by April Updike

Created on: April 12, 2008   Last Updated: April 13, 2008

Our family recently survived a lengthy power outage after a major ice storm. We really did not find it that difficult to do, in part because we were prepared ahead of time. However, some of our neighbors who were not prepared ended up staying at a hotel for several nights, at the tune of $65 per night.

I am passing on some of the ways that we stayed warm for our week without power.

The most important factor is that we prepared. For 3 days the weather forecast warned us of a major ice storm heading our way. We decided then to prepare for the worse case senior, and it paid off.

We brought up firewood from the barn. We laid out wood in the fireplace and filled the inside firebox. We also filled the wood holders on the front porch with wood, and also stacked it beside the holder.

We stocked up on lamp oil, and brought out the lamps and candles stored in the basement.

We made sure we had plenty of batteries on hand.

We charged our rechargeable lights, lanterns and radios.

I filled several containers with water in the event the water company also lost power. If they did, we would loose water pressure, then loose our water completely.

We all took a shower as the ice storm started. May seem silly, but knowing it may be awhile before we could bathe again, we opted to start out smelling sweet! I also made sure the laundry was all caught up and the house was clean.

I made sure we were stocked up on animal feed. We put extra straw in the rabbit hutches and chicken coup in the event they lost their heat lamps.

We stocked up on foods that we could prepare over the fireplace. This included smores, hotdogs, popcorn, hot cereals, soups, and stews. I bought some extra milk and put it in the freezer, and also bought more powered milk.

I washed and re-seasoned the cast iron.

We brought in the hotdog and hamburger holders from the camper, as well as sleeping bags.

We backed our vehicles into the garages and barn. My husband plugged in the tractors and made sure they were fueled.

We brought up the board games from the basement, and restocked ourselves with books from the library.

I made sure our cell phones were well charged.

I bought on clearance a power strip to plug into my cars cigarette lighter. In turn, I could plug an item into it to recharge, such as a lantern or cell phone, or even my laptop.

Then we sat down to wait. The ice started falling around 10 in the morning. It was rather pretty as it coated the trees and fences. By evening, it was very slick to walk on. We still had power when

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