How Nova Scotians are getting creative with storm prep ahead of Hurricane Fiona

As Atlantic Canada braces for Hurricane Fiona, which is on track to hit the region this weekend, emergency management officials are urging Nova Scotians to be prepared.

But Nova Scotians are no stranger to brutal storms and widespread power outages.

Many who lived through Hurricane Juan in 2003 and Hurricane Dorian in 2019 are sharing their own creative storm preparation tips and tricks on social media.

Food and snacks

An unopened refrigerator without power will keep food cold for about four hours, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency advises people not to open the refrigerator or freezer door unless absolutely necessary during an outage. 

One Twitter user suggests freezing large containers of water to keep your fridge cool longer, and stocking a cooler with ice so you don't need to open the fridge often. Go-to storm cooler snacks include fruit, vegetables, cheese and cold cuts.

One Halifax Reddit thread is chock-full of ideas for grocery shopping and meal planning ahead of a power outage. Lots of canned food, like tuna and baked beans, can be eaten safely without needing to be cooked.

Others suggest overnight oats, hard-boiled eggs, pasta salad, peanut butter sandwiches, and lots of leftovers.

A Red Cross blog post offers lots of simple recipe ideas for power outages, including a white bean salad. 

If you're able to use a camping stove to heat food, consider dried foods that can be soaked in hot water rather than boiled for an extended period, like couscous and rice vermicelli noodles.

"Just don't use it indoors," one user wrote.

Power tips

Fiona is expected to track northward and into the Maritimes late Friday and Saturday as it transitions to a post-tropical storm.

Before the storm hits, make sure to charge your phones, laptops, tablets, and other handheld devices you'll be using in the event of an outage.

Make sure you have batteries of all sizes on hand, particularly for flashlights, and external battery packs to charge your devices. If you have a generator, test it to make sure it's working.

No generator? No problem. One Twitter user plans to use the battery of their Prius as a backup generator in case of a power outage.