7 Forgotten Items for a Winter Power Outage

When a winter power outage hits, the thing you end up missing is rarely the big gear you bought, it's the two-dollar item that was never in the drawer, like a can opener without a cord. Fern Baskett has bought the same cheap storm cart for thirty-one falls, and here she walks through seven small things to have before your next power outage, all of them together for less than a tank of gas. You'll hear why a paper county map, a car phone charger, cash in small bills and the right spare batteries matter when the towers and card machines go dark, and how a bucket, heavy trash bags and wet wipes cover the toilet when a well pump stops. She also explains why you charge that phone with the car outside and never in a closed garage, because exhaust can cause carbon monoxide poisoning faster than the cold can hurt you. And she tells the story of the 1994 ice storm that cost her family a freezer full of meat, along with the Department of Agriculture's food safety numbers and the few-dollar fridge and freezer thermometers that tell you what to keep and what to throw out. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 1:11 Map and Phone Numbers 2:34 Batteries You Need 3:27 Manual Can Opener 4:55 Cash in Small Bills 5:39 Freezer Thermometers Matter