Life after a Cat 3 kept me feeling foolish as hell. Walking through the house I went to flip a light switch, which resulted in my going "HURRRRRDURRRRRRRR" internally. It was quite shameful.
The electricity was out for an 8 day span. No lights, no fridge, no hot water. (Thanks electric water heater. You suck at life.).
Four things to have during this nonsense:
1. hand held can opener
Have you ever stabbed a can of Dinty Moore Stew open with a buck knife? It sucks. Not only are you introducing shards of metal into your dinner, you're getting beef fat spewed all over your coveted Martika concert shirt. Congratulations. You have food but now you smell like a bag of dirty feet on fire and you are no longer welcome at the "Toy Soldiers" fan meetup at the Planet Hollywood in Myrtle Beach next week.
2. cell phone charger with car adapter
Once your phone is drained and you have no power source to recharge it, you've got yourself a fancy paperweight or something to throw at stray children that happen to make their way into your yard (see: chapter 17 "The Joys of an Electric Fence"). Keeping in contact with your people during a natural disaster is paramount. Having a phone charger that works in your vehicle is essential when your home has no electricity. FYI Texting is the best way of communicating with friends and family after a natural disaster and requires less juice than talking. Also, iPhones have a "brightness" setting. Setting your phone to a lower brightness will also conserve it's energy.
3. candles
Well, duh, you say. But how many candles do you have in your house? Do you know the amount of hours they'll last? Usually you can get 10 emergency candles at the Dollar Store for ONE WHOLE DOLLAR. SHAZZAM! Now you can see shit after the sun sets without electricity. Don't thank me or anything.
4. heated water
If you have an electric water heater and the water is still running you are kind of in luck. You will be able to take a shower but it will feel like someone is whipping iced-over gravel at your face. yay....???
One way to circumvent this trauma is to place 4 or 5 12 oz. water bottles out in the sun. About 30 minutes later they'll be warmed up and you can bathe with minimal cursing. If you're wanting a full-shower experience, I invested in this http://store.sundancesolar.com/sosh5ga.html after the hurricane and I recommend it for anyone living in the gulf coast area. It's the Cadillac of self-heating shower bags and less than 9 bucks.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment