Surviving the Storm

The Nor'easter scattered the deck furniture and pasted leaves everywhere. Copyright Tim Carter 2017

Surviving the Storm

A ferocious Nor’easter lashed central New Hampshire last night and my family and I did a good job of surviving the storm. The howling wind and rain knocked out my electricity before midnight. My cable Internet access was cut as well. It was impossible to get a good night’s sleep.

Standby Generator For Storms

I have a standby generator that powers essential systems in the house, but for some reason it failed to automatically start. I trudged out to manually start it an hour ago in total darkness. When you live in a rural area, you have a crisp understanding of the phrase pitch black.

It’s important to note I set a very powerful flashlight by the front door just a few days ago. Without that handy tool, I may have had to depend on the LED flashlight in my cell phone that currently has no service.

I love love love this flashlight. I own two of them they're so good. CLICK THE PHOTO NOW to have one delivered to your home.

The powerful storm has obviously done serious damage to the local cellphone towers near me, but I’m unable to find out as I’m now completely and utterly disconnected from all incoming news.

I’d like to add I’m very fortunate that it’s a balmy 60 F outside right now. It could have been 15 F with a foot of snow on the ground.

Related Links

Amazing Litium-Ion Small Storage Battery with Solar Trickle Charger

Cut Off From The World - What Now?

I sat at our breakfast table in a small state of consternation after coming inside from powering up the 17,000-watt generator. The lack of sleep and my dependency on having constant access to the Internet has created a fog of complacency that has frustrated me as I sit here.

I suspect I’m not alone. I’m willing to bet you, or someone you know, has become far too dependent on technology and modern conveniences. You may be surrounded by the same fog that surrounded me the past few years but don’t realize it.

Create the All-Important Checklist

I decided to write this column to help you and to create my own checklist so the next time a big storm hits, I’ll not only be ready to deal with the aftermath, but I’ll be able to go about most of my normal daily routine.

I’ve seen countless get-prepared checklists over the years. Most of them are quite good. You may be one that says, “Those are great ideas. I’ll knock out that checklist when I get around to it.” A week, a month and a season goes by and you’ve done little or nothing to get prepared.

Electricity is the cornerstone of surviving for most of us. It powers just about everything in your home you use on a daily basis including flashlights.

I’m now a fan of rechargeable flashlights that don’t depend on traditional batteries. I now have several flashlights that can be recharged with a 16,000 mAh storage battery that has its own small solar trickle charger.

Here's the storage battery minutes after unpacking it. It comes with a handy carabiner so you can attach it to the outside of a backpack. This allows it to charge up as you hike. CLICK THE PHOTO to have one delivered to your home in days. Copyright 2017 Tim Carter

I suggest you invest in several of these so you can keep your cellphone topped off and even recharge a laptop if need be.

28-Watt Solar Panel Charges Many Things

I also own a 28-watt folding solar panel that connects directly to a hefty lithium-iron-phosphate battery. This battery not only has a built-in controller that regulates the incoming electricity from the solar cells, but it also has an inverter so it can convert the stored DC power into 120 volts of AC power. Small appliances or a traditional transistor radio can be powered by this very clever power pack.

This is a magnificent foldable solar panel. It generates 28 watts and will rapidly charge 12-volt batteries. It has a built-in transformer so you can charge anything that uses a normal USB cord! CLICK THE PHOTO NOW to have this great solar panel delivered to your door.

Don't Depend On Electronic Memories

How good is your memory? How many telephone numbers have you memorized? Something tells me you’ve delegated this job to the memory chip inside your cellphone. If your cellphone battery dies and you can’t access your contact list, how will you call up the contractors, roofers, electricians, plumbers, etc. that you might need to help you restore your life back to normal.

It’s time to get a small waterproof note pad and write down important phone numbers that are need-to-know not nice-to-know. I have some Rite-in-the-Rain waterproof note pads up in my office, but guess what? Each page is completely blank. By the end of today, you can bet I’ll have stored many important numbers the way it was done twenty years ago.

These are fantastic waterproof notepads. They come in MANY sizes, formats and colors. CLICK THE PHOTO NOW to have these delivered to your doorstep.

What are the absolute basic things you need to survive for 24 or 48 hours? Make that list. Where are these items? My guess is they’re scattered all about your house.

What happens if you have to leave your home fast? A wildfire, a train derailment or some other calamity could cause local authorities to evacuate your neighborhood.

Great Daypack for Documents / Must-Haves

Give yourself an early Christmas present and purchase a go bag or a nice daypack that has enough storage space to hold all you need. Inexpensive things that you can duplicate can be already packed. More expensive things you need can be rearranged in a nearby location so you can pack up and be gone in ten minutes or less.

You need to have a pack already made up. It needs to be NEAR an EXIT of your home. CLICK THE PHOTO NOW to have a great daypack at your doorstep in days.

There’s a huge advantage in going to this effort. When you get stressed out by the disaster, you might not think clearly. You may forget some all-important item. You may waste valuable time trying to find something in the dark or the debris field surrounding you. When your life gets upended, you don’t need small problems to take up valuable time and resources.

Create a Communication Plan With Friends

I was really frustrated an hour ago because I couldn’t even reach out to my best friend who only lives eight miles from me as the crow flies. We’re both amateur radio operators, but I had failed to set up some agreed-to plan as to exactly how we’d use our battery-powered radios to communicate. That plan will be in effect by the end of the week for sure.

Chainsaw Can Save the Day

You may want to consider hand or gasoline-powered tools you might need to claw your way back to civilization. I own a powerful chain saw. I always make sure I’ve got plenty of fuel and extra chains. Three years ago, a freak snowstorm with wet heavy snow trapped me at the end of my street. It took hours of work to cut a path to freedom.

I suggest you gather all of the disaster preparedness checklists you can find and pluck tips from them that fit your life like a glove. Devote a day or just part of a day in the next two weeks to complete the most important things on the checklist.

I know I’m going to do everything possible to burn away the nasty fog that slowly and covertly surrounded me over the past few years. You should too.

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