The Monroe Evening News reported that one out of every six residents lost power at some point during the past few days. As of this morning, some Monroe County residents are still without power – see DTE Energy’s power outage map. We also have reports from Consumers Energy about lingering outages near the state line.

Some of my neighbors and co-workers saved their freezer stocks by rushing groceries to a relative’s home who still had power.

I hadn’t considered that option when our power went out Monday night, but it would not have been easy for us to do anyway. All of our nearest relatives live about an hour away. My husband was scheduled to work 12-hour shifts this week (temporary situation: he’ll be on unemployment benefits soon when his factory goes on a two to three week shutdown). And because I work as a reporter at The Monroe Evening News, my job includes helping other Monroe County residents get through emergency situations. Busy days and possibly long hours are part of my job during those times.

Our home in Monroe had no power for almost 48 hours. I don’t think I could have saved all the food even if I had shoved ice in the freezer during the day Tuesday. (Traveling in my neighborhood was not safe Monday night). It was a chore to keep even the ice chest cold with just a small amount of groceries.

So at this point, there’s very little in the fridge: A few condiments, some pop, the lunch meat and cheese I bought Tuesday, a loaf of bread I pulled out of the freezer.

I put the extra bagels, tortillas and English muffins back in the freezer, along with my recently made strawberry freezer jam. I figured those would all be OK.

What do I do about restocking my family’s food supplies?

It’s not going to happen immediately. We’ve got too many other expenses this week, including trying to find a battery backup for the sump pump.

We do have plenty of pantry food options, especially if I pick up some milk and eggs. And that’s pretty much what I recommend the rest of you do right now: just focus on critical short-term needs for the next couple of days.

You can get back to serious grocery shopping next week.