The portable power station can solve the electricity problem of many households, not only can it be used outdoors, but also can be used as an emergency power supply at home.
Many countries are suffering because of the weather. When hurricanes come, many electrical problems cannot be solved, and survival has become a big problem. NOAA reported more than 60,000 weather events in 2020. Nearly 600 people died from these events, many of them from the hurricane.
Hurricane preparation is absolutely necessary. You can’t just buy a first aid kit and sit at home and expect everything to be ok. You need to take several steps to avoid devastating damage.
How do hurricanes happen and who do they affect? What Hurricane Preparedness Should You Buy? How should you prepare for a hurricane and react after it happens?
Answer these questions and you can protect yourself from hurricanes for years to come. Here is your quick guide.
Understand How Hurricanes Work
The hurricane season runs between June and November. In order for hurricanes to form, they need hot water, humidity in the atmosphere, and low wind shear. These conditions can come together at any time, including outside of the season, so you need to be ready now.
Most people think of hurricanes in the Atlantic. But hurricanes can form in the Pacific or the Gulf of Mexico, so everyone on the coast should prepare for one. Hurricanes also run inland and create problems.
In addition to hurricanes, you need to keep tropical depressions and tropical storms in mind. Though they are less powerful than hurricanes, they can cause power outages for days.
The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale ranks hurricanes based on their wind speed. A Category 1 storm is the least significant storm, producing winds between 74 and 95 miles per hour. These winds are strong enough to rip power lines down and snap trees.
Any storm that is Category 3 or higher is a major hurricane. Just one major hurricane can trigger power outages for weeks and destroy roads.
The Saffir-Simpson scale is a helpful tool, but it does not cover everything about hurricanes. Hurricanes can produce extensive rains, storm surges, and tornadoes. Disaster and emergency preparedness means being prepared for all of these events.
Buy Emergency Supplies
Hurricane preparedness kits should contain many different supplies. You should have enough non-perishable food and water to last for several days. If you take prescriptions, you need enough pills for at least a week.
You should have copies of important documents, including your passport, driver’s license, and birth certificate. You can put them inside a waterproof wallet or container.
You can put a spare cell phone and charger in your kit. If a phone would be too expensive, you can use a battery-operated radio instead. Make sure you have extra batteries for it.
A portable power station for a hurricane can charge your appliances and lights. Take a look at a few stations before selecting one.
The SOUOP 1800W Portable Power Station provides enough electricity for ten appliances, and it can connect to solar panels for easy recharging. The station has a lifespan that is six times longer than lithium batteries. You can pack the station in your car or leave it at home.
How Much Power do Home Batteries Offer?
The answer to this question depends enormously on the type and model of home battery you’re using. These batteries can range in power capacity from just a few hundred watts to thousands of watts. Or in terms of total fully charged energy capacity, they can provide just a few kWh to 20 or more kWh, depending on model and type. Overall, these are very robust energy buffers for your home.
For example, a small portable power station similar to a home battery with a power capacity of 1800 watts can deliver the following at a go:
- 150 iPhone charges
- 12 hours of running a portable projector
- 75 camera charges
- 12 laptop charges
- Nearly 4 hours of electric drill use
- 132 minutes of coffee maker time
- 25 hours of mini cooler fridge power
For fixed installation home batteries with more robust power storage capacity, their power generating abilities are even greater. For example, a 10 kWh home battery can offer up:
- 950 iPhone charges
- 300 microwave sessions
- Power for 30 laundry wash loads
- 50 hours of power for a full-sized refrigerator
- 30 full pots of coffee
- 6.5 hours of using a space heater
- 50 hours of LCD TV running
The above are some of the typical averages for home batteries and their portable power unit cousins, but they can vary based on power and energy capacity or specific use cases. In all cases, what you can plainly see is that home batteries and portable power units are amazingly useful for off-grid or emergency electrical outage situations, whether you’re at home or out in the country.
Should You Get a Home Battery?
The basic and obvious answer to this question is Yes! No matter how reliable your regional electrical grid is, disasters, accidents, storms, and human mistakes can happen at any time without any warning. In some cases, they can mean having no electricity for hours or even days and if the weather is bad enough, this can become downright dangerous, or at the very least deeply uncomfortable.
A home battery can quickly become your lifeline to the reasonably comfortable living during the worst kinds of temporary grid emergencies and this makes it an extremely valuable investment.
If you combine your home battery with your own off-grid electrical generating system such as a solar array, it can even become a long-term alternative power system for your home that reduces your reliance on potentially high electrical grid prices. The financial savings from this alone also make home batteries into excellent investments that quickly pay off their own modest cost.
And finally, for rural or urban homes that aren’t connected to any wider power grid, home batteries provide a stable reserve of power when added to home solar or wind generating systems that don’t provide power 24 hours a day by themselves.
Write an Evacuation Plan
You should plan on evacuating before any major hurricane hits your area. You risk your life if you stay behind and try to ride the storm out, even if you have a great hurricane preparedness kit.
Take a look at the roads in your area. You can use a major highway to evacuate, but the road can get crowded. You should have an alternative route you can take if traffic becomes severe.
If you cannot leave your local area, you should try to find where the nearest hurricane shelter is. Your local and state government may be running one out of a sports stadium or a school.
For minor storms, you should write a hurricane preparedness plan. You should write down emergency phone numbers and the contact information of your family. During and after a storm, you should remain in touch with others and listen to your radio.
Secure Your Home
Whether you are evacuating or riding a storm out, you need to secure your home. Install tight weather strips around your doors and windows so rain and floodwater cannot seep inside.
You should place plywood boards over your windows so they don’t break. You can write your name and information on a board so a first responder knows you are inside.
All objects outside your house need to come into your house. The wind can throw garbage cans, furniture, and artwork into your windows.
Floodwater can stream into your basement or lower floors. You should move any valuable objects into your upper floors, especially ones made of paper or glass. Take photographs of these objects so you can get compensation if they break.
React Quickly
You can visit the National Hurricane Center’s website and see what storms are developing near you. Once the center issues a forecast for a storm, you should start following your disaster & emergency preparedness plan. If you haven’t bought supplies on your hurricane preparedness list, you should do so.
If you are in your home when a storm hits, you need to remain in a secure room. Move toward the center of your house and stay away from the windows.
If you are not at home, remain where you are until a local government official tells you to come back. You can use the supplies in your preparedness kit until services return to normal. You can also get resources from the National Guard and Red Cross.
Start Hurricane Preparedness Today
Hurricane preparedness is simple yet profound. A hurricane can occur at any moment and affect any coastal community. You should buy supplies right now, especially a portable power station for an emergency.
Figure out how you can evacuate your area and respond to a disaster. In the days before a storm, you should board up your house and lock your doors. Start following your preparedness plan and prioritize keeping yourself safe.
You don’t have to go far for perfect portable power. SOUOP provides great power stations. Browse our collections today.