FSR Newsroom

The entire country has been experiencing unusually hot weather this year. It came to a head last week in the eastern part of the United States when triple-digit temperatures and very violent thunderstorms knocked out power for millions of residents.

Power crews worked Monday to restore service to homes and businesses, and officials in some areas said the job could take up to a week. Utilities in Ohio, Virginia and Maryland described damage to their power grids as catastrophic.

Emergencies were declared in Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C., during the weekend because of damage from storms that unleashed hurricane-force winds across a 500-mile (800-kilometer) stretch of the mid-Atlantic region.

That’s right, hurricane-force winds from thunderstorms.

The real problem is when these types of emergencies happen, most families lose all of the food they have in the refrigerator. Considering the average American family has only about a week of food in their homes, you can see what a big problem this can become.

We recommend having at least two weeks of food storage just to survive little hiccups such as this. And, we think it’s a great idea to have even more just to be able to survive longer emergencies and/or help out friends and neighbors. At the very least, you should be prepared with a 72-hour kit. (And check out our 72-hour kit checklist).

If you are wondering how to get started on a larger supply of food storage, we recommend starting with our food storage profile.

Have you been affected by these storms in the mid-Atlantic? Tell us about your experience.