How to Survive a Week Without Electricity After a Hurricane

One of the difficulties following a hurricane is the loss of electricity to the area the hurricane hit and sometimes the surrounding areas. It's safe to say that when an area loses power due to a hurricane, it can be expected to be off for at least a week, but often longer.

It's expected that power will be lost in the area that a hurricane hits. But when surrounding area also lose power, when it might not have been expected, it can cause a great deal of stress to families not prepared or who just don't know what to do to get by until power is restored.

Surviving a week or longer without electricity can be done if preparations are made ahead of time and even if none are made. Living without electricity used to be a normal way of life. In general, it's a good idea to prepare for at least five days of no power. If you have a generator, you still might not be able to get gas to operate the generator.

Here are some tips on surviving without electricity after a hurricane hits:

Prepare ahead of time by having cases of bottled water or gallon jugs of drinking water. If it's hot weather, have more water. Think of one gallon of water per person per day. Store up nonperishable canned foods that are already fulled cooked and that can be eaten without heating. It's better to have too much than not enough, so stock up enough to feed your family for at least a week, preferably longer.

Have plenty of disposable drinking cups, plastic eating utensils, paper plates, napkins, toilet tissue, baby wipes, disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer, batteries, hand cranked wind up flashlights and radios, and a manual can opener.

If you are staying at home and are not in a evacuation area, be on the safe side and fill up pitchers and buckets of water. Be sure the pets have plenty of drinking water and food. Fill up bathtubs with water.

Ice that has melted in coolers can be used to flush toilets if you are on well water or the city water has been cut off. Swimming pool water is also handy for this. Simply pour water into the holding tank and flush as usual. The melted ice can also be used for pets to have drinking water or to rinse off with.

If it's hot weather, you want to be sure to refrain from eating salty snacks and foods as these will just make you thirstier and want to drink more. You do want to keep sipping on water to stay hydrated in the heat.

Packing all of your frozen foods tightly together into one freezer will help your frozen foods stay frozen for a few days. If you have access to bags of ice once the hurricane has passed, pack the ice into the freezer around the food and refrain from opening the door anymore than is necessary. Your food will stay frozen possibly for up to a week, maybe longer if tightly packed and with lots of ice.

Once the power is back on, any foods that are still good and cold but not frozen can be safely cooked and either eater or refrozen. Use any refrigerated perishable foods as soon as possible. If the foods are already warm, empty the refrigerator and throw out the food and leave the doors open to keep the refrigerator from starting to smell.

Having a hand cranked wind up radio will allow you to listen in to local news about what's going on in your area in regards to distributions of food, water, and ice. If your local news TV or radio station is down due to the hurricane, you should still be able to tune into a station to get some news.

After a lot of rain, it's common for the mosquitoes to come out in full force. Having mosquito repellent will help take care of this discomfort. Be sure not to leave containers of water sitting outside. Either bring the water inside, cover it tightly, or empty it. Mosquitoes will breed even more in containers of water just left to themselves.

Dealing with the heat when the power is off can be the greatest discomfort when there is no power after a hurricane. To help with this, keep a wet washcloth to wipe your face with and something to fan yourself with. Unless something just has to be done while the power is off, let it wait. Cleaning up debris and such is a good idea, but if it can wait until the electricity is back on, let it wait.

Surviving without power when a hurricane strikes can be uncomfortable, and there's no denying that fact. But remember that people once lived normal everyday lives without even knowing what electricity is, so we can do it. Preparing ahead of time, and/or using these simple tips can make the difference.