Flashlights, Batteries, Weather Radio..... Oh MY!!!

We are in the midst of a "severe" storm.  It is a severe thunderstorm with the possibility of a tornado or two.  No big deal, right???  Right....

Yesterday morning my husband suggested we get our weather radio set-up, finally, here in our house.  We just hadn't done it yet since we moved in a little over a year ago.  Why a weather radio you ask???  I mean we have our cell phones and weather alerts are transmitted through them too.  Why duplicity???  Well, I am notorious for letting my cell phone die completely and not charge it.  My husband swears his phone doesn't hold a charge for as long as he would like, but he does charge it often and has a second, always charged, battery for his phone. A weather radio works on electricity AND battery power.  It is loud and can be heard all over our house when it sounds off.  I pulled the radio out of our closet where it has sat for the past year and my husband started setting it up for our locality (it is different from the locality where we used to live).  While setting it up last night he realized that the transmitter didn't work anymore.  It may not be the transmitter, it might be another part, but in the end, it didn't work.  We need a new one.  So that won't help us for this storm.

We moved on to flashlights and lanterns and batteries.  Our lanterns use the BIG batteries.  The D kind.  One lantern still worked with the existing batteries and the other one didn't.  We went to change the batteries and found corrosion in the battery cavity along with the fact that we had no more D batteries. {sigh} We move on to flashlights.  Why do I give flashlights almost every single year in my kids' stockings but when I ask if they know where they are, they can't seem to find them.  {double sigh}.  We found three flashlights for 5 people.  Luckily, we had new batteries for these flashlights and were able to replace the batteries and have extra for them if we need them.

It is the little things like these that I just assume that we are covered when this is the very things we are so not covered on.

Now in the midst of the beginning of the storm we still have power but if it does go out the house will be quite dark even though it is well into the morning.  We will need light sources if the power goes out.  We do have candles and will use them when we need them.

So while I finish this blog post, I encourage you to check your supplies now, don't wait until the night before when all the stores are closed.  Check them now.

Do you have a flashlight for each person in your household?

Do you have a larger light source like a lantern for larger areas like the kitchen table?

Do you have batteries, oil, or extra fuel for the light sources you plan to use?

Think about the rooms that have no window or are extra dark because of a little window, like a bathroom, and think about how you will light that area.

While you are thinking about it, do you have a flashlight in your purse?  A small flashlight can help in many situations.  Is there a flashlight in your car?  Extra batteries?

I am chalking this event as an emergency preparedness FAIL.  Batteries, a weather radio, and extra flashlights are being ordered today from Amazon!!