As someone who writes about preparedness, I realize there are many experts out there — you, your neighbors, and the folks around the corner — who have all had experience with various kinds of urgent situations, and some downright scary emergencies. I get many interesting letters and thoughtful questions. Today I would like to share a few I recently received and let you in on an idea I am trying out. First, some questions:

In response to the article: Storm Tests Family's Preparedness

When the power goes out what do you do about the food in your freezer and refrigerator?

Even though we no longer have young children in our home I tape a DO NOT OPEN sign on the refrigerator door when the power goes out. Even I forget and open it before I really know what I want to get out. When we do open it, I have a list of anything someone might want and I get those items as quickly as possible and close the door. The same is true of the freezer.

If the power is out for two or three hours, there should be no problem with the food in your refrigerator. I suggest a thermometer for the fridge, and if the temp goes above 40 degrees it is time to either eat the food, cook the food, or repack it in an ice chest with ice. If you have snow, that works well to place in an ice chest. It is a myth that you cannot refreeze food once it has been cooked so if you cook something, you can freeze it when the power returns.

For frozen goods: If the freezer is half full, everything should remain frozen for 24 hours if you keep it sealed. If it is full, everything should remain frozen for 48 hours. After that, it should be cooked or eaten. Keep your freezer full. I suggest that if your freezer is not full, you fill it with ice, either a block or bag from the store or just make bags of ice cubes. Then when you shop and want to add food, you just dump the ice. If the power goes out, your food will remain safe longer and when the ice melts you will have safe water to drink and cook with. As long as your meat has ice crystals on it or you can feel that it has not begun to thaw it can be refrozen without cooking.

Some of us live in apartments without gas (or propane) stoves, fireplaces, and a lot of storage space. It would be good to hear some suggestions for those of us that aren’t as lucky! I have food storage, water and money “stored,” but not a full year’s supply. I have flashlights, a 72-hour kit and some food that I can open and eat. Any other suggestions?

As far as storage is concerned, my favorite tip is to go Up. By that I mean, instead of purchasing a dresser, purchase an armoire. You now have twice the space. Install shelves and stack your clothing. Purchase baskets or plastic tubs for socks and smaller items. You will now have room to store linens in this cupboard and you can use your linen closet for food storage. On top of the armoire place some large baskets and fill them with lightweight storage such as TP and tissues or even boxes of pasta.

As for heating food, you can use a camp stove with a few small propane bottles to get by, in a properly ventilated space. You can store them under the bed or sofa. You can also use a #10 can (you know, the big one), poke holes in the sides and place a candle in a container or tuna can fire starter under the inverted #10 can. The top will heat up quickly and food placed in a small pot on top will warm up pretty quickly.

Be careful, because the can will get very hot, and use good sense wherever you have an open flame! If you have MRE’s stored, get a few MRE heaters. They are flat and store easily. They work very well and heat food quickly. Again, be careful, as the pouch will be hot. They will also heat pouched water for a hot drink.

For warmth, layer your clothing quickly. Choose one room to stay in. This room should have few windows and low ceilings. Seal the windows and doors to the room. Cover the windows with Mylar blankets, regular blankets, or quilts. Roll towels and place under the door and on window sills to cut down drafts. Invite a neighbor or friend over and hunker down together. Your combined body heat will keep your space warmer.

Take the body warmers out of your 72-hour kit and place them in your shoes, gloves, next to your body, or wherever they will help most. Remember, when purchasing body warmers, get the ones rated for at least 12 hours. Remember also that your body loses heat most quickly through the top of your head, and from hands and feet so keep them all well covered.

If you are in an apartment or duplex and can reach your car with an extension cord, consider purchasing a 12V DC to 110V AC inverter. They are inexpensive compared to a generator, and easy to use. They will run a radio or LCD TV or low-powered device for a long time before the car has to be run to charge its battery. There are models that will allow you to run a space heater for short periods of time. Be sure you know what you are buying and what your inverter is capable of before you purchase. Lesser things like light bulbs, such as the fluorescent bulbs many now use, will require only a few watts of power. Hook it up to your car and see what a difference it can make to your temporary refuge.

If you want to explore this topic further, please review the Meridian article When the Power Fails in Winter.

Please mention bulbs when you mention flashlights and batteries. When I lived in Southern California and needed my flashlight badly in an emergency situation, the batteries were fine but apparently when I dropped the flashlight, it broke the bulb. Voila, no light! Just thought I would pass on a bit of experience and be sure to wrap the bulbs individually in toilet paper or Kleenex to help keep them from being damaged.

Great advice. Thanks so much for reminding all of us, and thanks for sharing your experience. Preparedness is so much easier when we can learn from the experience of others.

When we were living in North Carolina, an ice storm knocked out our power for four days. It was a bit miserable, but now makes for fun stories. We started to hear the crash of trees falling all around us, followed by flashes of blue light from the wires they took down with them. We couldn't leave the kids in their room, even if they were sleeping through it. We brought them into our bed so we could be sure they were safe.

