The longest non-earthquake related power outage we've experienced has been 12 hours. I don't do anything special except have battery-operated candles on hand and try to keep phones and tablets charged.

Thankfully, we were not home when the Northridge quake hit so we continued to stay with our friends until we were granted access to return to our apartment which was full of the rubble of our household goods. I'm not sure one can really prepare for a major earthquake because there's no way to know if your house will be habitable or not. We do keep an emergency backpack in the car and try to keep the car full of fuel.

Two or three years, but I don't remember much about it. We moved from a big city to a farm, and I was under five years old. No indoor plumbing during that time, either. I vaguely remember the wood stove in the kitchen, light at night was from oil lamps. Water was hauled in from a pump outside. I think there was a pump in the basement, too. There had to have been some way to get water during the winter.

Since then there have been a few times when power outages lasted more than 24 hours, usually during and following severe storms, and/or a hurricane. I keep battery operated lanterns around, and flashlights. Have a battery operated radio for news, weather reports, etc. I do all the 'proper' preparations when a hurricane is brewing, with the exception of investing in a generator. My son has one, so I guess if the need ever arises, I could stay with him & his family until power was restored.

Rusty

In the past 10 years, maybe 4 hours total.

7 or 8 days during an ice storm. Wish the emergency plan could have been to drive to a hotel, but downed power lines and trees were blocking the driveway and roads - closest hotel/motel 25 miles away. We had plenty of food and pet food; but no running water. We had stored water for drinking and flushing toilets. A very efficient wood stove for cooking/heating and lots of dry firewood. Lots of batteries for flashlights and lanterns. No generator, but I have one now. We moved the perishables from the refer to the ice chests outside, since it was below freezing. I can't remember what happened with the freezer, but it was in an unheated room and may have been okay - or maybe I had to chuck everything.

Nowadays, I spend quite a bit of time at a friend's family cabin. No one lives there, just weekend stays for the family - a family with 6 adult children, their spouses, children, grandchildren, etc., so sometimes lots of people at one time - just day trips for me. Everyone always brings food for their stays and usually there are potlucks, so I bring food to share, but nothing much extra.

It recently came up in conversation that if there was some kind of disaster, the only road in and out is quite vulnerable to slides and might be badly damaged in an earthquake. There are no stores for 15 miles, and since the cabin isn't stocked with food, just what people bring with them, it could be a problem. It's on the salt water, so we could survive on oysters and clams for quite a while and maybe crabs/shrimp if there was gas for the boats. If an earthquake damaged the water system, there would be no fresh water. So when I was in Costco the other day, I saw some packaged emergency dried food packs that would feed people for a few days and bought a couple. I'm going to encourage others in the family to buy a couple to leave at the cabin (they take up much less room than regular food and the expiration date is 2047!) along with some bottled water for potential emergencies.

Six weeks after a hurricane. We have a full house standby generator now. We have a well,so, no electricity, no water.

Weeks at a time during a few hurricanes in my life. Some when I was young and some more recently. During the flood for example. We do have a generator and couple of small window ac units. I have a nice collection of oil lamps, some have been in my family for generations. I have several battery operated lanterns. In fact our power went out last night no idea why, no bad weather. Often it's a wreck taking out a pole or transformer blowing out.

power out better part of 2 full days with super storm sandy. late October and not terribly cold out yet. i'm 50-60 miles from ocean, so didn't get the worst. had dollar store flashlights all over the house... even had on on a lanyard around my deck. had/have a dinky little TV/radio combo that almost went to good will many times. no TV reception, but at least had radio to listen to.

i have a few oil lamps... throw backs from hippie days and a few brass "replica" miner's lanterns that worked well.

can't imagine what it would be like to be "powerless"... like no HEAT! i have gas stove so could still "jump start" burners to cook. i don't know how to, but imagine there's a way to "manually" light the oven?? gas or charcoal grill would work fine to cook. once went 5-6 months with no oven until i could afford to get new range.

i think being without refrigeration was harder than being without electricity?? when fridge died (during summer, of course), was lucky enough to have great neighbor with room in his spare garage freezer for my "good" stuff. i had to live out of coolers for 5-6 days. neighbor also enjoyed fishing, so borrowed several BIG coolers to live out of. was surprised at how long ice lasted in good coolers?

