— John Pumford-Green 21/12/22 23:07
We had a “weather event” on Monday December 12th 2022 - a short, sharp and vicious snow storm. Some snow fell earlier in the day, but until lunchtime it wasn't really anything to get excited about….
Then it turned nasty, and somewhat surreal.
The snow became heavier and had a peculiar “sticky wetness” about it, causing it to cover roads quickly. More significantly it started to cling to overhead power lines, building rapidly and freezing on the lines causing them to begin to fail as the strong wind began to blow the thickened and heavily weighted lines to break under the strain.
I'll ignore the specific sequence of events of my day, as I'm more interested here in the longer term consequences of the snow storm rather then the “excitement” of the day's drama.
We eventually got home after a 4 hour journey in very poor weather, with bad roads (and not a few poor drivers, unused or unable to drive in snow) to contend with, at approx 8pm to find the power at home had failed. This is not unusual, and initially the electricity company (SSEN) were estimating 23:00 for restoration. No problem, we have wood-burning stoves for heating, in two rooms, and a gas (propane) cooker for heating water and for cooking food.
One evening without power is not unusual, and nothing to worry about.
We had our Petzl headtorches on, we lit the woodstoves and we made a meal.
As the evening went on, the full severity of the power failures began to be known, and the repair estimate moved to “22:00 tomorrow”…. It moved further and further away with each successive update.
This was the start of a 6 day power outage, in sub-zero weather conditions, with snow and ice and occasional gale force winds.
The 3 mile section of single track road connecting us to the main road network, and to shops for supplies, was almost impassable by the next morning. I certainly wasn't willing to try my luck, in a 2WD van, for the next 3 days, so we were effectively trapped at home with no power, and the estimated restore time kept being extended as more and more was known of the severity of the damage to the overhead power distribution system. Many, many lines and poles were down. Crews of engineers, and materials, specialized vehicles, helicopters were mobilized from the mainland and began to arrive in the following days.
The damage occurred on Monday afternoon, after approx 4 hours of heavy snowfall.
Our power was reconnected at 00:20 on Sunday morning, almost 6 days later.
In that time we had managed to get new food and other supplies on Thursday and Friday, as the road became passable, and the power remained off.
“Monday is shopping day” and we usually run-down the stores during the week and replenish the larder on a Monday. The “event” on Monday prevented the usual weekly shop.
Having experienced a 6-day power outage following a single afternoon of heavy snow, it's now easy to imagine a much longer storm, causing much more widespread damage, and leading to a much longer period without power, and without access to the “outside world”.
I am tending to the opinion that it is worthwhile planning for a period of 14 days. Being self-sufficient, at home, with no external assistance, for 2 weeks might never be needed, but the security and confidence of building up this level of preparedness, is liberating. It also means that we won't be a burden on any support services, allowing them to concentrate on the more vulnerable and less well prepared. We can also provide assistance to others if we have a surplus of stores, supplies, tools, batteries, etc.
I've often read online prepper websites and watched Prepper You Tube videos. Many of them have a few sensible points, but often are aimed at a level of “disaster survival” that seemed of little relevance.
Now, after, a simple snow storm (admittedly of a peculiar type of very wet, very heavy , icy snow) led to being isolated at home for 6 days with no power, it is EASY to imagine a much worse, or longer lasting, event requiring off-grid living, at home, for a longer time period.
I see the benefit of making some simple pre-preperations. Not to survive “the Zombie Apocalypse” or “TEOTWAWKI”, but just a failure of our utility supplies - Electricity, Water or the blockage of transport routes by snow, ice, landslide etc.
If you are going to lay in stores of materials, consumables, food and water, then it's probably worth trying to aim for 14 days of self-sufficiency. Even if not for “natural disaster” - perhaps sudden unforseen job loss, lack of accessible cash/online payment - having enough at home to live for 2 weeks relieves some of the stress.
COVID, with the orders to stay at home, for shops to either be told to close, or for panic buying to rapidly empty the shelves has also shown that unusual situations can occur without warning, and the ability to sit-tight for 2 weeks allows time for a degree of normality to be restored, and shops to be restocked.
More examples come to mind as I think of scenarios to prepare for. Until recently they would appear fanciful, but now, post COVID with climate change starting to impact even the temperate UK weather systems, it's perhaps not hysterical to start planning and prepping for future events.
I'll start adding more pages to the WiKi as I explore Prepping as a project, with the aim of achieving a 14 day autonomy over the course of the next few months.
Some initial thoughts on what might be useful to gather in preparation
Based on the experience from December 2022 6-day power failure.
Some items are already available, other things are newly listed after considering the experience and the intention to extend the autonomy period to 14 days, and including water to the requirement.
In addition to normal household supplies
Aim for 1 gallon per person per day
— John Pumford-Green 22/12/22 09:42