First Person Experience
Whether your power outage is a day or a
week or more, it is not pleasant. It is a reminder of how you you
should be thankful. When you have a power outage, report it
immediately to your energy provider.
Children
Since children like to play out in the
snow, it would be wise to not allow them to do
so at this time. If there are any power lines down in your area, it
could be deadly for your children. According to Consumers Energy,
you should keep at least 25 feet away from a down power line, because
even though you do not see sparks it can be live with electricity.
Pets should be kept away as well.
We experienced the down lines during an
ice storm. A tree limb broke the power line and our electrical meter
as well. During this outage there were several counties affected
including Genesee County with over 60,000 outages. It was horrific.
I have survived a one or two day outage, but our power outage was for
9 days. This is not something that we expected. We did, however, get
the refrigerator cleaned out earlier than scheduled. Although we
always kept flashlights, candles, and canned goods in the event of an
emergency, and outage in the winter time requires more. Also, the
cable in our area went out right after the power did. So that
eliminated TV watching for awhile.
Friends
This is a good time to call on
relatives and friends to bring your extra food that you can salvage
from your refrigerator and to charge your cellphones. Even though
your landline may not be down, your cordless phones will not be
accessible during the power outage. So be sure to have a phone that
is not cordless that you can plug into your landline. Although
cordless phones are convenient, it is wise to have a non-cordless phone for
your landline. We have some friends affected by the power outage
that opted to stay in motels during this terrible ordeal.
Generators:
We were truly blessed to have a
gracious friend with a generator, which we were able to borrow during
our time of need. To my surprise this generator provided us heat and
lights for about 80% of our house. I was definitely saying, “Thank
you Jesus.” A new generator can cost $599.00 and up. We kept 3
gasoline cans and would fill the generator in the morning and the
evening with each filling lasting about 6-8 hours. You will want to
keep the generator in your garage and beware of the fumes that will
accumulate, so be sure to keep a window open in the garage. Fumes
can be quite deadly. Remove your vehicles from the garage too or
you end of getting the smoke scent in your vehicles, which is not
very pleasant.
Heat
This ice storm occurred on one of the
coldest days. Temperatures were ranging about 7 degrees. We had
plenty of blankets and an electric heater. We could not use the
electric heater, because there was no power. We did have a small
Butane Propane heater which was insufficient, because it was so cold.
Propane Cooker:
During a power outage you can cook on a
gas stove, but if you have an electric stove that is another story.
Propane tanks can be purchased for as low as $12.94. We finally
purchased a Propane 2-eye gas cooker. It was decent enough to cook
on. It really made me feel like I was camping out. We basically used
16-oz cylinders of propane gas to run it.
Propane two-eye cooker
House Insurance
You will need to refer to your house
policy as everyone's will not read the same. You may qualify for
reimbursement for damages to your house. Do not hesitate to call
your Homeowner's Insurance.
Credit Outage:
In Michigan Consumer Powers states
those that if you have a power outage longer than 120 hours
(5 days), service interrupted for more than 16 hours during normal conditions, or service interrupted more than seven times in a 12-month period, may qualify for an outage credit.
(5 days), service interrupted for more than 16 hours during normal conditions, or service interrupted more than seven times in a 12-month period, may qualify for an outage credit.
So remember the best thing during a
power outage is to be prepared and do not hesitate to call family and
friends.
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Great tips! Thanks so much for linking up at Counting My Blessings! Happy New Year and many blessings!
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