Living without power

"CenterPoint Energy has said that it expects some places to be without power for
at least two weeks." - Houston Chronicle, Sept 14 following hurricane Ike

The Houston Chronicle has several excellent tips for surviving without electrical power. I'll present these as a top 10 count down list...

10. Eat the perishable food first.
Save the canned goods for later. Cook meat on a gas stove or barbecue grill and start eating it right away.

9. Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible.
When you do open the fridge, take out everything you'll need for the the current meal and next few hours. Keep these items in a cooler and don't touch the fridge again until the next meal.

8. The best light comes from the sun.
Read and work during the daylight hours. Catch up on your sleep at night. If you use candles, cover them with hurricane globes. The Red Cross opposes candles completely - candles cause accidental fires.

7. Use electrical generators with care.
Use it outdoors only! See Gas Generator Warning for more details

6. Treat all lines on the ground as if they were live power line.
High power lines can arc electricity several feet. Stay away.

5. Call your power company - maybe.
The Houston power company recommends not calling them on day one. They know when huge neighborhoods are dark. But if your neighbors have power and you don't or if it's been a few days, then call your local power company so they know your house is still in the dark.

4. Remember those old-fashioned family values
What! No gameboy or iTunes? Try a family sing-along, cards, charades, story-telling.

3. Remember the children!
Kids and elderly are easily stressed and frightened. Make sure they have activities be it work or play to pass the time away without worrying.

2. Smile!
Be kind to everyone during an emergency. Everyone is having a very bad day. Don't make it worse by turning on each other or by being rude.

And finally...

1. Won't you be my neighbor?
Move in with someone who does have power. Or visit occasionally for a cool drink or to cool down with air conditioning. Perhaps they can store some of your food in their freezer?

Bottom Line

Don't have a friendly neighbor with power? In some areas the Red Cross will provide cool down shelters - you don't have to spend the night but can drop by to pick up water, cleaning supplies and a hot meal. The Red Cross might also send an Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) through your neighborhood when the roads are safe to travel. The ERV provides foods, drinks, and supplies to neighborhoods. Listen to the radio or call the Red Cross to find out if these services are available.

See also www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5998723.html for a nice article covering the topics of this blog.

Potable Water

"Water, water every where, Nor any drop to drink."
- Samuel Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

While recent evidence indicates that there may be frozen water on Mars and the Moon, it is Earth that is unique as the Blue Planet with 71% of the surface covered in water. Sadly very little of this water is potable (meaning safe to drink).

97% of the Earth's water is salt water. NEVER drink salt water no matter how thirsty or near death. It takes twice as much water for your body to process seawater as you get from it.

Of the 3% fresh water, most of it (80%) is tied up in the polar ice caps. There is a survival lesson here too - DO NOT eat snow. Recall the Rule of Threes and how maintaining body temperature (shelter) trumps thirst. Eating snow lowers your core body temperature which can lead to hypothermia or shock.

Of the fresh, non-frozen water about 99.5 percent is not potable due to pollution or it is inaccessible (too deep, trapped in the soil, etc.). This leaves us .03 * .20 * .005 = .003% of the Earth's water available for drinking. If one liter represents all water the world, the useful-potable amount of water is just a one drop.

Say despite the odds, you have found fresh water. Is it safe? Maybe not. Giardiasis (gee-ar-die-a-sis with a soft "G") is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by a parasite that lives in fresh water. Up to 2.5 million cases of giardiasis occur each year in the US. Up to 20% of the world's population is chronically infected with Giardia lamblia.

How to Avoid Giardiasis, e-Coli and other dangers in fresh water

• Do not drink from fresh water streams or lakes without boiling or filtering the water with a pore size of less than 1mm.
• Do not use ice or drink beverages made from water that may be contaminated.
• Do not brush teeth with water that may be contaminated.
• Do not eat uncooked or unpeeled fruits or vegetables grown in conditions in which contamination with Giardia might occur.

Bottom Line
Water contamination is not just limited to mountain streams and ponds. You might get sick swallowing the water in a public swimming pool. The public tap water in many countries is unhealthy by American standards. There's a story about a tourist in Mexico was very careful to avoid tap water by drinking only Coca Cola. However he caught Montezuma's Revenge from the ice cubes in the Coke glass.