You know it's going to happen again, don't you. The power is going to go out. It might be for a few seconds when the lights flicker on and off, or it might be an outage that lasts an hour or two. On the other hand, there are outages that can last days, even weeks. You just never know.

Power outages are the most common disaster type. On any given day there can be thousands, even tens of thousands people impacted by power outages. Don't believe me? Check out the https://poweroutage.us/ website to see which U.S. states are experiencing power outages today. Last year there were over 230,000 power outages in the U.S. resulting in 520 million customer hours without power! Need I say more? Here's what the typical family can do to minimize this type of disaster.

A power outage can impact a family's food, water and comfort. Those items are essential for preparing a family for the worst. To us, the worst is a power outage that lasts one to three full days. Yikes! Can you image all of the food in your refrigerator being unusable or not having access to water from your sink, bathtub, or toilet? What would it be like if the winter temperature outside is cold or below freezing or hot and uncomfortable during the summer months?

The preparedness solution for dealing with a power outage (no matter how long it may last) is to have a minimal or robust shelter-in-place plan. A minimal shelter-in-place plan will help a family utilize their existing food and water supplies and provide the family with comfort items to deal without power and excessive temperature conditions. Chances are this type of disaster can and will happen to your family, so it makes sense to spend an hour or two to prepare your family for that next power outage. Plus, having a shelter-in-place plan for power outages also benefits the many other disasters where a shelter-in-place preparedness plan can be very helpful for your family.