Are you all prepping for power cuts?

[User112]

BBC reported the other day about possible power cuts this winter due to gas shortage. Other than having a few torch light and candles, are you all prepping with anything else?

Here in France we're being warned of rolling blackouts in January.

As luck would have it, I bought a 15kWh LiFePO4 battery, with its battery management system, an inverter etc (plus all the PV stuff) last year before the prices went nuts.

But given I'm a lazy git I've yet to install them. I think I'll start with the battery and inverter as a UPS for the impending blackouts.

Interesting France is being warned of rolling blackouts. In NL they've kicked-off a preparedness campaign on Dec-01 about surviving 72 hours with no help in a complete infrastructure loss due to a cyber attack. The campaign states that we are overly dependent on technology but not prepared if it fails "the gap between threat and resistance is too wide" is the message.

Interesting that different countries see different threats. We've been given loads of information on what to have in the house, how to store it, what to do in a medical emergency etc. all useful information, hope the campaign goes well.

For me, there was only 1 thing on their list I didnt already have - a swiss army knife. So guess what my DH is getting me for Christmas 😀

Hope you're all doing well as the cold sets in.

These are the chapters within the information pack (translated the page to English but all info in Dutch, otherwise would share the link). Just so you can see what categories they consider most important. And there's heaps of info under each one. I like that Disinformation is it's own recognized category!

Happy to share the link in Dutch if anyone wants it and has the translate option on their phone for web pages.

And here in England our resilience message is ?

Not much, apparently we should have a flu jab, insulate our houses and take care of our mental elf.

Here is the stunning deeply researched incredibly detailed advice.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-emergencies/preparing-for-emergencies

A quick read shows the local councils will be responsible in emergencies but the local councils redirect you to the "winter plan" (below) from central government updated last month which pushes all the planning back to the councils.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1115873/2022-to-2023-cold-weather-plan-for-England.pdf

Basically no one individual in power is responsible.

This is why we prep.

Precisely. Our power supply has not looked so fragile as this since, well I don't know when. We have prolonged cold almost upon us, as does much of Northern Europe., which will test our grid immensely.

I'm involved in business continuity for work (civil service) and the complacency most people have towards the possibility of power cuts is astounding. Senior people just going "it'll never happen" and refusing to engage with preparations. Luckily I've found someone who likes a good plan so between us we've got reasonably robust plans and are planning some stealth comms to encourage people to prep. I nicked a whole load of stuff from Finland's guidance as it is really good. And if disaster happens I'll be running the organisation as none of the more senior people will be contactable.

Is anyone else keeping an eye on gridwatch? I like seeing how power demand fluctuates during the day. You can see demand is higher than it has been at the moment.

Sweden also has campaigns on how to be properly prepared, and your expected obligations to society, neighbours and friends. Not just yourself.

There has recently been a preparedness week, in schools and all over the country with excellent advice!

rib.msb.se/filer/pdf/28706.pdf

If war or crisis comes, really good brochure to read ^^

I have
A camping lantern
Battery powered under worktop kitchen lights
A power bank with good capacity
A lighter for my hob which is rechargeable
A scented candle addiction
Food that can be eaten cold
Carbon monoxide monitor
Fridge temp monitor (my medication has to be kept in the fridge)

Should be fine with that I think. Also no DC and I can sleep at the drop of a hat so a long nap would be my plan!

I was a business continuity manager for years in the Civil Sevice. We had so many events (both live and test scenarios) Everything from extreme weather, water contamination, scarily frequent bomb threats and power cuts. An absolutely massive site. Basically, when anything kicked off, the whole site would be sent home and there would be about 6 of us middle management camping out 24 / 7. We would be there trying to get power back on for example. Or negotiating with suppliers and emergency services. Drafting comms for media, keeping the cabinet office informed. When I think back, there were some really quite scary moments (in the instance of bomb threats etc) I should have got danger money!

I think I've always been a prepper at heart, really. Unbelievable how many folk wouldn't engage. Like you say - at all levels.

Having lived rurally power lines went down with snow, wind, etc. We were always prepared with candles, oil lamps, propane gas for hob. Tins of food and a generator. Now in the burbs all electric cooking etc we do have a log burner.

Don't think people realise there will be no shopping, fuel, TV, internet during a blackout.

Thank you. Your posts always make sense, but is this thread on Mumsnet part of the underground comms?

Mumsnet is where I come for my prepper training and to find out what is going on We actually got praised for our covid response as an organisation (by the unions as well as ministers- a rare combo!) which was because I'd been following the covid threads and started preparing in January for if we had a lockdown.

Our stealthy encouraging people to prep is internally focused only. A lot of our staff have caring responsibilities or disabilities who might have significant difficulties in a power cut. We want to look after their welfare (and any resilience they gain helps us as an organisation as well). As many are on low pay our prepping comms is very much in the low key, sensible stuff that bellini is so good at so I do pinch a lot of her suggestions.

So for example we've done some pieces on how staff have coped in different challenging situations and how business continuity thinking helps in your personal life as well.

We're doing sessions with staff around different situations for work and then asked them to think about whether they or the people they rely on to help resolve issues would actually be able to or if they would be more worried something being wrong at home and what could be done to help. Business continuity plans are now addressing personal resilience as well so if X is a key person, what is their situation and how could it be supported.

Next up is something specifically on personal prepping with top tips for powercuts. We're using the recent publicity around powerccuts to provide concrete advice on what to think about at home.

Thanks Bob

If you have a translation of the Finish advice, could you please share. Likewise the advice from the Netherlands as mentioned in (I think) Rosetta's post

The lovely Finns have it in English already! 72hours.fi/
I really like the principle that they (and a lot of other countries adopt) of people being expected to cope without support for up to 3 days in a crisis.

Sure, this is the Dutch one: www.denkvooruit.nl/

It is not yet available in English, but happy to share for those who have webpage translation turned on. I'll keep an eye out as stuff like this is usually translated to English at some point (not quite as on the ball as the Finns!)

Some French advice www.gouvernement.fr/risques/preparer-son-kit-d-urgence

I've sent this to DIL she's a prepper

Thanks all.
We just need (I think) @isrhismylifenow who is presently living this in South Africa, for any additional reality checks

And @dustybarn

She's good isn't she that Bellini!

You are not the only one who's nicked loads of her ideas.

Lordy. Thank you for the compliments. Really pleased to help. And nick others' brilliant ideas in the process