What a crazy week in Connecticut! First we feel the D.C. earthquake and then we get pummeled by a hurricane!
Now, being that I lived in Florida for 15 years, I’m no stranger to hurricanes. My family once went TWO weeks without electricity or running water and suffered excessive damage to our property (not the house, thankfully) after Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 storm, back in 2004. So being that Hurricane Irene was going to be a Category 1 storm by the time she made her way to Connecticut, I wasn’t all too concerned. But… I’m not foolish to ignore Mother Nature, so two days before the storm, I decided to stock up on essentials. You know, just in case.
In my house, I already had peanut butter, Nutella (yes, Nutella makes the essentials list), canned soup, and canned beans. I made a trip to the grocery store looking to round out my pantry, and came home with this:
That would be a package of croissants, a bag of cinnamon raisin pretzel sticks, and two bunches of bananas. These were the only food items that sounded appealing when I asked myself what non-perishable items would I be happy living off of for days if forced to?
As it turned out, Hurricane Irene had a meaner bark than bite when it came to my neighborhood, and I was thankfully spared of any damage. She did, however, take my power out for 16 hours on Sunday. And in that moment of crisis when I lost my electricity, my thoughts all turned to one thing.
DON’T LET THE ICE CREAM GO TO WASTE!!!
So to recap:
- My food essentials list consists of carbs, bananas, and Nutella.
- You should keep actual books (you know, those things that people used to read before the internet was invented?) around your house for the times that you are cutoff from the rest of the world (i.e. Facebook).
- In a time of emergency, don’t forget to think of your frozen dairy products.
- It’s probably not worth buying croissants as part of your hurricane preparedness since you will eat all of them before the hurricane even comes.
Did you get any damage from the hurricane? What’s the longest that you’ve been forced to go without electricity?
I was in Houston 2 years ago for Ike. We bought lots of bread, peanut butter and jelly. I ate PB&J sandwiches for 4 days for every meal. I was sick of them for years. I just started eating them again this year.
Here in Seattle we get wind storms that knock our power out but I think I’ve only gone a few days without power.
The same thing happened to me in third grade when I had peanut butter and fluff sandwiches for almost the enire school year for lunch. I still haven’t gone back to them!
This past winter, we didn’t have electricity for a week. It was cold as heck! Luckily we have a gas stove so we could cook pantry essentials like pasta and soup and we kept the booze & freezer items outside on the balcony. Glad to hear you are okay!
I would probably die a popsicle if I had to go an entire week without electricity in the winter!
Still no power. The flooding was gone by Monday, and I’m ready throw my family out the window.
Oh no!! I hope it’s restored soon! Let me know if you need any bananas or Nutella… I have plenty of reserves!