Several years ago, due to a severe ice storm, we were without power for 4 days. No heat and no gas stove. We stayed warm with lots of blankets, had battery powered lights, and the next door neighbor had a gas stove, so she would heat coffee, soup, etc. and bring it over to us. Being handicapped, I didn't dare take a chance of going out on the ice and we wouldn't have left our dog and cat at home alone. We now have several propane gas canister portable heaters in case it ever happens again. We have a little propane stove now that we can use and a gas grill if needed.

Our electricity was out for nearly two weeks when we lived in the Philippines. The terrorists (Communists way back then) took over the power plant and stopped all electrical activity. We went with the flow. All we could do.

3.5 days after Superstorm Sandy, the power went out Monday evening (I'm ~5 miles inland). I had battery-operated camp lanterns (power goes out a lot here, sometimes for 3 hours or more just because), and a battery-operated boom box. Cell service came back on Tuesday night, I had phone service (hard-wired copper, which Verizon will be taking out tomorrow), and was able to let my family know that I was OK Tuesday morning. I left home on Wednesday when the roads were clear enough to drive west to my mom's in Philly because it was getting cold. Power came back sometime Thursday morning, I know because I call my house, and if the answering machine picks up, I know that the power is back on.

I now have an alarm system that sends me an email when the power goes out and another when power is restored.

Three nights in dead of winter. Our house and about twenty others were on one supply line. All the other houses in our subdivision were on another line and almost never lost power. DH, dog, and I went to a hotel overnight once the house reached what felt like meat locker temperature. Amazingly, no pipes froze.

What did we do about it? We *moved*! (Not the only reason, but we seldom have outages in our present home, and then only for a few minutes to an hour.)

Terilyn, 6 weeks?

Five days here after Hurricane Andrew. After Katrina & Rita in 2005 we installed a whole house gas generator.

Five days after the tornadoes that ripped through Alabama in 2011. Our power came back in about 2-3 days before most people and it was a week or more before some had power restored. We have a generator so we're able to keep the refrigerator going, have coffee, and most basics. It was in April so nights were cool enough we turned the generator off to save gas. And our hot water heater managed to stay warm right to the end. We took very quick showers. Cooked a little on the grill and made it just fine.

3 days after a hurricane. I showered at my sister-in-laws once my hot water ran out, hubby went to work as usual and charged his devices there. We transferred all of our frozen food to my other sister-in-law's freezer. It was September so still warm enough that we did not need heat. Food was either cold (sandwiches) or BBQ'ed. Maybe take out? I can't remember, it was a few years ago.

Months, I can't remember how many months but it was a long time. I was a teenager and my parents had just separated. During a storm the electrical stack was torn off the house. My Dad was a very stubborn man. He had a background in electricity from the navy and taught it when he came home so when the stack came down he fixed it himself. Because the electric company wanted to fix it and charge him for it they refused to let it pass inspection and cut the electricity coming to the house. We used hurricane lamps for lighting, we had the fireplace and we also had our trailer parked in the driveway so I did most of the cooking in there. The neighbour allowed him to run an extension cord so we could use the refrigerator. I think he relented when winter came so we could have the furnace. I could tell you another story how long we were without natural gas and therefore hot water but you asked about electricity. During that major blackout we were without power for 5 days and during an ice storm for a week. I was taking care of my Mom at the time and we were fortunate to have the fireplace and lots of wood and neighbours going out to bring us coffee and hot food.

Two different storms caused 7'day outage. Plus a few 5 day outages. No water when you are on a well. One in the Winter one in the Summer. We now a full house generator. Comes on automatically in 20 seconds.

CindyMac, we live in a rural area, for some reason we're always the last to get power back. The first year we were in this house we had an ice storm. No electricity or heat for two weeks.

Many times over the past 33 years - some of them 5-10 days. I got sick of this and put in a whole house, natural gas--powered generator. Since then, I've had one 8 hr outage, but I do have a nice feeling of security, especially when out of town for long periods of time.

