Thursday 26 May 2016

Tips On Surviving A Power Outage In Your Neighborhood

By Jennifer Allen


It can be pretty inconvenient when you experience the unfortunate situation of your electricity suddenly going out. When power outages occur, people often go in a panic, but you should not worry too much about it especially if it is done to make some necessary repairs to the system. To help you survive this temporary ordeal, here are some important things you need to consider.

You must understand that there are reasons for outages happening in the first place. It might be because of faulty mechanisms that need repair or perhaps it was deactivated due to incoming storms that might cause severe damage. Quite often, these things are given advanced warning from the utility providers, so people will have ample time to plan ahead when surviving the grid going down.

Stock up on alternative sources of illumination because you will need them, especially if the outage occurs during nighttime. Candles and lanterns are acceptable, but you need to be careful when using them due to being potential fire hazards. Other good light sources include flashlights and portable emergency floodlights. For the latter option, make sure to have some batteries on hand for them.

Perishable food items stored in your fridge are in danger of being spoiled right after the power goes out of service. As such, you need to take them out and cook them straightaway before they turn inedible. And you need to ensure that there will be no leftovers because the refrigerator is out of order and any extras will not be stored properly unless there is active refrigeration.

In relation to the previous point, your kitchen pantry must be stocked with canned goods and other food items that do not require refrigeration. This will be especially helpful since majority of such products can simply be opened and reheated on your gas stove. However, you should use them only when you have consumed all of the perishables in your fridge first.

When your electric stove is unfortunately out of commission due to the cutoff, then be resourceful and use other means to help cook the food you need to eat. Think about buying a portable butane stove used for camping as this is adequate for things like boiling water and heating canned goods. This will surely be a useful investment for contingency measures such as power outages.

Make sure that right after a power cutoff announcement has been dispatched, you should fully charge your mobile phone. You will not be able to use your landline or computer to communicate with others, so it is crucial that your smartphone has a full battery charge. Use it only for important calls and messages since you do not want to waste the battery by doing unnecessary things on it.

Lastly, take this opportunity to get out of the house and enjoy activities from places that have backup power such as malls. If the outage happens during daytime, then allow yourself to hang out at a public park while reading a good book you have been meaning to read for a while. Just because there is no electricity does not mean you have no options to entertain yourself in the interim.

So as you can see, there really is no reason for you to go into hysterics when the electricity disappears. By following the advice mentioned in this guide, you will surely survive the awkwardness of not having any electric power. Stay positive and remember that this is only a transient period.




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