So, here's some stuff you all might like to know - blackout reports from friends and family I equipped for emergencies in the last few months.
MANHATTAN
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Back in April, I made up a super-light "urban PSK" for a friend who asked me to build one for him that he could carry "without feeling like a dork." So I built him a super-light "Urban kit" that he has with him all the time (this has led to an interesting side business of building all sorts of personalized kits for people). Some items in is kit are a Pelican "Attitude" LED light, a nice little Sony AM/FM radio, light and long-lasting Lithium batteries, Platypus water containers and other stuff.
He was at work when the light went out. He was NOT the only person with a battery-powered radio, but he was the only one with a water supply ready to go. Down the stairs he went, light in hand, walked home, and was able to refill his water supply along the way from open hydrants. Unfortunately, at home, his building windows do NOT open and he had no means of powering so much as a fan, so it was a hot night for him. (more on this problem later)
LONG ISLAND
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My mom, who, until September 11th 2001 thought I was a "survivalist whacko" when she learned that we keep an "evacuation kit" ready, lives in the suburbs of Long Island, and asked me to build her a kit around the time of the great duct tape scare of 2003. She got a rather simple kit with the Ready.gov basic list plus a few extras, but all lightened up considerably by using high-end camping gear and such rather than bulky hardware store items to make it easier for her to transport. She was VERY glad to have a battery powered radio, and even more glad for the "Power Outage Checklist" which I included in her kit, because that reminded her to hook up an "old fashioned" phone to get calls from my dad, who was working his way home. They had barbecues and opened the windows and all was fine. The fridge held up ok, no loss of food.
On the other hand, my elderly grandmother had a harder time. She's in her late 80's and basically sits in front of the air conditioner from March until October. She was totally unprepared for the heat, had a hard time of it. More importantly, she really could have used the most basic appliance - a fan - to keep herself feeling a little better.
OBSERVATIONS
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For the most part, a flashlight and radio were the most important needs for the folks I heard from (I've not yet heard from my family in Michigan and Ohio), but I suspect that water is (as usual) an issue.
The most important thing I learned from this event is the need for many people to have a simple, effective "indoor generator" to run a small fan and - importantly - cell phone chargers. Sealed gel-cell systems with an integral inverter are cheap, effective and easy to use, and I'd advise anyone who lives in a place where the windows can't open, or you can't store gasoline or operate a gas generator, by all means, purchase a simple battery/Inverter combo system.
I have my own home-built unit I use for short-term outages to keep some equipment running for short-term outages before I fire up the generator, but there's a wealth of great "ready-made" systems out there such as the xPower600 -
http://www.solardyne.com/xpower600.html (600 Watt Portable)
Also, an apartment dweller would do well to have a store of water in a closet somewhere, since many hi-rise buildings went without water for a while. Not being able to flush the toilet is annoying for two days, but not being able to drink is dangerous.
that's all for now.
Marty
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