Sheilajoyce, that story brought tears to my eyes

Back in the late 70's when I was a teen, I lived in the middle part of Mexico on a ranch for almost a year. I stayed in a house built with hand made adobe bricks and a thatch roof. No window panes, no running water, no electricity, no real "facilities", the kitchen was a metal box that you lit a fire in. It was a life altering experience, but in a good way.

Since being in our house, we've lost power for as long as 4.5 days. Luckily, It was in the summer and not winter when it's below zero. Even though we lost everything that required refridgeration, it still wouldn't have been as big of a deal if we didn't have well water. Not having water to bathe or use the restroom made it really hard to manage. We've since installed a generator to avoid the issue in the future.

Ice storms - about 4 and a half days and then another 3 and a half days a week or two later in an all electric house. I had a cold and my baby had rsv. We left after a day. It was a learning experience. We own a generator and the stove is gas if we want to cook. Our next three houses had wood burning stoves for heat. I have a fireplace in this house, but we didn't get enough cold days to use it.

I have been without electricity for no more than a week. As a preschooler, a blizzard socked in the farm, with mom, dad, baby and me. 5 other siblings stranded in town in "storm homes". After 3 days of no electricity, the sewer line froze up. No heat or water either. Dad tried to get us into town during a lull in the storm (15 mi), but we got blown off the road and spent 1 1/2 days in the car. Made me respect MN winters! We got a woodstove the next month, dad trading labor for used one.

Probably because we had intermittent power outages all the time, I grew up being prepared. Still do, and try to have everyone be able to get by for a week or two at least. Unfortunately, so many scoff at even 3 days of food, meds, water, fuel and cash on hand.

Kudos to all of you who have taken initiative to prepare!

The longest I've been without electric power is 11 years (yes, that's years). I was born in an area that did not have electricity. Electric power arrived in the year I became 11 years old. Since that time, I had one event that lasted 1/2 day and another one of 4 hrs. Since coming to Wisconsin 57 yrs ago, most of my outages have been storm or accident induced lasting no more than 4 hrs. Most of the outages range from a few seconds to 30 minutes.

A number of yrs ago, Wisconsin experienced a rare ice storm that brought down the grid, and some of the diary farms and rural areas were without power for 3 weeks - Ouch!

Eleven straight day from widespread outages from the dramatic New England ice storm in December 2008.

We had a wood burning stove and ample firewood. We did not have a generator, so nothing to power our well pump, fridge and so on. No computer or tv use of course, and we I'd not then have smart phones. It was tough to get any news (locally, regionally) of how things were going or how long it would take to have electricity restored.

We had a cellar pantry and a freezer in a cold cellar, but we lost a lot or perishable food. We cooked on the wood stove, used propane and at trey operated lanterns.

During the night of that remarkable storm, we could hear sleet and freezing rain against the windows, and the crashing sounds of one large tree after another succumbing to the weight of freezing rain weighing them down. Occasionally the black sky would suddenly be lit up by tumbling transformers falling or having ice-coated trees crash into them. We are in a rural outlier, and on an isolated wooded hillside with few other houses. The storm went on and on and so many trees kept falling over. The woods are still filled with dead timber and "widow makers" -- standing dead trees that can topple over at any time.

I used the audio on my video camera with a pickup pic to record some of the unbelievable sounds of that sleet storm and the many crashing trees. 11 days or so later, on an absolutely frigid artic blast night, crews from as far away as Georgia were repairing the lines on our hill. Bitter cold. They get paid well, but I still had to applaud them for the hard work and long hours they put in.

We have a generator now, but only a small, used Honda -- just enough to power a few lights and PCs. It's not large enough to run the well pump, let alone the fridge or even a small microwave. We lose power fairly often and our electric provider gets some of the highest rates in the country. I don't expect Mr. Trump and his team will be doing much to keep the utility robbers in check.

When it looks like we might get a storm, we fill kettles with well water for drinking and cooking, and a bathtub for bathing and flushing. I don't think I'd ever want to live in a New England house without a wood stove or generator. Many people could not stay in their homes or apartments after that storm damage. Some had pipes that froze and burst.

