UA-cam Viewer, we had been stockpiling extra groceries all winter, keeping ahead of consumption 3-5 weeks. We also have a pretty good supply of 4Patriot ready meals, but didn’t need to touch those. Our power went out only sporadically. We do have a generator, but we’re looking into a larger unit. There are only two of us in the house, but we have enough clean water for 6-8 weeks. We also have a supply of 20 one gallon jugs of water. These we had to use for flushing the toilet, as the water was out for five days.
Bedford Texas here. Most towns around us had boiling water orders and many had no power to boot. When the gas stations and stores ran out, we put the word out we 16 gallons of gas and 15 gallons of water for those in need. We were good to go on supplies and fortunately we did not loode power or water. We have a year supply of food and 2 weeks worth of water stored and three ways to process water via Berkey, Distller, Osmosis not to mention back packing filters like Katydine, Sawyer and frontier straws, and various fuels (Heat, sterno, butane, iso-propane, propane, karosene, trioxane). My 2 cents is consider getting #1Yaktrax, for your shoes, they grip the ice well so you dont fall n break a hip, I am 60 years old. #2Polyester or propylene long johns as a second layer over underwear/tee shit. #3 MSR pocket rocket and a few cans or a Mr. Stove and 3 butane cans #4 Cash on hand or silver coins. If power is off credit/debit cards wont get you anywhere. Just for starters, love the channel. We are empty nesters, being 60 and 67 years old.
JUST this past week, there was a MASSIVE Glitch in the VISA System. A Restaurant I frequent could not process credit or debit cards, so they insisted on cash. On the very same day, my PHARMACY which has been "plastic only" since COVID, was only accepting cash. This is a PRIME example of WHY we all need to keep some cash on hand at all times. You never know when your preps are going to be needed.
@@bruceforster3709 So true, I recall when hurricane Sandy hit NY area there was no power. It was reported while people could not pay for goods because they would only take cash, this guy had silver rounds and was able to obtain supplies.
@@bruceforster3709 Yesterday my small town had no ATMs working, even at the 3 banks. Some stores also had "broken" credit card machines (Texas, an hour southwest of Houston) I don't think it was a coincidence.
My daughter & her husband live in Austin TX. The recent snow event finally motivated them to become preppers. Thank God they don’t think Im crazy anymore!
Today the biggest preparation is for eternal life..our days are numbered and man cannot surpass those days...many places in the word of God it states this...in fact we are where we are in life because the Lord God has ordained us here. As these days grow darker, and they will for Jesus said before He returns it would return to the days of Noah and the days of Lot....and here we are those accounts are coming together like plague upon the world. Psalm 9:17 the wicked will be turned to hell, even the nations who forsake the Lord. Buckle up and prepare for the mighty hand of the Lord to bring His indignation, for His sword is raised and whetted ready to strike a death blow to the world. And ask who is to blame...the body of Christ has become about as bright as a one wick candle in a corner and the salt is tasteless, she's no longer a beacon of light upon the hill... she has become so much like the world you can't tell who is a child of God or who is of the devil.
I'm from Central TX we got 8 inches of snow. And 1/2 inches of ice. We lost power and water. The lows were in the single digits 4 degrees on Tues morning now we're almost 80 just insane. We didn't have power for 4 days water for 6 days. Thank god we have a fireplace and bottled water. We ran out of wood day 2 my husband braved the unplowed roads to go to home depot in a neighboring town because our local store was closed no power or water. He bought 2x4 untreated for firewood. I've learned a lot from this experience. Water is so important you need it to drink, cook and clean. I was shocked it took one 16 ounce bottle of water each to brush our teeth. We melted snow to flush the toilets. I had to make food choices for dinner based on how much water was needed. Cooking rice is better than pasta less water. Canned bean were better than dry. Tin foil pack are good when you can't wash dishes. We put our food in the snow to keep cold. Frozen veggies didn't stay frozen even though we were below 30 degrees. Canned veggies are better to stockpile. Thank god our meat stayed frozen. The only meat left in grocery stores are huge expensive brisket or huge pork loins that are marked upped Normally they run about 14.00 to 17.00 dollars but during this time they were 38.00 to 45.00 dollars. No dairy or bread or water in stores I wasn't able to buy until a week later on monday. We used our outdoor solar lights as a light source which worked out great. One problem we had was our cell phones lost data we could only text and call. We listened to the radio in the car but there wasn't a station that gave detailed info of what was happening. While in the car we charged our phones. We learn a lot going buy a solar generator. Its really been an eye opener. Now I want a farm with a water source lol. Sorry this was so long but I thought the real life experience could help someone.
You need more than 2 gallons. We're a family of 3 with 3 dogs. We went through a lot of water. You can't clean well without water. Wash dishes and cook, drink. During a zoom meeting at work one of our managers with a lot of children said his biggest fear was they wouldn't have enough water. I think we're so use to accessible water. You turn on the faucet everyday expecting it to be there. once its turned off and no stores have water and roads are impassable its scary. You can survive without water for about 3 days. You can live on water no food for 1-2 months its the most important thing to stockpile. I think we did good we used our common sense. Neighbors helped each other. We gave our neighbor some firewood they let us use their gas grill. Other shared food baby formula. We live in a pretty amazing subdivision. We weren't prepper's but we are now. Lesson I learned is I need to be better prepared and you can stockpile a lot of food but you can't have enough water.
We lost water once, only for a few days, and although we were prepared and we were fine, it was a wake up call for us. We all use waaay more water than we think. Add rain barrels to your preps. Drain when freezing weather hits, but when out of that scenario, capture & store rain water. Filter/clean to make it potable or simply keep it for flushing toilets. We also now keep a lot of aluminum foil on hand so we can cook in or on foil for easy cleanup. Our gas stove top works in power outages, and during our water outage, we lined the frying pan with foil so we didn't need to wash it. (And paper plates.) We lose power so often, it doesn't phase me. Losing water was a different story. And we had stored water! Now we store a lot more. :)
Today the biggest preparation is for eternal life..our days are numbered and man cannot surpass those days...many places in the word of God it states this...in fact we are where we are in life because the Lord God has ordained us here. As these days grow darker, and they will for Jesus said before He returns it would return to the days of Noah and the days of Lot....and here we are those accounts are coming together like plague upon the world. Psalm 9:17 the wicked will be turned to hell, even the nations who forsake the Lord. Buckle up and prepare for the mighty hand of the Lord to bring His indignation, for His sword is raised and whetted ready to strike a death blow to the world. And ask who is to blame...the body of Christ has become about as bright as a one wick candle in a corner and the salt is tasteless, she's no longer a beacon of light upon the hill... she has become so much like the world you can't tell who is a child of God or who is of the devil.
I am in North Texas and while my house did not loose power, heat or water there were a few holes that I found in my preps. One item that I never dreamed of having was an old fashion Stanley thermos. We drank a ton of hot tea and having the thermos to keep the water hot would have been a huge help. We also realized that we did not have the key to be able to turn off the main water supply to the house if our pipes froze. I ordered 2 small tents and a few more lanterns along with a couple of 6 gal water storage containers, a Water Bob and some better plugs for the bathtubs along with water meter key and thermos. Thanks to you I now have a plan for the potty situation. We had family come over since we were still fully functioning and I was able to feed everyone with no worries of running out of food thanks to my preps.
Found out a friend had gone 2 days because the roads were impassible. I am blessed that I have 4WD. Took her husband to the drug store then the grocery store. God bless
I tell you what really got me through these days without heat. Other than being prepared I did a lot more praying! The comfort and guidance I received by doing this was invaluable
I've recently discovered your channel, love your videos. I just want to add a couple things. First don't sweat propane. Rural homes and almost every trailer park uses propane as their heating fuel. They use it to cook with, heat their water, heat their home, without worry. The second is to not use the 91% alcohol that you are showing there, use 70% alcohol instead. It will not burn off as fast so you won't go through it as quickly. You can boil a cup of water with 1oz of 70% alcohol in a little over 2 minutes. Learn how to make a penny can stove. Also they're really easy to make. Literally you're talking about two soda cans something to punch holes in the can, and I feel mine with cotton balls so if it gets knocked over it's not going to spill. Then I'm able to keep it in a container so if I put it out before I've used all the alcohol on it it won't go to waste and evaporate. A good camping rule to follow is to change clothes before you go to bed. Whether you realize it or not your body sweats all day long not just in your armpits, and that moisture in your clothing will work against you when you try to sleep. Change clothes, if you want dust yourself off with a little baby powder or cornstarch, and put on dry clothes. You will stay so much warmer, and of course don't forget socks and hats. Layering is key and whether it's clothing or bedding, layering always makes you warmer because it traps layers of air. So if you don't have a sleeping bag don't think that you have to rush out and buy one just take thinner ones and layer them and then get inside it. If you know the storm is going to hit, and you don't have water prepped, if you have a washer fill it and shut it off once it's full it'll hold that water and if nothing else you can use it to flush the toilet with. You can also put a dollar store drop cloth in your bathtub tape it in place so it doesn't slide or fall down and fill it up with water in your bathtub, if you have a utility sink, fill it up the water, it may be funky but you can wash dishes with it, you can clean yourself with it, you can flush the toilet with it, etc. Also along the lines of the solar charging lights that you can put in the windowsill, I actually got one of those camp showers that are light reactive you set it in the sun to heat the water. I don't use it so much for cleaning myself as I do for washing dishes so I don't have to use fuel to do that with, however it also is much nicer than taking cold water on a washcloth to clean yourself with. All you have to do is hang it in the window all day, and you're good to go. Along the lines of making as few dishes to wash you, also don't want to be burning through a lot of money and making a lot of trash with paper plates and plastic forks and whatnot. Take your regular dishes, and line them with plastic wrap. When you're done eating take the plastic wrap off put that in one tiny bag or whatever you can have one main collective spot. Also if you know how to use chopsticks, use those instead. Keep a wash cloth wet with vinegar in a Ziploc bag or a container. When you're done eating, wipe any food off of the chopsticks/silverware, then wipe them off with that vinegar soaked washcloth to disinfect them. And if you really want to rinse them get yourself one of those little 2 oz spray bottles that you can find at the store in the travel size section and put water in it to spray those chopsticks or your silverware. You can rinse them effectively with just a few squirts of water, instead of rinsing them by submerging them in water. Edited to correct a whole bunch of typo and some missing talk to text.
Especially love the cheap plastic drop cloth, bathtub idea! We learned the hard way that both of our tubs have slow leaks and that would have saved ALLLLL that snow we hauled in to flush toilets. Also the plastic wrap idea for plates and such!
Unfortunately this is a wake-up call for so many. So appreciate these videos. It's hard when you have a partner who thinks your over reacting or just paranoid.
@@malba411 I have a similar issue with MY Spouse. I prep anyway. She can pooh-pooh my efforts all she wants. I sleep VERY well at night, knowing that before my Lord & Savior Jesus Christ, that I have already saved both our lives!
Tell them they’re welcome to wait outside during the next storm. It’s paranoia or conspiracy theory - until it happens. Have your partner go back and watch the movie, The Day After Tomorrow. I don’t put any stock in global warming, but I believe in being prepared for the unexpected.
I'm 63 yrs old n live in San Antonio,Texas we lived through freezing n bundling up. I'm still wiithout water but as a Prepper I would fill soda bottle ect. PRAYERS FOR TEXAS.🙏🙏😀💕💕
Hi P.P. This is also one of those times we need to look at our pet preps. I can't even imagine what some of those poor critters had to endure. Best regards, Jarrod
I have 2 English Mastiffs and they were fine and not cold at all although a bit freaked out at me spending my days in the car rather than in the house. Wax without elec or water 5 days in central texas. Needed CLEAN dog beds as I slept with them at nite. Needed more water to just mop the floors. Shouldn’t have even tried all that boil nonsense as they both got sick anyway so this year have 50 gallon bottles of water just for them to drink and saved all by empty Clorox bottles this year to mop floors. Veg also gave me some tetracycline soon as they start acting peekish since it took forever to get back to kinda normal lol. I had extra leashes and collars ear cleaner food treats of every shape and size but would have been so much easier with just more mop water and clean beds for me to sleep on the floor with them so I was toasty warm but didn’t smell like a dirty dog bed lol. Oh and yes everyone is house trained but there was 18” of snow/ice and moving that much snow took me forever with a dust pan lol and they didn’t like snow AT ALL lol
Save water in 2 liter bottles. Recommended by FEMA. Google it for exact procedures. Keeps for 6 months. It really helped us during the boil water notice time! Blessings!
I live in north Texas about 45 minutes north of Dallas. We lost power and water for days. We had some food but I was not into being prepared. We now have about 3 months of food and 3 weeks of water. I will continue to become prepared. It was such a wake up call!
We put blankets over doors to keep the back part of our house with the fireplace is warm and I wore a Christmas sweater and heavy Terry cloth robe every day for 4 days.
I learned alot. I had plenty of light with all my solar lights, but i never thought about having something for warmth. My food all spoiled, I had nothing to keep warm, I had no means of communications, no way to find out news, and no protection someone tried to break into my home. Luckly they ran off. I learned so much.
I’m sorry to hear your challenges. A tip for food spoilage, take advantage of the cold outside. Just place your things outside in something like a box or tote in a shady place. I call it my outside fridge/freezer depending on the temps.
After Maria hurricane in Puerto Rico USA., I was well prepared because with no electricity ⚡️ for about 6 months it was a nightmare .I lost 99% of my fruit trees here in Corozal P.R. but here I am three years later very happy with my family still recovering my fruit trees and very thankful to almighty God.😂🙏
I was in Texas for this and was a seasoned prepper. Our electricity was out for about 4 days. Our gas fireplace worked. We have arched openings near the living room. I covered the openings with trash bags to trap the heat. I bought black out curtains for next time. We brought clay pumpkins inside and put sterno cans in them. We used battery candles. They lasted for a month. I had a small butane stove from gas one. It was a lifesaver. Some of my coworkers were in apartments and unprepared. They had ice in their baby’s bottles. I couldn’t believe it
@@TheProvidentPrepperHey, there is a polar vortex in the immediate forecast. People should be preparing for the same type of power outage events right now.
I watch your channel and others to learn to be prepare and how to properly store food, water, etc... my daughter does not have the time to watch any of them because she has a critical ill child and always busy with hospital and doctor appointments. But what she did do she LISTENED TO ME she had purchased a cooking burner rated for indoor use, plenty of fuel, can and box food for emergency all this a few years ago on a limited income. She learn to prep her refrigerator and freezer for power outage. Her fiancé and children has mock her over her preps that there was no need and everything would be okay. Well.... it finally happened, she just went through that storm in Texas, she lost power and water for 6 days, she called me during the storm to say "Thank God I listen to you mom" nothing melt in her refrigerator and freezer, she had a stove to cook on and plenty of food. She has not been to any store since and she is fully stock. She does not have everything but compare to others she has a lot. As of Monday water and electricity is back on. Her financial means are very limited..... she does not have everything I wish she could get but with what she had she was able to ride the storm through.
My daughter is in Lubbock; grew up camping all her life. She called me and told me thank you for teaching her that her camping gear is for more than camping, and how to prep!
I’m so glad you made this post. After the stores were emptied last March I started watching your videos. Unsure of what to exactly prepare for, I started with growing our water and food supply. We had gotten rid of our winter clothes we had from when we lived in Idaho so used many layers. We still need power and heat source. We had sufficient supply of food and water and even fresh lettuce, only thanks to watching your you tube channel. A huge thank you.
The Provident Prepper we love you guys for sharing all your knowledge so we as God children can prepare and help our self threw hard time. Much Respect, Love and Blessing to you and y'all Beautiful Family...Peace
Hi I live in. Oklahoma we were hit before Texas and was just as worse or more bitter. We just came out of 14 days of sub zero weather.. We dropped down to 28 below zero one day. The small rural town I live near lost all powder for 5 days. The state had rolling black outs. Tulsa lost their water plant. Still reporting as many as 175 water lines bursting daily. Many in Tulsa have no water. The city said they are working as hard as they can but might takes weeks to fully return water service to residents because there is no way they can keep up as more and more lines break. People were dying in Tulsa. One little 78 year old man froze to death. My kitchen drain froze up for 7 days. Meaning I had to catch the steady dripping water in a pan 24/7 and pour it in a 5 gallon bucket and empty it in the stool down the hall. My neighbor across the road had a water line freeze and break inside his home. Both our houses are well insulated and furnaces set on 70 degree... It was still cold in our homes. The ice was about 6 inch thick and we couldn't open the back door. I was finally able to get out the front door by pouring warm heavily salt water mixed with a half bottle of alcohol on my porch and ramp... Melted the ice enough I could scrape off about 18 inch wide strip on my front porch and down the long ramp. I was able to do the same thing up the ramp onto my 58 foot long deck to the back door. But I had to hack at the ice to get it to break up so I could shovel it away from the door yesterday.. The last time I was out on Feb. 10th. I was on Interstate 412 that had been salted and sanded. It was still very slick. A 18 wheeler was coming up fast behind me on the inside lane. I took my eyes off the mirror for a few seconds and as I looked back up that truck lost control and wound up sideways between the east and west lanes then he jack knifed. The Fedex truck right in front of me lost control and ran off the road into a deep ditch facing south. The pickup that was about a block in front of us lost control and rolled a number of times landing cab up against the deep ditch south wall incline. I dove on up a mile and turned around and came home. My daughter's beloved dog got sick on the 8th and she couldn't get him to the vet the roads were impassable. He died on the 10th.. I had her husband place him in a box and store him outside in the shed so he would remain frozen. I went over Saturday and took him to her vet and paid to have him cremated. My daughter is suffering grief and guilt because she couldn't get him to the vet. He only weighed 4 oz when she got him 12 years ago, He was her baby. As a long time prepper of 50 years we both were prepare for this winter storm. Six years ago we had a bad storm and the temps dropped to 38 below zero for days with 6 feet deeps snow.. .
Texas family here. The video of your families experiment was a God send for us during the power outage. We found it by chance and then the outage hit. Thank you!
Where did you find your tealight heater? Wish someone would make a battery heater. I now own 3- 12by12 battery or plug in fans in case power out in summer.
Tents or micro environments are a really good way to contain heat. A good fleece hat is just as important because much of your body’s heat escapes through your head.
Lots of great and helpful advice Provident Prepper! These ideas need to be shared. I do have one extremely important point to say on one of your suggested heating ideas as related in offering to the public. I have been in many years of firefighting training. Most number of household fires come from wood burners and even more so, from candles! Not only does a warmer environment encourage a sleepy moment to catch up on some zzzz’s but that’s when a lit candle with hot wax is likely to go awry, especially with flammable blankets and other fabrics in the mix. You might want to say in your presentation that a set of lit candles not only must be supervised by an adult at all times but rather add it’s much better to purchase a catalytic type burner (Mr Buddy heater, DeWalt heater, etc) with keeping propane bottles handy to keep small spaces warmer. And something better than a catalytic heater is a small running generator located outside the home supplying enough electricity for electric blankets to stay warm and comfortable. In my semi-professional opinion, please do not encourage people to use candles for light or for heating purposes unless it’s an absolute last resort (still I can think of other ways to stay warm without candles). Emergency services will already be overwhelmed handling the multiple calls for help. We don’t need them to respond to more calls because the general public might be using candles for heat/light when they didn’t have to by using alternate means available. In my strong opinion, that’s just adding gasoline to a fire. If you want a list provided of alternative means to stay warm more safely, I will be more than happy to provide that list. Otherwise, please keep up the good work!
2:35 When I lived or visited in states with freezing temperatures it wasn’t the same kind of cold. Unfortunately the type of cold we tend to have in Texas is a wet, or damp cold. That’s a much more harsh feeling cold.
We get that in New York all the time. It's not an issue when your locality is prepared for it. Please contact your representatives and demand action to upgrade your system in Texas.
What an AWESOME video! Thank you for creating this video with SO much valuable preparedness information. I'm sure that the information that you've provided will help people in need from all around the world for when disaster inevitably strikes again.
Solar side walk light, put out in day bring in at night, save batteries and safe. Katrina lesson, no heat, but can save fuel for other stuff. Also these solar lights are cheap, and they can recharge batteries they come with or rechargeable batteries you have for other things
Yes no power for 4 days 😢 . San Antonio Texas.. I got out a flannel sleeping bag I had in the garage we had to use a propane tank and some camping stuff to cook. A first time for us to experience no power outage and a lot of snow that was beautiful it was hard without electricity..But we made it. I'm going to think of more ideas and be prepared better next time thank God he helped us get through this
Today the biggest preparation is for eternal life..our days are numbered and man cannot surpass those days...many places in the word of God it states this...in fact we are where we are in life because the Lord God has ordained us here. As these days grow darker, and they will for Jesus said before He returns it would return to the days of Noah and the days of Lot....and here we are those accounts are coming together like plague upon the world. Psalm 9:17 the wicked will be turned to hell, even the nations who forsake the Lord. Buckle up and prepare for the mighty hand of the Lord to bring His indignation, for His sword is raised and whetted ready to strike a death blow to the world. And ask who is to blame...the body of Christ has become about as bright as a one wick candle in a corner and the salt is tasteless, she's no longer a beacon of light upon the hill... she has become so much like the world you can't tell who is a child of God or who is of the devil.
Cook with charcoal in a cast iron Dutch oven outside. Bring it inside and you have residual heat for a while and a good meal. No gas or electricity needed.
You can also use a dutch oven in the All American Sun Oven (solar). You can get it to 300F easily if the sun is shining (regardless of outdoor temps). Heating rocks & bringing them indoors helps a ton - just use care not to burn through fabrics
My mom grew up in Michigan. They heated bricks by the fireplace, wrapped them in cloth for foot warmers. I bought a bunch of handw warmers at the dollar store.
Thank you so much! Fortunately I didn’t lose power, so far. I’ve been concerned, and had taken some common sense steps that I’ve learned over the years, but you’ve taught me things I never thought of.
3:30 I learned a lot from this freezing experience especially about maintenance of our emergency equipment. We had everything we needed to survive through the freezing temperatures except our generator had a problem. It’d been stored properly, but we should have tried it out before the cold weather got here. We had to resort to much more basic methods for lighting, warmth, and use of our emergency equipment.
Again thank you again for all your videos so helpful. I learn all the thing you all have shared on this video. There was 2of them I had already knew. But look forward to seeing you all video to learn even more.
We live in a city in the UK so we do not experience many storms. This has taught me the importance of being ready come what may. I never considered myself a prepper before but I am now!
We already owned several HUGE ice chests in the 120-152 quart size. After a pipe broke, I put 3 of these into my pickup truck bed along with a 10 gallon water cooler. Our city offered free potable water from a fire hydrant. I filled up all of my containers (108 gallons) and parked the truck in the garage for ease of access. It was used primarily for flushing toilets during the 5 days when the water supply to the house was shut off. After the pipe break was repaired, I emptied the coolers onto the lawn and put them back in the garage to dry. We also had plastic water bottles as part of our pandemic prep for drinking and cooking.
Super video, im guessing your videos on winter power outages have had massive new viewers in the polar vortex region. I liked the stories in this video of ppl helping others out, so important to show the good times and stories of prepping, so easy to focus on doom and gloom. While not in Texas, I have a story related to prepping, one was at my old apartment we had a woman above me on medical oxygen, now those cylinders can explode (while rare, it is a flammable gas in a compressed chamber). So I upped my fire prevention game while overall prepping in Feb for the health crisis, extra extinguishers, had the pet carriers by the door along with imp docs, etc. well one day she had been still smoking in her apartment and left a burning cigarette in a can and lit up her apartment and almost burned the whole place down, Luckily due to the health crisis I was working at home at the time, and could get my fur babies out fast. While I didnt know she was smoking (both against bldg and her own health rules) by preparing for the oxygen cylinder having issues, it also crossed over into any type of fire. I thought of this when I saw the ppl in Texas having to boil water that was hard to get with no power, you dont know how one issue can get magnified by another & how planning for multiple areas has kind of a web effect that will help you in other areas. By planning for cooking food, etc, you also have a way to boil water if you need to. While I thought my water game was pretty strong, this Texas event made me realize that much more water is needed to be stored, even with a berky type filter and ways to get & carry & treat water, you dont know if that wont be an option, or how much it will drain from other resources. Love the wood cook stove, Ben Falk has a great setup where he also combines his domestic hot water on wood heat as well, that griddle outside is great for summer, as most wood stove kitchens back in the day had a "summer kitchen" outdoors cause it got too hot indoors firing up that wood heat. A great gas storage tip I heard from Jack Spirko was to have 12 5 gallon cans and every 2 weeks before you fill up the car, dump the first can in the car and go fill the car and the can then put it at the back of the stack, etc. so you never need to treat the gas and it stays fresh, being stored no longer than 6 months, but as they say, your mileage may vary XD Thanks for all the wonderful help you give so many ppl, many blessings!!
