- 6 hours ago
When a power cut or severe storm disrupts daily life, the first problems may be a dead phone, missing medication, or a burst pipe—not an empty pantry. This practical home emergency preparedness guide covers 15 often-overlooked ways to make a household more resilient, from testing freezer food with a coin and keeping written phone numbers to locating shut-off valves, planning for water and sanitation, and getting to know nearby neighbors. Many steps cost nothing and start with a simple walk through your home.
A calm, practical guide to power outage preparation, storm readiness, household safety, and emergency planning without panic-buying. Useful for families and anyone looking for realistic home preparedness tips, a power cut checklist, or simple ways to prepare for a short-term water or electricity outage.
A calm, practical guide to power outage preparation, storm readiness, household safety, and emergency planning without panic-buying. Useful for families and anyone looking for realistic home preparedness tips, a power cut checklist, or simple ways to prepare for a short-term water or electricity outage.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00The shops sold out of beans and soup and torches a few days ago.
00:04Nobody queued for anything on the list I am about to give you.
00:08Not one person stood in an aisle at 8 in the morning for any of it,
00:12and most of it does not come in a packet at all.
00:16And here is what is strange about that.
00:18Nearly every one of these is the thing that actually stops a household.
00:23Not hunger.
00:25Nobody in a three-day power cut goes hungry.
00:27What happens is that somebody runs out of a medicine,
00:31or the card machine will not work, and nobody has a note in the house,
00:36or the phone dies, and with it goes every telephone number anybody knows,
00:41or there is no way to use a toilet.
00:44None of that is dramatic.
00:46All of it is miserable, and all of it is cheap to prevent,
00:50and seven of the 15 things I am going to give you cost nothing at all.
00:55I am Elias Yoder, and I want to be clear before we start
00:59that I am not here to frighten anybody.
01:02Three days is a storm.
01:04It is a line down and a crew out in the night putting it back,
01:08and it happens here most winters.
01:11What I am giving you is a job for a Saturday morning,
01:15not a reason to lie awake.
01:16My grandfather used to walk me around this place every autumn,
01:20and for years I did not understand what we were doing,
01:24because we never added anything.
01:27We never bought a thing.
01:29He would just ask me questions.
01:31Where is the lamp oil?
01:33Where is the spare rope?
01:35Where is the key to the smokehouse?
01:37And if I could not answer, we went and found it together,
01:41and then he asked me again a week later.
01:44Being ready is not something you buy.
01:47It is something you can find in the dark.
01:50I gathered the whole of it into a book at EliasYoder.com.
01:55The book is the long version.
01:57If you want it, it is there.
01:59I will not mention it again.
02:02That is what he was doing.
02:03He was not preparing for a disaster.
02:06He was taking away the searching,
02:08because a man who has to hunt for a thing in the dark,
02:11with his family waiting on him,
02:13is in far more trouble than a man who is simply short of something.
02:18So most of what follows is not shopping.
02:21It is a walk around your own house with a pencil.
02:25Fifteen of them, and you could do the lot in one morning.
02:29And if you only do three,
02:31do the valve, the numbers, and the neighbors.
02:34Those three cost nothing,
02:36take about forty minutes between them,
02:38and every one of them removes a situation
02:41that turns a bad evening into a bad week.
02:45One.
02:46Freeze a cup of water solid.
02:49Then set a coin on top of the ice
02:51and put it back in the freezer.
02:54That is the whole trick.
02:55If you come home from somewhere
02:57and the coin is sitting at the bottom of the cup,
03:00the power went off while you were away,
03:02everything thawed,
03:04and it has refrozen since,
03:06and that food is not safe
03:08no matter how solid it feels now.
03:11If the coin is still on top,
03:13your freezer held.
03:15It costs you a cup and a coin,
03:17and it answers a question you otherwise cannot answer.
03:21And since I have raised it,
03:23here are the rules that go with it,
03:25because a great deal of food gets thrown away
03:28that did not need to be,
03:29and a certain amount gets eaten
03:31that should not have been.
