Latest / Joseph Report / What If the Power Stayed Off? Preparing for the People You Love
Transcript
- [OPENING] What if tonight the power went out, and by morning nobody could tell you when it would return? Your phone is running low. The house is getting uncomfortable. Someone you love needs a medical device that plugs into the wall. You open the refrigerator, close it, and wonder how long the food will last. Suddenly the question isn't abstract anymore. It's in your home, in the dark, with the people you love looking at you: What do we do now? Most of us have felt the ordinary stop working. Remember the pandemic grocery trips? The empty spaces on the shelves? Wondering whether you could find what your family needed? Remember the uncertainty you carried home? We shouldn't have to feel that again before we decide to prepare. I'm Joseph Miller. Today I want to talk about protecting the people we love when something we depend on becomes unreliable. [WHEN DISRUPTION BECOMES PERSONAL] Around the world, families are facing circumstances they never would have chosen. In Kenya, a recent food-security assessment identified millions of people in arid and semiarid areas struggling to get enough food. Erratic rainfall is among the pressures. In Ukraine, officials reported further attacks on energy infrastructure in October, leaving households without electricity. Behind those reports are real people trying to feed their children, care for relatives, and get through one more day. War also brings death, injury, and grief, and nothing we say about infrastructure should overshadow that. These situations have different causes. They do not predict the same emergency here. But they show us what every household needs: safe water, food we can access, a place to live safely, and someone we can reach for help. A storm can interrupt those things where we live. So can a local infrastructure failure. A lost paycheck can make food hard to afford even when the shelves are full. We may never face what those families face. But we can take our own vulnerabilities seriously. I think about the parent who could manage a missed shopping trip alone, but has three children to feed. The husband watching his wife's medical equipment as the lights flicker. The older neighbor who can't carry water up the stairs. Their needs don't wait while everyone figures out what happened. That's why preparedness matters to me. I want us to have something real to offer when someone turns to us and asks, "What are we going to do?" [START WITH WATER] Start with the kitchen faucet. If it stopped working tomorrow, how much safe water would you actually have? Count it. Don't count on the trip you plan to make to the store. Look at what is already in your home. The CDC recommends at least one gallon per person, per day, for three days. For four people, that's twelve gallons as a starting point. Then account for pets and additional needs, including illness and hot weather. Unopened commercially bottled water is a reliable emergency option. If you fill your own containers, follow CDC guidance for cleaning, sanitizing, and safe storage. Build gradually if you need to. Keep it where your household can reach it. And if a container is too heavy for someone to lift, plan how they'll get the water out. That supply buys you time to understand what's happening and decide your next step. It also gives you one less urgent problem when everything else is demanding your attention. [PLAN FOR THE PEOPLE IN YOUR HOME] Now think about food. If you couldn't shop for several days, what meals could you actually make? Which would still work if the electricity stayed off? Plan around familiar foods your family will eat. Include dietary restrictions and anything a baby or dependent adult needs. Use those foods and replace them in your normal routine. You don't need an impressive collection. You need meals that work under the conditions you're preparing for. Then think about health. Does someone you love depend on refrigerated medication or equipment that needs power? Talk with the pharmacist, care team, or equipment provider now about a specific outage plan. Know where you could go if home becomes unsafe, who could take you, and whom you would call first. A charged phone and a flashlight help. But a person whose health depends on electricity needs a plan that goes beyond hunting for batteries in a drawer. And please test what you already own. Find the flashlight. Check the phone power bank. Make sure the person who might need them knows how they work. Discovering a dead battery in the middle of an outage is a frustrating way to learn about a task you could have done on Tuesday. [MAKE A PLAN YOU CAN USE] What if your family isn't together when the interruption begins? One person is at work. Someone else is on the road. A child is with a caregiver. Agree on whom you'll contact and where you'll reconnect if getting home isn't possible. Write down important numbers. Make sure more than one person has them. Check how your local emergency alerts and utility notices reach you. In a real interruption, those sources can help you decide whether to stay, leave, or change your plan. But don't leave the whole plan inside one person's phone, or one person's head. Sit down together and walk through a realistic evening without power. How would you eat? Stay comfortable? Help the person who needs the most assistance? That conversation can expose a gap while you still have the time and patience to fix it. [PREPARATION WITHIN YOUR MEANS] Maybe you're listening and thinking, "Joseph, I'm already struggling to cover this week." Then start with what costs little or nothing. Gather the supplies you already own. Write down the contacts. Arrange a ride. Plan a few meals before buying anything extra. Your budget belongs in the plan. So do your mobility, your health, and your caregiving responsibilities. And maybe you have more to offer than you realize. You may know how to make a tight budget stretch, repair a broken item, prepare a meal, stay calm in an emergency, listen without rushing, or organize information when others feel overwhelmed. Those abilities don't have to wait for perfect conditions. They can be strengthened now and offered with humility. Think, too, about the neighbor who lives alone. Have you talked about checking on each other? Would you know if that person needed help? A nearby relationship can give you something a shelf of supplies cannot: another person who notices when you're struggling. For families already facing hunger or violence, preparation alone cannot remove the danger. They need protection and assistance. We should remember that as we use our own opportunities responsibly. [FAITH AND RESPONSIBILITY] In Genesis chapter forty-one, Joseph advised gathering food during Egypt's plentiful years so there would be provision during the famine ahead. I see wisdom there about using the time and resources we have. His counsel became action before the need was overwhelming. For me, faith gives preparation its purpose: caring for the people entrusted to us and being better able to help others. But preparedness doesn't mean wise planning will make us prosperous or put every crisis under our control. A full storehouse of food and water does not guarantee we will have plenty when a crisis hits. Preparedness is not a promise of comfort or a stress-free emergency. I cannot promise my family that nothing difficult will happen. I can take responsibility for what I'm able to put in order today. The ordinary acts of learning, organizing, saving, repairing, and planning may be the very discipline we need to adapt, survive, and overcome a future crisis. Developing the skills and confidence to stay level-headed during an extraordinary event is likely more valuable than putting another can on the shelf. Building the muscle of awareness will help you secure your family in times of distress. [CLOSING] So here's your challenge. Before this week ends, choose the interruption that would hurt your household most. Then close one gap. Count the water. Arrange the medical backup. Have the family conversation. Choose the action that answers a real need in your home. Because when someone you love is frightened, thirsty, or waiting for help, the preparation you've already done becomes something you can offer them. You can say, "Here's what we have. Here's who we're calling. Here's our next step." You may not be able to fix the wider emergency. But you can help the person beside you face the next hour. Awareness without panic. Preparedness without paranoia.