Preparing Your Freezer for Hurricane Sandy (or Any Power Outage)
I have had several requests from folks to address preserving freezer foods in the wake of a power outage in the hours leading up to Hurricane Sandy. And truth-be-told we have really never extensively covered emergency situations. So here is a compilation of some resources you might find helpful leading to a hurricane or other event that causes you to lose power for a significant amount of time.
Preparation:
- If you are able, acquiring a generator before the event so that you can keep the freezer/refrigerator running periodically.
- Move your frozen goods to a friend/family/neighbors house that still has power.
- If the above two aren’t an option, get zippered freezer bags and containers, fill them with water (not full, leave some room at the top for expansion) and place them in the freezer PRIOR to the outage. Place them around your frozen food. Once they freeze they will help your food to stay frozen longer. More food in freezer = better.
- You might also consider finding a place to purchase dry ice to store around the food.
- Any foods that will leak juice when they thaw (meats, poultry, popsicles, fruits) should be put in containers that will catch the drippings if the power goes out and they begin thawing. Doing this BEFORE the power goes out ensures you will have to open the freezer/refrigerator less often AFTER the power goes out – increasing the longevity of the items.
When the Power Goes Out:
- Keep the doors shut as much as possible. If there are foods you need frequently you might consider keeping them on ice in a cooler that you open and close and not the entire refrigerator.
- A full freezer will last about 48 hours if you don’t open it before the food will start to be above the temperature it needs to be. If it is half full, it will only take about 24 hours (so combat that by filling water bags or containers as described above – filling it with water bags to full would help the food stay longer.
- Add dry ice to them to keep them cooler for longer. Dry ice can increase the life for up to 2 days.
After the Power is Restored:
- Don’t immediately hold the unit open for a long time, but do check the items to see if they are spoiled or not. When in doubt, throw it out.
- If frozen items still have ice crystals on them, it is okay to let them freeze again.
- If raw meat has thawed but is still below 40 degrees (hasn’t gone above 40 degrees for more than 2 hours) you can cook it and refreeze it.
- If a meal has thawed but is not above 40 degrees for more than 2 hours then you may also cook that and consume it.
- Most insurance companies will cover the cost of food lost during an event that is covered by your insurance (hurricane, tornado, storm, etc). If you are making a claim for other things (flooding, roof, etc) you may want to also check to see if the cost of your food lost is covered as well.
Again, I do hope that everyone on the East coast stays safe through Hurricane Sandy (or whatever power outage brings you to this post). In the end, the safety of your family is more important than consuming your food. Also, our resident insurance agent would like you to know that USUALLY your homeowners insurance covers the cost of food lost during a natural disaster if you are making a claim for other things. You should note that. That could be especially helpful to those of you that buy whole cows, pigs, chickens, etc at one time.
Hello very cool site!! Man .. Excellent .. Amazing .. I’ll bookmark your website and take the feeds additionally?I am glad to seek out so many helpful information right here in the submit, we’d like work out more strategies in this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .
I will say that during the October snow storm last year (during which we had no power for 4 days), State Farm refused to cover the lost food in our fridge, even though many of the other local insurance companies were waiving the deductible in light of the situation. We had to meet the deductible first before anything would even be considered.
I may have missed it…but do u have a recipe book??? I have all of your recipes saved on my computer and am running out of room. lol
Really enjoying your blog,
Rachel Smith, mother of two from Winnipeg
ps
Thanks for making all your recipes healthy, family friendly and easy to find ingredients.
Not yet, maybe one day. :)
Thanks for the tips. I’m not on the East Coast, but I bought a new chest freezer & was wondering how to handle a power outage.
Freeze several clean gallon or quart containers full of water and leave them in freezer,more the better ! they will keep food frozen and cold much longer and also double as fresh water suppl y!
Food in chest freezers usually lasts longer because they typically freeze the food harder. They also usually have an ice build up around the sides which help as they haven’t designed a frost free chest freezer yet.
These are good tips, I don’t live on the East Coast either but we usually lose power at least once a year from storms, sometimes lasting several days.
Excellent post… One thing I would add:
Well in advance of the power outage crank up the freezer to the max. This will lower the temperature down as far as possible BEFORE it goes dark; buying you more time.
