When the power went off during Hurricane Ike, we began the countdown that would end with rotten food from the refrigerator. Since we had prepared for the loss of power by using up as much of the frozen items as possible, we didn't lose $1000 worth of meats. Still, the loss was significant. Even things like mayonnaise and salad dressings cost a fair chunk of change, and we had to throw out more cheese than I could bear to part with.
Some foods could be given a bit longer life with ice. We had already started bagging ice from the ice maker the day before the storm. Since Mama sometimes forgets how the ice maker works, we had to keep checking to make sure that the thing was still running after she had loaded a glass with ice. Sometimes it wasn't. That kept us on our toes the day before.
We stayed in touch with Next Door Cousin while we prepared for the storm and got the idea from her to freeze bottles of water. These solid chunks of ice would help keep freezer and fridge cool longer, while we waited for the power to be restored, and we could drink the water after they melted. NDC did a fine job of getting lots of bottles into the freezer; I only put in a few. Big mistake.
NDC also found that her neighbor on the other side had an old chest freezer. They turned it on and tried to freeze zip lock bags of water. Sadly, while the old freezer was willing, there just wasn't enough time for this idea to work before the storm knocked out the power. Still, it's an idea for the future.
When the power didn't come back on (sounds like I was depending on magic, doesn't it) after a couple of days, things became desperate. Our ice supply would give out on the third day (as NDC kept us in little bottles of frozen water). Food was going to spoil faster than we could eat it; drinks were going to be on the warm side. While My Prince and I were already well used to room temperature soft drinks (seriously no biggie, people), Mama doesn't drink her soft drinks without ice. Cold isn't good enough; ice is essential. So she began to really feel deprived at that point.
One ray of goodness came when Big Kid Cousin, who lives a couple of miles away, got her electricity back. No magic there, just the power of politics. BKC lives in an old folks reservation (senior citizen apartment complex) which also happens to house a lot of people who came to Texas in the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina. Cheers for the Mayor of Jacinto City (Mike Jackson), State Representative Ana Hernandez, and others who went to bat for the old folks . . . seniors . . . at BKC's apartment complex. While these folks got their power back 10 days ahead of the rest of the area, a lot of suffering was eased, not to mention the potential complications for those with health problems.
Another bit of goodness about that restoration of power is that, for a few days, we could put more bottles of water in BKC's freezer--and use her stove to cook. For the first few days after the storm, there was no place to buy ice. Without power, there was no way to find information on television about the location for ice distribution. The newspaper was useless on the subject and the radio was less than useless. We were on our own, and thanks to BKC and her freezer, this was going to be doable . . . until our car broke down.
(to be continued)
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