Wool, Wood, Water and Warm: 4 Elements You Need in an Emergency

The lights went out with a thud as the wires were pulled out of the house when an ice-laden tree fell on the line. All night long in the ice storm that hit here in the northeast last week, I heard branches and trees crashing in the woods. It would be the start of four days without power.

I stoked up the wood stove and kept it burning the whole time. My life was focused on getting trees out of the road, drying wood, and staying warm.

Huddled under the comforter on the couch by the stove at night, I realized that my lifestyle has increasingly removed me from old-fashioned know-how. It was too late before it dawned on me that I could put all the food in the freezer outside on the back porch to keep it frozen. It was too late to go back and ask the wood stove salesman a few more questions before buying a “convection” stove (it couldn’t keep the home above 50°F when the temperature outside was in the teens). It was too late to store water in the basement. What know-how I had came from my parents, who taught me much about woodstove fire safety (more on that below).

Earth, fire, water, and air. Here’s how I was reminded that it behooves to pay attention to these elements as part of emergency preparedness:

Earth: The wonders of wool

It was always wool that kept me warm. Anytime I strayed from it I was cold. One wonders if this is because it handles moisture so well, absorbing 50 percent of its weight in water without dripping and 30 percent without feeling damp. I slept in my wool slippers. My wool comforter kept me warm every night, even waking up to a house at 47°F. My outdoor boots that are wool-lined kept my sensitive feet (they got frost-bitten some time ago) warm; the others I have didn’t. My wool sweaters were my uniform, as other fabrics left me chilled. Wool is incredible; no home should be without it. A lot of it.

Fire: The dangers of wood

Generating heat with wood or petroleum is dangerous and requires know-how. Case in point: My parents taught me that when clearing out the embers, you shouldn’t put them outside for at least 24 hours, as the wind could pick them up and start a fire. I was grateful for that wisdom as I had to clear out the stove on day two of the outage. If you have children, help them think things through about fire so that they know how to be safe in an emergency. And investigate solar energy; it makes total sense for safety.

Water: The waste of flushing

I was astonished that it took a full two gallons of water to flush the toilet. I knew it somewhere in the recesses of my mind, but the reality of the waste hadn’t sunk in. Sorry, but I am now and forever implementing “if it is yellow it’s mellow, if it’s brown it goes down.” I don’t want the wasting of that many gallons of water on my head. Read up on this and other ways to conserve water.

Air: The worries of warming it

Keeping indoor air clean and healthy is an everyday priority, and during a power outage even more so. Many died from carbon monoxide poisoning in the aftermath of this storm because they tried to stay warm using kerosene, their gas stove, or a generator that wasn’t vented properly (and one family died because the vented fumes went into the house via the soffits). Candles — especially scented candles — cause a lot of soot and indoor pollution, too. Try candles made with beeswax, which is a natural air purifier. (Note that emergency officials recommend against candle use during power outages for fear of fire.)