What happens when the power goes out for days on end?

Question

and all you have in your pocket is a credit/debit/charge card?
How do you eat?
How do you get gas?
How do you ________________? Fill in the blank, please!

Answer 1

"Adapt and Overcome"



I had to learn very early in my life, how to live alone and autonomously - a FULLY independent woman.



I am a survivor. several times over.



"Living Small"



--An essential skill and a means via which to ensure one's survival. You innovate, you compensate, you develop DISCIPLINE.



And you NEVER permit yourself to degenerate into a self-piteous mindset.

Answer 2

we live in a tornado prone area and of course when electricity goes out then no ATM card machines work. We're told to prepare the following ahead of time and store it where it can be reached quickly.



You plan ahead and you eat with a fork and spoon things like canned food (like meats, tunafish, beef jerky, vegetables, etc.). The heat will be off for cooking so choose precooked items you could eat cold. Or you buy things like crackers, canned juices, bottled water, trail mix.



Keep your car's gas tank full. When a person hears the warning they fill up their tank and fill up their red plastic liquid holder (you can buy that at Home Depot or any auto parts store, but you cannot store gasoline) if they plan to travel.



You're right, toilets will be unusable. If you feel the electric problem will be solved in a few days you can use a bucket with a tight lid or you can use your own toilet if you "tape" several layers of plastic bags so they won't fall in should the water come back and tape those to your toilet seat and go as usual.



Some people, who aren't in apartments, would buy grills that don't need electric, and heater or ac that would run on gasoline from the outdoors.



You can find a very long list of these things if you visit the Homeland Security website or a Florida website for tornado or hurricane safety. Sure cash is ok to have on hand but if there's no electric then the stores will be closed and your cash wouldn't be good for long.



If you're cold and the electric is out then emergency crews might be coming to your door to take you to some nearby stadium where you'll remain in a group until the emergency has passed.

Answer 3

Well, I have food in the cupboard that would last the two of us for some time. The stove and the water heater runs on natural gas, so I still have hot water, and to light the stove takes just a match flame. When the power went out for four days here, the power wasn't out everywhere. I could drive less than a mile to get gas, buy food and other supplies, and if a ER visit was needed, there would have been no problem. Most stores around here will close their doors when the power is out, and cash in hand is not an option.

Answer 4

Experience has been a wonderful teacher over the years. 3 days without electricity has happened several times, the longest stretch was 2 weeks.



How do you eat?

First, eat everything in the refrigerator and freezer, sharing with neighbors, before it all goes bad. I keep 7 to 10 day supply of shelf stable food in my pantry at all times; I rotate it twice a year. I have a hand crank can opener. We have a 2 burner camp stove, and keep a supply of propane canisters. We also have a charcoal grill and smoker. I store water in jugs, in the freezer, and when the power goes out I store water in buckets or the bathtub to wash with or flush the toilet.



How do you get gas?

In my state, gas stations along interstate highways are required to have back up generators. If a station does not have electricity, then credit cards do not matter, because the pumps won't work. So, if gasoline is low we walk.



We used the Red Cross list to prepare disaster kits for our home and vehicles.

Answer 5

I will stay home and wait it out. I have food stocked up, and this year, Hubby got rid of our electric cooking stove, in favor of a gas one. Can light the burner with a match. So we could cook. Also got a small gas stove for the living room, for a pretty fire, and some heat. We will make do.



I do remember trying to buy some needles and thread at a store. I had cash, not a credit card. The girl told me she was not able to sell things now because the cash register was electronic. Told me to come back in an hour or two. Maybe the power would be back on then. I was in a terrible mood that day. Did not want to wait around the mall for an extra hour or two. I asked her if she was not able to make change on her own. She said no. I said she was pretty dumb, and threw the needles and thread on the counter.

Answer 6

Interesting question, but my thought is why are people not more prepared for these kind of things? I own a generator just in case this ever happens. I saved my money and bought items like a wind up radio and so forth. I have extra water and food...just in case.



We live in a world which mandates that we be prepared for anything. Geesh, if the registers at the stores have a computer glitch now, the business grinds to a halt! Your cash does you no good if they cannot get the registers opened.



How do you eat? Be prepared and you will never have to ask these questions.

Store some extra gas too.

SURVIVE? By being prepared for any scenario as none of us have control over these things.

