Ideas for staying cool when the power goes out.

I am very worried about all of our fellow Americans and every other country suffering from loss of the power grid right now so wanted to open discussion on what you can do to stay cool and help others to stay alive and well during this crisis.


One suggestion I have if you still have water and a yard with trees is to spray the tree's as high as you can and set up a little comfortable outdoor living space under them.

I know that it does cool the entire area by several degrees and creates a little mist type area.

Another thing is to keep buckets or pails, kiddy pool anything you can find to set your feet into to stay cool.

Dipping your hands into cool water (up past at least wrists) and using a spray bottle to mist your self is also a relief.

Taking a wet towel and placing it on your neck and or over your eyes can also alleviate the suffering.

I realize some of these ideas are just common sense but when you are sweltering and in an emergency it is always good to see some reminders.

Some important points:

*Check on your neighbors to make sure they are OK.
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*Keep pets safe from the heat as well and help them to remain cool by washing them a few times a day in a hose starting at their paws and gradually working your way up so as not to cause shock.
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*Help children feel safe and secure by allowing them to have some fun with clean spray bottles or squirt guns, a kiddy pool, cool bathes, anything that will help them through without fear or anxiety. Assure them this will pass and that they are going to be OK.

There are so many other suggestions, so feel free to add what you know!

I've never had air conditioning.

If it gets so hot for so long that I cant stand it I sleep in the basement where it's at least 15 degrees cooler and spend all day at the river swimming.

For kitties I suggest using a wet wash cloth to gently rub them down. You can do this several times a day. This also works with dogs and really helps them stay comfortable.

Always change their water a couple times a day during extreme heat and feed them in the evening when temps are a bit cooler.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Good suggestions, my kids and I along with their friends went kayaking for the first time last year during the hottest day of the year, it was outrageous fun! The river we floated down was only 5 miles but surrounded by trees and filled with fresh water springs.

Take loads of water!!! That was the one thing we did not take enough of...

What's this power down thing related to? When did this start happening and where? Are there any good threads on it? I've searched for some but they seemed very vague and lacked information. So does anyone know for certain what's going on? Thanks!

While I'm getting ready for work, I just sent my sister to go check on the homeless man in a wheelchair down the street and to what he needs to get by on this heat. Told to her to also look for a battery hand held fan for him to buy him lots of cold water to keep him hydrated.

Sit in your lawn chair under the sprinkler. Worked for me and you don't freeze your butt off. Plus you get a tan.

Those people will be fine, we are human beings, we are animals, we are the most adaptive species on the planet. I would be willing to be that the people that die will be out of shape (if any one dies from heat).

Here are some interesting facts I just read and wanted to share. My big question after such a dramatic summer is if we are also fated to suffer as catastrophic a winter?

History 20th century 1923/1924 - During a period of 160 such days from 31 October 1923 to 7 April 1924, the Western Australian town of Marble Bar set a world record for the most consecutive days above 100 °F (38 °C).[26]

1936 - The 1936 North American heat wave during the Dust Bowl, followed one of the coldest winters on record—the 1936 North American cold wave.


Massive heat waves across North America were persistent in the 1930s, many mid-Atlantic/Ohio valley states recorded their highest temperatures during July 1934. The longest continuous string of 100 °F (38 °C) or higher temperatures was reached for 101 days in Yuma, Arizona during 1937 and the highest temperatures ever reached in Canada were recorded in two locations in Saskatchewan in July 1937.

1950s - A prolonged severe drought and heat wave occurred in the early 1950s throughout the central and southern United States. In some areas it was drier than during the Dust Bowl and the heat wave in most areas was within the top five on record. The heat was particularly severe in 1954 with 22 days of temperatures exceeding 100 °F (38 °C) covering significant parts of eleven states.

On July 14, the thermometer reached 117 °F (47 °C) at East St. Louis, Illinois, which remains the record highest temperature for that state.[27][28][29]

1972 - The heat waves of 1972 in New York and Northeastern United States were significant. Almost 900 people perished; the heat conditions lasted almost 16 days, aggravated by very high humidity levels. 1976 - The 1976 United Kingdom heat wave was one of the hottest in living memory and was marked by constant blues skies from May until September when dramatic thunderstorms signalled the heat wave's end.

1980 - An estimated 10,000 people perished in the 1980 United States heat wave and drought, which impacted the central and eastern United States. Temperatures were highest in the southern plains. From June through September, temperatures remained above 90 °F (32 °C) all but two days in Kansas City, Missouri.

The Dallas/Fort Worth area experienced 42 consecutive days with high temperatures above 100 °F (38 °C), with temperatures reaching 117 °F (47 °C) at Wichita Falls, Texas on June 28. Economic losses were $20 billion (1980 dollars).

[30] 1983 - During the Summer of 1983 temperatures over 100 °F (38 °C) were common across Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota, Nebraska and certain parts of Kentucky; the summer of 1983 remains one of the hottest summers ever recorded in many of the states affected. The hundred-degree readings were accompanied by very dry conditions associated with drought affecting the Corn Belt States and Upper Midwest. The heat also affected the Southeastern U.S. and the Mid-Atlantic states as well that same summer. New York Times represented articles about the heat waves of 1983 affecting the central United States.

[31] Temperature difference in Europe from the average during the European heat wave of 2003 1988 - intense heat spells in combination with the drought of 1988, reminiscent of the dust bowl years caused deadly results across the United States. Some 5,000 to 10,000 people perished because of constant heat across the United States although-according to many estimates-total death reports run as high as next to 17,000 deaths.

[32] 1995 - The 1995 Chicago heat wave produced record high dew point levels and heat indices in the Chicago area and Wisconsin. The lack of emergency cooling facilities and inadequate response from civic authorities to the senior population, particularly in lower income neighborhoods in Chicago and other Midwest cities, lead to many deaths.

1999 - a heat wave and drought in the eastern United States during the summer of 1999. Rainfall shortages resulted in worst drought on record for Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. The state of West Viriginia was declared a disaster area. 3,810,000 acres (15,400 km2) were consumed by fire as of mid-August Record heat throughout the country resulted in 502 deaths nationwide.[33][34]

Now what I find even more alarming is that the sustained temps we have seen in the past 2 years alone have broken all these records and it looks as if we may be thrown into a Nationwide state of emergency before summers end.

Forest fires and flooding when the rain and thunder/lightning does come will also be a very real threat and consequence of this summers heatwave.

en.wikipedia.org...

You can read more interesting weather facts in the link listed above.

A wet wristband aroun the left wrist will help keep you cool. The evaporation of the water causes a Cooling effect and the left arm carries blood from the heart, out to the rest of the body.

Great advice , and great thread idea.

The hand held mister idea works great, and have used that idea many times at a hot outdoor event.

filling the bathtub with cool water, and just immersing yourself periodically works great as well .

Another good trick is taking a head scarf, that retains water well and soaking it in very cold water, and wrapping it around your head (after soaking head in cold water ) The scarf will have to be taken off periodically and re soaked in cold water, because it doesn't take long for it to warm up.

reply to post by kromaion


Power out to a heat wave across many states in the US. Then
a storm with straight line winds went thru several states knocking
out power to over a million customers. Our city has 56,000 without
power (we are lucky we have power) and not expected to restore
power at least until the middle of next week. Lots of power lines
down, trees and structure damage.

As far as staying cool, leave all your heavy work until late in
the evening, don't try to beat the heat. The spray bottle is
a great idea for people and pets. Put your feet in a pan of
cool water, it will cool the rest of the body.

reply to post by kromaion


There are some great threads on ATS about it with first hand accounts, seems for some they suffered straightline winds in excess of 100 MPH during a heat wave and intense thunder /lightning storm. This took out the power grid by falling trees and downed powerlines.

Hows the weather down your way?

Originally posted by kromaion
What's this power down thing related to? When did this start happening and where? Are there any good threads on it? I've searched for some but they seemed very vague and lacked information. So does anyone know for certain what's going on? Thanks!

A powerful line of thunderstorms, fueled in part by a historic heat wave, brought widespread wind damage from Indiana all the way to the Mid-Atlantic coast on Friday and Friday night. The line of thunderstorms, known as a derecho, began as a cluster of thunderstorms in the Chicago area late Friday morning. By the early afternoon hours, it quickly took on the more ominous "bow" shape on radar imagery over northern Indiana, signaling a powerful surge of winds at the apex of the "bow echo", a reference to the shape of a bow and arrow

www.weather.com...

It also took out some popular websites with it.
It effected about 2 million people.

Originally posted by Infi8nity
Those people will be fine, we are human beings, we are animals, we are the most adaptive species on the planet. I would be willing to be that the people that die will be out of shape (if any one dies from heat).

That's always who dies. The sick, the elderly and the infants.

And of course the poor dogs that idiots leave in their cars.

I wonder if any other species expends so much time, emotion and energy toward the protection of its sickest.

We jump through hoops to save every invalid and geriatric then bitch about overpopulation and medical costs so we institute boards and bureaucracies to deal with who gets what and even go so far as to regulate births.

Humans are a stupid lot. Like hyper emotional teenage girls who want everything the way they want it now and refuse to take even a moment to step back and think.

Who else would have embraced the science of eugenics while simultaneously fighting to prevent nature from ever taking its course? It's as if mankind wants to keep people alive just so there are more to kill with intent.

reply to post by DISINFORMANT


That is solid info, thanks!

Originally posted by antar
For kitties I suggest using a wet wash cloth to gently rub them down. You can do this several times a day. This also works with dogs and really helps them stay comfortable.

Always change their water a couple times a day during extreme heat and feed them in the evening when temps are a bit cooler.

Super Soakers work well also, they keep my cats real cool. You can also put ice in them.

reply to post by crazydaisy


Thanks, that's kinda creepy though. Hope you all stay safe! I'd like to know if there's some explanation for that, I mean... You know, apart from the obvious "weather" thing, because we're in conspiracy forum after all.

reply to post by antar


Hey, thanks for answering. Well, I live in Brazil and the weather here is about perfect, nothing wrong so far (so far). Stay safe you all up there, I'll keep an eye on the news.

reply to post by kdog1982


Thank you very much, sir. Stay safe!