, and “munchy” food just in case. While you may not eat it regularly it is at least something that you do not need to worry about going bad or needing to cook.
Baby wipes or Lysol
In between showers, especially if you have limited hot water, this will help with the little day to day things for personal hygiene. It is hard to have a cold shower so just remember to try to be sparing with your hot water if it will be a couple of days. You could even use buckets at a time to try to maintain the water in your hot water tank.
When it comes to preparing for power outages you need to remember that each scenario will play out a little differently. A couple of hours is different than a couple of days so remember to plan what you need and when would be best to hit the store because they will sell out. Also consider taking a peak at this Red Cross check list on dos and don’ts It is a good visual just to keep in your emergency kit. Consider a generator in NH, while it won’t power everything you can at least power some of the important things to help you through
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