Avian Flu Diary: #NatlPrep: For A Brighter Day (and Night)

Note: September is National Preparedness Month . Follow this year’s campaign on Twitter by searching for the #NatlPrep hash tag.

This month, I’ll be rerunning some edited and updated older preparedness essays, along with some new ones.

#12,765

Short term power outages affect most of us each year, usually lasting anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours. Longer outages, while less common, are far from rare - as anyone who found themselves in the path of hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Marie last summer will attest.

While having no TV, or Internet, or electric lights might seem more of an inconvenience than anything else, sometimes not having power can be deadly (see Ninth person dead in Florida nursing home where Irma knocked out power).

During the summer of 2012, a powerful Derecho swept across the Mid-Atlantic states (see Picking Up The Pieces), killing 15 and leaving nearly 4 million people without power, some for more than 2 weeks.

While 15 people died during the storm, at least 32 died of heat-related illnesses in the two weeks that followed. This from a 2013 MMWR:

Heat-Related Deaths After an Extreme Heat Event — Four States, 2012, and United States, 1999–2009

Weekly
June 7, 2013 / 62(22);433-436 On June 29, 2012, a rapidly moving line of intense thunderstorms with high winds swept across the midwestern and eastern United States, causing widespread damage and power outages.

Afterward, the area experienced extreme heat, with maximum temperatures exceeding 100°F (37.8°C) (1). This report describes 32 heat-related deaths in Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia that occurred during the 2 weeks following the storms and power outages.

(SNIP)

Most decedents (75%) were unmarried or living alone. Common underlying or contributing conditions included cardiovascular disease (14) and chronic respiratory disease (four). In at least seven (22%) of the deaths, loss of power from the storms was known to be a contributing factor. Overall, 22 (69%) decedents died at home, with lack of air conditioning reported in 20 (91%) of these deaths.

(Continue . . . )

Hurricanes, ice storms, Nor’easters, tornadoes, floods, tornadoes, cyber attacks (see The Lloyd’s Business Blackout Scenario). . . and even solar storms (see Solar Storms, CMEs & FEMA) are capable of crippling power production and delivery.

But even without a dramatic outside event triggering an outage, our electrical grid often operates at near full capacity, and it is essentially a patchwork quilt of old and new technologies, with some of the vital components more than 60 years old.

Every four years the ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) releases a report card on America’s infrastructure, and their latest (2017) grades our cumulative score fo infrastructure sits at only a D+, and two of our most vulnerable infrastructures are drinking water and the electrical grid.

They warn:

Overview

Much of the U.S. energy system predates the turn of the 21st century. Most electric transmission and distribution lines were constructed in the 1950s and 1960s with a 50-year life expectancy, and the more than 640,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in the lower 48 states’ power grids are at full capacity. Energy infrastructure is undergoing increased investment to ensure long-term capacity and sustainability; in 2015, 40% of additional power generation came from natural gas and renewable systems.

Without greater attention to aging equipment, capacity bottlenecks, and increased demand, as well as increasing storm and climate impacts, Americans will likely experience longer and more frequent power interruptions.

(Continue . . . )

Unlike air, water, shelter, or food . . . we don't actually need electricity to survive. But we've built our society, and everything that goes with it, on the expectation of always having electrical power at the flick of a switch.

Without electrical power, water and gasoline doesn’t pump, elevators and air conditioners don’t run, ATM machines and banks close, grocery stores can’t take debit or credit cards, produce, meat and frozen foods spoil, and doing everything - from cooking, to driving in cities without functional traffic lights, to flushing toilets - becomes a major challenge.

Particularly in urban settings.

If a disaster struck your region today, and the power went out, stores closed their doors, and water stopped flowing from your kitchen tap for the next 7 to 14 days . . . do you already have:

A battery operated NWS Emergency Radio to find out what was going on, and to get vital instructions from emergency officials?
A decent first-aid kit, so that you can treat injuries?
Enough non-perishable food and water on hand to feed and hydrate your family (including pets) for the duration?
A way to provide light (and in cold climates, heat) for your family without electricity? And a way to cook? And to do this safely?
A small supply of cash to use in case credit/debit machines are not working?
An emergency plan, including meeting places, emergency out-of-state contact numbers, a disaster buddy, and in case you must evacuate, a bug-out bag?
Spare supply of essential prescription medicines that you or your family may need?

If your answer is `no’, you have some work to do. A good place to get started is by visiting Ready.gov.

Unfortunately, a lot of people make the wrong choices when they do prepare. They buy candles instead of battery operated lights, they use generators inside their house or garage, or resort to dangerous methods to cook or to heat their homes.

As a result, when the power goes out, house fires and carbon monoxide poisonings go up. Each year hundreds of Americans are killed, and thousands affected, by CO poisoning (see In Carbon Monoxide: A Stealthy Killer).

After last year's hurricane, and my neighborhood's prolonged power outage (see A Post Irma Update), I made a number of small upgrades to my disaster preps.

Last October, in Rethinking Solar Power On A Budget, I described some of those improvements, which included adding several 10,000 milliamp USB batteries with (3 fold) solar panels, a couple of USB fans, and several USB LED lights (see photo below).

Battery, Solar Panel, Fan & Light - About $50.

A 10,000 milliamp battery with (3 fold) solar panel, a USB fan, and USB LED light. The beauty of this system is it will fit in a bug out bag, weighs about 2 lbs, and while the solar charging will be slow and you'll have to be judicious with their use, it should keep phones, lights, MP3 players, and fans going for a few days. Longer if you don't need the fan.

For under $100 you can buy a couple of bigger power bricks, and a much larger solar panel (20 watts plus), which will increase your capabilities significantly

When the lights go out, nothing beats having a few good LED flashlights or lanterns (and extra batteries). Each year they get brighter, and cheaper. Most run between $5 and $10, and that beats the heck out of cursing the darkness.

In addition to storing water, a few years ago I bought several water filtration systems, one to keep and a couple to give to prepping buddies. LifeStraw ® is now available in the United States and Canada; at just 2 ounces, this personal water filter will reportedly filter 1000 liters down to .2 microns. Not bad for around $20.

I've also recently added the Sawyer Mini-Filter to my preps, again about $20.

Emergency cook stoves can be had for under $20. A 1 burner propane camp stove costs about $12, add a couple of 1 pound propane cylinders (about $3 each) and you can cook for a family for a week.

For emergency electrical power, I bought an 80 watt cigarette lighter inverter for my car. It can power a small laptop, and has a USB charger port as well. Under $20.

I also have a couple of 12 volt storage batteries (kept on trickle charge), and a couple of larger (40 watt) solar panels, which I would deploy if needed.

While preparedness may seem like a lot of work, it really isn’t. You don’t need an underground bunker, an armory, or 2 years worth of dehydrated food.

But you do need the basics to carry on for a week or two, and a workable family (or business) emergency/disaster plan. With a budget of as little as two to three hundred dollars, you should be able to obtain the basics to get through most disasters.

Importantly, you need to make these preparations now, before the next threat appears on the horizon. In central Florida, there wasn't a case of water, a flashlight, or a battery to be had a full 5 days before Irma struck last September.

For more information on how to prepare, I would invite you to visit: