Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

When people start talking about emergency preparedness, I begin to squirm. Not because I don’t want to think about disaster – I’ll show up at any good apocalyptic movie you put out there – but because the lists of what you’re supposed to do to prepare are just so long. And there’s about six of them on the CDC website, for everything from severe weather to bioterrorism. Frankly, I’m lazy, and don’t want to think about buying and storing all that stuff. Sorry dad, I’m an embarrassment.

Yet recently, watching some friends go through evacuation for a wildfire brought reality home; it’s important to be ready for even basic emergencies. For motivation, I decided to break down those to-do lists into small steps and take just a few at a time, starting with something I like, my gizmos and gadgets.

Most of the US has to deal with some variety of severe summer storms with lightning and winds that love to knock out power. Those surges and blackout can fry sensitive equipment before you even know what’s happened and all you can do is cry over your hard drive’s little charred corpse. 


Image via Shutterstock

Protect your tech

Power strips are no protection against lightning or power outages, and one hit can fry that smartphone you dearly love. For any sensitive equipment – basically anything with a chip inside it -- a surge protector will buffer an electric spike and save your data and the money you’ve invested.

For a computer, though, you need a battery backup -- one of those things you hear in your office that start randomly beeping now and again making you think you’re going crazy. That beep means the backup unit’s internal battery is giving your computer time to power down and save data during sudden power loss. When you’re writing your dissertation or have made it to Level 16 Wizard in your MMORPG (sorry, I don’t speak gamer), that gentle shut down will be the sweetest moment of your life.

Keep your data around

Speaking of data preservation: backup all your data and system settings often and everywhere. Not just to an external hard drive, which can be dropped, broken or corrupted on its own -- back up in at least two places. The cloud is great for storing documents and photos but don’t forget your system settings and applications. Keep copies of original disks or a good system restore copy where you know you’ll be able to get it.

Portable power

If you live somewhere prone to tornados or power outages you must have a battery operated radio and fully charged batteries. Test those batteries monthly throughout the storm season and keep an extra set on hand.

With the abundance of external power supplies on the market now for everything from phones to computers its worth investing in one or two. There could be little worse than having your home damaged in a tornado and being unable to call your family because your cell battery died. A small 2800mAh power tube will easily recharge a cell phone and can be purchased for under $30.

It’s so easy to take simple steps to protect our work, memories, data and connectivity not only in emergencies but every day. Don’t put it off; ensure you’re ready for anything that comes your way. 

For all kinds of emergency suggestions and the whole list of things that can go wrong in the world visit the Center for Disease Control’s Emergency Preparedness Page or Ready.gov for FEMA’s advice. Next up for me, duck tape and enough plastic sheeting to keep out the plague!