5 Tips to Survive a Power Outage

Being a college student in the south, my city experienced its first outage of the semester due to Hurricane Sally coming through. The power went out late Wednesday night and didn't turn back on till the next morning. My roommates really didn't know what to do during the time. My dad was military and he was always ready for these types of things during my childhood. So, I kinda had an idea what to do.

1. Have a flashlight on hand.

If it's dark, you want to be able to see what you are doing. Keep it close by in your nightstand or a dresser drawer. The flashlight on your phone uses battery and you really want to save all the percentage you can. It's ok to use the phone light till you find your own flashlight to save you battery in case of emergencies. Keep batteries for it close to it as well or in a miscellaneous drawer if you have one. These will be a lifesaver.

2. Tell someone in your family what is going on

If you have no way to charge your phone, and your unsure when the power will be back on, telling your immediate family that the power is out for the time being really saves some headache and worry. Parents worry if something is wrong. My dad constantly checks the weather in my area to remind me; and I'm in my twenties. Telling someone also comes in handy if your phone dies during the outage. What if someone is trying to get a hold of you when the phone is dead? Got a lot to explain when it turns back on. 15 missed calls, 42 text messages, all from family that have no idea what is going on.

3. Unplug electrical items

I haven't really seen anything regarding electrical popping electricity when coming back on throughout my life but doesn't mean it still can't happen. It's just a good idea overall so, if there are any issues, you'll know about it once you plug it back in. It's also good, especially at night. I'm a light sleeper and I've had the power come back in the middle of the night or early dark morning and it scares me. Unplugging items like lamps or the tv at night for more sleep so 1. it doesn't scare you and, 2. you don't get up during the night only to turn them off anyway.

4. Have a good portable charger

I always had a portable charger nearby for me, mostly for long trips on the bus during high school. I don't remember where my dad got mine but it'll last me about 10 hours for a full charge. During my outage, I used it on my phone once it hit 10% battery and the next morning it was fully charged. I still had about 3 or 2 bars on the charger itself so if I had another device I wanted to charge, or if the outage laster longer, it was good to go.

5. Some items in your fridge can go into the freezer.

Some items that can spoil can go into the freezer after a certain amount of time has passed in the outage. Usually, the fridge will lose its coolness and items can spoil if left very long without the cool. I've mostly just had milk in the freezer after three hours of the outage, depending on when it is. At night, I wait till before bed if I'm unsure when the power will be back. If the power comes back while I'm asleep, I can always put the milk back in the fridge. If it froze, it'll slowly defrost. It doesn't hurt. Plus, if you're in the mood to make a shake early in the morning, you have a whole jug of milk.

Extra item to get for these particular issues

1. Have some sort of portable radio that relies on battery. (Storytime)

My family has had a portable radio since 2011. We were caught in the middle of the tornados in April. It was a weird, scary day to say the least. We mostly relied on the car radio of the vehicle we could leave in case of an emergency because the power went out. I mostly stayed inside due to the weather and my parents left the door to the garage open with the radio on near blast so we could hear anything. Sometimes, my parents switched between being in the garage, taking care of my sister and myself, and looking out the window. We nearly wasted the battery just to know where the tornadoes were, how the storm cell was moving, and traffic.

When we finally had to leave after the neighborhood got hit, it was hours before we could arrive at a safe place for displaced families. It was a wreck. I knew it was mentally straining on my parents and my big sister afterwords. So many things went wrong that day. Finally, after moving into another house, Dad bought a portable radio that relied on a battery as well as having a solar panel and chargeable. After charging it, he immediately set the channel that our local news had and wrote down which specific channels also had news and music. During bad storms, we still use it while trying to pay attention to other shows we had on. If the power goes out, you don't have to rely on the car radio or your phone for updates, plus you also have background noise to replace the crickets.