How prepared are you for a weather emergency?

Christine Venema<venema@msu.edu>, Michigan State University Extension -

Ways to prepare for an emergency and keep your food from spoiling.

Spring is right around the corner. This time of the year, Mother Nature tends to be unpredictable and even violent. How prepared are you for a weather emergency? Here are some steps to take ahead of time in the event of a potential weather emergency:

  1. Michigan State University Extension recommends you purchase an appliance thermometer for the refrigerator and one for the freezer.
  2. A freezer needs to be at 0 degree Fahrenheit to keep food safely frozen and a refrigerator needs to below 40 F. Maintaining these temperatures is necessary to keep food safe.
  3. Containers of frozen water and gel packs can be used to help keep food cold in a freezer, refrigerator, or coolers after the power goes out.
  4. Also consider freezing leftover food, milk, fresh meat and poultry to maintain a safe temperature, when the power goes out.
  5. Plan ahead and know where the nearest source of dry ice is. Also where can block ice be purchased?
  6. To help keep food cold longer in the freezer, try grouping items together to form blocks of frozen food.
  7. If there is a threat of flooding, plan on storing foods off the floor and away from rising water.

Planning ahead will help keep the food safe to eat during and following a weather emergency.

Additional articles in this series: 

How safe if your food after a weather emergency?

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).

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