03:33A freezer that stays shut
03:35holds for roughly two days if it is full,
03:38and about one day if it is half empty,
03:41which is the reason for filling the gaps
03:43with jugs of water.
03:45A refrigerator holds about four hours
03:48with the door kept closed,
03:50and after that,
03:51what is in it is a question mark.
03:53If you open the freezer
03:55and the food still has ice crystals in it
03:58and is still cold to the touch,
04:00it can be refrozen,
04:02and the worst you will get
04:03is a change in texture.
04:05If it has gone soft and warm,
04:08it goes out.
04:09And the coin tells you
04:11the one thing your eyes cannot,
04:13which is whether it went
04:14all the way soft at some point
04:16while you were not there.
04:17One more rule,
04:19and it is not negotiable.
04:21You do not taste anything to find out.
04:25Smell and appearance tell you
04:27nothing useful about the things
04:29that make people ill,
04:30and the amount of food in question
04:33is never worth it.
04:35Two.
04:36Keep some cash in the house
04:38and keep it in small notes.
04:40When the power goes,
04:42card machines go with it,
04:44and so do the tills and the cash machines.
04:46But the shop on the corner
04:48will often still sell you things
04:50if you have paper money.
04:52The reason for small notes
04:54is the part people miss.
04:56Nobody can make change in a power cut,
04:58and a large note in that situation
05:00is worth whatever the man behind the counter
05:03can break it into,
05:04which may be nothing.
05:06How much is a matter of your own circumstances,
05:09but think in terms of a few days
05:11of ordinary small spending
05:13rather than a fortune
05:14and some coins among it
05:16for anything that takes them.
05:18And keep it somewhere
05:19you would remember
05:20at two in the morning
05:21and that is not the obvious drawer.
05:24And tell one other adult in the house
05:27where that is,
05:28because money nobody can find
05:30is not money.
05:33Three.
05:34Get your prescriptions onto a rhythm
05:36instead of running down
05:38to the last few days.
05:40Most plans let you refill a little
05:42before you are empty.
05:43If you collect at the earliest point
05:46you are allowed to,
05:47every time,
05:48you end up permanently
05:50a week or two ahead
05:51without ever doing anything unusual.
05:54And I want to say one thing
05:56very plainly here.
05:58Do not try to build up a supply
06:00by skipping doses or halving them.
06:03That is dangerous
06:04and it is not what I am describing.
06:07Talk to your pharmacist
06:08who will tell you in two minutes
06:10what your options are
06:12and will not think the question odd.
06:16Four.
06:16While you are on medicines,
06:18write down on a piece of paper
06:20what everybody in the house takes
06:22and what the dose is.
06:24If somebody ends up
06:25in front of a doctor
06:26who does not know them,
06:27that piece of paper
06:28does more good
06:29than anything else in your pocket.
06:32Five.
06:33A written list of telephone numbers.
06:36Go and find a pencil now
06:38and ask yourself
06:39how many numbers
06:40you could dial from memory.
06:42For most people under 60
06:44the answer is 1
06:45or none.
06:48Your telephone is an address book
06:50with a battery in it
06:51and the moment that battery is flat
06:53you cannot reach your own brother.
06:56Write the numbers down.
06:58Put the paper in a wallet
07:00and another copy in a drawer.
07:03Six.
07:03Photograph your documents.
07:06Insurance,
07:07the deed or the lease,
07:09identification,
07:10the registration for the vehicle.
07:12Keep the photograph somewhere
07:14that is not only on the phone.
07:16This costs nothing
07:18and takes 10 minutes
07:19and nobody does it
07:21until the week
07:22after they wish they had.
07:25Seven.
07:26Go round your house
07:27and write down
07:28which thing takes which battery.
07:31I am serious about this one.
07:33Everybody has a drawer
07:34with a great many
07:35of one size in it
07:37and none of the size they need
07:39and you only find out in the dark.
