I was off work that day, watching TV at the time. The power went out so I took a nap. After a couple hours I realized that apparently the power wasn't coming back right away. This pretty much never happens here in southern calif. So, I figured might be a good idea to get out my emergency radio and see what all the fuss was about.
Plenty of stressed out people on the radio ... folks whinning about this and that.
All my cars had greater than a half tank of gas. And while I tohught about maybe getting some ice ...I figured the rest of humanity was in the process of or already had bought out the readily available supply. So, figured ... its best to stay home.
Traffic was in chaos according to the radio which matched my expectation from past experience when I wasn't home when the power went out.
Broke out the flashlights, oil lamps and fired up the bar-b-que to make dinner on the back porch. Some of my backup stuff had low batteries so they got replaced from ready stock. Invited the newlywed neighbor kids who had nothing. Gave them a flashlight from backup stock. Fed 'em and invited 'em back for breakfast and hot coffee if power didn't come back by then, or even if it did.
Went to bed about 9pm or so ... since it seemed power wouldn't be back until morning. Set up my battery operated fan to stay cool in the bedroom. Slept fitfully.
Power came on in my neighborhood about 2 am. So fired up the ceiling fan and went back to sleep.
Lesson learned:
Having batteries in stock and backup lighting, candles and lanterns made for a low stress event.
We have plenty of food and water and even a portable ice maker ...though don't have a generator. So, that is on the list to get. And maybe upgrade to 5 gallons of stored gasoline in the shed. Only have 2 gallons now.
If we had paper plates, cups, bowls etc...neither the wife or I knew where they were. Saves on dirty dishes later on. Those have since been procured. We replaced our stock of batteries and picked up an LED table Lantern since it creates little heat and no open flame. Might get another to lessen the need to carry the one around the house.
Am considering a campaign to make all the emergency supplies more readily accessible as they are not all centrally located so as to keep the rummaging around to a minimum.
And will amp up my stock of items to have on hand for others no as readily prepared.
Overall, I thought things went well, though maybe next time I won't wait for 2 hrs to do anything. Just in case there is mre to the event than just a loss of electricity. Which is what I thought it was, but I didn't validate the perception right away. Maybe next time it will be something worse, so a lax response is probably not the best option.
It is however, not necessary to get to get yer panties in a twist if you are prepared.
Next time I hope I have my little backup generator, so I can set up my ice maker and start cranking out ice for my ready stock of beer and sodas... since the ready supply in the 'fridge will get exhausted quickly.
It pays to be prepared. Not in money so much ...but in less stress for me and my less prepared neighbors and friends.