Dallasnews.com and other local media outlets are warning of possible severe weather in Dallas – Fort Worth tonight. That could mean hail, heavy winds, and… you guessed it, another Dallas power outage.
Are you prepared?
If the answer is anything but “yes, absolutely,” read on for a list of a few essential things you still have time to grab this afternoon. (Skip to the list.)
Lessons from last time
When “The Big One” hit two weeks ago, my family’s preparedness would probably have scored around a 50 on a 100-point scale. (0 = complete helplessness, 100 = total preparedness, you deserve a reality TV show.)
We had candles, LED lanterns, a couple of headlamps, a case or two of bottled water, a decent handful of AA batteries, and a few small power banks.
But that didn’t stop me from jumping in the car and going for a wild supply-hunting ride through tree-obstructed roads and free-for-all intersections with dark traffic lights.
(The Skillman – Abrams intersection was particularly fun.)
Of course, most of the stores I had in mind were dark and closed. Thankfully, (and thanks to my wife’s quick research back home), the Lowe’s in Preston Hollow was open and running on reserve power.
But most of the supplies I’d come in hopes of finding were picked clean.
(I wish I’d taken a photo of the completely cleaned-out section for larger emergency generators. But had to conserve iPhone battery.)
We were fine in the end, and the modest kit I’d already assembled worked for our needs. But I wished I’d been better prepared.
(And I’m so thankful the CVS on Lemmon was fully powered, open, and had little battery-powered fans in stock. Those were low-cost life-savers with the central air out of commission, and not something that had crossed my mind previously.)
So here’s the list of things I’m double-checking are well-stocked this afternoon, in case mother nature is planning to serve up another Dallas power outage. And if any are in short supply, I’m going to stock up this afternoon.
Power outage prep list
- Emergency lighting
- Reserve power sources
- Non-perishable food and bottled water
Since all the OTHER things I need to do on Sunday chore-day aren’t going anywhere, I’m actually going to order anything I need more of from Amazon Prime Now for delivery by 6PM. Probably may
If you’ve never tried Prime Now, today’s as good a day as any to take it for a spin if you need to prepare for a power outage. You can get a 30-day free trial here and place your power outage preparedness orders immediately.
One more thing: There are also two “intangible” prep kit items that we realized (when our lights were out for 4 days earlier this month) are so important when a power outage in Dallas lasts longer than a few minutes.
- A plan for a long-term outage
- A positive attitude
All the supplies in the world won’t help if you and yours are panicking, angry, frustrated, or anything else that is of absolutely zero help in a power outage and really only makes things worse.
So if the weather really starts looking bad, I’m going to sit down with the family, talk through our plan, and commit to staying positive and getting through a power outage of any length together.
Here’s hoping we start the week with the lights on. Good luck everybody.