I'm lucky enough to own a freestanding medical commode. Sure, having some place to empty the catch-bucket takes a little pre-planning, but knowing I will not be affected when regular toilets become unusable gives great peace of mind. Track one down at any medical equipment store.
We got it in sask. canada prior to texas... no power & heat. Something we did which ive never heard any video teach. We filled our sinks and tubs with hot water while we could. Sure its not going to stay hot for days but it added an additional few hours when seconds in the end might count. A tub full of hot water and that bathroom door closed created a nice warm rooms within the household. I also learned that our tiny elec heater gobbled up all the stored power in our large solar gen power bank. Yes we few other heating sources to fall back on after we noticed that power was being used up quickly.
Houston here. We had no power for a week. I lived in Pittsburgh PA during the blizzard of ‘78. We blanketed and sealed off all our windows, doors and most rooms in our house. We used regular insulation to protect outdoor pipes covered in black trash can liners and kept the faucets dripping with hot water. Luckily our hot water heater is gas, so we always had hot showers. We used solar garden lights inside. After a day without power, we put our food outside in plastic storage containers on the patio to keep cold. The garage was a good option for food storage for things we didn’t want frozen but cool. Several blankets and down comforters plus a gas fireplace kept us warm, maybe too much so as we started to sweat which is not good. We cooked over our gas range and had to use matches to light it, but also had a bbq pit to cook on if needed.
My housemate and I, both in our late sixties, were hit by the Texas freak storm and were in one of the homes the electric company was ordered to shut the power off of. (A lot of people think that everyone had rolling power outages; not so. Ours was out solid for 5 nights and 4 days because we did not live in areas where they left the power on -- such as near hospitals and fire stations.) Our front walk and carport froze over with ice early on and we were afraid to leave the house at all for fear of slipping and falling. It did not occur to us to pour out the rock salt onto our front walkway and carport -- although we had the salt! It also took us days to remember that when it is freezing and below outside (as it was here), it is a good idea to put the frozen items in our refrigerator freezer into coolers and boxes and place them outdoors in the backyard. It was a great relief not to lose any of our food. (We opened the fridge door VERY rarely that week.) Things I got after all this happened: 100% wool blanket, winter sleep hat, warmer socks for sleeping in -- and my housemate got a small solar generator with one set of solar panels. Our battery-operated LED lanterns literally saved the day, keeping us from living in a dark cave that week -- but we were running out of batteries fast. We've gotten more batteries and a couple more LED lanterns. Fortunately we DID have running water and no pipes burst (though they did on either side of us) -- and we did keep them all with a small drip throughout that time. Because we are older and have extra limitations I had gotten a setup to use an alcohol stove that would sit atop our electric stove, and that was a great thing, great for morale more than anything. (It DID permanently stain the bottom of my Corning Ware saucepan for life, but that's OKAY, ha.) It was 40-42°F inside our home and we wore as many layers of clothing as we could. We have since learned to mimick stormwindows by taping bubble wrap on the insides of all our windows -- or taping up plastic -- and that painter's or plumbers metallic tape holds up well for that (whereas duct tape not so much). Neither of us use cell phones, but my housemate has an emergency one which was almost out of minutes. After the crisis she put a lot more minutes on it. Lots of people got into their cars (ONLY outdoors, not in garages where it would be dangerous) for periods of time to warm up. If this happens again we will be able to do that too -- thanks to the salt we would spread out. Warm wool socks were something I got later. During the "snowpocalypse" I was mostly unable to sleep because I couldn't handle how cold my feet were outside of my warm boots AND could not sleep in my boots. For me that was possibly the worst part, was not being able to sleep much. My housemate did all right as she was sleeping with her dog and two cats. She said one of those cats was a real heating pad! Well, maybe this long stream of consciousness will help someone. It feels good to share the information as I find these memories haunting me as we near cooler and then colder weather. I know I will never feel as "safe" in winters again -- but hopefully I will always be able to be more prepared. Oh, and two more things: I learned how to make my own olive oil lamps. They don't really provide much heat or even all that much light, but it's a good light that is cheering when all the batteries are going out. I had my oil lamp going (in a pint-sized mason jar) the last two nights without power -- light I could not have achieved otherwise. Olive oil burns CLEAN and is nontoxic. It is also amazingly safe (and if it should get knocked over there is something like a 99.9% chance the oil will put out the flame). It was a great "night light" for me. Last but not least, the last few days I finally thought to get out my emergency battery-operated radio. Due to the concern of losing battery life I only listened to it for a couple hours each morning, but that was GREAT to be able to hear what was going on. (It was how I learned that our power was not KNOCKED off but was TURNED off. That was very upsetting that that was done with NO warning and no precedent. But it was so good to listen to banter from people who were able to give what local news they had.) Being a foodie, it was amazing to me how being in what felt like a life-threatening situation and trying to stay warm caused me to lose most of my interest in food. I have no memory of what I ate that week, but I sure remember the great experience of being able to make coffee and tea! We were very fortunate in that we have a large Berkey filter and our water was running -- even the hot water! Most people on our street, it seems, did not have running water but they had fireplaces they were able to use. (Our fireplace was and still is not functional and we do not have the means to have it repaired.) Many also had gas stoves. What amazed me the most was how totally unexpected the situation was. We were so happy to have our alcohol stove, but it was bought only worrying about being indoors rather than outdoors without a moment's thought that it might be during freezing weather. We still need to get at least one or two of those clay pots and "safe heat" cans to use as a living room "heater." Other things we would like to have are simply beyond our ability to pay for, but we will be better prepared overall should this happen again! Last but not least, it was helpful for us to do a bit of Bible reading together each day. Remembering and praising our loving and merciful Father and His Son, Christ Jesus, was the kind of spiritual support one can get nowhere else.
South Central Texas here. The game changers for us were the butane stove, a hand pump ($8.00 at Walmart) that we attached to our 5 gallon bottles, and the “hobo heater” my son created to wrap around our well-insulated, yet still frozen outside pipes. We were able to heat up the pipes enough to get our water running again. I can and put back my garden and great deals on meat, so we did not have to go out to shop and participate in the crazy. We have already had our “How’d we do?” discussion, and the things we need to do to prepare for something like this happening in the heat: Texas’ bigger threat.
*FREAK FREEZE of TEXAS 21* *Although many Texans failed to prepare for such unique & extreme weather, unlike many other parts of the country that experience a disaster & may use it as an excuse, majority of Texans didn't want outside help as much as we needed prayers that holy spirit give us both the power & desire to press forward & pick ourselves up by the bootstraps!* *As for me & mine,* *we were fine* *because we've been prepping* *since 99.* 😉
I started prepping food and water two years ago, then when the pandemic hit, I put it into turbo drive getting supplies, cleaning, first aid, food, water. Now, with Texas, my prepping has shifted to heat and ways to cook indoors. Thank you so much. I had two Mr. Buddy heaters in my amazon cart, and saw that Walmart had them way cheaper from your video. So my continued prayers and stockpile will always get us through. Thank you.
The electricity goes out often here in Northern Michigan. High winds from storms knock trees on the power lines. If you have a wood stove, or you are considering buying a wood stove, it's important to clean the metal pipes often and clean the chimney at least once a winter. Better to clean the creosote out when you want to than have a chimney fire when you don't want to. I make a note on my wall calendar "clean pipes" every Wednesday, during the heating season, so I won't forget. When I'm done cleaning the metal pipes, I make an "X" across the note I made on my wall calendar. I know it's not recommended to submit a clay liner masonry chimney to high heat, yet, burning it out once a year works best for me. Once it's burned out, I climb up on the roof to run a round wire brush down it a couple of times. The metal pipes get taken apart once a week, taken outside to a fire pit metal ring, burned out and wire brushed before taken back inside and put back in place. I clean the metal pipes once a week because I burn all types of firewood, including pine. I'm thankful all the fires in my chimney and my stove pipes have occurred when I wanted.
I didn’t experience or storm but I did learn a lesson. My grandson will be going to college in the fall. It’ll be his first time away from home and he will be in an entirely different climate than our Arizona desert. I am making him 2 emergency bags. One to keep in his dorm and one to keep in his car. I had emergency bags prepared for my family that address cooling issues because we live in the heat but will expand to include things for him to stay warm. I’ll also include a pack of cards and some paper back books.
What do you pack for cooling? I need to prep for no electricity in high heat, and I can’t find much info. My house definitely wasn’t built with passive cooling in mind.
@@username00009, I have bought several battery powered fans. Some come with rechargeable batteries & can also be run with their USB cord. You'll need to purchasr a special little plug in for the batteries.
I live in southern Alabama so we didn't get hit as bad as Texas. We did get bone chilling cold. Some of the things i always keep is candles propane for cooking and heating. Having multiple ways to do anything you will need to do to stay alive
I am a Texan. I brought out my stainless steel Dutch oven and lined the bottom inside with tealights. Then I put a wire rack on top. I could warm some water that way and have some tea. I also set up my little barbecue grill on the patio and heated some canned food in a small pan that has a lid. My outdoor spigots were wrapped, but the one thing I did not have and had to rely on a neighbor for was a shut off key for the water meter in the yard. (I'm a renter and the landlord did not leave me one.) The faucet of an above ground spigot leaked, froze, then broke off. It was wrapped, but when it got wet that wrapping was useless. I now own a utility key and some pool noodles that I can cut to wrap around exposed pipes. Keep these good ideas coming. We all benefit when we share our knowledge. Planning to buy a butane stove ASAP. Still researching a one-room indoor heater.
Here in No. West we experienced power outages and severe cold for 4 days. Nothing like Texas. What we were faced with is Seniors not prepared. Our neighbors spent 3 days at our house. We have wood stove, wood cookstove, and plenty ofprovisions. I had a CAPTIVE audience for sharing why it is important to prepare for the unexpected, specially for seniors. I think I may have over loaded their donkey, cause I have not heard from them since. LOL. They may have been over joyed to return home, or they are out procuring the supplies they need.😊
Thanks for this great USEFUL and honest video, tons of great suggestions and real life answers. That sterno stove is what we needed! Y'all are the best!!
I learn from others & their experiences ALL of the time! Our area on the North Oregon Coast-yes, you heard right-got hit with a freak Ice Storm that knocked out power in some areas for ELEVEN DAYS. Our House was only down for Two. BUT, we were READY for it! I EXPECTED to lose power, so I used the Solar to charge up EVERYTHING that is backed up by Batteries in advance of the Storm! I brought in Extra Kerosene for the Heater. I broke out our Camp Stove. Caught up the Laundry. Had extra food for our Dog. Part of my Everyday carry is a Flashlight in my left front Pocket and a Leatherman in my Right Front Pocket. I keep an emergency whistle on my keyring. When the Ice Storm hit us, trees went down EVERYWHERE! Two miles past our house on our road, ice got THREE INCHES THICK-DRIVING ANYWHERE WAS OUT OF THE QUESTION. WE HAD LIGHTS THROUGHOUT THE EVENT. WE HAD HEAT THROUGHOUT THE EVENT. WE ATE COOKED MEALS THROUGHOUT THE EVENT.. WE HAD HAM COMMUNICATIONS THROUGHOUT THE EVENT. WITH OUR BACKUP POWER, WE EVEN HAD OUR PHONE THROUGHOUT THE EVENT. I was able to check on the status of every member of our church. I was the ONLY person in our church who was able to do so. I was the ONLY person in our church who had backup power and an alternate method of heating my home! When it was over, my Church PURCHASED one of the Power Systems I manufacture-I believe that for a NICE change, people I CARE for are beginning to wake up!