07:42The smoke alarms,
07:44the carbon monoxide alarm,
07:46the torches,
07:47the radio,
07:48the clock,
07:49the children's things.
07:50Make the list.
07:52Then buy the sizes
07:53you are short of
07:55and put them all in one place
07:57where a child could find them.
07:59And while you are standing
08:00under the smoke alarms,
08:02turn one over
08:03and look at the back of it.
08:05There is a date stamped on there
08:07and these are not forever.
08:10A smoke alarm
08:11is generally finished
08:12at about 10 years
08:13and a carbon monoxide alarm
08:15sooner than that
08:16depending on the type
08:17and no amount of new batteries
08:20fixes an expired sensor.
08:22Most people have never once
08:25looked at that date.
08:26It takes 30 seconds
08:28and a chair.
08:308. Buy a headlamp
08:33instead of another torch.
08:34This is the best few dollars
08:36on the whole list.
08:38A torch takes a hand
08:40and in a dark house
08:41you need both of them
08:43for the stairs,
08:44for the pot,
08:45for the baby,
08:46for the tap.
08:47A headlamp is hands-free
08:50and it points
08:51where you are looking.
08:52One each if you can.
08:55Candles are lovely
08:56and they are also the reason
08:58houses burn down
08:59in power cuts.
09:01So if you use them,
09:02never leave one in a room
09:04you are not in.
09:079. A radio that does not need the mains.
09:11Wind-up or battery,
09:13it does not matter which.
09:15When the power is out
09:16and the mobile network
09:17is overloaded or down,
09:19the radio is how you find out
09:21whether this is a 4-hour thing
09:23or a 4-day thing
09:25and whether the water is safe.
09:28Everybody bought one last week,
09:30which is the one item on this list
09:32that did sell out
09:33and that tells you
09:34people understand this instinctively
09:36even when nobody explains it to them.
09:40Two things to do with it
09:41before you need it.
09:42Find your local station on the dial
09:45and write the number
09:46on a piece of tape
09:47stuck to the radio itself
09:49because hunting for a station
09:50in the dark
09:51with a crying child in the room
09:53is not when you want
09:54to be learning where it is.
09:56And if your radio
09:57has a weather band on it,
09:59find that too.
10:01Local radio is the thing
10:03that will tell you
10:04whether the water is safe to drink
10:06and where to go
10:07and it will keep working
10:08when everything with a screen on it
10:10has stopped.
10:1210. A power bank.
10:14And here is the part
10:16that matters more than owning it.
10:18Charge it on the first
10:19of every month
10:21whether it needs it or not.
10:23A flat power bank
10:24in a drawer
10:25is a paperweight
10:26and that is the state
10:28most of them are in right now.
10:30Put it on the same day
10:32you do some other monthly job
10:34so you do not have to remember it.
10:3711. Go and find
10:39your water shutoff valve
10:41today while the house is dry
10:43and the light is on.
10:45Then find the gas shutoff.
10:4712. Then find whatever tool
10:49is needed to turn them
10:50and put that tool
10:52where it lives
10:53from now on
10:54beside the valve
10:55and nowhere else.
10:57A burst pipe
10:58does enormous damage
11:00in the minutes you spend
11:01looking for a spanner
11:03and that is a repair bill
11:05measured in thousands
11:06against a job
11:07that takes five minutes
11:09once
11:09now.
11:11Two things while you are down there.
11:14Turn the valve.
11:15Do not just look at it.
11:17A valve that has not moved
11:19in fifteen years
11:20is often seized solid
11:22and the night of the burst pipe
11:24is not when you want to discover that.
11:27Turn it off,
11:28turn it back on
11:29and if it will not move
11:31that is a plumber's job
11:33and a small one.
11:34And tie a label to it
11:36so that somebody
11:37who is not you
11:38in a house
11:39that is not lit
11:40can find it on your word
11:42down a telephone.
11:4412.
11:45If you know bad weather
11:47is coming
11:48fill the bath
11:49before it arrives.
11:51Not for drinking
11:52for flushing.
