etp777 Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Week before last we had a nasty storm come through Chicago. The storm was over quick, but had winds that they said were in Tornado/Hurricane levels. After the storm had passed, the power company saw that they had their worst outage ever, with 868,000 customers without power. As our house is far out in suburbs, and not near any schools or hospitals, we were five days without power. With it being that long (And hoping every few hours to see the power finally come back on), we were forced to throw out everything in fridge and freezer. Except our slice of wedding cake, so we're still married. (I had that in a midsize cooler all by itself, but surrounded by ice). Looking at all that food go into the trash, and cringing at the cost, it was a bit disheartening. But I was able to cheer up a bit by looking at a stocked pantry with a good supply of canned and dehydrated food, thanks to my All-American and what I've learned from Darlene/Violet/et al here. So thanks guys! Link to comment
themartianchick Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 You must be referring to one of those quickie Vegas divorces...In our house, it would mean divorce if one spouse ate the piece of wedding cake without sharing! Link to comment
gofish Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 I'm a few hours south/east of Chicago. When my son was 8 weeks old I had just went back to work the week before. We had straight lines winds blow through at 90 mps.We lost power for about a week. I had a 3 year old and a baby. I had no preps at all. That is what got me started. The last bad storm that hit us I was at work the kids were home alone. When I got home from work all the containers had fresh water in them and the flash lights out and ready. Link to comment
Paradox Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 With it being that long (And hoping every few hours to see the power finally come back on), we were forced to throw out everything in fridge and freezer. No generator? even a couple hours/day should have salvaged the frig/freezer. Alternately, electric stove? With a gas stove, you might have been able to can some of the contents before they spoiled. Link to comment
goatherder Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 If the power is out, leaving the freezer closed will keep things for at least a couple of days. Couldn't you get dry ice or blocks of ice to put in the freezer? When I was a kid, we had a very bad storm go through and knock out power for over a week (ten days I think) in the middle of summer near Yuma, AZ. We had just had a hog butchered and lost everything in the freezer. No water either since we relied on a pump. Fortunately, the storm also blew in a big water tank that we could fit in the back of the truck to haul water. Otherwise, we would have been up a creek with livestock to water in 110+ degree heat! No AC or fans either. We slept outside and stayed outside most of the time because it was cooler than inside the mobile home. I suppose we could have canned the meat on the gas stove, but we wouldn't have been able to stay in the kitchen long enough with the heat. Unfortunately, we did not have a generator! I still don't, but it is on my list. Link to comment
etp777 Posted July 26, 2011 Author Share Posted July 26, 2011 Yeah, I slept in the basement. Food in freezer was mostly fish, and I don't like to try canning fish, or cooking. Plus, even with power out at home, power was on at office, so I still had to go into work each day, so wasn't really around to take care of anything. Food in question was mostly fish, and lunches for work (make big batch of spaghetti, turkey and rice, whatever, and freeze in meal size containers). So nothing really good to do with the leftovers. I did notice though that our side by side fridge definitely did not stay cold as long as parents with freezer on bottom. I think with it being on bottom, and being one more solid space, rather than tall thing space, seemed to hold the cold better Link to comment
goatherder Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Yeah, I slept in the basement. Food in freezer was mostly fish, and I don't like to try canning fish, or cooking. Plus, even with power out at home, power was on at office, so I still had to go into work each day, so wasn't really around to take care of anything. Food in question was mostly fish, and lunches for work (make big batch of spaghetti, turkey and rice, whatever, and freeze in meal size containers). So nothing really good to do with the leftovers. I did notice though that our side by side fridge definitely did not stay cold as long as parents with freezer on bottom. I think with it being on bottom, and being one more solid space, rather than tall thing space, seemed to hold the cold better Chest type or drawer freezers always stay cold longer because when you open an upright freezer the cold air "falls out". Cold air is more dense, thus heavier than warm air. Link to comment
CrabGrassAcres Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Sorry you lost all the food! Link to comment
Jori Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 We are on the Indiana side of the burbs - the news yesterday (& Sunday, I think) said ComEd is saying this has been the worst summer for outages in the Chicago area and we still have August to get through. It sounds like the Western & Northwestern suburbs are getting it the worst. My cousin and his wide are one of the houses that has a basement under water (even with the basement being professionally sealed) after the last round this weekend. etp777~ I hope you have seen the worst of it. Link to comment