Exactly. But that is a major problem in Texas because it's not on the national grid and hasn't winterized its system. The only options for homeowners in that state would be to install woodburning stoves and their own solar powered generators.
@@YT4Me57 I don't see why being on a larger grid would help. Many states like Oregon were on larger grids and still had blackouts for a week. This was a single point of failure, winterization was inadequate. Texas has capacity, they just need to winterize the power grid. For the water pipes, winterization is also the cause of failure.
@@YeshuaKingMessiah Yep, I was thinking probably people even in Florida need to make these types of preparations after what happened to Texas what if the Jet Stream dip pattern had shifted more to the East or more extremely south. They wouldn't be ready for cold at all there. And in regards to heat, I've seen temps hit 90 degrees in flipping North Dakota. I was so surprised. Guess you need to prep for extreme heat and cold no matter where you are.
Tons of great information and i love seeing how the community is out spreading information and experiences great job. Just hope more people take this as a warning and get prepared and stay prepared
I live in Phoenix arizona. I am a prepped. I have been thinking about the rolling black outs in California and across the country. Comments about people in the Texas storm not having ways to heat their home.... got me to thinking. What can I do, how can I prepare to better keep my home cool during the summer if we lose power. Some of the old ways of wetting blankets and putting them over open windows, cause a breeze way through the house. When it’s 115 or hotter, 😰 it’s a big task. We have a couple generators for the well and fridge and freezer. Not enough to keep central air going. Yesterday I purchased a big industrial evaporator cooler. $950. There are more expensive ones and cheaper ones. This is portable, It doesn’t use much power and will cool our whole house. Praying in a pinch this will give us a peace of mind, if the time comes and we need it
Water, water, water. That was the most worrisome part for us here in rural North Texas. We have a well and were well stocked with wood for our wood burning fireplace. We had a well stocked pantry and freezer. We also feel so blessed to have been a part of the rolling blackouts (brownouts) but with the very first one, our well froze in spite of it dripping and having a heater. (No electric= no heater, no electric pump to cause a drip.) We had over 15 head of horses and cows, 23 chickens, 3 dogs and 4 of us. We had lots of water stored for us. We also have a very large stock tank so friends from up north told us how to break the ice in our stock tank but NOT to remove the chunks. That way it would be a small area to refreeze and it would keep more of our water underneath still available for the next day. That was invaluable info for our stock. So many others didn't fare as well and it was heartbreaking. No gasoline, no wood for sale, broken pipes, frozen ponds and swimming pools, huge shortage of plumbers and plumbing supplies,(SPECIFICALLY a 1" 90 degree PVC elbow!) no power for area resturants/businesses, no credit/debit card machines which meant no access for many to their money, Thank you to y'all and all the other wonderful YT friends for such an excellent assortment of preparation and food storage videos and how tos'. The knowledge you all have equipped so many of us with, truly was the difference between life and death for so many Texans. God Bless you all for what you do.
Hi,I'm in Frisco,TX. This has helped me alot and I will be more prepared when it happens again!!! Yes,it will happen again. Just think of all that's happening now. D iui d you think this would happen in our lifetime!!!???
I'm so thankful for the information in your videos. I have been a viewer for a few years and have most preps in place. Of course, I can still improve, and I appreciate every update. You always mention challenges that I hadn't considered and solutions for them. You two are wonderful! Thank you!!!
Round Rock (Austin) here - had solar, 5kw generator, & emergency solar. Solar didn't do anything for us when grid is down - so now fixing that with a power wall. But, after day 3 we were actually exporting power to the grid for the 2 hours out of every six that we were up. Never imagined 9 degree weather and had no alternate plan to run extension cord into house other than through slightly open door. Working with electrician now to solve that.
When it comes to sanitation stored water is a good way to keep toilets flushed, and to have water for uses other than drinking. We keep a minimum of ten gallons of this water easily available in our home. I use old bleach bottles , detergent, and vinegar containers filled with water stored throughout the house. We can also our swimming pool for this type of water.
If you let pee etc pile up in the toilet, it will flush itself now and then. I've been doing that for 9 years without water. However, a toilet bucket with lid for poo can help and can be dumped outside and leaves or dirt thrown over it. Save your water to drink and cook!
I cut up (thrifted) flannel sheets into 6 inch squares for toilet wipes. Keep clean ones folded in a basket and used in a diaper pail or any pot with a lid.
@@TheProvidentPrepper Thank U for asking, Yes we got 21" inch, I can't open my front door now the snow turned to ice, we are lucky thk God no power outages. I happened to clean my window from the snow as I looked closer at the snow I noticed the snow looked a little strange, so I looked with my phone and I started to see long metallic fibers, as I looked closer I realized it was Nanoparticles Smart Dust, from the stuff from the chemicals in the sky. This is crazy.
Your channel is so great! Very clear that you want to grow your channel with love and care for your viewers without watering the seeds of fear and scarcity.
Kylene, you and your husband are a blessing. Have learned much from you guys. I feel so am getting well prepared based on your recommendations n your videos. Lol you have helped me become more " balanced" in my approach. Thank you n may god bless you.
I took notes during this time of what we could’ve done better, and how to be better prepared. A lot of what we need to improve upon is listed in my earlier comments. We all need to prepare and have practice runs in different scenarios so that we don’t get caught with our guard down. Please stay safe, and try to be prepared.
Awesome video. I live in Upstate New York n it broke my heart to hear of people dying because they started their vehicles in a closed garage n passed away. There are so many things you can do to stay warm.
We live in a tornado prone area. Anytime we have bad weather predicted, tornadoes or the rare ice or snowstorm, I always fill our bathtubs with water and add a little Clorox. Also, we have had severe flooding that cut off our water supply because the city’s pumping station was under water. As soon as they announced there were potential issues, I filled the tubs and made sure we had plenty of paper goods.
I made sure my daughter, and grandkids had hats, scarves, and gloves. I live in a retirement complex so during the day I went up to the 3rd floor, yes it was warmer up there. If I ever get a house I would like to make a place in the attic to hang out if I m ever in a place with no heat. I also keep 12-1 gallon bottles on my patio with tap water, for an emergency toilet, watering plants, or washing hands. Since they turn our water off so much I started saving empty water bottles, refilled with tap water. We were without water and power San Antonio Texas yes it was cold
I live in Texas and we went through a rough time, but I was more prepared than a lot of people.. I had plenty of candles, blankets, the little emergency blankets, dog/ cat food, ect.
There are many companies that sell "packable" down coats and jackets that provide excellent warmth in an emergency, especially when layered with other clothing. They fold into small packages or pouches and can be easily placed in a bug out bag or stored in a corner of a dresser drawer! I live in New York, where it gets and stays cold most of the year. I have a packable jacket that I use in the early days of autumn right into early days of the winter.
I live in the coastal Northeast. I stay prepared for coastal storms year round and Nor'Easters in the Winter. I have many relatives in the South. I ask many in December if they have changed into their Winter sandals yet? They laugh. I chuckle. Its no longer a laughing matter to them.
I had watched your video about the tent, but because we have gas logs, we didn't need it. We have a gas stove and plenty of lighters so we were able to cook and make hot tea. Also, I bought my husband two solar phone chargers with built in flashlights. He charged them electronically and we had phones to use the entire time. We also had charged our flashlights and put batteries in other flashlights, also found a transistor radio and camp lantern in our hurricane box that really came in handy. Flannel sheets were a lifesaver, too. Thanks for all you do to help the community.
I had no idea about the high elevation issue with the buddy heaters...I’m at 8k ft, bought 3 of them, and when trying to use one in one of my greenhouses, it wouldn’t stay lit. Now I know why. Thank you.
Thanks for the “Tales from Texas”, as we have been only seeing extremes on the news. While it was going on a friend & I were wondering if anyone was doing the “tent ⛺️ in the livingroom” trick to stay warm. So glad to see folks putting your wisdom into action! Ok, back to getting ready for this afternoon’s NWS high wind advisory. 😎🔦⛺️☕️
Well, I learned that solar powered home systems don't provide you with backup power and a fireplace is useless keeping your living room warm, also candle light is inadequate. The only thing that saved us is that we still had natural gas service so we could use our gas range to cook and gas water heater so we had hot water. Since this winter storm, I procured a gas/propane generator, 300 watt portable backup battery, lanterns, space heaters, propane heaters, extra lighting sources. We also purchased emergency long term food with a 30 year shelf life. We are still evaluating our preparations, and would not classify myself as a "PREPPER" but we are much more prepared for almost any kind of emergency.
Its amazing to me how many people don't own a generator. Everybody has a $1000 phone but no generator. Its just crazy to me. I have a whole house generator and a backup portable incase the main fails. I understand some people live in a townhouse type place but if you own or rent a house there is no excuse not having a generator.
@the provident prepper For indoor cooking, I thought in a scenario where the power goes out that your natural gas stove would still work. But you might need to relight the pilot light.
We were prepped, PRAISE GOD, but so many weren't. Thanks for helping me get my home ready before tragedy hit!!
Yes, fortunately, so were we. Way too many of our friends had a difficult time. These videos have been so helpful to us.
How were you prepped?
Yes! It made such a difference.
Glad you’re doing well!
UA-cam Viewer, we had been stockpiling extra groceries all winter, keeping ahead of consumption 3-5 weeks. We also have a pretty good supply of 4Patriot ready meals, but didn’t need to touch those. Our power went out only sporadically. We do have a generator, but we’re looking into a larger unit. There are only two of us in the house, but we have enough clean water for 6-8 weeks. We also have a supply of 20 one gallon jugs of water. These we had to use for flushing the toilet, as the water was out for five days.
Bedford Texas here. Most towns around us had boiling water orders and many had no power to boot. When the gas stations and stores ran out, we put the word out we 16 gallons of gas and 15 gallons of water for those in need. We were good to go on supplies and fortunately we did not loode power or water. We have a year supply of food and 2 weeks worth of water stored and three ways to process water via Berkey, Distller, Osmosis not to mention back packing filters like Katydine, Sawyer and frontier straws, and various fuels (Heat, sterno, butane, iso-propane, propane, karosene, trioxane).
My 2 cents is consider getting
#1Yaktrax, for your shoes, they grip the ice well so you dont fall n break a hip, I am 60 years old.
#2Polyester or propylene long johns as a second layer over underwear/tee shit.
#3 MSR pocket rocket and a few cans or a Mr. Stove and 3 butane cans
#4 Cash on hand or silver coins. If power is off credit/debit cards wont get you anywhere.
Just for starters, love the channel.
We are empty nesters, being 60 and 67 years old.
Use a pocket rocket outdoor only unless you have the adapter so you can use it on propane.
JUST this past week, there was a MASSIVE Glitch in the VISA System. A Restaurant I frequent could not process credit or debit cards, so they insisted on cash. On the very same day, my PHARMACY which has been "plastic only" since COVID, was only accepting cash. This is a PRIME example of WHY we all need to keep some cash on hand at all times. You never know when your preps are going to be needed.
@@bruceforster3709 So true, I recall when hurricane Sandy hit NY area there was no power. It was reported while people could not pay for goods because they would only take cash, this guy had silver rounds and was able to obtain supplies.
@@bruceforster3709 Yesterday my small town had no ATMs working, even at the 3 banks. Some stores also had "broken" credit card machines (Texas, an hour southwest of Houston) I don't think it was a coincidence.
Following!
My daughter & her husband live in Austin TX. The recent snow event finally motivated them to become preppers. Thank God they don’t think Im crazy anymore!
Today the biggest preparation is for eternal life..our days are numbered and man cannot surpass those days...many places in the word of God it states this...in fact we are where we are in life because the Lord God has ordained us here.
As these days grow darker, and they will for Jesus said before He returns it would return to the days of Noah and the days of Lot....and here we are those accounts are coming together like plague upon the world.
Psalm 9:17 the wicked will be turned to hell, even the nations who forsake the Lord.
Buckle up and prepare for the mighty hand of the Lord to bring His indignation, for His sword is raised and whetted ready to strike a death blow to the world.
