Candles, matches, torches are you organized??

[justasking111]

Just been out the roads are mad busy, ditto shops. Battening down the hatches I guess. Our house all electric so we're stuffed if the power goes down we're in a red area. But we do have candles, matches and torches so will be hunkering down with a book .

Anyone better prepared

We're in the red warning area - batteries & torches are always relatively accessible but we'll dig out the camping lantern & make sure our phones are charged. Aside from that, we're filling up bottles of water in case there's any issues with the water supply & bringing our camping gas up from the shed so we can get the stove out & heat water if necessary. I'm not really expecting there to be much of an issue with power though - we're in quite an urban area & I can't remember ever having a power cut lasting more than an hour or so in the nearly 15 years that we've been here! Sensible to be prepared though!

[quote Mostlyjustrunning]Haven’t heard of anyone being asked to evacuate jus “stay at home” www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60417263[/quote]
I know people who have been evacuated close to the Bristol Channel and the edge of the River Severn where they are expecting a huge storm surge.

then i the summer for some strange reason we loose the tv and radio signal.

That happens to us too. We are a long way from the transmitter and I reckon leaves on the trees block what little signal there is.

This thread is making me panic I’ve literally done nothing!

My phones on charge now as I do every evening and if the power goes out soon I’ll just go to bed.

I’ve already got books and jigsaws if I have no power tomorrow or it’ll give me a good excuse to have a good clean.
And for food we can just eat sandwiches and cereal.

I don’t worry about things like cooked food or having films downloaded.
I worry about bigger, less rational things like a trampoline crashing through my window or slates falling off and killing someone.

Didn;t even think about charging laptops and phones! I'm getting right on it.

Seem to have everything else. Cooker is gas as is heating so will be warm enough and able to cook still.

Wonderful you, that's what I'm extremely worried about also.

Someone mentioned Storm Arwen earlier . I’ve never heard wind as bad as that. It was terrifying.

Just postponed my travel to France tomorrow, we live in a red zone so had to rebook hotels etc.

DH thinks I'm over reacting. 🙄

@Devpatelslaughingeyes you definitely can’t use a gas bbq indoors either unless you want to die of co2 poisoning that is! Please don’t think this is a safe alternative to charcoal

@MollyQueenOfSocks sorry, don't count on having any heat, all boilers need electricity to operate - gas (or oil) is just the fuel.

Just to repeat for those that don't have to deal with powercuts on a reasonably regular basis like those of us in the deep rural North...

Even if your boiler runs on gas/oil most of them still need electricity to actually function.

Your broadband won't work.

If the local phone masts are down there's every chance your 4G/5G won't work.

We’ve been out and made sure there is nothing in the garden that can go flying away! Other than that nothing but we have loads of candles and a camping stove if there are any power cuts.

One of the benefits of living on a narrowboat. Fully charged battery pack. Diesel heating, log burner, gas cooker and portable generator. No problems around heat and light.

Downside is we could sink if it floods or a tree could crash on us.

@justasking111

Just been out the roads are mad busy, ditto shops. Battening down the hatches I guess. Our house all electric so we're stuffed if the power goes down we're in a red area. But we do have candles, matches and torches so will be hunkering down with a book .

Anyone better prepared

I'm all electric and even more stuffed - because we are rural and need an electric pump to circulate water through the house, so we'd be without electricity for food and heating AND water. Plus we have electric gates on our driveway (60mph national speed limit country road) - so that could be fun!

I've also got to drive 6 miles along a tree lined rural road (these are big trees) to take my dog to the vet hospital for a CT scan. Not happy about that but he needs the scan

We have a gas oven, but it needs electricity to work - how stupid is that? However the lights on the hob will work with matches, so at least we can boil a saucepan of water to make a cup of tea. We have rechargeable torches, so have made sure they are charged up.

[quote Wobblywibblywoo]@Devpatelslaughingeyes you definitely can’t use a gas bbq indoors either unless you want to die of co2 poisoning that is! Please don’t think this is a safe alternative to charcoal[/quote]
I really don’t, I’m sorry if it came across that way. It was clarified though that the BBQ was brought indoors for storage so I feel better. The warning came from a good place.

We’re also all electric, Somerset. I have a scented candle in the bathroom, matches there too. Matches in the kitchen but candles are in the garage right now. I’ll get them into the kitchen now.

I’ll be unhappy if the power goes because I won’t have coffee

Hope everyone is safe.

@EdithStourton

Re trampolines, in the Faroe Islands they routinely weigh them down with jerrycans of water lashed firmly to the legs.

Ingenuous two birds one stone problem solving!

@Devpatelslaughingeyes phew I thought you may have thought it was safe, I thought i would point it out I got slightly worried

*Ingenious

Just told the teenagers that they have to help me turn the large glass topped patio table upside down so that the glass is underneath. I expected to have to argue but they've agreed and are on their way downstairs

I have a good torch by the bed and that's it but that's probably all I need anyway. I hope we don't have a big power cut because I have quite a lot of stuff in the freezer but other than that we're in an amber area so we should be fine.

I’m in Manchester and it’s fine here currently so I’m not worried. I know where the torches are and there’s a crap load of candles in the house if needed.

We are in the North East so this storm doesn't affect us so much but recently we lost power for 10 days 🙈. Then a month later we had another 2 day power cut. The most recent one wasn't a huge problem but the 10 days was a real pain. Fortunately my husband could charge up our iPads and phones at work through the day and we have a wood burner. He would download something on the iPad to watch at night in bed!!! It really made me appreciate all the modern comforts we take for granted.

Even though we have camping lights, a camping stove and gas, torches, rechargeable batteries, power banks etc, it was a real pain. Not being able to take a shower was one of the worst bits, though we did manage to wash by heating up a kettle of water in the camp stove 😳🥶. Good luck to everyone affected tomorrow 🤞