This past week we had several of our FlyBabies who were without power because of bad weather. Are you ready?

Dear Friends,

Our power can go out at a moment’s notice because of wind, heavy rains, snow, or even a rodent or snake at a substation. Could you survive without power at your house. Here is an essay I wrote about no power last winter.

We live in the mountains of Western North Carolina! In the past we have woken up to snow! There was only a dusting at 8:00 am but the snow came down steadily about an inch an hour. We got around 10 inches of heavy snow. Our light have been flickering all day. We are blessed to have a generator but if the power goes out; we will not have any heat or a way to cook. We have another blessing; 2 fireplaces and lots of wood. We could cook with our dutch ovens over the open fire. It’s like we are living in pioneer days.

I had fun all day by making cookie dough and listening to a book. Now my refrigerator is filled with five different kinds of cookie dough. I will give you the recipe later as I figure out what I did and if the cookies are any good. LOL I am so happy the electricity didn’t go off. My kitchen is clean and the dishwasher has been run. We are ready for what ever mother nature sends our way.

Why do we let unexpected problems with weather, electricity, and other little things, throw our routines in the trash?

I can tell you, it is not a perfect world. One little thing out of whack throws a monkey wrench into our plan. In the northern hemispheres, we are getting ready for Summer. With these seasons, come thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding and power outages. Are you prepared with plan B?

Let’s pretend for a minute(some of you will not have to pretend at all) You have lived it. O.K. your power goes out and you have no electricity, no hot water, no stove but the family is still running in and out of the house. After the power comes back on, your home is trashed. WHY?

You have not been cooking, washing dishes, taking baths or watching TV. Here is why your home became trashed! Everyone reverted back to your days of CHAOS. They thought that since there was no power, there was no power(discipline in our home)! Routines are a discipline. So without power, we didn’t need routines, because we couldn’t adhere to them anyway. FREE FOR ALL. Well if your routines were a habit, you would not have been able to toss them out so fast.

Our biggest problem is picking up after ourselves. Without our routines we do not police our hotspots, keep our sink clean or keep the children on track with their routines.

So when the storm hits and you are without power, you still have sunlight(during the day). Don’t allow the fact that there is a little problem to stand in your way of doing things like you have been doing for months. You want a perfect world and most days is not like this at all. So except the fact that plan B is more the norm than your regular routine and be light on your feet. Enjoy the challenge of feeding your family with a buddy burner. If you were in scouts, you know what I am talking about. Play games by flashlight, read to them, just remember to stay calm and don’t let your home get panicked. You are still in charge.

Plan B is like being on a camping trip for me. I love to make do with what ever I have. Since we live in the country and have our own water system, we have to be prepared. So we have some bottles of water in the basement, for making coffee, washing our hair, sponge baths, and cooking if needed. We also have two fireplaces if needed. There are dutch ovens for cooking in the fireplace and a real perk coffee maker. So we won’t starve. Knowing what you can do and how, is part of not getting panicked. We also have a gas grill on the back deck. So if the freezer was without power for more than 2 days, we would have to start cooking up a storm.

Do you have an emergency backup plan in your home? Think about this for a little while and see exactly what you would do in case of a power outage.

Do you know where your flashlights are? Can you find them in the dark?

Do you have a weather radio, or battery operated radio for an emergency channel?

How about Extra water for drinking and minimal bathing; and a way to sterilize it?

Do you have an alternate way to heat your home?

How about to cook? And the pot and pans (Cast Iron) to do it with?

Do you have a way to charge your cell phone or a regular non electric phone?

Do you know about safety in the house with kerosene heaters, grills and candles?

Do you have a fire extinguisher handy?

Do you have plenty of Blankets? Rain Coats, Tents for sleeping outside in case of earthquake.

Just a little planning can keep you from pulling your hair out after the crisis is over. Learn to adapt and you will be so pleased the next time there is a weather emergency.

Are you prepared for bad weather, power outages and evacuations?

FlyLady

Go get an empty Rubbermaid Tub to start building your Emergency Supplies. Label it! Only Use in Case of Emergency! We have a Control Journal for you to just fill in the blanks

Here is another essay about being prepared.

There are also weather apps for your phone that will warn you if there is bad weather in your area.