So often we take little things like internet, telephone, electric and so many other things for granted. Living in the country, when electric goes out during winter storms, tornadoes, etc., we are often last on the list to get repairs. This is one reason I prep. I keep water, food, and other essential items stored just for these occasions.
A few years ago, we had two ice storms within two weeks apart. When the power lines were severely damaged during the first storm, we were out of power for 10 days. We did not have a way to hook our well to a generator, so I was thankful we had water stored. During this time, we made notes of items we still needed to acquire or skills we needed to obtain. Once the electric was back on, we quickly acquired what we needed and had a switch added to the water well so we could hook up a generator.
When the next storm came through, we were even better prepared. Thankfully we were only out of power about a week after that second storm.
After these experiences, I realized how quickly life could change. I amped up my emergency preparedness even more.
I was grateful once again for the preps we had on hand this weekend. A storm came through (a very welcome relief in the hot summertime here in Oklahoma) and with that storm came lightning. As lightning flashed all around our home, a loud boom filled the air simultaneously with a bright flash of light. The electric flickered but came right back on.
Other than scaring our dogs, everything seemed ok. Then I noticed the internet wasn't working. I checked the phone line and realized the phone was dead. No big deal. I would just call and report the outage to the phone company on my cell phone the next day.
The next morning, the water was not working. When my husband went to check the well, he noticed that the pump was fried.
Thankfully, he and my father-in-law was able to change out the pump and got our water going again...but in the time we were out of water, I was thankful my Big Berkey had been filled the night before and we had additional water stored if needed.
When the man from the phone company came out he discovered that a corner of our phone box on the outside of the house had actually been welded to the metal siding by the lightning that struck! In addition one of the lines has arced off the house.
So we had two bolts of lightning do severe damage to our homestead within seconds of one another.
We were very grateful that we didn't end up having more damage to our home or appliances or worse, a fire.
Everything can change in a flash. So, please be vigilant! Prepare now so you won't be without later.
Sincerely,
Oily
