Do you have any notion of how many hurricanes your 1928 house has experienced? I would image Irma was not the first one....

For charging cell phones and Eneloop batteries, I am planning to rely on solar panels and a variety of power banks. I have used these on field projects and they seem promising. I am also happy with the various inflatable "Luci" solar lights that are available. They have worked well for me and they are fairly cheap....