And ask who is to blame...the body of Christ has become about as bright as a one wick candle in a corner and the salt is tasteless, she's no longer a beacon of light upon the hill... she has become so much like the world you can't tell who is a child of God or who is of the devil.
I’m just north of Austin in Leander. My husband quickly realized his crazy prepper actually had a method to her madness during that timeframe.
I'm from Central TX we got 8 inches of snow. And 1/2 inches of ice. We lost power and water. The lows were in the single digits 4 degrees on Tues morning now we're almost 80 just insane. We didn't have power for 4 days water for 6 days. Thank god we have a fireplace and bottled water. We ran out of wood day 2 my husband braved the unplowed roads to go to home depot in a neighboring town because our local store was closed no power or water. He bought 2x4 untreated for firewood. I've learned a lot from this experience. Water is so important you need it to drink, cook and clean. I was shocked it took one 16 ounce bottle of water each to brush our teeth. We melted snow to flush the toilets. I had to make food choices for dinner based on how much water was needed. Cooking rice is better than pasta less water. Canned bean were better than dry. Tin foil pack are good when you can't wash dishes. We put our food in the snow to keep cold. Frozen veggies didn't stay frozen even though we were below 30 degrees. Canned veggies are better to stockpile. Thank god our meat stayed frozen. The only meat left in grocery stores are huge expensive brisket or huge pork loins that are marked upped Normally they run about 14.00 to 17.00 dollars but during this time they were 38.00 to 45.00 dollars. No dairy or bread or water in stores I wasn't able to buy until a week later on monday. We used our outdoor solar lights as a light source which worked out great. One problem we had was our cell phones lost data we could only text and call. We listened to the radio in the car but there wasn't a station that gave detailed info of what was happening. While in the car we charged our phones. We learn a lot going buy a solar generator. Its really been an eye opener. Now I want a farm with a water source lol. Sorry this was so long but I thought the real life experience could help someone.
You need more than 2 gallons. We're a family of 3 with 3 dogs. We went through a lot of water. You can't clean well without water. Wash dishes and cook, drink. During a zoom meeting at work one of our managers with a lot of children said his biggest fear was they wouldn't have enough water. I think we're so use to accessible water. You turn on the faucet everyday expecting it to be there. once its turned off and no stores have water and roads are impassable its scary. You can survive without water for about 3 days. You can live on water no food for 1-2 months its the most important thing to stockpile. I think we did good we used our common sense. Neighbors helped each other. We gave our neighbor some firewood they let us use their gas grill. Other shared food baby formula. We live in a pretty amazing subdivision. We weren't prepper's but we are now. Lesson I learned is I need to be better prepared and you can stockpile a lot of food but you can't have enough water.
Thank you for sharing
This disaster was a wake up call for me. I'm a prepper but realized how unprepared I was. I have now a list of priorities I will be getting.
We lost water once, only for a few days, and although we were prepared and we were fine, it was a wake up call for us. We all use waaay more water than we think. Add rain barrels to your preps. Drain when freezing weather hits, but when out of that scenario, capture & store rain water. Filter/clean to make it potable or simply keep it for flushing toilets.
We also now keep a lot of aluminum foil on hand so we can cook in or on foil for easy cleanup. Our gas stove top works in power outages, and during our water outage, we lined the frying pan with foil so we didn't need to wash it. (And paper plates.)
We lose power so often, it doesn't phase me. Losing water was a different story. And we had stored water! Now we store a lot more. :)
What are some of the things?
Me too, I found a couple of holes in my supplies.
Today the biggest preparation is for eternal life..our days are numbered and man cannot surpass those days...many places in the word of God it states this...in fact we are where we are in life because the Lord God has ordained us here.
As these days grow darker, and they will for Jesus said before He returns it would return to the days of Noah and the days of Lot....and here we are those accounts are coming together like plague upon the world.
Psalm 9:17 the wicked will be turned to hell, even the nations who forsake the Lord.
Buckle up and prepare for the mighty hand of the Lord to bring His indignation, for His sword is raised and whetted ready to strike a death blow to the world.
And ask who is to blame...the body of Christ has become about as bright as a one wick candle in a corner and the salt is tasteless, she's no longer a beacon of light upon the hill... she has become so much like the world you can't tell who is a child of God or who is of the devil.
I am in North Texas and while my house did not loose power, heat or water there were a few holes that I found in my preps. One item that I never dreamed of having was an old fashion Stanley thermos. We drank a ton of hot tea and having the thermos to keep the water hot would have been a huge help. We also realized that we did not have the key to be able to turn off the main water supply to the house if our pipes froze. I ordered 2 small tents and a few more lanterns along with a couple of 6 gal water storage containers, a Water Bob and some better plugs for the bathtubs along with water meter key and thermos. Thanks to you I now have a plan for the potty situation. We had family come over since we were still fully functioning and I was able to feed everyone with no worries of running out of food thanks to my preps.
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Found out a friend had gone 2 days because the roads were impassible. I am blessed that I have 4WD. Took her husband to the drug store then the grocery store. God bless
@@TheProvidentPrepper Jeffry nails a GREAT point. This is one reason I ALSO have a 4WD Pickup!
I tell you what really got me through these days without heat. Other than being prepared I did a lot more praying! The comfort and guidance I received by doing this was invaluable
🙌🏼🙌🏼
I've recently discovered your channel, love your videos. I just want to add a couple things.
First don't sweat propane. Rural homes and almost every trailer park uses propane as their heating fuel. They use it to cook with, heat their water, heat their home, without worry.
The second is to not use the 91% alcohol that you are showing there, use 70% alcohol instead. It will not burn off as fast so you won't go through it as quickly. You can boil a cup of water with 1oz of 70% alcohol in a little over 2 minutes. Learn how to make a penny can stove. Also they're really easy to make. Literally you're talking about two soda cans something to punch holes in the can, and I feel mine with cotton balls so if it gets knocked over it's not going to spill. Then I'm able to keep it in a container so if I put it out before I've used all the alcohol on it it won't go to waste and evaporate.
A good camping rule to follow is to change clothes before you go to bed. Whether you realize it or not your body sweats all day long not just in your armpits, and that moisture in your clothing will work against you when you try to sleep. Change clothes, if you want dust yourself off with a little baby powder or cornstarch, and put on dry clothes. You will stay so much warmer, and of course don't forget socks and hats. Layering is key and whether it's clothing or bedding, layering always makes you warmer because it traps layers of air. So if you don't have a sleeping bag don't think that you have to rush out and buy one just take thinner ones and layer them and then get inside it.
If you know the storm is going to hit, and you don't have water prepped, if you have a washer fill it and shut it off once it's full it'll hold that water and if nothing else you can use it to flush the toilet with. You can also put a dollar store drop cloth in your bathtub tape it in place so it doesn't slide or fall down and fill it up with water in your bathtub, if you have a utility sink, fill it up the water, it may be funky but you can wash dishes with it, you can clean yourself with it, you can flush the toilet with it, etc.
Also along the lines of the solar charging lights that you can put in the windowsill, I actually got one of those camp showers that are light reactive you set it in the sun to heat the water. I don't use it so much for cleaning myself as I do for washing dishes so I don't have to use fuel to do that with, however it also is much nicer than taking cold water on a washcloth to clean yourself with. All you have to do is hang it in the window all day, and you're good to go.
Along the lines of making as few dishes to wash you, also don't want to be burning through a lot of money and making a lot of trash with paper plates and plastic forks and whatnot. Take your regular dishes, and line them with plastic wrap. When you're done eating take the plastic wrap off put that in one tiny bag or whatever you can have one main collective spot. Also if you know how to use chopsticks, use those instead. Keep a wash cloth wet with vinegar in a Ziploc bag or a container. When you're done eating, wipe any food off of the chopsticks/silverware, then wipe them off with that vinegar soaked washcloth to disinfect them. And if you really want to rinse them get yourself one of those little 2 oz spray bottles that you can find at the store in the travel size section and put water in it to spray those chopsticks or your silverware. You can rinse them effectively with just a few squirts of water, instead of rinsing them by submerging them in water.
Edited to correct a whole bunch of typo and some missing talk to text.
Especially love the cheap plastic drop cloth, bathtub idea! We learned the hard way that both of our tubs have slow leaks and that would have saved ALLLLL that snow we hauled in to flush toilets. Also the plastic wrap idea for plates and such!
Unfortunately this is a wake-up call for so many. So appreciate these videos. It's hard when you have a partner who thinks your over reacting or just paranoid.
@@TheProvidentPrepper I've been prepping anyway. I told him it's my hobby...lol
@@malba411 I have a similar issue with MY Spouse. I prep anyway. She can pooh-pooh my efforts all she wants. I sleep VERY well at night, knowing that before my Lord & Savior Jesus Christ, that I have already saved both our lives!
@@malba411 I bet they learned their lesson after that power surge. 😂
Tell them they’re welcome to wait outside during the next storm. It’s paranoia or conspiracy theory - until it happens. Have your partner go back and watch the movie, The Day After Tomorrow. I don’t put any stock in global warming, but I believe in being prepared for the unexpected.
@@malba411 I bought the solar phone chargers for my husband for Christmas and NOW he's so glad I did.
I'm 63 yrs old n live in San Antonio,Texas we lived through freezing n bundling up. I'm still wiithout water but as a Prepper I would fill soda bottle ect. PRAYERS FOR TEXAS.🙏🙏😀💕💕
Hi P.P.
This is also one of those times we need to look at our pet preps. I can't even imagine what some of those poor critters had to endure.
Best regards,
Jarrod
Any good videos for pets?
I have 2 English Mastiffs and they were fine and not cold at all although a bit freaked out at me spending my days in the car rather than in the house. Wax without elec or water 5 days in central texas. Needed CLEAN dog beds as I slept with them at nite. Needed more water to just mop the floors. Shouldn’t have even tried all that boil nonsense as they both got sick anyway so this year have 50 gallon bottles of water just for them to drink and saved all by empty Clorox bottles this year to mop floors. Veg also gave me some tetracycline soon as they start acting peekish since it took forever to get back to kinda normal lol. I had extra leashes and collars ear cleaner food treats of every shape and size but would have been so much easier with just more mop water and clean beds for me to sleep on the floor with them so I was toasty warm but didn’t smell like a dirty dog bed lol. Oh and yes everyone is house trained but there was 18” of snow/ice and moving that much snow took me forever with a dust pan lol and they didn’t like snow AT ALL lol
I had prepped for everything but water!🤦♀️🤦♀️ I will not let that happen again.
No one cause of death in emergency is no water
I save rain water I used that to flush toilets instead of my prep water.
Save water in 2 liter bottles. Recommended by FEMA. Google it for exact procedures. Keeps for 6 months. It really helped us during the boil water notice time! Blessings!
Me too I only had about 4 days worth of water not enough! I had tons of food.
2 liter soda bottles: rinse add 1 capful hydrogen peroxide fill with tap water. Drinkable. Rotate for freshness. Works for me.
I live in north Texas about 45 minutes north of Dallas. We lost power and water for days. We had some food but I was not into being prepared. We now have about 3 months of food and 3 weeks of water. I will continue to become prepared. It was such a wake up call!
We put blankets over doors to keep the back part of our house with the fireplace is warm and I wore a Christmas sweater and heavy Terry cloth robe every day for 4 days.
I learned alot. I had plenty of light with all my solar lights, but i never thought about having something for warmth. My food all spoiled, I had nothing to keep warm, I had no means of communications, no way to find out news, and no protection someone tried to break into my home. Luckly they ran off. I learned so much.
I’m sorry to hear your challenges. A tip for food spoilage, take advantage of the cold outside. Just place your things outside in something like a box or tote in a shady place. I call it my outside fridge/freezer depending on the temps.
@@TheProvidentPrepper thank you!
@@NS-pf2zc great idea!
Just remember, if you store food outside, try to use a rodent/animal proof container.
@@whynot2934 thanks!
