When Hurricane Juan hit Halifax Nova Scotia, we were out of power for ten days. It was not too cold (last week in Sept), so we used our Propane camp stove, BBQ, camp light, small heater and our LED flashlights for the ten days. It was a slight inconvenience (especially getting hot water for personal cleaning)- but hardly a major hardship. We charged up our cell phone in the car and have a battery powered TV and radio to keep up on local news broadcasts. I waited at A Costco line up for awhile one day to refill my propane tanks. Now I have four in my shed-which will last for awhile. We had city running water-so that was a blessing.If it were cold winter, the issues would be more pressing, IMO.


Some folks used generators, mostly to power every light in their house, computers and TVs and freezers-fridges. I believe many folks had home insurance to cover freezer loss, so I did not see the big panic to power freezers?

I bought a generator after Juan - which has remained unused for many years. However, a big power box came in useful for short electrical outages, to power a few lights for a short period. You can even power a computer, if you have the urgent need.