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I think we had a 3 or 4 day complete power outage about 31 years ago. I was pregnant with my last baby. It was winter. It was cold! It was the tail end of winter, which in Calgary is basically July.... hahahaha All kidding aside, it was either late winter, or early spring and it was cold outside. Still snow on the ground. We layered up with lots of blankets, but the kids (1 five year old, 1 one year old) just wore double layers of clothes and played like they didn't notice. We ate a lot of sandwiches. When the power came on for about 10 minutes, my friend boiled a bunch of water in her microwave and brought me a big pot of Liptons soup to warm the kids up. We didn't own a microwave at the time.

We were living in a dorm in Maine during the awful ice storm in 1998. Crews were brought up from as far as S Carolina! We were very lucky - only without power for 24 hrs as the school was on the sane grudge as the police and fire depts - they are first priorities to get fixed. The school allowed all the faculty families to eat 3 meals daily in the fining hall, use the showers in the gym, and the washers and dryers in the dorms. Some people didn't get power back for over reopen weeks.

We were astounded at how quickly a solidly built brick building can become very cold. We just got under the big down comforter in bed and piled on all the dogs and cats - think there were 7 or 8. Made the rock group "Three Dog Znight" have new meaning!

I don't think I ever realized just how lucky I am to live in the region I do. I have never in my life experienced a power outage lasting more than a few hours.

We do have a generator but to my knowledge, it has never been needed. The longest I've ever gone at my home without power was roughly 8 hours but that was intentional and planned as we were replacing and upgrading the electrical.

I have been camping before without electricity but that is very different. Namely, it is actually planned. ;)

When a child, I think it was about nine days. A wildfire went whipping through the town, and we were just relieved the house survived. The shrub 3' from the front door was still smoldering when everyone was allowed back--it was that close. We cooked on the wood stove that was our heat source.

As an adult, three days. Our circuit group was older and would have outages several times per year, so they finally repaired the problem. We cooked on the barbeque, and used lanterns. No real problems coping. I have sufficient back-up water, food supplies, and lanterns for whenever it happens.

Ice storm, I think it was 2007. 3 days. I went to a shelter to shower. We did a lot of tree cutting... and wood burning.

8 outages in 2013 in a 4 month period. The shortest outage was a few hours. 3-4 of them lasted 2-4 days each.

Many of us in the affected area wrote to the state Commerce Commission...successfully... the tight wad electric company finally rebuilt our neighborhood.

8 days from one hurricane, 7 days from another storm. We have a generator which is big enough to run our heating system, and our electrical service is divided into two panels, only one of which is fed by the generator so we don't run nonessentials during the outage. We can live fairly comfortably... but noisily... until the power returns....so long as the fuel holds out in our reasonably large underground tank. We also have a wood stove to use for heat. So we're pretty prepared.

A surprise for us was that our solar panels provide no power when the power is out. The inverter needs the signal from the power company to sync the cycles when it converts the power from DC to AC.

2011 -

June -2.5 days, brief microburst.

August - 5.5 days Hurricane Irene

Oct/November - 8 days Halloween Snowmageddeon.

I have all sorts of camping supplies, and a grill for when I finally had to open up the freezers. I was also able to secure some dry ice.

I showered at work. (I do own a solar shower, but my back yard isn't exactly... private.)

The November event, it got cold so I cuddled with the cats. I do have a good winter-rated sleeping bag, too. Plenty to eat before I dug out of the snow. I do keep canned supplies to hand.

We knew there was a danger for power outages with the approach of Irene and that snowstorm, that I filled everything ahead of time with water. Drinking, grey water, flushing water. Out of curiousity before Irene I stopped at the grocery - people were wasting money BUYING water rather than setting it aside at home! The water aisle was empty! I seldom drink milk or eat bread, so I ignored those "staples" too. I did notice there were no more D batteries - fortunately I already had plenty (had come back from camping the week before).

I am putting a generator into my new build.

I recommend buying those food service disposable plastic gloves. Essential for prepping up chicken to cook on the grill when you lack running water to wash hands!!!

Annie, I think you have to buy a solar back up battery. It's not encouraged as the power companies want to keep you on the grid at all costs.