Answer 7

relies upon on what you planned to be "the top of the international." opportunities: Famine, Plague, Nuclear conflict, Meteor effect, (on the spot) climate Shift, Volcano Eruption (like Yellowstone), oh, and my admired--Alien Invasion. all of it ends interior the Mass Extinction of the human race. yet a majority of those issues are incredibly meaningless. no person can relatively tell what the destiny holds--different than perhaps for a particular few--and that's positive with me. for my area, i think that the international won't "end" yet that there will be some significant exchange that alters the way the human race thinks. a sort of awakening. yet, there is an huge quantity of information pointing to the different threat--mass extinction. The Hopis believed it, the Mayans relatively believed it (the place'd they flow to, in any case?), or maybe the Bible has made indications of such an experience. 2 properly-easy and respected "psychics" gave prophecies approximately this, too. Edgar Cayce and Nostradamus. in case you have an interest, seem them up. it will make for some VERY thrilling analyzing, and supply you with some greater techniques to toss approximately. What we do comprehend for advantageous nevertheless is that Earth is going to go the axial airplane (or invisible dividing line) of the Milky way, relatively crossing from one a million/2 to the subsequent. some say that this may be the beginning up of our dying. This experience isn't on the spot, so i for my area do no longer comprehend how this is going to impact us interior of sometime, yet howdy, conspiracies is what makes the international flow around.

Answer 8

It only happened to me once where I had no power for four or five days. We ended up a whole bunch of family staying in the same house and everybody brought food which we cooked on a gas stove. It was kind of fun, actually. If it were to happen today, the two main things would be to eat and to keep warm, and I don't think we'd have a problem with that. There's plenty of canned food in the pantry if we run out of stuff in the fridge, and a kerosene heater. We'd last a few days, I'm sure.

Answer 9

The ice storm of 2008-2009. Our power was out for 13 days. The first day we only had candles.By the second day it had turned cold. We waited in line for 2 hours to get gas to go to the next town and get a generator large enough to heat the living room and one bedroom. The 3 and 5 year old grand-daughters(at that time) still talk about it. They thought it was the best thing ever.

Answer 10

I have a pretty good stock of supplies usually. When I built this house, I put in a Generac back up generator that comes on automatically. Power was out for 2 weeks a few years ago. Outside of the expense of running the generator 24/7 life went on as usual here.

Answer 11

I remember the northeast power outage of 2003...if you didn't have cash money you were SOL. There was a gas station on the corner of my street that had a backup generator...one of only three in the city...and when people found out their pumps were working...there was pandemonium and the National Guard had to be called out. My question was: Why was everyone wasting gas to drive all over the city to get gas? Luckily it was summer. Had that happened in the winter we really would have been in dire straits.



We ate unheated canned goods because we didn't dare open the fridge to lose what cold was already inside. We didn't get gas. No way was I going to fight the mob that had built up...I waited it out.

Answer 12

We went through all that with Hurricane Ike. This year we installed a generator that runs everything but the washing machine and the dryer. (Runs on natural gas.) Awwww, too bad, I won't be able to do laundry. And yes, we have to be prepared during hurricane season. Tuna, salmon, canned fruit, and eat up all you can by cooking on the barbeque pit. Run the tubs full of water ahead of time for flushing, washing and cleaning. Gasoline was a different story but everyone was in the same shape. We drove to other towns not hit so badly with gas cans. Of course, with a hurricane, you usually have time to prepare so lucky there. Keep a full tank...some of the best advice my dad ever gave me.

Answer 13

Red Cross shelter, I can walk there if need be, hopefully not on ice. I also have a friend a couple miles from me who has a different electric company. Usually when one is off the other company is on. I also keep my gas tank at least half full, and I have enough to eat for a month, can use wood or charcoal and cook outside if I can tolerate staying in a cold house. I make sure my cell phone is charged, and I have a wind-up radio/lantern/cell phone charger that comes in handy when the power is off.

Answer 14

I have a wind up radio and who knows how many batteries.

If the gasoline is below 1/4 tank I will walk from point a to point b.

Eating:the cats get fed first and I have plenty of food for them.Myself:Lots of canned food and access to fresh water.The only thing I need to stock up on is potassium which absorbs the salt in one's body.

Answer 15

1. I don't own a card

2. With my mouth

3. I have a bulk tank behind the garage, holds 200 gallons.

4. How do you heat the house? The gas furnace requires electricity

Answer 16

Throw some wood in the fireplace, light the kerosene lanterns, open up some canned food, have some wine, and read a good book.

Answer 17

How do we eat?

Usually friends and family band together and share.

How do we get gas?

Just don't worry about it, don't drive, or car-pool.

How do you..........pass the time?

Again, get family and friends to pitch in, play cards, sit around a fire in the back yard.

Answer 18

"How do you eat?" - We'd start grilling. No law says you have to use it only during summer.

"How do you get gas?" - I fill up when I hit 1/2 tank. Always.

"How do you (stay warm)?" - with a wood/coal stove. It's been working overtime.

Answer 19

My debit card paid for all that.

The food

The gas

The motel/hotel room too

as long as you have money in your bank account you can use the card.=)



The power doesn't all go out at the same time in my town.

so we would have to go were there is power..

Answer 20

The easiest thing for me to do would be to load up the RV and head to a campground/town that had power..

Answer 21

Ears fall off frogs.

Answer 22

I'm still working on the "lost card" scenario, eat the daises I suppose

Answer 23

What happens is that all your food defrosts in the freezer.



keep warm.

Answer 24

night happens

Answer 25

loot that's how