After Maria hurricane in Puerto Rico USA., I was well prepared because with no electricity ⚡️ for about 6 months it was a nightmare .I lost 99% of my fruit trees here in Corozal P.R. but here I am three years later very happy with my family still recovering my fruit trees and very thankful to almighty God.😂🙏
Number one lesson. Hurricane season in 3 months. Get ready
Be prepared
This is the best lesson. Don't let it happen to you again
I was in Texas for this and was a seasoned prepper. Our electricity was out for about 4 days. Our gas fireplace worked. We have arched openings near the living room. I covered the openings with trash bags to trap the heat. I bought black out curtains for next time. We brought clay pumpkins inside and put sterno cans in them. We used battery candles. They lasted for a month. I had a small butane stove from gas one. It was a lifesaver. Some of my coworkers were in apartments and unprepared. They had ice in their baby’s bottles. I couldn’t believe it
Thanks for sharing!!
@@TheProvidentPrepperHey, there is a polar vortex in the immediate forecast. People should be preparing for the same type of power outage events right now.
I watch your channel and others to learn to be prepare and how to properly store food, water, etc... my daughter does not have the time to watch any of them because she has a critical ill child and always busy with hospital and doctor appointments. But what she did do she LISTENED TO ME she had purchased a cooking burner rated for indoor use, plenty of fuel, can and box food for emergency all this a few years ago on a limited income. She learn to prep her refrigerator and freezer for power outage. Her fiancé and children has mock her over her preps that there was no need and everything would be okay. Well.... it finally happened, she just went through that storm in Texas, she lost power and water for 6 days, she called me during the storm to say "Thank God I listen to you mom" nothing melt in her refrigerator and freezer, she had a stove to cook on and plenty of food. She has not been to any store since and she is fully stock. She does not have everything but compare to others she has a lot. As of Monday water and electricity is back on. Her financial means are very limited..... she does not have everything I wish she could get but with what she had she was able to ride the storm through.
Your channel was a God sent.... Thank you so much, so grateful I found you.
@@ghostyty3071 I bet her fiance is ashamed of what he did to your daughter..
Is that a great feeling? When you get that call--"Mom, you were right!"
My daughter is in Lubbock; grew up camping all her life. She called me and told me thank you for teaching her that her camping gear is for more than camping, and how to prep!
I’m so glad you made this post. After the stores were emptied last March I started watching your videos. Unsure of what to exactly prepare for, I started with growing our water and food supply. We had gotten rid of our winter clothes we had from when we lived in Idaho so used many layers. We still need power and heat source. We had sufficient supply of food and water and even fresh lettuce, only thanks to watching your you tube channel. A huge thank you.
Hope you got some winter clothes, now!
The Provident Prepper we love you guys for sharing all your knowledge so we as God children can prepare and help our self threw hard time. Much Respect, Love and Blessing to you and y'all Beautiful Family...Peace
Hi I live in. Oklahoma we were hit before Texas and was just as worse or more bitter. We just came out of 14 days of sub zero weather.. We dropped down to 28 below zero one day.
The small rural town I live near lost all powder for 5 days. The state had rolling black outs.
Tulsa lost their water plant. Still reporting as many as 175 water lines bursting daily. Many in Tulsa have no water. The city said they are working as hard as they can but might takes weeks to fully return water service to residents because there is no way they can keep up as more and more lines break.
People were dying in Tulsa. One little 78 year old man froze to death.
My kitchen drain froze up for 7 days. Meaning I had to catch the steady dripping water in a pan 24/7 and pour it in a 5 gallon bucket and empty it in the stool down the hall.
My neighbor across the road had a water line freeze and break inside his home. Both our houses are well insulated and furnaces set on 70 degree... It was still cold in our homes.
The ice was about 6 inch thick and we couldn't open the back door. I was finally able to get out the front door by pouring warm heavily salt water mixed with a half bottle of alcohol on my porch and ramp... Melted the ice enough I could scrape off about 18 inch wide strip on my front porch and down the long ramp. I was able to do the same thing up the ramp onto my 58 foot long deck to the back door. But I had to hack at the ice to get it to break up so I could shovel it away from the door yesterday..
The last time I was out on Feb. 10th. I was on Interstate 412 that had been salted and sanded. It was still very slick. A 18 wheeler was coming up fast behind me on the inside lane. I took my eyes off the mirror for a few seconds and as I looked back up that truck lost control and wound up sideways between the east and west lanes then he jack knifed.
The Fedex truck right in front of me lost control and ran off the road into a deep ditch facing south. The pickup that was about a block in front of us lost control and rolled a number of times landing cab up against the deep ditch south wall incline. I dove on up a mile and turned around and came home.
My daughter's beloved dog got sick on the 8th and she couldn't get him to the vet the roads were impassable. He died on the 10th.. I had her husband place him in a box and store him outside in the shed so he would remain frozen. I went over Saturday and took him to her vet and paid to have him cremated. My daughter is suffering grief and guilt because she couldn't get him to the vet. He only weighed 4 oz when she got him 12 years ago, He was her baby.
As a long time prepper of 50 years we both were prepare for this winter storm. Six years ago we had a bad storm and the temps dropped to 38 below zero for days with 6 feet deeps snow..
.
Wow. Only Texas is being talked about in our news (Northeast)
I'm sorry for your struggles and loss.
@@whynot2934 Thank you.
Texas family here. The video of your families experiment was a God send for us during the power outage. We found it by chance and then the outage hit. Thank you!
The tea light heater is real. That's what kept me warm when our power went out
Where did you find your tealight heater? Wish someone would make a battery heater. I now own 3- 12by12 battery or plug in fans in case power out in summer.
Janey D. I bought a DeWalt battery operated fan (Amazon)
Tents or micro environments are a really good way to contain heat. A good fleece hat is just as important because much of your body’s heat escapes through your head.
I don't know about that-we've gotten too much "Fleece" from the Government lately.....
@@bruceforster3709 😂 Isn’t that the truth!
Fleece is very lightweight and retains heat well.
@@chomama1628 So THAT'S where all Congress' hot air comes from!
Make sure the tent is free standing without pegs
Lots of great and helpful advice Provident Prepper! These ideas need to be shared.
I do have one extremely important point to say on one of your suggested heating ideas as related in offering to the public. I have been in many years of firefighting training. Most number of household fires come from wood burners and even more so, from candles! Not only does a warmer environment encourage a sleepy moment to catch up on some zzzz’s but that’s when a lit candle with hot wax is likely to go awry, especially with flammable blankets and other fabrics in the mix. You might want to say in your presentation that a set of lit candles not only must be supervised by an adult at all times but rather add it’s much better to purchase a catalytic type burner (Mr Buddy heater, DeWalt heater, etc) with keeping propane bottles handy to keep small spaces warmer. And something better than a catalytic heater is a small running generator located outside the home supplying enough electricity for electric blankets to stay warm and comfortable. In my semi-professional opinion, please do not encourage people to use candles for light or for heating purposes unless it’s an absolute last resort (still I can think of other ways to stay warm without candles). Emergency services will already be overwhelmed handling the multiple calls for help. We don’t need them to respond to more calls because the general public might be using candles for heat/light when they didn’t have to by using alternate means available. In my strong opinion, that’s just adding gasoline to a fire. If you want a list provided of alternative means to stay warm more safely, I will be more than happy to provide that list. Otherwise, please keep up the good work!
Lithium batteries are also very dangerous and has caused many fires. As a firefighter I think you should say the list because safety is always first.
2:35 When I lived or visited in states with freezing temperatures it wasn’t the same kind of cold. Unfortunately the type of cold we tend to have in Texas is a wet, or damp cold. That’s a much more harsh feeling cold.
We get that in New York all the time. It's not an issue when your locality is prepared for it. Please contact your representatives and demand action to upgrade your system in Texas.
@@YT4Me57 Oh for sure. I was living near Rochester NY in ‘79 when there was a blizzard in March.
I live near the coast. Wet winter days suck. It soaks into the bone.
Yes. It's the same kind of damp cold in Tennessee.
Oh yeah that damp cold is cold! Here in West KY right now its 16 degrees and 80% humidity.
What an AWESOME video! Thank you for creating this video with SO much valuable preparedness information. I'm sure that the information that you've provided will help people in need from all around the world for when disaster inevitably strikes again.
I agree with The Provident Prepper... you have some awesome content as well:-)
Prepared≠Paranoid
@@reasonablyprepared
Persistent
Prepping
Prevents
Poor
Performance
Your wonderful videos have helped so many people!
@@TheProvidentPrepper I will dare say your videos have probably SAVED LIVES!
Solar side walk light, put out in day bring in at night, save batteries and safe. Katrina lesson, no heat, but can save fuel for other stuff. Also these solar lights are cheap, and they can recharge batteries they come with or rechargeable batteries you have for other things
Can keep them in windowsills so they are always ready to grab and use. Can also find them in dollar tree stores. Much safer to use with children.
The solar side walk light idea is genius!
Yes. You can put the spike in a potted plant or vase with marbles on a windowsill.
Last minute water supply ... use a WaterBob. Had them in the closet for hurricanes and never filled one up. I did for this winter event.
Great idea! Especially if you have a few minutes advance notice!
Yes no power for 4 days 😢 . San Antonio Texas.. I got out a flannel sleeping bag I had in the garage we had to use a propane tank and some camping stuff to cook. A first time for us to experience no power outage and a lot of snow that was beautiful it was hard without electricity..But we made it. I'm going to think of more ideas and be prepared better next time thank God he helped us get through this
Texas really inspired/scared me into beefing up my preps. It’s gonna happen again, just a question of when and where
Today the biggest preparation is for eternal life..our days are numbered and man cannot surpass those days...many places in the word of God it states this...in fact we are where we are in life because the Lord God has ordained us here.
As these days grow darker, and they will for Jesus said before He returns it would return to the days of Noah and the days of Lot....and here we are those accounts are coming together like plague upon the world.
Psalm 9:17 the wicked will be turned to hell, even the nations who forsake the Lord.
Buckle up and prepare for the mighty hand of the Lord to bring His indignation, for His sword is raised and whetted ready to strike a death blow to the world.
And ask who is to blame...the body of Christ has become about as bright as a one wick candle in a corner and the salt is tasteless, she's no longer a beacon of light upon the hill... she has become so much like the world you can't tell who is a child of God or who is of the devil.
Cook with charcoal in a cast iron Dutch oven outside. Bring it inside and you have residual heat for a while and a good meal. No gas or electricity needed.
You can also use a dutch oven in the All American Sun Oven (solar). You can get it to 300F easily if the sun is shining (regardless of outdoor temps).
Heating rocks & bringing them indoors helps a ton - just use care not to burn through fabrics
My mom grew up in Michigan. They heated bricks by the fireplace, wrapped them in cloth for foot warmers. I bought a bunch of handw warmers at the dollar store.
Thank you so much! Fortunately I didn’t lose power, so far. I’ve been concerned, and had taken some common sense steps that I’ve learned over the years, but you’ve taught me things I never thought of.
3:30 I learned a lot from this freezing experience especially about maintenance of our emergency equipment.
We had everything we needed to survive through the freezing temperatures except our generator had a problem. It’d been stored properly, but we should have tried it out before the cold weather got here. We had to resort to much more basic methods for lighting, warmth, and use of our emergency equipment.
@@TheProvidentPrepper I'm going to buy stock in the Mr. Buddy Heater Company!
Again thank you again for all your videos
so helpful. I learn all the thing you all have shared on this video. There was 2of them I had already knew. But look forward to seeing you all video to learn even more.
We live in a city in the UK so we do not experience many storms. This has taught me the importance of being ready come what may. I never considered myself a prepper before but I am now!
We already owned several HUGE ice chests in the 120-152 quart size. After a pipe broke, I put 3 of these into my pickup truck bed along with a 10 gallon water cooler. Our city offered free potable water from a fire hydrant. I filled up all of my containers (108 gallons) and parked the truck in the garage for ease of access. It was used primarily for flushing toilets during the 5 days when the water supply to the house was shut off. After the pipe break was repaired, I emptied the coolers onto the lawn and put them back in the garage to dry. We also had plastic water bottles as part of our pandemic prep for drinking and cooking.
Thanks for the link and the code for those lights! I love they recharge with solar. Thanks a bunch! A great item to be prepared with.
Super video, im guessing your videos on winter power outages have had massive new viewers in the polar vortex region. I liked the stories in this video of ppl helping others out, so important to show the good times and stories of prepping, so easy to focus on doom and gloom.
