This post is by Bernie Carr, apartmentprepper.com
Many families have some kind of Halloween tradition, and ours is Scary Movie Night. There are certain movies we like to see year after year. One of my favorites from when the kids were little, is Hocus Pocus, with just right amount of scare but not so much as to give the kids nightmares. As an adult, I’ve always been creeped out by “It,” having read the Steven King book and watched the movie. And of course, there are the usual movie selections of vampires, zombies and other nightmarish creatures.
But this year, none of these gave me the creeps. I’ll tell you what actually scared me.
Here’s what happened
I woke up in the wee hours of the morning, I glanced at the clock on my night table and it said 2:15 a.m. About a second later, the clock turned off right before my eyes. The room was completely pitch black, and no light was streaming into the room from the street. I got up and looked outside the window. Everything was black outside. The power had gone off. I strained my hears to listen to the usual city street noises but heard nothing: no truck sounds, no cars honking. Some time passed and I was starting to wonder how long the power will be out. It was not particularly windy or rainy, so I could not imagine why the power went out. I’m used to power outages during storms or high heat months when demand overwhelms the power grid.
Lying in the dark, I heard sirens from a distance away and an alarming thought occurred to me: what if the POWER GRID has GONE OFF FOR GOOD? A chill ran through me and my mind started racing:
How much emergency food do we have, and how long will it last?
What foods can I salvage from the fridge?
Do we have backups for lighting and cooking?
If water pumps stop running, how much water do we have?
That was the question I feared more than the others, as I already knew the answer: we don’t have enough water, maybe a week’s worth, or two at the most. For hurricanes and foreseeable disasters, we usually fill up the bathtubs in advance. But for a sudden disaster, we have ways to purify water but we still have to go find a source when we run out. That’s when I realized that water continues to be a weak spot in my preps.
At this point I was so wired up and agitated I knew I may be up ’til daylight. I started praying and finally calmed down. At some point I fell asleep. When I woke up that morning I checked the clock and it was blinking. It had gotten reset during the power outage.
Thank goodness the power came back on! I have another chance to prepare!
What worries you the most?
If you are unsure about how to get started, just think about what worries you the most. These are the weak points in your emergency plan – everyone has a few. What jumps out in your mind? Don’t wait until an actual emergency happens to realize what you are missing. Now is the time to start working on these gaps in preparedness. Not doing anything now will cause some painful regrets later.
Happy Halloween everyone!
© Apartment Prepper 2016
That event is waaay more terrifying than any ghouls, zombies, vampires or anything else. Glad to hear it ended quickly.
Hi Linda, It was disturbing alright. Just hope none of these fears really come true. Thanks for the comment.
Remember, your hot water heater is your hidden water reserve. Also the tank on the toilet is reasonably usable.
I forgot to add that if you use water from the water heater, be sure to turn off the power source to it. This will avoid any damage that might occur if the power comes back on before the tank refills. After you are sure it’s full, turn the power back on.
Hi John, That is a great tip. The water heater is a great source of clean water. Good to remember to turn of the power source before draining it. Thanks for the comments.
Firstly, thank you for gearing your website for those of us who live apartments/townhomes. Like you water is also a crucial need for my family. I have read somewhere how you can use a generator with suction pressure to extract water from water pipe. Have you seen or heard any specifics on it? what type or how much pressure we are talking about. I thought in a grid down situation what are the possibility of access standing water. I think the Bayou maybe questionable as a water source but not sure. What’s your take?
Hi Carlos, I’ve only heard about using suction pressure to extract water from wells but not from a water pipe. I would have to look into that and whether it’s feasible in an apartment complex with so many other people. I’ve thought about the Bayou as well however it is sketchy as a water source because it has a lot of fertilizer, toxic pollutants from run-off that most water filters may be not remove. However, if you were to distill that water, the process may eliminate most of the pollutants.