Only about 4 days after a major snowstorm. We get very heavy, wet snow and it takes down trees, which take down powerlines :-) And I was snowed in - couldn't get pick up out of driveway and there were trees down in the road out anyway. Fortunately, I had a wood stove and plenty of firewood so could stay warm and do some simple cooking and heating of water. And it was cold enough so that I could store perishable food items out in a cooler on my deck. But only had a cell phone which of course needed recharging. Thankfully, neighbor had a generator and would recharge the phone for me :-)

Since that time - going on ten years ago - the power company in my rural area has done some major work placing poles and keeping trees out of the lines so power outages are far less frequent and usually short. And I now live where there is a dedicated generator that comes on within 60 seconds and powers up all the essentials - not everything, but at least the heat, stove, refrigerator and hot water tank and a few lights.

3 years. We were building in a rural subdivision and the developer hadn't finished putting in the power line. He had since died and we had no recourse so we went to the City to see if they would help. They said no problem just go ahead and build to the point where the house was wired and they would install it. So we did, but when we were ready they decided it was too expensive because of the length of the line. We kept fighting for it and eventually got it. We live in northern B.C. And those winters were harsh. Good thing we were young.

Three days during a winter ice storm. Our home was all electric and on a well so that meant no water. Fortunately we had an insert in the fireplace. I made sure we had a gas cooktop in our later home.

3 weeks during hurricane gloria and another 3 weeks with Bob and a week with Charlie. Many shorter versions, I usually stick it out as we have a wood stove as supplement and we go out to eat at restaurants.

3 to 4 weeks.

I was living w/my Aunt & Uncle on their farm in 1978. I was 17. A winter storm came in and downed the power lines. Water came from the well, no electricity meant no water. They heated the house with a massive wood burning fireplace, so that heat wasn't a problem. There was a little wood stove in the kitchen. We'd fill up buckets with snow to melt so we could have some drinking water, as well as water to flush the toilets. Thank goodness we didn't have to use the outhouse, but at least we had one. hahaha!!

They lived in about as far back in the sticks as you can get. The roads were impassable. Going to the store was out of the question. Even if you were able to get out, you might not be able to get back! We began to run out of things like.... toilet paper. =:-0

Fortunately, the "larder" (as Auntie called it) was stocked and we didn't run out of food. My 3 cousins & I played games & read to keep occupied when we weren't out doing chores. And chores took most of the day in 3 foot of snow.

We had to chop the ice on the ponds so the cows could drink. We then had to scoop water out of the ponds to carry to the livestock (pigs) that didn't have access to the ponds. We hauled hay on the tractor to fields to feed, until we ran out of diesel, then we' d drag it as far from the barn as we could.

It was a cold & bitter winter.

ahhh! Good times!

The longest would be 5 days,4 nights.

We always heated with wood,so the heat wasn't an issue.

Had water at hand(country) so that never was an issue.

Winter outages,we used the wood furnace to cook on,summer,the bbq.

Outages were common with such antiquated power lines in this area.

Now,we have a generator which is handy for water and heat.

Would have to cook on BBQ,careful with water usage....not a big deal when its been going on all of my adult life.

Ten days, following Hurricane Alicia in 1983. Nine days following Hurricane Ike in 2008. As long as I had water for horses....1400 gallon tank in one pasture, I can cope. Jody was gone during Ike...once the gas stations were open in town, I was okay. That only took a day or two. I could go get something decent to eat. Hard to sleep at night with not even a fan.

It was out about 2 1/2 days after a bad summer storm in August 11 years ago. I live in the Northeast so it was blazing hot and we went to a motel with our daughter and son-in-law because she was 8 months pregnant! My stalwart Dad stayed home and wouldn't come with us. He said he didn't mind the heat and he had been in the South Pacific when it was hotter and the Japanese were shooting at him so he would stay and mind the house which he did! We did lose all our food from the freezer but such is life!