While not in Texas, I have a story related to prepping, one was at my old apartment we had a woman above me on medical oxygen, now those cylinders can explode (while rare, it is a flammable gas in a compressed chamber). So I upped my fire prevention game while overall prepping in Feb for the health crisis, extra extinguishers, had the pet carriers by the door along with imp docs, etc. well one day she had been still smoking in her apartment and left a burning cigarette in a can and lit up her apartment and almost burned the whole place down, Luckily due to the health crisis I was working at home at the time, and could get my fur babies out fast. While I didnt know she was smoking (both against bldg and her own health rules) by preparing for the oxygen cylinder having issues, it also crossed over into any type of fire.
I thought of this when I saw the ppl in Texas having to boil water that was hard to get with no power, you dont know how one issue can get magnified by another & how planning for multiple areas has kind of a web effect that will help you in other areas. By planning for cooking food, etc, you also have a way to boil water if you need to. While I thought my water game was pretty strong, this Texas event made me realize that much more water is needed to be stored, even with a berky type filter and ways to get & carry & treat water, you dont know if that wont be an option, or how much it will drain from other resources.
Love the wood cook stove, Ben Falk has a great setup where he also combines his domestic hot water on wood heat as well, that griddle outside is great for summer, as most wood stove kitchens back in the day had a "summer kitchen" outdoors cause it got too hot indoors firing up that wood heat. A great gas storage tip I heard from Jack Spirko was to have 12 5 gallon cans and every 2 weeks before you fill up the car, dump the first can in the car and go fill the car and the can then put it at the back of the stack, etc. so you never need to treat the gas and it stays fresh, being stored no longer than 6 months, but as they say, your mileage may vary XD Thanks for all the wonderful help you give so many ppl, many blessings!!
I'm lucky enough to own a freestanding medical commode. Sure, having some place to empty the catch-bucket takes a little pre-planning, but knowing I will not be affected when regular toilets become unusable gives great peace of mind. Track one down at any medical equipment store.
We got it in sask. canada prior to texas... no power & heat. Something we did which ive never heard any video teach. We filled our sinks and tubs with hot water while we could. Sure its not going to stay hot for days but it added an additional few hours when seconds in the end might count. A tub full of hot water and that bathroom door closed created a nice warm rooms within the household. I also learned that our tiny elec heater gobbled up all the stored power in our large solar gen power bank. Yes we few other heating sources to fall back on after we noticed that power was being used up quickly.
Houston here. We had no power for a week. I lived in Pittsburgh PA during the blizzard of ‘78. We blanketed and sealed off all our windows, doors and most rooms in our house. We used regular insulation to protect outdoor pipes covered in black trash can liners and kept the faucets dripping with hot water. Luckily our hot water heater is gas, so we always had hot showers. We used solar garden lights inside. After a day without power, we put our food outside in plastic storage containers on the patio to keep cold. The garage was a good option for food storage for things we didn’t want frozen but cool. Several blankets and down comforters plus a gas fireplace kept us warm, maybe too much so as we started to sweat which is not good. We cooked over our gas range and had to use matches to light it, but also had a bbq pit to cook on if needed.
My housemate and I, both in our late sixties, were hit by the Texas freak storm and were in one of the homes the electric company was ordered to shut the power off of. (A lot of people think that everyone had rolling power outages; not so. Ours was out solid for 5 nights and 4 days because we did not live in areas where they left the power on -- such as near hospitals and fire stations.) Our front walk and carport froze over with ice early on and we were afraid to leave the house at all for fear of slipping and falling. It did not occur to us to pour out the rock salt onto our front walkway and carport -- although we had the salt! It also took us days to remember that when it is freezing and below outside (as it was here), it is a good idea to put the frozen items in our refrigerator freezer into coolers and boxes and place them outdoors in the backyard. It was a great relief not to lose any of our food. (We opened the fridge door VERY rarely that week.) Things I got after all this happened: 100% wool blanket, winter sleep hat, warmer socks for sleeping in -- and my housemate got a small solar generator with one set of solar panels. Our battery-operated LED lanterns literally saved the day, keeping us from living in a dark cave that week -- but we were running out of batteries fast. We've gotten more batteries and a couple more LED lanterns. Fortunately we DID have running water and no pipes burst (though they did on either side of us) -- and we did keep them all with a small drip throughout that time. Because we are older and have extra limitations I had gotten a setup to use an alcohol stove that would sit atop our electric stove, and that was a great thing, great for morale more than anything. (It DID permanently stain the bottom of my Corning Ware saucepan for life, but that's OKAY, ha.) It was 40-42°F inside our home and we wore as many layers of clothing as we could. We have since learned to mimick stormwindows by taping bubble wrap on the insides of all our windows -- or taping up plastic -- and that painter's or plumbers metallic tape holds up well for that (whereas duct tape not so much). Neither of us use cell phones, but my housemate has an emergency one which was almost out of minutes. After the crisis she put a lot more minutes on it. Lots of people got into their cars (ONLY outdoors, not in garages where it would be dangerous) for periods of time to warm up. If this happens again we will be able to do that too -- thanks to the salt we would spread out. Warm wool socks were something I got later. During the "snowpocalypse" I was mostly unable to sleep because I couldn't handle how cold my feet were outside of my warm boots AND could not sleep in my boots. For me that was possibly the worst part, was not being able to sleep much. My housemate did all right as she was sleeping with her dog and two cats. She said one of those cats was a real heating pad! Well, maybe this long stream of consciousness will help someone. It feels good to share the information as I find these memories haunting me as we near cooler and then colder weather. I know I will never feel as "safe" in winters again -- but hopefully I will always be able to be more prepared. Oh, and two more things: I learned how to make my own olive oil lamps. They don't really provide much heat or even all that much light, but it's a good light that is cheering when all the batteries are going out. I had my oil lamp going (in a pint-sized mason jar) the last two nights without power -- light I could not have achieved otherwise. Olive oil burns CLEAN and is nontoxic. It is also amazingly safe (and if it should get knocked over there is something like a 99.9% chance the oil will put out the flame). It was a great "night light" for me. Last but not least, the last few days I finally thought to get out my emergency battery-operated radio. Due to the concern of losing battery life I only listened to it for a couple hours each morning, but that was GREAT to be able to hear what was going on. (It was how I learned that our power was not KNOCKED off but was TURNED off. That was very upsetting that that was done with NO warning and no precedent. But it was so good to listen to banter from people who were able to give what local news they had.) Being a foodie, it was amazing to me how being in what felt like a life-threatening situation and trying to stay warm caused me to lose most of my interest in food. I have no memory of what I ate that week, but I sure remember the great experience of being able to make coffee and tea! We were very fortunate in that we have a large Berkey filter and our water was running -- even the hot water! Most people on our street, it seems, did not have running water but they had fireplaces they were able to use. (Our fireplace was and still is not functional and we do not have the means to have it repaired.) Many also had gas stoves. What amazed me the most was how totally unexpected the situation was. We were so happy to have our alcohol stove, but it was bought only worrying about being indoors rather than outdoors without a moment's thought that it might be during freezing weather. We still need to get at least one or two of those clay pots and "safe heat" cans to use as a living room "heater." Other things we would like to have are simply beyond our ability to pay for, but we will be better prepared overall should this happen again! Last but not least, it was helpful for us to do a bit of Bible reading together each day. Remembering and praising our loving and merciful Father and His Son, Christ Jesus, was the kind of spiritual support one can get nowhere else.
South Central Texas here. The game changers for us were the butane stove, a hand pump ($8.00 at Walmart) that we attached to our 5 gallon bottles, and the “hobo heater” my son created to wrap around our well-insulated, yet still frozen outside pipes. We were able to heat up the pipes enough to get our water running again. I can and put back my garden and great deals on meat, so we did not have to go out to shop and participate in the crazy. We have already had our “How’d we do?” discussion, and the things we need to do to prepare for something like this happening in the heat: Texas’ bigger threat.
Good information.
*FREAK FREEZE of TEXAS 21*
*Although many Texans failed to prepare for such unique & extreme weather, unlike many other parts of the country that experience a disaster & may use it as an excuse, majority of Texans didn't want outside help as much as we needed prayers that holy spirit give us both the power & desire to press forward & pick ourselves up by the bootstraps!*
*As for me & mine,*
*we were fine*
*because we've been prepping*
*since 99.* 😉
I learned a lot of these lessons when we had the blizzard of 93 here in the south eastern US.
I started prepping food and water two years ago, then when the pandemic hit, I put it into turbo drive getting supplies, cleaning, first aid, food, water. Now, with Texas, my prepping has shifted to heat and ways to cook indoors. Thank you so much. I had two Mr. Buddy heaters in my amazon cart, and saw that Walmart had them way cheaper from your video. So my continued prayers and stockpile will always get us through. Thank you.
The electricity goes out often here in Northern Michigan. High winds from storms knock trees on the power lines. If you have a wood stove, or you are considering buying a wood stove, it's important to clean the metal pipes often and clean the chimney at least once a winter. Better to clean the creosote out when you want to than have a chimney fire when you don't want to. I make a note on my wall calendar "clean pipes" every Wednesday, during the heating season, so I won't forget. When I'm done cleaning the metal pipes, I make an "X" across the note I made on my wall calendar. I know it's not recommended to submit a clay liner masonry chimney to high heat, yet, burning it out once a year works best for me. Once it's burned out, I climb up on the roof to run a round wire brush down it a couple of times. The metal pipes get taken apart once a week, taken outside to a fire pit metal ring, burned out and wire brushed before taken back inside and put back in place. I clean the metal pipes once a week because I burn all types of firewood, including pine. I'm thankful all the fires in my chimney and my stove pipes have occurred when I wanted.
Thankyou for sharing. Safety first.
I didn’t experience or storm but I did learn a lesson. My grandson will be going to college in the fall. It’ll be his first time away from home and he will be in an entirely different climate than our Arizona desert. I am making him 2 emergency bags. One to keep in his dorm and one to keep in his car. I had emergency bags prepared for my family that address cooling issues because we live in the heat but will expand to include things for him to stay warm. I’ll also include a pack of cards and some paper back books.
What do you pack for cooling? I need to prep for no electricity in high heat, and I can’t find much info. My house definitely wasn’t built with passive cooling in mind.
@@username00009, I have bought several battery powered fans. Some come with rechargeable batteries & can also be run with their USB cord.
You'll need to purchasr a special little plug in for the batteries.
I live in southern Alabama so we didn't get hit as bad as Texas. We did get bone chilling cold. Some of the things i always keep is candles propane for cooking and heating. Having multiple ways to do anything you will need to do to stay alive
I recommended your site to many who had family and friends in the midst of this storm so they could pass the information on.
Awesome! I was waiting for this.
I am a Texan. I brought out my stainless steel Dutch oven and lined the bottom inside with tealights. Then I put a wire rack on top. I could warm some water that way and have some tea. I also set up my little barbecue grill on the patio and heated some canned food in a small pan that has a lid. My outdoor spigots were wrapped, but the one thing I did not have and had to rely on a neighbor for was a shut off key for the water meter in the yard. (I'm a renter and the landlord did not leave me one.) The faucet of an above ground spigot leaked, froze, then broke off. It was wrapped, but when it got wet that wrapping was useless. I now own a utility key and some pool noodles that I can cut to wrap around exposed pipes. Keep these good ideas coming. We all benefit when we share our knowledge. Planning to buy a butane stove ASAP. Still researching a one-room indoor heater.
Here in No. West we experienced power outages and severe cold for 4 days. Nothing like Texas. What we were faced with is Seniors not prepared. Our neighbors spent 3 days at our house. We have wood stove, wood cookstove, and plenty ofprovisions. I had a CAPTIVE audience for sharing why it is important to prepare for the unexpected, specially for seniors. I think I may have over loaded their donkey, cause I have not heard from them since. LOL. They may have been over joyed to return home, or they are out procuring the supplies they need.😊
Thanks for this great USEFUL and honest video, tons of great suggestions and real life answers. That sterno stove is what we needed! Y'all are the best!!
