Caught napping

I've become so accustomed to the pre-Hurricane preparedness deals here in Florida, that I got caught napping yesterday when a small twister ripped through the neighborhood.
Next week all the tax reductions and price incentives kick in to making it more cost effective to refresh your emergency consumables. Needless to say, 3 of the 7 exterior angle-head flashlights using D cells were next to inoperative. Six out of the seven LED AAA angle-head flashlights were less than functional. (Perhaps I should have paid more attention to the "Terrorists" {oldest grandson} use of flashlights as light sabers?)
But once again this drives home the complacency of "THE PLAN" and preparations based upon it. Thankfully the seldom used camping lanterns all functioned perfectly. So I shall unashamedly give props to the 600 lumens 8 hour runtime 6 D battery Field & Stream Lantern. I shall go so far as to state that I have one in every bathroom (HEAD) in every residence, and today I am once again Thankful that I have.
So, bone up on your story telling (boy that cried wolf for the Terrorist sitting in the dark) for those times when Mother Nature tosses you back into the 16th Century.
When was the last time you op-checked the consumable's in your emergency equipment?

 

One thing I have considered is an emergency light that automatically turns on when the power goes out.
But haven't really bothered since we have phones always with in reach and I have a stash of working flashlights.

 

Slightly off subject but.... today a tanker over turned on I-25. This is a major roadway for the Denver Metro area. Traffic is a nightmare. One of the guys on talk radio just asked: What if this was a situation and you needed to evacuate? Approximately 5 hours after the interstate closure, all roads are now flooded. I was just thinking if I had been across the city or down South, all routes I would have used are clogged. I know routes from my home outward but what about if I was out on business and I was in a 3 hours meeting unaware.

 

We don't get to catch a break long enough for my supply to be far out of mind. I have basically been running off friends discarded wedding decoration candles for the past 5 years, and I have oil lanterns put back for when I need enough light to work by.

 

I've got to give extra credit to Motomom34!
Tornadoes in Florida?
This ain't Kansas Toto.
No Power No Airflow, hole in the roof equals water intrusion. Frightened Youngsters carrying birthday candles to the (HEAD) bathroom? What happens when a 4 year old drops an oil lantern? Yes those are all better than living in the dark, but this is the 21st Century so we should be able to due better. Just My Opinion.
It isn't what you are expecting that vexes you, it is what you haven't considered that taxes you.

 

Never turned mine loose with an oil lantern. Ha. Usually put it high and let it shine out, and put a candle where it's hard to get to.

 

I put in two of the power failure lights 2 years ago, one in the living room and one in the generator shed. Kept a propane "bottle top" lantern around for years, and bunches of LED flashlights. If it looks to be an extended outage I get out the dual fuel Coleman lantern. We made the decision long ago to not use candles or oil lamps inside and the lantern only when the batteries get low.

 

We lost power about 8 times this last winter, with two of them being multi-day outages. All of our emergency gear is up to date after each outages use. Batteries and fuel are resupplied, generator is inspected and whatever we might have used during the outage gets replaced, prepared and stored again.

 

I've lost power 3 times this month.

 

Power? Whats power! Up here, we loose power so often, it's almost an every day deal. Thankfully we have back up gen sets and back ups for those! LOL

 

I have oil, battery and a solar lanterns. One thing no one mentioned was solar. I have solar as part of my lighting plans. I have these-
Amazon.com : 3 Pack - Solar Mason Jar Lid Insert - LED Mason Jar Solar Light for Glass Mason Jars and Garden Decor Solar Lights : Patio, Lawn & Garden These solar tops for mason jars work really good, no batteries needed. I have a few set aside for future use plus the ones I have out now. I also have solar walk way lights that can be used indoors. Some solar walk way lights are really bright and you could give one of those to your 4 year old without worries of them burning down the house.

 

Yeah, those Terrs are hell on batteries.
For some reason this area is prone to power outages esp during the wet season. Then there is the tornado threat. Gensets are checked on a regular basis. I got caught with most of my flashlights down because of the Terrs. I was not happy, but my fault for not keeping up on it I suppose. So, I bought the carbon based clone units their own flashlights at the Dollar Store and a big pack of batteries that were on sale at Lowe's. They were informed that if I or Sass catch them with one of my Light Sabres the light sabre won't be the only thing glowing.. It has worked thus far.

Side note:
I'm not one for shopping, especially Black Friday Shopping BUT I got talked into it last year by the wife's uncle. SCORED huge on man stuff. I never knew...
36 pack of AAA and AA Ray 'O Vac Alkaline batteries with the 10 yr shelf life for 5 bux a pack. Got all the other sizes for similar prices as well. Bought several LED type aluminum flashlights 5 bux for the mini size and 10 bux for the C size. these run 20 bux normally. Got a new 870 for $260.00 after rebate, even bought another .300 Win Mag on sale at my favorite pawn shop. Got up at 03:00, went for breakfast, bought a ton 'o shit and we were back by noon. If a person doesn't mind getting up great prepping deals can be had.
Whoda thunk it?

 

Save you batteries in the flashlights by putting a piece of paper or plastic between the connections of the battery. you would think the switch was enough, but it'snot.
I've been doing this for years, especially in things that store a lot, especially important for the unusual button batteries.
it always bites me when I forget to do that . but it's the first thing I check , to see that I've put an interruption on the battery connection .

 

Tully Mars, 100% agreement LOL. But Thing 2 has a problem when I make (The Terrorist) her thing 2's butt glow like Rudolf's Nose.

That which worked for my folks with me, vice what the skipped generation will be held accountable for methods, are issues that I'm just feeling my way thru? It just SUCKS that they don't issue operators manuals with each different Grandchild. LOL.

Side note: I've just got down to the point that I can use the 14 inch chainsaw for the rest of the cleanup. But I had to laugh when the curator of the abode to my west stated "All this was due to a Tornado". Folks from the Mississippi Valley, Plains States, or the Islands like my Eastern Neighbor are just happy that there wasn't any fatalities. Pure Florida (okay not PC Cracker's) born & breed residents have conceptual difficulties with Tornadoes.

 

Ran into that around 10 years ago, here, when the Red River was slowly flooding upstream, as they held more and more water in Lake Texoma (formed by a Corps of Engineers dam project, to help alleviate downstream flooding on the river). As that river flooded, the tributaries feeding it started backing up and flooding....it's a backwards/upstream chain reaction, and it started flooding out the lower end of town. When I was heading into work, one morning, there was suddenly a police roadblock, where they were turning around anyone that wasn't driving a truck, van, or 4x4, due to the water having crossed the road during the night. Even people in higher clearance vehicles were given the option to take the alternate routing, and were advised to climb their vehicles onto, and drive down the center divider, through the flooded area.

A couple years later, we had flash flooding, due to an excess of rain, that caused similar flooding (though not for as long a period of time). Both times, if I had only known my main route to and from work, I would have been at the mercy of the flood, or stuck with the pack of lower ground clearance vehicles, as they followed a route unfamiliar to them.

When I lived in the apartment (during both flooding periods), I knew no less than half a dozen routes into and out of the area where I lived. Now that I'm in my house, I know of 5 main ways in and out, with a myriad of minor alterations to those routes....and I'm driving my Jeep Wrangler, so just like "Doc" Emmett Brown in his flying DeLorean, I don't even NEED roads!