Additional things to think about when preparing for a severe storm

Yesterday the kids and I made our list of items we needed to purchase from the store and we went out to run our errands.  As I was walking through Costco yesterday I was pleased to see a few people looking at generators.  One couple decided to purchase one.  Costco was selling them for $699.  That is one family who won't have to worry much about their basic items such as their refrigerator and freezer foods going bad.

Anyway, as I was walking through the aisles, (note to self: don't take the kids to Costco when the sample ladies are out.  They want you to buy way too many items), I remembered several items which make life a bit simpler when the power is out and I thought I would share them here.

1.  Paper plates, napkins, plastic forks and spoons and paper cups.  These are awesome to have around so you don't have to wash many dishes.  I bought a big bag of plates and a big bag of cups yesterday.

2.  Clean out your gutters and drain ditches.  This helps with the heavy amount of rain.  We don't want to cause a flood if we don't have to.

3.  Shelf stable milk.  This is great to have around. 

4.  Wet wipes and hand sanitizer.  Helpful for washing hands and killing germs without using water.

5.  Charge everything you can prior to a possible power outage.  Right now I am charging my handheld mixer. It is a staple appliance in my kitchen and the battery lasts a long time so I want to get it fully charged before the power goes out.  Yeah, I am spoiled.  But more so, charge your phones, ipods, ipads, laptops, hand held game systems, radios, etc.  

6.  Do laundry and straighten the house.  If the power goes out and you have no clean undies you will be sad so do as much laundry as you can.  While you are at it straighten up the house a bit.  Put items away and vacuum the floors.  This way when the power goes out you won't trip over something out of place.  Also you will feel better in a clean-ish home while you sit and wait for the lights to return.

Yesterday I spoke with two neighbors about the upcoming storm.  Both hadn't paid much attention to it.  Both said something to the extent of "Well, I guess I better start thinking about it.  We will probably lose power again."  I doubt they will think much of it until tomorrow when it starts to drizzle.  

I made up a little checklist for severe storms. You are welcome to download it and use it.  It was created in Open Office and you can get that program for free (just Google Open Office and it will give you the link).  It can also be opened up in MS Word I am pretty sure too.  The formatting may be a bit off but it should work, so I have been told. :)

Click on the link below!

Severe Storm Checklist   

(no it is not crooked when you download the file)

Have a great day!