Longest the power has been out? I think it was about 8 or 9 days after a massive storm. Longest I've been without electricity? Couple weeks or so when I would stay at the cabin and over 2 weeks when I was in the boundary waters. In the BWCA it was camping, not a ton of creature comforts but I did bring a radio, chaise lounges, cots, etc. Had the campstove but cooked over the fire except when it was pouring rain and then sometimes we stuck with non-cooked foods. I enjoyed camping but enjoyed camping MY way. Now, due to health issues, I tend to camp at a hotel. I enjoyed semi-roughing it in the woods by the lake, which was not abusing myself. I had a propane stove and lanterns and a battery TV and radio. I also set up 12v bulbs and used a deep cycle battery for electric lights and a fan. I have these items for emergencies now since I don't really camp anymore. I've debated about buying a generator but really don't worry about much. As long as I can drive or call for deliveries, I have food. I have a UPS that should be replaced but could use it for the CPAP if the power goes out, otherwise, I could use an inverter. When the power was out here I charged the computer and cell phone in the car. I could use a UPS to power the modem for internet if needed. Or go to the library or a wifi spot.

If things get really bad, I can go to friends or relatives or get a hotel.

Nine days after Hurricane Ike blew through in 2008. Fortunately it was autumn and the weather was nice enough afterward that it wasn't a real hardship. I brought bags of ice home from my job for the first several days (emergency generators there) that kept the fridge and freezer cold enough that I didn't lose any food. Then the other side of the street got its power back, and the neighbors there ran a cord across to my house so I could plug in for an hour or so at a time to keep them cold. I have a gas stove so I could cook, and the city water stayed on. Showers were cold and short; I did go to work in un-ironed uniforms for a few days.

Once, when I was in utero, I had no electricity for months and months.

A week.

Sue

Until I was 21. Our area of Minnesota did not have electricity until after WW2. We used gas and kerosene lights, battery radio, gas powered washer, etc.

seniorgal, you poor thing. We got power when I was 12.

In early 2008 we had a horrific ice storm that downed hundreds of trees and power lines. The lucky one's were without power for 4 days, and the unlucky were without for 2 weeks. We were right in the middle of the luck factor and were out for 7 days. Thanks to DH we had a tank full of gas for the generator because the gas stations were closed for several days, too. The worst part was that the storm was predicted well in advance and so many otherwise intelligent people didn't bother to plan ahead. They got out the next morning to find roads closed, grocery stores closed, restaurants closed.....and they wanted breakfast! Crazy people!!

3 months on a boat and small mini island in Florida during spring, it was great!

About a year and a half.

I never remember being without electricity when I was a child in Ontario: I don't know when electricity first came to our home. Grandpa had bought our farm near London, on a major highway about a mile and a quarter from a village, in 1917 and Dad and Mom took over the farm some time after their marriage in 1925. I was born in 1929 and I remember us getting a small table radio about 1940.

Dad had bronchial trouble and was concerned that he was on the way to becoming asthmatic, and moved to Saskatchewan just after World War II, in 1946.

He sharecropped a farm about 10 miles from the capital, Regina, owned by a man whom Grandpa had helped get an education around 1900, who moved to the prairies with his brother as young men.

We arrived in the spring of 1946, we three boys drove four miles to school and I stayed home for a week or so later in the spring to help put in the crops. I was the only student in Grade 11 and I think that the principal (operating Grades 9 - 12) in the one-room high school, spent more than usual time with me to get me up to speed. I should perhaps be embarrassed to report hat my average in that school year was higher than the next, my final year, when I was there for the full year.

The power line was a mile and a half from the house where we lived and our landlord hadn't chosen to install a connection to it ... but he did, a few years later, after Dad had bought a farm, when the landlord retired and moved from the city out to that farmhouse.

A year and almost a half after our move, I went to university in Saskatchewan's second largest city, Saskatoon ... there's a bush berry beloved of people in that part of the prairies that bears its name.

After my first year, I returned to the farm so lived without electricity from May till September of that year, as well. We had an oil-fired cookstove, a battery radio and kerosene-powered lamps and lanterns that pushed kerosene under pressure up a tube by a conical mesh where it was vapourized and then burned as the vapour hit the mesh, to provide light that was quite bright - and warmth, as well (which was appreciated in winter).

By the way ... my first encounter with a bathroom, which requires water under pressure, in my place of residence was when I went to university and lived in a dorm, in the fall of 1947, when I was 18.

ole joyfuelled