11:53A toilet will flush
11:55perfectly well
11:56with a bucket of water
11:57poured firmly into the bowl
11:59and a bath
12:00holds enough for a family
12:01for a couple of days.
12:03We have a whole video
12:05on finding
12:05forty gallons
12:06of drinking water
12:07you already own
12:09so I will leave
12:10the drinking side
12:11to that one.
12:1313.
12:14And when the water
12:15is properly off
12:16the toilet
12:17stops being a toilet.
12:19So here is the plain answer
12:21because nobody
12:22wants to make this video
12:24and everybody needs it.
12:26A bucket
12:27a heavy bag lining it
12:29and something dry
12:30to cover each use.
12:32Sawdust
12:33wood ash
12:34cat litter
12:35shredded paper
12:36peat.
12:38The covering
12:39is the whole thing
12:40because it is
12:41what stops the smell
12:42and keeps the flies
12:43off.
12:44Tie the bag off
12:46when it is a third full
12:47and keep it outside
12:48in a bin
12:49with a lid.
12:50That is it.
12:52It is not pleasant
12:53to talk about
12:54and it is the difference
12:55between a hard few days
12:57and a genuinely
12:58unbearable few days.
13:0114.
13:02Work out how you will wash
13:04without a running tap.
13:06A basin,
13:07a jug,
13:08and a kettle
13:09of warm water
13:10goes a very long way.
13:12Wet wipes
13:13and a bottle
13:14of hand gel
13:15in a cupboard
13:16cost almost nothing
13:17and they matter
13:18more than you would think
13:20because when people
13:21cannot wash
13:22their hands properly,
13:23everybody in the house
13:25gets ill
13:25and being ill
13:27with no water
13:28is the thing
13:29that turns
13:29an inconvenience
13:30into a bad week.
13:3315.
13:34And the last one
13:35costs nothing at all
13:37and it is the one
13:38we would put first.
13:40Learn the names
13:41of the people
13:42in the two houses
13:43nearest you.
13:44That is the whole task,
13:46not a scheme,
13:47not a meeting,
13:49just names
13:50and whether anybody
13:51in those houses
13:52is elderly
13:53or alone
13:54or would struggle
13:55on their own.
13:57Everything we do here
13:58runs on this.
14:00When the weather
14:01comes in,
14:02nobody in my community
14:04is sitting alone
14:05wondering whether
14:06anybody will come
14:07because somebody
14:09always comes.
14:10That is not a virtue,
14:12it is an arrangement
14:14and it is available
14:15to you
14:16for the price
14:17of walking over
14:18and introducing yourself.
14:20One neighbor
14:21with a generator,
14:22one with a wood stove,
14:24one with a car
14:25that starts
14:26and nobody
14:27is in any real trouble.
14:30Three households
14:31alone with none
14:32of those things
14:33are all in difficulty
14:35at once
14:35and I know
14:36perfectly well
14:37that for a great
14:38many of you
14:38this is the hardest
14:40item on the list,
14:41far harder
14:42than finding a valve
14:43and I am not
14:44going to pretend
14:45otherwise.
14:45But it does not
14:46require friendship,
14:48it requires a name
14:49and a nod
14:50and the knowledge
14:51that the woman
14:52at number 11
14:52is on her own
14:53and is 81.
14:55That is the whole
14:56of it.
14:57Nobody has to
14:58come to dinner.
14:59Now, who gains
15:00from all of this?
15:01And this time
15:02there is something
15:03quite specific
15:04to point at.
15:05Go and look at
15:06what a ready-made
15:06emergency kit costs.
15:08There are a great
15:09many of them
15:10on sale this month
15:11and they go
15:12for serious money.
15:13Then look at
15:14what is actually
15:15inside.
15:16A foil blanket,
15:17a plastic poncho,
15:19a plastic whistle,
15:20a handful of plasters,
15:22a very small torch,
15:24a few pouches
15:24of water and some bars.
