As some of have heard, a lot of Northern and Central California lost power the last few days. Many have asked on my social media why and the reason being, is due to high fire risk weather. That means dry, windy conditions spread out over various regions of California. Our county as well as most of the neighboring counties of Tuolumne and Amador were hit with this and everyone lost power for at least 24 hours, although there are still a few areas without power. Along with that, for some periods of times the cell towers were also out so it felt like we were back in the 1800’s! No power means no way to cook, light, etc. No cell towers means no outside communication because we don’t have a home phone set up. It has definitely been challenging and interesting but also in a sense, fun and we had a great time as a family!
With having children, loosing the power can be hard. Luckily this time though, we weren’t snowed or rained in so we were able to go outside and play whenever we wanted to. The power outage began around Wednesday at 3:30pm for us just as we were all getting home from a busy day. We took some family walks around the neighborhood and spent some uninterrupted family time. The kids rode their bikes and scooters with the other kids in neighborhood and Matthew and I even cleaned out our garage! But I didn’t do the best to prepare. Many of the houses around us had generators or even bbq’s with burners. Ironically enough we have a bbq but when we bought it we made sure it was electric so we didn’t need gas. Bad mistake on our part. We did get a two day warning so I did make sure to stock up on dry goods and the typical peanut butter and jellies. Carbs don’t count during power outages right? The following day we took it easy around the house and did some fun activities with the kids since school was canceled. PGE had helicopters and crews going out in different regions and began turning the power back on for towns. Luckily for us, we were one of the first towns in our county to have power restored and we survived the PGE power outage!
These PGE power safety outages can happen at anytime if there is high winds and high fire risk so be prepared.
Tips during a power outage:
•If you know there could potentially be a power outage, stock up on foods that don’t require any heat to be cooked. Also make sure to stock up on water jugs and bottles
•Gather blankets and buy a rechargeable/gas heater in order to stay warm.
•Stock up on candles, portable lights, and flashlights.
•Have a landline. We do not but definitely will be soon after loosing all cell service during this last power outage.
•Check in on family and friends beforehand.
•Gather board games, cards, or even a portable DVD player.
•Charge devices beforehand and charge up any portable charging station you have.
•Learn how to open your garage manually.
•Unplug any appliances and outlets so when the power comes on, nothing is damaged.
Food during a power outage:
Bread
Bagels
Tortillas
Peanut Butter
Chips
Crackers
Canned Fruits and Veggies
Dry Cereal
Dry Milk
Granola Bars
Canned Cheese
Packaged Pudding
Pickles
Bottled Water
Coffee Singles
Non Perishable Fruits and Veggies
Cooler With a Few Cold Items
Hope this was helpful. Were you effected by the Northern and Central California Power Outage? Let me know below!
Xoxo
Christian
Memories With The Mulkeys 