Imagine for a moment you are sleeping soundly, all snug in your bed. It’s raining and windy outside, but the sound is almost hypnotically soothing. The weather report called for this tonight, and even a chance of severe storms, but hearing that is almost commonplace anymore. No need to worry, your family is safe at home.
You are jarred awake by what can only be described as an ear-splitting howl. You race to find the rest of your family and pull everyone together into an interior room because you know in your gut what this is: a tornado. There’s no time.
Terrified screams blend with the howling winds and the sound of splintering wood. Suddenly your ears pop, and it quiets down to a distant roar. You look up, and now see sky where your ceiling used to be. Everyone seems to be unhurt, so you force the door open and it falls to the ground.
Your house, and everything in it……….is gone.
I admit, this may sound a bit like a movie script to you, but for far too many families across the globe, this is a harsh reality. It might not have been a tornado, it could have been a hurricane, a flood, an earthquake or fire, but the outcome is the same…or worse.
The first people on scene are the first responders. They are working to triage the immediate need. They are the first wave of what ultimately becomes a rush of help. Government agencies, public and private organizations bring a host of resources to bear.
Survivors need to reach out to be sure to get the help they need, they must contact family, and friends. In this chaos, there are those who are providing food, water, clothing, medical care, even portable housing in the form of tents. But what is the one thing all of us use constantly, and totally take for granted…. until its gone?
Power. We are very fortunate here in the US. Even though much of our infrastructure is dated and in need of modernization, it still stands as the world’s best. Even so, a single storm can take out power for tens of thousands. And that big picture is what the large relief efforts focus on.
Amid extreme stress, and the overwhelming sense of loss, there is a powerful yearning for some sense of normalcy. Just to make a cup of coffee, charge your phones, light a light at night, to achieve some of the things that we take for granted each and every day, now seem nearly impossible. Why? No access to power where I need it.
When I became engrossed in searching for something to meet this need, I was astounded that no one was even considering this. The top providers in the world of disaster relief have established efficient methods to bring in everything else, but no one has thought that the need for personal power should be elevated to the status of a necessity. I have no idea why.
We live in a world that literally grinds to a halt without power. This world is populated by people who have their daily lives built on the availability of power. I am not here to make a moral judgement on whether that is right and good, I am just stating what is.
Like it or not, power enables us to live, work, eat, play and get medical care. Lose it, and things unravel pretty fast. We panic when the power goes out. Our food spoils, our cell phones die, our computers shut down. Add to this, catastrophic loss, and it is a recipe for personal disaster.
It does not have to be this way.
Portable power stations that employ safe lithium battery technology, recharged by the sun, can offer a thread of normalcy people can hold onto. A tether to what was, can go a long way with a family who has just lost it all.
For over three years, my team and I at Powerhouse Two have been working to develop a small unit that can deliver that much needed power safely and in any environmental condition imaginable. Those conditions found in the aftermath of disaster are far from ideal. The biggest challenge we faced was finding something that could take the punishment. Nothing could, so we worked with a dedicated team who shared the same vision, and we have built units that are virtually indestructible, and they are available under our brand, Power XP. (www.power-XP.com)
It is my belief that every home should have a portable power station. Charge it up, keep it in the closet, and when you need it, it will fast become one of the most valuable and useful products you have ever purchased. It could quite literally save your life.
Disaster Relief organizations should bring these into affected areas and put them to work in every home. They can be recharged and reused thousands of times. Keep in mind though, this is not camping where you want to watch a movie on your laptop or power a small cooler. We are talking wet, dirty, hot, cold, the worst conditions.
There are plenty of units that are leisure focused. The odds are they will not last in an emergency environment, but anything is better than nothing when everything is dark.
So, if I could leave one thought in your mind, I ask you to consider the family I wrote about in the beginning. It could be me, or you, or everyone on your street. You will not be able to avoid disaster, statistically it will find you in your life. I can promise you this, when the access to power is gone, you will need it, and no one will be bringing it anytime soon.
The safe and reliable technology available to you today will put power in your hands, where you need it, when you need it.