I learn from others & their experiences ALL of the time! Our area on the North Oregon Coast-yes, you heard right-got hit with a freak Ice Storm that knocked out power in some areas for ELEVEN DAYS. Our House was only down for Two. BUT, we were READY for it! I EXPECTED to lose power, so I used the Solar to charge up EVERYTHING that is backed up by Batteries in advance of the Storm! I brought in Extra Kerosene for the Heater. I broke out our Camp Stove. Caught up the Laundry. Had extra food for our Dog. Part of my Everyday carry is a Flashlight in my left front Pocket and a Leatherman in my Right Front Pocket. I keep an emergency whistle on my keyring.
When the Ice Storm hit us, trees went down EVERYWHERE! Two miles past our house on our road, ice got THREE INCHES THICK-DRIVING ANYWHERE WAS OUT OF THE QUESTION.
WE HAD LIGHTS THROUGHOUT THE EVENT.
WE HAD HEAT THROUGHOUT THE EVENT.
WE ATE COOKED MEALS THROUGHOUT THE EVENT..
WE HAD HAM COMMUNICATIONS THROUGHOUT THE EVENT.
WITH OUR BACKUP POWER, WE EVEN HAD OUR PHONE THROUGHOUT THE EVENT.
I was able to check on the status of every member of our church. I was the ONLY person in our church who was able to do so. I was the ONLY person in our church who had backup power and an alternate method of heating my home! When it was over, my Church PURCHASED one of the Power Systems I manufacture-I believe that for a NICE change, people I CARE for are beginning to wake up!
I think homeowners should have hybrids of power sources. If they must be on grid have solar, Wood stove and whatever else is allowed.
Exactly. But that is a major problem in Texas because it's not on the national grid and hasn't winterized its system. The only options for homeowners in that state would be to install woodburning stoves and their own solar powered generators.
@@YT4Me57 I don't see why being on a larger grid would help. Many states like Oregon were on larger grids and still had blackouts for a week. This was a single point of failure, winterization was inadequate. Texas has capacity, they just need to winterize the power grid. For the water pipes, winterization is also the cause of failure.
Who has a woodstove in Tx??
WHY
Till now
@@YeshuaKingMessiah Yep, I was thinking probably people even in Florida need to make these types of preparations after what happened to Texas what if the Jet Stream dip pattern had shifted more to the East or more extremely south. They wouldn't be ready for cold at all there. And in regards to heat, I've seen temps hit 90 degrees in flipping North Dakota. I was so surprised. Guess you need to prep for extreme heat and cold no matter where you are.
@@YeshuaKingMessiah I do!
Tons of great information and i love seeing how the community is out spreading information and experiences great job. Just hope more people take this as a warning and get prepared and stay prepared
I live in Phoenix arizona. I am a prepped. I have been thinking about the rolling black outs in California and across the country. Comments about people in the Texas storm not having ways to heat their home.... got me to thinking. What can I do, how can I prepare to better keep my home cool during the summer if we lose power. Some of the old ways of wetting blankets and putting them over open windows, cause a breeze way through the house. When it’s 115 or hotter, 😰 it’s a big task. We have a couple generators for the well and fridge and freezer. Not enough to keep central air going. Yesterday I purchased a big industrial evaporator cooler. $950. There are more expensive ones and cheaper ones. This is portable, It doesn’t use much power and will cool our whole house. Praying in a pinch this will give us a peace of mind, if the time comes and we need it
Water, water, water. That was the most worrisome part for us here in rural North Texas. We have a well and were well stocked with wood for our wood burning fireplace. We had a well stocked pantry and freezer. We also feel so blessed to have been a part of the rolling blackouts (brownouts) but with the very first one, our well froze in spite of it dripping and having a heater. (No electric= no heater, no electric pump to cause a drip.) We had over 15 head of horses and cows, 23 chickens, 3 dogs and 4 of us. We had lots of water stored for us. We also have a very large stock tank so friends from up north told us how to break the ice in our stock tank but NOT to remove the chunks. That way it would be a small area to refreeze and it would keep more of our water underneath still available for the next day. That was invaluable info for our stock. So many others didn't fare as well and it was heartbreaking. No gasoline, no wood for sale, broken pipes, frozen ponds and swimming pools, huge shortage of plumbers and plumbing supplies,(SPECIFICALLY a 1" 90 degree PVC elbow!) no power for area resturants/businesses, no credit/debit card machines which meant no access for many to their money, Thank you to y'all and all the other wonderful YT friends for such an excellent assortment of preparation and food storage videos and how tos'. The knowledge you all have equipped so many of us with, truly was the difference between life and death for so many Texans. God Bless you all for what you do.
No tent! use your dinning table and blankets to make a snug bug out preferably in an inside small room...xxx
Hi,I'm in Frisco,TX. This has helped me alot and I will be more prepared when it happens again!!! Yes,it will happen again. Just think of all that's happening now. D iui d you think this would happen in our lifetime!!!???
I'm so thankful for the information in your videos. I have been a viewer for a few years and have most preps in place. Of course, I can still improve, and I appreciate every update. You always mention challenges that I hadn't considered and solutions for them. You two are wonderful! Thank you!!!
Super video! Thanks for the great prepping info that helps so many like me...👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Round Rock (Austin) here - had solar, 5kw generator, & emergency solar. Solar didn't do anything for us when grid is down - so now fixing that with a power wall. But, after day 3 we were actually exporting power to the grid for the 2 hours out of every six that we were up. Never imagined 9 degree weather and had no alternate plan to run extension cord into house other than through slightly open door. Working with electrician now to solve that.
Great video!
When it comes to sanitation stored water is a good way to keep toilets flushed, and to have water for uses other than drinking. We keep a minimum of ten gallons of this water easily available in our home. I use old bleach bottles , detergent, and vinegar containers filled with water stored throughout the house. We can also our swimming pool for this type of water.
If you let pee etc pile up in the toilet, it will flush itself now and then. I've been doing that for 9 years without water. However, a toilet bucket with lid for poo can help and can be dumped outside and leaves or dirt thrown over it. Save your water to drink and cook!
@@rcat32 I’m sure that’s probably true, but doesn’t it get smelly?
We did this, too. It sure did help!
I cut up (thrifted) flannel sheets into 6 inch squares for toilet wipes. Keep clean ones folded in a basket and used in a diaper pail or any pot with a lid.
Good advice, I have been prepping for a few years. I am starting to prep more.
I must have watched this video 10 times, now the east coast is getting slammed. Stay healthy my friends💛💙
@@TheProvidentPrepper Thank U for asking, Yes we got 21" inch, I can't open my front door now the snow turned to ice, we are lucky thk God no power outages. I happened to clean my window from the snow as I looked closer at the snow I noticed the snow looked a little strange, so I looked with my phone and I started to see long metallic fibers, as I looked closer I realized it was Nanoparticles Smart Dust, from the stuff from the chemicals in the sky. This is crazy.
Thanks for the tips great video very useful and much appreciated.
Your channel is so great! Very clear that you want to grow your channel with love and care for your viewers without watering the seeds of fear and scarcity.
Kylene, you and your husband are a blessing. Have learned much from you guys. I feel so am getting well prepared based on your recommendations n your videos. Lol you have helped me become more " balanced" in my approach. Thank you n may god bless you.
I took notes during this time of what we could’ve done better, and how to be better prepared. A lot of what we need to improve upon is listed in my earlier comments.
We all need to prepare and have practice runs in different scenarios so that we don’t get caught with our guard down.
Please stay safe, and try to be prepared.
@@TheProvidentPrepper Lets hope so. I’m really impressed that I was able to apply a lot of my knowledge to make things more tolerable.
Awesome video. I live in Upstate New York n it broke my heart to hear of people dying because they started their vehicles in a closed garage n passed away. There are so many things you can do to stay warm.
We live in a tornado prone area. Anytime we have bad weather predicted, tornadoes or the rare ice or snowstorm, I always fill our bathtubs with water and add a little Clorox. Also, we have had severe flooding that cut off our water supply because the city’s pumping station was under water. As soon as they announced there were potential issues, I filled the tubs and made sure we had plenty of paper goods.
I made sure my daughter, and grandkids had hats, scarves, and gloves. I live in a retirement complex so during the day I went up to the 3rd floor, yes it was warmer up there. If I ever get a house I would like to make a place in the attic to hang out if I m ever in a place with no heat. I also keep 12-1 gallon bottles on my patio with tap water, for an emergency toilet, watering plants, or washing hands. Since they turn our water off so much I started saving empty water bottles, refilled with tap water. We were without water and power San Antonio Texas yes it was cold
I live in Texas and we went through a rough time, but I was more prepared than a lot of people.. I had plenty of candles, blankets, the little emergency blankets, dog/ cat food, ect.
I made texas snow boots with crocks and plastic bags last year and they worked well.
You are super prepared ! THUMBS UP - I love you all
There are many companies that sell "packable" down coats and jackets that provide excellent warmth in an emergency, especially when layered with other clothing. They fold into small packages or pouches and can be easily placed in a bug out bag or stored in a corner of a dresser drawer! I live in New York, where it gets and stays cold most of the year. I have a packable jacket that I use in the early days of autumn right into early days of the winter.
I live in the coastal Northeast. I stay prepared for coastal storms year round and Nor'Easters in the Winter. I have many relatives in the South. I ask many in December if they have changed into their Winter sandals yet? They laugh. I chuckle. Its no longer a laughing matter to them.
Our Jackary solar batteries run electric blankets all night. They also ran small compact refrigerators for emergencies.
Just used your discount for a lantern. Can't wait to use it.
I had watched your video about the tent, but because we have gas logs, we didn't need it. We have a gas stove and plenty of lighters so we were able to cook and make hot tea. Also, I bought my husband two solar phone chargers with built in flashlights. He charged them electronically and we had phones to use the entire time. We also had charged our flashlights and put batteries in other flashlights, also found a transistor radio and camp lantern in our hurricane box that really came in handy. Flannel sheets were a lifesaver, too. Thanks for all you do to help the community.
Thank you
I had no idea about the high elevation issue with the buddy heaters...I’m at 8k ft, bought 3 of them, and when trying to use one in one of my greenhouses, it wouldn’t stay lit. Now I know why. Thank you.
What elevation do the Buddy heaters work? What's the cutoff?
@@rosepaul9681 this video said they don’t work well above 7k ft. I did not see that disclaimer on the items. Wish I had known before buying 3!
Most excellent vid! Thanks for all the hard work!
Thanks for the “Tales from Texas”, as we have been only seeing extremes on the news. While it was going on a friend & I were wondering if anyone was doing the “tent ⛺️ in the livingroom” trick to stay warm. So glad to see folks putting your wisdom into action! Ok, back to getting ready for this afternoon’s NWS high wind advisory. 😎🔦⛺️☕️
@@TheProvidentPrepper, have no fears, the NWS advisory expired at 10pm... but oh my the banshees were a howling earlier!
Well, I learned that solar powered home systems don't provide you with backup power and a fireplace is useless keeping your living room warm, also candle light is inadequate. The only thing that saved us is that we still had natural gas service so we could use our gas range to cook and gas water heater so we had hot water. Since this winter storm, I procured a gas/propane generator, 300 watt portable backup battery, lanterns, space heaters, propane heaters, extra lighting sources. We also purchased emergency long term food with a 30 year shelf life. We are still evaluating our preparations, and would not classify myself as a "PREPPER" but we are much more prepared for almost any kind of emergency.
Some folks in TX said they were even getting CO poisoning from their neighbors (in an apartment building) running the gas stove/oven to keep warm!
I ran a gas oven for yrs to modulate kerosene furnace heat in a trailer in arctic western NYS
It’s so drafty we had no carbon monoxide problems lol
Thank you.. I bought a WBOB and a NOAA radio after the reports from Texas. Were coming into Wild Fire Season.
This Is THE Way
For our Prepper Clan.
Thank you...😊❤️
Its amazing to me how many people don't own a generator. Everybody has a $1000 phone but no generator. Its just crazy to me. I have a whole house generator and a backup portable incase the main fails. I understand some people live in a townhouse type place but if you own or rent a house there is no excuse not having a generator.
@the provident prepper For indoor cooking, I thought in a scenario where the power goes out that your natural gas stove would still work. But you might need to relight the pilot light.