15:26Perhaps $40 of goods
15:28sold at a considerable
15:30multiple of that
15:31and it does not
15:32contain a single thing
15:33from this list
15:34except the whistle.
15:35Nobody is defrauding
15:37anybody.
15:38It is a product
15:39and products get made
15:40for a demand
15:41and last week
15:42there was an enormous demand.
15:44But a kit is sellable
15:45and a habit is not.
15:47There is no box
15:48you can buy
15:49that contains
15:50your neighbor's name
15:51or where your water valve is
15:53or the fact that you
15:54refilled your prescription
15:55a week early.
15:56Those cannot be put
15:57in a bag
15:58and sold to you
15:59which is precisely
16:00why nobody told you
16:01about them
16:02while they were telling
16:03you to stock up.
16:04That is not a conspiracy.
16:06It is just that
16:07the only people
16:08with a reason
16:08to speak to you
16:09that week
16:10were the ones
16:11with something to sell.
16:12And I will tell you
16:13what my grandfather
16:14was really teaching me
16:15on those walks
16:16because it took me
16:18until I had children
16:19of my own
16:19to understand it.
16:20He was not making me
16:22ready for a disaster.
16:23He was making
16:24the house known to me.
16:25There is an enormous
16:26difference between
16:27a man who is short
16:28of something
16:29and a man who does not
16:30know where anything is
16:32and it is the second one
16:33who panics.
16:34The first has a problem.
16:36The second has no footing
16:38at all.
16:38Every item I have given you
16:40does the same thing.
16:41The coin tells you
16:42something you could not
16:43otherwise know.
16:44The list of numbers
16:46takes the panic
16:46out of a flat battery.
16:48The valve takes the panic
16:49out of a burst pipe.
16:50None of it is really
16:52about supplies.
16:53All of it is about
16:54not being in the dark
16:55in the sense that matters,
16:57which is not knowing
16:58what to do next.
16:59And that is why
17:00I am not worried
17:01about the week
17:02we have all just had
17:03and why I would not
17:04want you to be either.
17:05A frightened household
17:07buys things.
17:08A settled household
17:09walks round
17:10and makes a list.
17:11The second one
17:12is better prepared
17:13by a long way
17:14and it sleeps at night
17:15as well.
17:16And the only difference
17:17between the two
17:18is whether somebody
17:19has told you
17:19that the work is small.
17:21The work is small.
17:23That is the whole message.
17:24An hour on a Saturday,
17:26done once,
17:27and most of it
17:28never needs doing again.
17:29Being ready
17:30is not something you buy.
17:32It is something
17:32you can find in the dark.
17:34So do the walk this week.
17:36An hour,
17:36a pencil,
17:37and your own house.
17:39Find the valve,
17:40find the batteries,
17:41write the numbers,
17:43freeze the cup.
17:44Then come to the comments
17:45and tell me
17:45the one thing
17:46on that walk
17:47you could not find.
17:48Not what you had.
17:50What you went looking for
17:51and could not
17:52put your hand on.
17:53Because I guarantee
17:54there is one.
17:55And I suspect
17:56a great many of us
17:57will have the same answer.
17:58And tell me
17:59whether you could
18:00name the people
18:00in the two houses
18:01nearest to yours.
18:03Just yes or no.
18:04I would like to see
18:05that count
18:06and I think it may be
18:07the most useful number
18:08this channel
18:09has ever collected.
18:10Next time,
18:11I want to go through
18:12the first hour
18:12of a power cut
18:13in order
18:14because knowing
18:15what you own
18:15is one thing
18:16and knowing
18:17what to do
18:17in the first 60 minutes
18:19is another.
18:19And there are
18:20two or three things
18:21you want to do
18:22straight away
18:22that almost nobody
18:24thinks of
18:24until it is too late
18:25to do them.
18:26Thank you for sitting
18:27with me.
18:28Go and do the walk.
18:29The people who built
18:30this country
18:31with their hands
18:32knew that
18:32and we are only
18:34just starting
18:35to remember it.