You will need either the freezer or a large ice chest to keep a few items refrigerated during the power outage. Try to find block ice or dry ice. It will last longer than cubes. Don't skimp on the amount. Salvage some of the items which have not warmed up too much or which are not so perishable (acidic condiments or pickles) for use in the short term, then replace them when you have power.

Good luck,

Jim

Unfortunately, I haven't found any place that still has ice -- two places were giving it away free today, but I'm still at work at 8:30pm, and I think they'll be out by the time I get there.

Ah, well -- clean sweep, n'est pas?

It's time I should do a deep cleaning of the fridge and freezer -- and there has been no power outage here.

Jim

I'm kind of amazed it's taking so long to get the power back -- this is Ohio! We're pretty durn far from Texas! But of the 2 million who lost power, some will not be restored until Sunday.

And I hasten to add I realize I am really lucky. People along the Gulf Coast has far more serious and substantial problems. And a lot of my parents neighbors in Cincinnati had substantial property damage. I'm grateful the only thing I may lose is some food I probably didn't need anyway!

Unless things like chutney and mayo have been warm....and by that I maen 65 degrees and above....no need to toss, lemon and refrigerator jams are fine...anchovie paste I think would be gone...but jams and jellies and condiments are not going to spoil.
Hang in there a little longer...

Also, as someone who has endured a few hurricanes I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about that. Sucks to throw food away!

Glad you're OK though!

alison, I just got home (Indiana) from visiting my parents (they are mid-80s)south of Dayton. I could hardly believe the destruction. Some places not far out of towns still had huge trees across the power lines. They lost power Sunday, too. Their power came on about 9pm tonight. My in-laws power also went out Sunday. Their power came on by 9am Monday. They live about 3 miles apart-life's not fair! I took lunch down and we had a nice visit. Hang in there!

Alison, you have a good attitude. When things like this happen, that you can't do anything about, looking for the positives is the best way to go. So, taking the opportunity to give your fridge and freezer a good cleaning is a fine plan, making lemonade out of lemons!

I always keep as many juice and milk bottles full of water in my freezers as I have room for. I figure that the blocks of ice within them may come in handy if we have a power outage, and if I need more room, I can always take them out. We use them quite often in picnic baskets, actually.

Good luck in getting your power back soon!

YA! I know the feeling! We lost our power at 10:40 Friday night and the latest from the power company is "After Monday 9/22". So in other words, we're without electricity indefinitely.

Tuesday morning we did the official "throw out the food" ceremony at my house since that was trash day. You know, it's not the money because all in all, we didn't have that much actually invested in there, but just the idea of throwing out food breaks my heart. I hated doing it.

We did keep a few condiment type things, pickles, relish, mustard, ketchup, jams and such. I guess I'll have to get rid of the pickles and a few other items. Back on Tuesday I still had hope!

If I ever have electricity again in my lifetime, it's going to be great fun going shopping for all the necessities. In the meantime, we're eating out a lot which I'm not used to, and don't love. Oh well!

In the end, this is all very minor in the grand scheme of things. I'm extremely thankful that we had no damage to our home or property and that we're all safe. And that the loss of some food in the freezer is a minor inconvenience rather than a hardship.

For a category 2 hurricane, Ike sure did a lot of damage in a really far reaching area.

All my family is in southern Ohio and as of yesterday afternoon several were still without power after 4 days. I feel for you guys that are going through this! Everyone has had to pitch all their food and restaurant lines are out the door since it's so hard to cook. I know you can make a homeownners claim for the lost food, but what a hassle. Hopefully this will be resolved soon.

Tracey

Got power sometime during the day yesterday -- but I'd already cleared things out.

Decided to make a clean sweep of it. Rather than tossing stuff I thought might be bad, I only kept what I really wanted. That was a pretty surprising difference!

Washed everything inside and out, used baking soda on all the shelves, and washed the glass in the tub, so it wasn't streaky. I even experimented with moving the shelves around, to make a better use of the space.

Now my fridge is sparkling clean and awaiting fresh groceries. Too bad I don't get paid until *next* Friday!

Hope you're back to normal soon, lowspark. And I hope you're family is back on line soon, tracy.

Tracey, Elery's daughter works at a Bob Evans in Ohio somewhere and they lost power Sunday night sometime and it's still not back on. The power company said maybe today, but it hasn't happened yet, so their power's been out 5 days now. Like Chicago, the flooding has been pretty prevalent too. In the meantime, she's losing wages every day.

Ike was one far reaching storm, that's for sure.

Annie

All of the electricians in your area have probably been sent south to help Texas. After Katrina we had linemen from all over the country that came down to assist Alabama.

I've heard that the power company had sent workers down to Texas to help out, and also that they are just running out of transformers. And some power lines are irrepably (sp?) damaged and will take awhile to be replaced. I freak out if the power is out overnight. I can't imagine days like they are going through.

Annie, that's awful about Elery's niece. She could be making a TON of money right now.

Alison, I"m glad your power is back. I hope you can restocked soon.

May, keep us posted on your power situation!

Tracey

I've heard that the power company had sent workers down to Texas to help out, and also that they are just running out of transformers. And some power lines are irrepably (sp?) damaged and will take awhile to be replaced. I freak out if the power is out overnight. I can't imagine days like they are going through.

Annie, that's awful about Elery's niece. She could be making a TON of money right now.

Alison, I"m glad your power is back. I hope you can get restocked soon.

May, keep us posted on your power situation!

Tracey

My power has returned! We got it back Sunday around 6 pm. A/C was on last night. I have two empty fridge/freezers and I don't plan on filling them up for a month! I'm going to buy minimal supplies for at least the next couple of weeks till I make sure it's going to stay on. After that I'll build back up slowly. Thanks for worrying about me, y'all!!

Elery's daughter says she still doesn't have power at her apartment, although power came on at the restaurant on Friday evening so she's at least back to work. They rented a cheap motel room just so she could have a shower!

That makes going on 9 days with no power. In Ohio! The power company says they restore to businesses and municipals first, private residential comes last. And as has been mentioned, they are short of workers and short of material, it all got sent south in preparation for Ike. Who knew it would be needed here....

Annie