We had a family come over to take showers at our house by candlelight because their well wouldn't run without electricity (yes, I know it should have been by glow stick instead of candles). I was most surprised at how nicely the chicken nuggets turned out by cooking them in a frying pan over our gas range! I have some great pictures of the huge pine trees that fell literally right next to the house, one taking out our fence, and one breaking its top off when it hit our roof.

There are some simple things I wish I had done for that power outage — like keeping a bunch of disposable plates, cups, and utensils in the cupboard since we had no dishwasher; and a bunch of flashlights and batteries stored up too. Glow sticks would have been great, because lighting a candle or running a flashlight all night for the kids wasn't an option. I also wished I had taken the advice of the neighbors. Being new to the area, and just moving there from Utah, I thought all of the panic about stocking up at the grocery store for the snow coming was silly. What I didn't realize is that there are no snowplows for anything except the highways, so when it snows, you are stranded.

Right after your story ran, there were huge snowstorms knocking out power to millions, and I hoped some had read this article and prepared themselves!

Thanks for sharing. We still have months of winter weather ahead, and I hope readers will share not only this article but other Meridian articles with those who live in areas prone to winter storms. It is surprising to me how many people do not think about what could happen ahead of time. There is no way most of us could afford to run to the store and purchase everything we would need, even if the stores still had things on the shelves. It is also sad that we have so many items around our home that could be re-purposed in an emergency, but we haven’t thought about how to do that and they remain in a closet, unused. I think I can help with that! Read on.

Although the following comment was not made about the preceding article, I think it fits in well with the discussion.

Just a couple of years ago, we had a devastating ice storm here in our part of Ohio. Power was not restored for nearly a week. We were actually better prepared than we had thought. But, there is one thing I would now do differently.

We brought out the kerosene lamps and candles. The lamps proved to be no problem, but the candles were a different matter. We were burning them throughout the house and in several rooms, and the smell from the scented candles nearly made us sick. There were too many woodsy, flowery, vanilla and fruit scents floating through the air. From now on, my candle storage will be only the unscented kind.

I would never have thought of that until it was too late. I really am not crazy about scented candles, because I have an oversensitive nose. One candle goes a long way for me, but I know friends who love them. Maybe not all over the house, though. Glow sticks! No scent, no danger.

Now on to Part Two

In November 2006 I published an article entitled: Thirty Days and Thirty Ways to Be Better Prepared I received many requests to use that article and reprint it. Because of this response I published a second 30 More Days and 30 More Ways to be Prepared in September of 2007. After that article I received the same response and requests for more. A few weeks ago I received another note expressing the feeling of burnout where preparing is concerned. It just seemed too overwhelming.

Have you ever heard the one: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” I decided it was time for help — one bite at a time. So, I freshened up my blog and began “Seven Steps to Preparedness,” or “Seven Steps” for short. I will post seven preparedness steps every Monday on my blog that can be accomplished in a week. You can do one thing a day or all seven in one day or any way you decide. Some of the steps are easy, some take more time, some are free, some may require a small investment. And like other blogs, it is a forum for questions and success stories.

Part of preparation is having a stash of cash on hand. To help save cash, every Wednesday I will post ways to save money. For review, please see my Meridian article: Fifty Ways to Save Money in 2008. Again, I hope you will share the ideas you have. In the weeks ahead I will have dozens more ways to save.

Please join us and together we can eat that preparedness elephant. Check in at blog.totallyready.com, and then together we can bring our best ideas to Meridian Magazine.

With the passing of LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, I was touched and felt so blessed to have had his leadership and counsel. As I watched his video biography, he again related the story of his mission.

His mother had passed away, leaving his father to raise the children alone. The depression was undermining families everywhere, and Gordon was called by his bishop to serve a mission. He accepted, applied, and was then called by the First Presidency to the European Mission, specifically, England — the most expensive mission in the world.

His father did not have the money to send him. Gordon had lost all his savings when the bank in which he had his savings failed. His brother was working and offered to help, but it still would not be nearly enough. Then the miracle happened. They discovered the money his mother had saved. Every week when she finished her shopping she put her small change in a jar. The savings she created made it possible for Gordon B Hinckley to serve his mission to England.

His mother had prepared — one bite at a time — but she had faithfully kept at it. How blessed we all are because of her preparation. “Yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.” (Alma 56:47).

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Carolyn Nicolaysen grew up in New Jersey and joined the Church while attending Central College in Pella, Iowa. With a degree in home economics, she later worked as a high school teacher, then served a term as an elected trustee on her local school board. Carolyn has taught Personal and Family Preparedness to all who will listen. Having lived in areas that were threatened by hurricanes and tornadoes, and now living in an earthquake-prone area, she has developed a passion for preparedness. Carolyn started her own business, TotallyReady.com, when she saw the need for higher quality emergency kits that could truly sustain families in a disaster.

Carolyn and her husband, Don, are the parents of four children and grandparents of seven. They live in Oakdale, California.

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