So we lost all power Saturday afternoon, and didn’t see the light again until Tuesday night. These last 4 days have been an eye-opener to say the least. At the end of the day, after all the worry, the frustration and stress what it all boils down to is how unprepared me and my family are for the unexpected, a natural disaster.
STORM BACKSTORY (if you care)
We’ve been told that the weekend would bring wind and rain, lots and lots of rain. What they didn’t tell us, what mother nature failed to include was that it would be a windstorm like we’ve never seen. This storm would take out 710,000 of B.C. Hyrdo’s 1.4 million customers on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland (the single largest power outage in history I may add). Lucky us, we were one of those 710,000 customers, let the indoor camping fun begun. The storm came in quick and before we knew it one of the many trees in our neighborhood was the first casualty, and upon taking it’s fall it took down our power lines. The 1st night with no power was no stress, the 2nd night was just frustrating (I don’t know how many times I went into a room and tried to flick on the light switch, or how many times I tried to turn the stove on), the third night was worrisome and the 4th day well there were nearly tears and they were not coming from Sofia. On day 2, with reports of having our power back up possibly by midnight we were not convinced, didn’t take any chances and we loaded up a few coolers with our freezer contents and ran them over to my parents house. By day 3 the fun of take-out was getting old, no internet connection was making me back-logged with work and carrying a battery powered lantern to the washroom was just simply irritating. Day 4 came and were no longer fooled by B.C. Hydro’s promises and preparing for another night of take-out, boardgames and candles. Just shy of 9pm Sammy and I hear this buzzing sound, we look in the direction of where we heard one another voices and “bing” nearly every light in the house turns on. Thank goodness we were saved, by the power.
Here is what we learnt having gone without power for 3 nights and 4 long days:
- We’re so ridiculously unprepared in our home for a natural disaster.
What we’re doing about it: Currently I’m in the process of making a family emergency kit; picked up a Rubbermaid and filled it with a few flash lights, batteries, candles, and lighters. I will continue to research what we should have on hand and add to it each day until I’m content. I’ve found Pinterest to be a great resource to find out what to include in a family emergency kit. - Our family really depends a lot on power.
What we’re doing about it: We’re looking into getting our family a generator that we can run a few items on during the next power outage. Having the option to plug in our fridge and run our stove or plug in electronics would’ve been extremely helpful this past weekend and hopefully we will be able to source one out before the next time we desperately need it. - I really do miss candle light.
What we’re doing about it: We’ve got plans to hit up IKEA this weekend and grab candles in some of my favorite fall scents. If a few lanterns and mini stands get throw into the cart at the same time, then so be it, this house will keep less lights on at night and be lite up with the flickering of candle light. Because it’s pretty. - TV blocks real connection and conversations.
What we’re doing about it: I feel like over the last 4 days I’ve actually engaged myself into conversations with Sammy more than have in a while (even if they were mostly about how much we hoped the lights would come on, like right now!). Not that I didn’t want to, or that I wasn’t interested in hearing what he had to say, but this past week there were absolutely no distractions. I think we owe it to one another to unplug every once and a while and just relish in one anothers lives. We need to.
Although we struggled through this power outage as a family, including tears that didn’t come from a toddler, I would say it was much needed. We learnt a lot of valuable information about our lifestyle, our priorities and of course things we didn’t even know we missed. Taking the good from the bad here people, what can you do right?
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