Hurricane Irene: Our Power Outage, the Fridge Cleanup, and a Couponing Comeback

Hurricane Irene was a real blow to our neighborhood. It knocked down trees, blocked roads, and left many homes without power for days. We were fortunate to have our electricity restored after three days, though some neighbors were out for a week or more and other parts of the city went nearly two weeks without power. The outage was disruptive, but what hit us hardest was the fridge: nearly everything inside spoiled.

It was a strange and costly lesson in how much we take common items for granted. Our collection of condiments, cream cheese tubs, and other refrigerated staples all went bad at once — the kind of situation that adds up quickly at the grocery store. Still, not everything was lost. A few items survived the outage because they didn’t strictly need refrigeration:

• Containers of berries and other fruit
• Some vegetables
• Sandwich wraps and wheat flatbread
• Garlic
• Soda and chocolate

When power returned on day three we salvaged those items, but most of the fridge contents were ruined and needed to be discarded.

One odd casualty was a can of biscuit dough that popped open by itself after losing refrigeration — a small, surreal detail in an otherwise messy situation. Melted ice cream sandwiches were another sad sight: once they curdle and go rank, refreezing doesn’t help.

Before the storm we tried a tip from TV: freeze several zip-top bags of water and then transfer them to the refrigerator to act as giant ice packs during an outage. We filled five or six bags and left room for expansion, but by morning they had melted and leaked out of the freezer, creating a much bigger mess than we expected. At least two bags punctured during the freeze/thaw cycle, and a towel had to be placed to soak up the water. In hindsight the idea might work better if the ice can be moved into the fridge while still frozen, but in our situation it didn’t save the day.

About 15 hours into the blackout we had to open the freezer to retrieve the leaking bags and put them in the sink to stop the damage. Since the freezer door had to be opened anyway, we made a quick run to our relatives’ house — where they still had power — and transferred a few perishable items to their fridge. In a rush we grabbed:

• 12 organic yogurt cups
• Organic whole milk and skim milk
• A pack of cheese sticks
• Strawberries and blueberries
• Two Laughing Cow cheese wheels

Those rescues saved us about $30 worth of essentials that we would have had to replace immediately, and spared Clara (our little one) from missing her usual snacks.

When power finally returned we waited a while for things to cool and then emptied the fridge. The smell was awful; we carried spoiled items straight to the outdoor trash and later sorted compostable and recyclable items into the appropriate bins. The bagged salad and a giant tub of yogurt were particularly tragic — slimy and ruined beyond saving.

Seeing the pile of ruined groceries made us realize just how much we’d have to replace. John suggested we write everything down as we tossed it, and that turned into a helpful shopping list of frequently used staples we’d otherwise forget: ketchup, salad dressing, hummus, syrup, butter, and other condiments are the kinds of items that quietly disappear from the pantry until you need them.

Instead of rushing out to restock, I turned it into a challenge: see how much I could save by hunting coupons for these everyday items. Coupons are often more plentiful for ketchup, mayo, and salad dressings than for organic meat or fresh produce, so I figured a targeted coupon run might offset the cost of restocking. I gathered coupon inserts, checked online coupon sites, and added digital store coupons to our loyalty card before hitting the supermarket.

When we finally shopped, we came home with a lot of groceries — more than we had reusable bags for — and the fridge went from almost empty to fully restocked. The trip totaled $257.40. That felt better than the alternative: without coupons the total would have been over $300. My coupon hunt saved $47.51, which isn’t a huge windfall but still meaningful when you’re replacing a large portion of a household’s staples.

We also picked up a few manufacturer coupons at checkout (catalinas), some of which we’ll use and some we won’t — the coupon cycle continues. After a deep clean, the fridge looked better than ever and felt like a fresh start.

As a final note, I looked into whether food spoilage after a natural disaster might be reimbursable through our insurance. In our case the deductible was higher than the cost to restock, so that route wasn’t helpful — but it’s worth checking with your provider after a storm.

Has anyone else gone through a fridge cleanup after a storm, or hit a couponing plateau and found a way to push past it? I’d love to hear tips and tricks for saving on everyday staples and for protecting food during future outages.