Surviving 72 Hours Stuck at Home
How does one survive 72 hours stuck at home? What if there’s no heat? Or worse, no Internet?!
The winter of 2008 we got 36 inches of snow in one dumping. The Principal was out of town and my car was a mini van. Read: No 4×4. No plow for our driveway to get to the main road.
We weren’t peppers at the time so none of these things had ever occurred to me before. I was born and raised in the Seattle area.
Thankfully, we didn’t loose power. I also wasn’t going anywhere. The driveway was impassable. I had enough food for myself and the 4 kids. I also had enough TP. The important stuff. I don’t think I could have gone more than a week though.
This is my list for surviving 72 hours stuck at home.
#1 Heat
We have a wood-stove that heats the house nicely. If it gets in the Sub-zero range we start closing doors to direct the heat into other areas. I can count on one hand how many times we’ve lost power, for any length of time, in 12 years, but it still nice to have. Plus it makes winter bearable.
#2 Clean
If it’s close to the storm’s arrival, and we know it’s going to be a big one, then I usually clean. You know, in case the power does go out. I want clean floors, clothes, and dishes.
#3 Games
I have games on hand in case we do loose power. Or, heaven forbid, internet. You know your computer is worthless without it don’t you. We like Wits and Wagers and Risk. Card games are also fun. Basically, something to break up the boardroom.
#4 Pay attention to the weather report
We use this radio most of the time. We pay attention to the weather report closely during the months of December, January, and February. If it looks like we are going to get dumped on then we get the wood in and the chickens ready before hand so we don’t have to go out in it. This goes for sub zero temps or snow. Not because the kids don’t want to, but if it’s windy, it is a safety issue.
#5 Supplies are Important
We have plenty of water stored for 72 hrs. 1 gallon per person, per day. If we lose power we lose water. I do have water for flushing the toilet, too.
We do have a hand pump for the well if we need it. Also, have a plan.
In case The Principal or The Girl are at work, and we get a ton of snow, we have a communication plan. They both have stuff in their cars like blankets and a couple of MRE’s. They also have FRS radios in case cell service is down.
Other stuff would be:
- Flashlights
- Candles
- Matches
- Food
- First Aid Kit/Essential Oils
- Blankets
- Long Johns
- Alternative Cooking Source
- Manual Can Opener
#6 Enjoy!
Not much more forces you to slow down life than a good snow storm.
Enjoy it. Have hot chocolate with that Bailey’s at the back of the cupboard.
Read a book.
Put down the cell phones.
Embrace the slow for awhile. You will survive, and you may even make some great memories.
In 1983 we had about three feet of snow (in Missouri). It was the weekend and we had friends over. Our two daughters, their two boys, and thankfully they had left the new baby at home. When the snow started getting heavier we mentioned it, but Mike had had a few beers and thought his car could handle it. It was a chevette! We had them for several days. We lost power that night, I had five stock pots full of snow melting. Ray put chains on the tractor and brought in several buckets of water from the creek for flushing. The stock pots were sitting on the wood stove and on the range. I got a chicken out of the freezer and made a big pot of dumplings and my mother-in-law made meatball stew the next day. We alternated making that sort of meal for five days. The next year we had 4×4’s. More recently we had a bad ice storm, lost a lot of trees that winter. It sounded like explosions out in the woods and then we lost power. Another week without electricity. It happens a lot out here. I’ve finally got Ray interested in solar and wind power. But small family farms like ours were preppers before it was a word….