Jeepers Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 My cousin and his wide are one of the houses that has a basement under water (even with the basement being professionally sealed) after the last round this weekend. Snippet Oh Jori, I know you meant "WIFE" but that struck me so funny because some of my cousins have some pretty "wide wives". You really gave me a chuckle today. I'm in Ohio but was born and raised a Hoosier. My real home is about 60 miles S.W. of Indy but I've lived in Bloomington and in Valpo. Link to comment
Jori Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 Jeepers!!!!!!!!!! Born in Valpo, grew up in Wheatfield, Worked in Valpo for years (Culver, too). DH & I lived in Valpo but are in Portage now. Are you from Terre Haute? I laughed when I saw wide, too because she is a little bitty thing. Link to comment
Jeepers Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 Jeepers!!!!!!!!!! Born in Valpo, grew up in Wheatfield, Worked in Valpo for years (Culver, too). DH & I lived in Valpo but are in Portage now. Are you from Terre Haute? I laughed when I saw wide, too because she is a little bitty thing. I messed up too. I meant S.E. of Indy. I grew up in the little farm town of Rushville. We lived in Valpo for about 15 years and then in Washington Twp. for another 5 years before moving to Ohio, because of a job transfer. I am Hoosier through and through. I've been here for about 20 years but still have traces of a southern Indiana accent... or so I'm told. Link to comment
etp777 Posted July 29, 2011 Author Share Posted July 29, 2011 Just got back from a business trip, and was worried, as did get a message from comed saying they couldn't give time estimates on repairs yet, but would later. Luckily, seems like it was just a general message, as I came home to power in the house. Haven't checked fridge/freezer yet though, scared to see what might be in there. Link to comment
Jeepers Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Sorry that happened to you EPT! If your power is back on, the stuff in your freezer might be refrozen. Not good if it completely thawed, sat there, and then froze again. For safety sake I wouldn't risk salmonella, botulism or any other nasty. Since you weren't there to monitor it, I'd pitch it. Link to comment
Cat Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 One of the three things I requested from my DH before we committed to moving to the country was a generator. We had one, but it died. It's a tough thing to replace when money is tight. And in the suburbs, it's easily traced down by people looking for THEIR needs/wants to be met. Yeah, I'd throw everything out from the freezer, too. If you have no idea how thawed everything got before power was restored, it's just not safe. And even with a gas stove, canning isn't always an option if water is a problem. Link to comment
Mt_Rider Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 I believe there is one way to know if freezer food has been thawed too far and them refrozen.... Did you have a carton of ice cream in there? If so, check it. If it has thawed/refrozen [and it would be one of the first things to melt] there will be a lot of change in it's structure. It won't be regular ice cream anymore. Doncha just love all the 'dress rehearsals' we've all been having? MtRider [....my 2 cents] Link to comment
carr Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 I read a site posted by a guy who lived through New Orleans ... he wrote about what he would do differently if it happened again and what he has already done to prepare his family for that. One thing that really stuck with me that I've used the two times we had to leave for hurricane threats. Put everything in the freezer in a plastics trash bag and put back in the freezer. Then place a bowl of ice on top of it. When you come back, if the ice has maintained its original shape, the food stayed frozen and is good. Proceed as usual. If the ice has turned to water or is frozen, but in one big chunk, the food thawed and refroze. Remove the bag and toss it all. He said one of the worst things in the cleanup was clearing out the nasty freezer and cleaning it up for reuse. I took his advice both times we were asked to leave!! Link to comment
Jeepers Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 I read a site posted by a guy who lived through New Orleans ... he wrote about what he would do differently if it happened again and what he has already done to prepare his family for that. One thing that really stuck with me that I've used the two times we had to leave for hurricane threats. Put everything in the freezer in a plastics trash bag and put back in the freezer. Then place a bowl of ice on top of it. When you come back, if the ice has maintained its original shape, the food stayed frozen and is good. Proceed as usual. If the ice has turned to water or is frozen, but in one big chunk, the food thawed and refroze. Remove the bag and toss it all. He said one of the worst things in the cleanup was clearing out the nasty freezer and cleaning it up for reuse. I took his advice both times we were asked to leave!! Thanks for sharing a great tip! I can't imagine cleaning up a freezer full of food that had spoiled. It might be a good idea to put a bowl of ice in the freezer if you are away from home for a few days or on vacation. That way you would know if the power had gone off while you were gone. That and every clock, microwave, stove, stereo, VCR, DVD player in your house blinking 12:00 Link to comment
snapshotmiki Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Great tip Carr!!!!!!!! Simple but I had not thought of it! Link to comment
Mt_Rider Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Yeah, the bagging idea is super! Around here, after the 3 wk fire Evac, homeowner's insurance was paying for new freezer/fridge units cuz you can't really get the stink outta them. :yuk Ice cubes in the bowl is a simple idea....EZ and worth the few moments it takes!!!!!!! MtRider Link to comment
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