Don’t forget to set the thermostat back to normal after the storm passes. To make it easier to remember how it was set take a snapshot of the setting using your smartphone before you crank it up.
There is also the option of preserving some of the frozen food using other techniques if time allows. Canning can be done for meats, most fruits and vegetables, homemade soups, etc. Fermenting vegetables (many vegetables can be pickled the way sauer kraut is) like our forefathers (probably foremothers) did, is also a way to store food for at least six months. Then freezing and refrigeration is not necessary. Good to have a stock of this type of food in addition, anyway.
Living on the Gulf coast of Florida, I have become a pro at this. The secret to keeping your frozen foods safe for consumption is prepare as soon as you can. I keep any plastic bottles (soda, fruit juice, etc.)that will fit in the door of my freezer and between any crevices between food where there are gaps. I fill them with water 3/4′s full. I take out any food that will be used within the first 48 hours and store them in a cooler with ice, like hamburgers for the grill or soups that can be cooked on a camp stove. If I think that power will be out longer than 48 hrs, I arrange foods that likely will be used in the longer outage at the front of the freezer, to lessen the time the door will be open. Crank the freezer to the coldest setting and leave the door closed! The more the door is opened, the shorter your chances of preserving your food. Should the power outage go more than 72 hours, you at least will have cold water to drink! My neighbors and I fire up our grills and cook everything that has started to defrost and feed anyone that is without food or is there helping with the clean up. I have had food remain safely frozen for five days using this method, but do remember “throw it out when in doubt”!
I also live on the Gulf Coast, just south of Tampa. Good advice. Thanks. zip lock freezer bags filled w/ water will conform to the cracks and crevasses in a freezer.
I would like to know more about the labels shown in the picture. What program was used to produce them?
Excellent article very useful Thanks for posting it.
An alternative to all of this preparation is to purchase a SunDanzer freezer that will operate on 115 VAC and automatically switch to solar battery backup. One of our customers from Long Island called Friday to report that they have been without power for 4 days, the freezer is running from solar, their food supply is secure and their solar powered backup lighting is working. Be your own power company, especially for essentials like water, food and lighting!
I also would like to know more about these nice labels :) thanks for te SunDanzer freezer info Ron!
I like to take empty milk jugs or any empty plastic jug and fill 3/4 full with water and put this in my freezer if theirs extra room. This will help keep it from defrosting for longer that a partiality empty freezer and I also use them for coolers a half gallon milk jug will keep one cool for a very long time.
Great idea!
you can also use a battery like one for a car, and buy a inverter. (you can get them for under $50) we had power outages in the heat and used ours to run an aconditioner to stay cool and sleep well at night. you would only have to run it a short time to keep your freezer cold and shut it off to save the batteries life. this should make your two day window longer… like a week if your freezer is full. just a thought for short term power outages like storms where power could be out for a week.
When we lived in Louisiana and had to deal with hurricanes, we would take the foods, such as milk, butter, eggs, ketchup ,etc out of the fridge and put them in the washing machine. We then filled it with ice and frozen water bags. It works very well in preserving your basic fridge foods.It also works best if you have an upright washer and not a front loader. As the ice melts, it goes down your drain…..no mess to clean up. Make sure you freeze some bags prior to the storm coming in. When the lights go out, transfer everything. I use to have a small freezer for nothing but bags of ice and the bigger one for foods. Never lost any food. The longest we were w/o power was 93 hours.
That is the FIRST I have ever heard of that but it sounds logical. Thanks for the tip!
I am interested in the labels on the food. What program did you use please?
I’m not sure exactly what you mean? Here at Once A Month Mom we have labels for each and every one of our menus. . .it is part of the packaged deal. :)
We moved to SE Texas last year, quite close to the Gulf coast, so hurricane country. We talk to people who experienced hurricanes Ike and Rita, and ask for advice. One thing they have told us, is that if your food is defrosting, or if you have to evacuate, empty it out of the freezer. If you walk off and leave thawing foods in your freezer, the insulating materials will pick up the smells of the rotting food, and you will not only lose your food, but also the freeer itself.
What about dehydrating?
We had the big ice storm in 1998(?) and learn much from that. We use a number of the suggestions above but also freeze blocks of ice in containers and plastic bags outside in the winter (the season we regularly loose power) and keep them in a shed for the inevitable emergency.