KLCC's Love Cross is working to become better prepared for emergency and disaster situations. She's sharing her journey and invites listeners and readers to join her. In our second month, Love focuses on tips to stay warm and safe when the power goes out.
February is month two of KLCC’s Oregon Ready- taking one month at a time toward being two weeks ready for disasters and emergency situations.
In my own personal quest to become better prepared, I’m following the Eugene Water & Electric Board’s “Pledge to Prepare” program which maps to Oregon’s “Be 2 Weeks Ready” initiative – and I’ve invited you all to join me.
In the first month, I gathered up a duffle bag to hold my supplies, and following the January checklist, I added a manual can opener and two flashlights with additional batteries. I also stored six gallons of water- that’s three days’ worth for each of the two people in my house-and I have three days of food and some cash in small bills.
February’s checklist involves an additional day of food, water, and cash, plus unscented chlorine bleach, and propane for alternative food prep and heat sources.
In Oregon, winter storms can knock out power for hours—or even days—which can make staying warm and preparing food very challenging.
And there are safety risks surrounding heat sources and carbon monoxide.
Carmen Westfall, the City of Corvallis’ Deputy Fire Marshal, is clear about using fuel‑burning devices.
“Any type of butane, charcoal, propane- those types of fuel sources are going to be the bigger ones that are going to be the issue with carbon monoxide,” she said. “And all of those appliances or products that solely need to be used outside.”
The bottom line: when in doubt, outdoors only for camp stoves and grills.
When it comes to generators, there are additional safety considerations. Westfall said that while having a generator is a great way to be prepared, it’s important to know how to use it.
“They’re all different,” she told KLCC. “They all have different capacities and different outputs and none of them are going to be usable within the confines of a structure, so we do want to use them outside.”
I admitted that I have a generator, but it’s still in the box.
“It's one thing to go buy it, now it's in a box in the garage, but what happens when you really need it,” Westfall advised. “And then you're trying to figure out how it's going to work and then someone buys one that's gas and propane, and they don't realize that there's gas and they think it's just propane, right? And then they don't have everything that they need, so, absolutely- practice and work that muscle memory in terms of how to use these things, so that you are ready to go.”
Westfall added that generators are not meant to take care of all your electrical needs. They need to take a rest. So the advice is to power your refrigerator or heater for a certain amount of time to keep things where they need to be, then let the generator rest between uses.
Generators cost anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to a few thousand, and many local utilities offer programs that help offset the cost.
As far as propane or kerosene heaters during a power outage, the advice is similar: follow the manufacturer’s instructions, and make sure any heater you use indoors is actually rated for indoor use.
"The last thing you want to do when you're dealing with losing access to power and refrigeration is to get a foodborne illness.”
-Jared Hibbard-Swanson, Oregon State University Extension's Food Security and Safety Program Manager
Once you’ve handled the immediate safety concerns around heat and carbon monoxide, the next big issue is food safety.
The 'popsicle test'
Oregon State University Extension’s Food Security and Safety Program Manager Jared Hibbard-Swanson noted that maintaining safe standards for cooking is important “because the last thing you want to do when you're dealing with losing access to power and refrigeration is to get a foodborne illness.”
Hibbard‑Swanson said safe standards involve having supplies to set up a handwashing station and to sanitize utensils.
Beyond that, he said to adhere to the two-hour rule. “When your power goes out, the first rule, of course, is don't open your refrigerator or your freezer, until it's absolutely necessary,” he said. “The foods in your refrigerator are not going to keep for as long as your freezer, they're going to warm up faster. But the general rule, if you don't remember anything else, if your refrigerator warms up inside to above 40 degrees, for more than 2 hours, anything that's perishable in there, should be thrown out.”
That applies to things like milk, eggs, or meat, but raw fruits and vegetables that haven’t been cut will stay safe for a longer period of time.
Having a standard thermometer inside your fridge will let you know if it has risen into the “danger zone.”
And for items in a well‑stocked freezer, while those will stay colder for longer, Hibbard‑Swanson suggests using the “popsicle test.”
“If a popsicle has turned liquid, and then refrozen inside that pouch, you know that everything thawed in your freezer, and it's time for all those perishable goods to be thrown out, even if they've refrozen during that warm period, bacteria was growing on them and might have made it unsafe,” said Hibbard-Swanson.
One way to decrease the chance of getting sick from spoiled food during a power outage is not to rely solely on refrigerated items.
Hibbard Swanson said for emergency supply kits, “it's really important to be thinking about canned goods, dehydrated goods, freeze dried goods, that don't require power to stay safe.”
So that’s month two of Oregon Ready—and for me, a few more items to add to my list: get a thermometer into the fridge… and yes, finally open that generator box and practice.
If you’re following along to become two weeks ready, keep watching this space for resources throughout the year.
We are collecting questions that we’ll answer for you as part of this series, and I’d love to hear how your preparedness journey is going. What steps have you taken? What’s still on your list? You can share your story—or send me your preparedness questions—by emailing questions@klcc.org.
One month, one step—we’ll get Oregon Ready together.
