Well, we're finally back. Our power came back on Monday evening, and our internet/phone came back yesterday. I am so grateful. That's 3 days without power, 5 days without internet, 5 days without the telephone, 5 days of spotty cell phone service, 3 days of living in the cold and dark, but... several days of getting to know our neighbors and church family very well. Mixed blessings, I suppose.
The other night we were driving home from a friend's house (they were sharing their heat, food, and conversation for the evening...we were coming home to camp out in front of our gas fireplace for the night). On the way home, there was a house fully engulfed in fire that was very close to our home. Actually, from the way we were driving, we thought there was a chance that it might have been our home. When I realized it wasn't ours, I felt so guilty that I was glad that it wasn't ours, for it meant that someone else was suffering greatly that cold night. I pray they are ok.
As we entered our cold home, we soberly lit all the candles - knowing they had the potential power to burn down our home (although, mine are all in protective glass candles holders, but still...). We realized that we didn't have a fire extinguisher out and easily accessible. We had just moved into our house, and it was still in the garage. Even had we been unpacked, it would have been in the "right" spot in the kitchen for a kitchen fire or something.
So, my WFMW tip is that when the power goes out, and you have a jillion candles burning (and it's winter in Seattle so you only have 8 hours of daylight), get your fire extinguisher and set it out on the counter or by a main door...somewhere that it would be easy to find in the dark. The places in the home where a fire would likely start are different in a power-outage than in typical daily living.
My other power-outage tip (I didn't do this, but heard it on the radio), is that if you have a gas hot-water heater, you can fill your bathtub full with HOT water, and the heat that the water lets off will heat your home/room. Apparently, water is very efficient at heating air. You'll want to clean the steam off the walls when the power comes back on so it doesn't mildew, but if you are freezing, this can be a good solution.
See Shannon's blog for more tips!
6 comments:
Great tips! As we filled our home with lit candles during our brief outage... I also thought of the danger we were creating. So many were lit I was afraid I would forget to blow one out...
I also cringed as I heard on the news the accounts of deaths related to carbon monoxide poisoning and fires related to trying to stay warm during the outage.
So glad to hear your power has been restored and that you are warm and safe! :-)
We live in the Pacific Northwest and were hit by this storm as well. Luckily our power was only out for 11 hours.
Thanks for the reminder about keeping the fire extinguisher handy. The last thing anyone needs at a time like this is to have their house go up in flames.
Hope your life is continuing to get back to normal!
MomRN - I know...the night before last, I dreamed the entire night about carbon monoxide. The stories are so sad. Needless to say, I have not been well rested. My heart has just been aching for the families whose houses cannot be lived in any longer (thanks to trees), or who have suffered from fire or carbon monoxide. And right before Christmas. It's just so sad.
Great tips! I have a lot of family members that live out in Seattle & I was so happy when they called my yesterday to let me know the power was back on. I'm glad you're okay! =) I will definitely keep those tips in mind, thank you for sharing. Happy Holidays!
Great tips!
Hope you are staying warm now.
I like to keep a fire extinguisher near each exterior door so that if I'm getting the fire extinguisher, then I am between the fire and the door.
Post a Comment