We are very fortunate here as our cold winters generally prevent us from ice storms and power losses.  We have lost power in the winter before though, but it doesn't happen very often - and seems to be restored soon (one Christmas Day quite a few years ago the power was out for 6 hours - I think people were more worried about their turkeys cooking than freezing up LOL).

We do lose power at our cottage, though, very often - summer and winter.  So we bought a generator for there.  If we lost power in town in the middle of winter in town we would use that.

I have several flashlight all over my house in case of power outages.  I have candles.  I don't have a lot of food and water, but enough to last us several days.  My hubby has a propane stove cooker for ice fishing, so we would be able to use that.  We have a wood stove in our garage, so we could also cook and warm on that.

When we travel in the wintertime, we prepare our vehicle to be safe if we have trouble.  We always throw in ski-doo suits, warm boots, extra hats, scarves, and warm mitts and socks and blankets.  I always take a few candles in metal containers as my dad always used to tell me that a burning candle in a metal container in a vehicle could create enough heat to keep you from freezing (I know you have to be careful with the monoxide - so you have to make sure you open the windows occasionally).

If we had a power outage here like they do down south we (community and infrastructure) would be in serious difficulty as most houses and water lines would freeze solid within many hours when it is -40.  One year a friend  who was checking a neighbour's house checked it one morning, and it was fine - furnace was running.  She had checked it again 24 hours later and at some point between the two checks the furnace had gone out.  The water in the toilet bowl was frozen, as well as the rest of the house.

I feel badly for those who had such power outages over these last weeks. 

I think this is an interesting topic.  I don't have everything in place that I should have.

We always have a fair bit of food around.  The same is true for some type of drinking liquid, and there's almost always some water although probably not as much water as recommended.  I am bad for allowing some of my medications to get low before picking up more.  I am usually pretty good for keeping at least 1/2 a tank of gas in the car.  Chemguy is a bit worse, but he tries, he's only allowed to fill up at certain places and the closest one isn't even in the city.  We always have some cash around.  We have more than one bank (although most of the money is in one, we were better spread out before we made a huge purchase) and we have different CCs with different banks and of different types ie. VISA/Amex.

When we travel in the winter, we add in the extra clothes, there's an emergency kit including first aid stuff.  We also take extra food & drinks just in case.  I think I have boosters in the car, I used to.  I may have taken them out though, I should probably check!

When it comes to heating, we aren't that well prepared.  There is a gas fireplace, but if the power went out I'm not sure it would operate, there's a switch that needs to be flicked to get more than just the pilot light going.  We do have a propane BBQ, so we could cook/heat water with that.  I guess we could heat stuff up with that too for warmth and wrap them up with blankets like people used to do.  I also have self-heating pads that get fairly hot, but it would take quite a bit to recharge them first, currently have them all discharged.

I am bad for having a dead cell phone battery.  It could be charged in a vehicle though, we both have a typical outlet that plugs into the cigarette lighter or whatever that things is called now.  We have a landlane, but in a power outage we do not have one that would work.  I would like to get a basic one that would work, you don't even see them though.

We have no backup generator, guns, or anything major like that.

If there was a power outage for more than a day in the winter I probably wouldn't want to stick around and we would be heading elsewhere.

We found our conversation interesting too.  Now we have some feedback to think about as well.  Seems like Beloved would have emergency surviving capabilities with a generator and camping style propane stove.  Maybe a bit more challenging for chemgal.  A bbq could be used to cook, but only outside.  I hadn't thought about heatng bricks or something to bring inside - good idea.

Does it make much difference if you live in a house or an apartment?  We spent some time thinking of our resposibilty towards the elderly and disabled.  Some of them live on the fourth floor of a building - most of them can't walk downstairs.  I guess I should do some checking with people who know what emergency plans are in place!  

I forgot a few things.  We do have a fire extinguisher and both Chemguy and I have hands-on training for using one.  He has up to date first aid training, I have way out of date training.  I don't think we have a full first aid kit inside, but we do have many of the things that one would contain, and we can run out to a vehicle if we need more.

We do have the sensor type night lights around the house that turn on during a power outage and can be used as flashlights, candles, and a crank powered flashlight.

Propane stoves aren't safe for cooking inside, are they?  Our BBQ could be moved inside, but the most I've allowed Chemguy to do is use it in the garage with the door open.

My understanding is bbq's should stay outside.  Propane camp stoves are ok with ventilation (people use them in rv's all the time.)

