It was lights out at 10:30 p.m. for me last night, but not by choice. I’m a night owl, pure and simple. I was watching a news story about the dog days of summer and decided to call it an early night (10:15 p.m.). As I reached for the power button on the TV, my house went dark. A few years ago I would’ve panicked and wondered what to do, but with almost three years under my belt at the Red Cross, I went to my disaster supplies kit and pulled out a flashlight and flameless candles.

I used my smartphone to report the outage and saw 1,600 of us were in the same boat. As fate would have it, this little warning popped up on my phone: “Main battery low. You should recharge to prevent data loss.” Great. Just great. That’s my alarm clock for the morning. So, I got out my hand cranked cell phone charger and realized it didn’t quite fit my phone. I thought, well, I’ll give it until midnight and then I’ll go for a late night ride and charge the phone in my car (luckily I could drive, that wouldn’t always be the case in an emergency). I set up a little reading spot at my table with a flashlight and my flameless candles and read until the power came back on at 11:45 p.m. Luckily we were only out for about an hour and a half, but it could have lasted longer. I guess you could call the outage a test run.

The important question to ask now is “What did I learn?”

• Flameless candles give off way more light than I thought (not to mention they are safer). AKA – I need more.
• A battery operated mini-fan would probably be a good addition to the disaster kit.
• Jeans and a sweatshirt are not appropriate clothing to have in a disaster kit during the summer (I forgot to seasonalize my kit).
• I need a different back up cell phone charger.
• Cool, clear, water. Got to get some more for the good ole’ kit.
• BONUS LESSON: Know what resources are available to beat to the heat. If there is an excessive heat advisory or warning, or temperatures are above 100 for two or more days, call 2-1-1 to get the latest on cooling shelters available in your area.