I'm not at all familiar with the camping stoves, I just heard propane and figured that it wasn't really meant as an indoor thing.

I'm also curious about our fireplace.  I'd like to try it during a (hopefully short-term) power outage.  Maybe we'll have to leave the pilot light lit during the warmer months when we're getting stores, as that's when the power goes out.  It's usually short, so the light would have to be lit already because the power would likely be restored before we got it all on starting at the beginning.

It sounds like some people out East won't have power for a few days.  Hopefully everyone will be ok.

HI kaythecurler,

Parts of Brantford lost power for a few hours the Sunday of the ice storm.  Not a big deal.

If it had been a big deal we have a wood burning fireplace and with all the branches that came down in the neighbourhood there would be enough wood to keep it running.  It probably wouldn't heat the whole house but we could keep a few rooms warm with it.

The camping gear would likely come out of the garage.  Heavier sleeping bags and the like.  We have a gas stove so cooking wouldn't be a problem.  We have candles so we wouldn't be in the dark.

Only ever had the Church supply one while we were in St. Anthony, NL.  We were there five years and the longest time we were without power was about an hour or two tops.  And that was during the worst blizzard we had ever seen as a family.  My wife (a teacher) was trapped at the school with out of town students whose buses turned back).  The tiny community of St. Anthony Bight (my second preaching point) lost power for about a week when ice and wind snapped several poles.

If it was that bad I'd send my wife and whatever kids that wanted to go with her to a powered place.  I'd stay with the dogs.  I've camped in the winter with scouting and I've survived Newfoundland and Labrador winters.  I think I could tough it out for a week or so.

Yup.

So long as it doesn't require a power switch to turn it on.  We have a gas furnace, the thermostat is electronic so I don't know how that would impact upon its operation.  If the signal to heat up doesn't get through turning it on might be a bit tricky.  The same goes for turning it off when it gets overly warm.

Just the other day it hit -23C.  Not an abnormal temperature but not a typical one for Brantford at any rate.  I don't know how long it would take our home to drop to freezing temperatures without heat.  Still, with adequate clothing hypothermia shouldn't prove to be a problem in doors where there is no wind to wick heat away.

And more people appeared to understand how things worked.  Imagine complaints in Canada about food spoiling in winter because there is no power to the fridge.  Open the door it's a walk-out freezer.

I get that there are some things that don't freeze and then thaw well.  I don't get food spoiling unless you do nothing to prevent it and while the power was off outside there was plenty of natural refrigeration going on outside.

As long as the roof doesn't cave in we'd make out alright.

Grace and peace to you.

John

Two communities lost power today here.  It's a cold day for that, but it doesn't sound like it will be for long.

Living in a city I don't worry too much about a power outage lasting long enough to be a problem  (our lights didn't even blink over Christmas when communities just a few klms away lost power for days).  I am probably too complacent.

About twelve years ago we had an outage in our area that lasted about 24 hours.  Seelerman turned off the water and left the taps open.  We sat around in jackets - went to the mall for supper.  Sat around again.   Seelergirl and granddaughter went to a friend's place where their power had come back on. 

I phoned a cousin, a klm away.  I asked if I could come down and get warm by her fireplace.   She hadn't lost power at all.  So I went down for the night.  A few hours later Seelerman (who had been determined to tough it out) came down as well - bringing the dog with him.  

No, we aren't prepared.

Our camp is 100 klm away.  It has a wood stove and a hand pump (much like we had at home during my childhood).  We could manage there for a few days if we had to - and if we could reach it.   We also have a barbeque and a camp stove that we could use for cooking outside in a real pinch. 

Flashlights and candles.

http://www.trueactivist.com/how-to-easily-heat-your-home-using-flower-po...

I'd like to try this simple home-built tealight heater. If it works, it would be easy to have something like this on hand. Might make the difference between being miserable and relatively comfortable. Apparently though, the use of a metal core of some type is crucial to it's operation, hence the big metal bolt in the first flowerpot. 

I think it would only work in a small space, but it sounds great.

I left my well-stocked winter emergency car kit in the storage unit. I guess I should put it in my car...

Actually, water is the most important thing to have on hand. When I lived in the country, I kept a couple of big (18L) water containers. One was pristine drinking water and the other was tap water (for cleaning, washing etc.) There was a wood stove there for heat and heating the kettle or warming food. If a person was really serious about sustained survival, a hand pump backup for the well and an outhouse would be nice. 

Hand pump and outhouse - describes how I grew up - and our original camp.