Summary
Spring and summer storms are becoming more frequent and destructive, causing power outages, flooding, and supply disruptions. To prepare, every household needs 3 essentials: Food that doesn’t require refrigeration, stored and filtered water, and reliable backup power.
Spring and Summer Storms Are Getting Worse
2025 spring and summer storms showed us that preparation isn't optional…
It's essential.
In 2025, the United States experienced 23 billion-dollar weather disasters. [1]
21 of those were severe weather events—concentrated entirely in the spring and summer months. [2]
A single outbreak in mid-March spawned 118 tornadoes across the Midwest and South, killing 43 people and causing $11 billion in damages. [3]
One National Weather Service region issued 462 warnings during the spring season alone—breaking their all-time record.[4]
But the destruction didn't stop when summer arrived.
On July 4th weekend, a stationary thunderstorm complex stalled over Texas. The Guadalupe River rose 31 feet in 90 minutes. 135 people died.
It became one of the deadliest inland floods in modern U.S. history. The damage: $22 billion.[3]
By July, 2025 had already set the record for the costliest 6 months of weather disasters on record—exceeding $101 billion in damages.[3]
Spring and summer storms in 2025 killed 276 people and cost the nation $115 billion.
The season also saw the return of EF5 tornadoes—the most intense storms on the scale—for the first time since 2013. [3]
You cannot control the weather.
But you can control whether your family has food, water, and backup power.
You can control whether you're scrambling to find supplies or calmly accessing what you've already prepared.
What Should You Have Before a Storm Hits?
You can't predict when a storm will arrive, but you can control what you have on hand when it does.
There are 3 things every household needs in place before severe weather strikes: food, water, and power.
Let’s break it down.
Food That Doesn't Depend on Power
When the power goes out, refrigerated food starts spoiling within hours of losing power.
Freezers buy you time, but not much.
And if the outage lasts more than a day or two, what looked like a full kitchen disappears fast.
Cooking isn’t guaranteed either. Electric stoves don’t work. Gas can be shut off.
That’s why you need food that requires no refrigeration and no special preparation.
You need emergency food that:
- Stores long-term
- Requires little to no cooking
- Delivers enough calories and protein to keep your family functioning in crisis
This is where most people get it wrong.
They rely on snacks, canned goods, or whatever happens to be in the pantry.
That might get you through a day or two, but not a real disruption.
Another mistake people make is not calculating how much food they actually need.
It’s important to think about emergency food in terms of meals, calories, and how many people you need to feed.
Don’t assume what’s on the shelf will stretch or provide the nutrition needed to get through a crisis.
In an emergency, you need more calories, not less.
Stress, physical effort, and heat all increase what your body requires, and if you’re feeding a family, that demand adds up fast.
Finally, you need a way to cook without relying on your home’s electricity or gas.
Biomass stoves, emergency ovens, or alternative cooking sources give you the ability to prepare food when your kitchen doesn’t work.
Without that, even the food you have may not be usable.
A real emergency food plan means having enough on hand to feed your household for days—or weeks—without relying on stores, power, or timing.
Water You Can Access without the Tap
Municipal water systems are vulnerable.
Storms damage water treatment facilities, contaminate supply lines, and cause pressure loss that makes water unsafe to drink.
When this happens, bottled water disappears from shelves within hours.
You cannot rely on being able to buy water after a disaster strikes.
You need 2 things: Backup filtration and water storage.
The best way to prepare for a lack of running water is to invest in emergency purification and filtration tools before it happens.
If you have these items on hand, you can rest assured knowing you will be able to have clean drinking water even in an emergency.
- Aquamira G20 Water Filtration Bottle: This amazing bottle lets you drink biologically filtered water from almost any freshwater source. If you can find a creek, stream, or pond, you can fill this bottle with water, and its strong filter will protect against viruses, parasites, bacteria, and microorganisms.
- Alexapure Pro: For whole home water filtration, the Alexapure Pro is what you want. It is a gravity-powered water filtration system, which reduces more than 200 contaminants, and holds more than 2 gallons.
- Chlorine Dioxide Water Treatment Drops: Adding just a few drops to your stored water, you can prevent mold, bacteria, and other contaminants from spoiling the water.
Water storage is critical because it’s one of the few things you can actively control before a storm hits.
When you know bad weather is coming, you can fill up water storage containers in addition to the bathtub and sinks.
That gives you immediate access to water you can drink or use for basic tasks like washing dishes.
If the power goes out and stays out, having that stored water on hand becomes one of the most important things in your home.
Power for When the Grid Goes Down
No power means no refrigeration for food. No charging for communication devices.
No lights for safety. No way to run medical equipment if someone in your family depends on it.
Extended outages can last days or weeks, leaving you in the dark—literally and figuratively.
Backup power gives you control.
Portable solar tools like the 65W Power Bank by Grid Doctor and the Wireless Solar PowerBank Charger keep phones, radios, and small devices charged without relying on the grid.
For longer term outages, a solar generator like the Grid Doctor 3300 gives you the ability to:
- Keep refrigerators and freezers cold
- Run lights, fans, and small appliances
- Charge phones, radios, and medical devices
- Maintain daily life without the grid
How to Build a Simple Storm Preparedness Plan
Your plan doesn’t need to be complicated. It just needs to be decided ahead of time.
Here’s a simple way to think about it:
Food
- Do you have enough food for everyone in your household for at least 3 to 7 days without power?
Cooking
- Do you have a way to heat or prepare food when power goes out?
Water
- Do you have stored water on hand before the storm hits?
- Do you have a way to filter or purify more if needed?
Power
- How will you keep phones, lights, and essential devices running?
- Do you have backup power if the outage lasts longer than expected?
Communication
- How will you stay informed if cell service is limited?
- Do you have a way to reach family members if you’re separated?
Home Readiness
- Have you secured outdoor items and checked vulnerable areas?
- Do you have lighting if the power goes out at night?
Prepare for Storms Now: Your Next Steps
Now that you know the 3 things every household needs before a storm hits—food, water, and power—go over the checklist above and look at each one honestly.
- Do you have enough food for everyone in your home?
- Do you have stored water and a way to make it more safe to drink?
- Do you have backup power, lighting, and a way to cook if the outage lasts longer than expected?
This is where preparation becomes real. You stop assuming and start identifying what’s missing.
If a storm hit tonight, what would you run out of first? Let us know in the comments.
In liberty,
Elizabeth Anderson
Preparedness Advisor, My Patriot Supply
Sources
[1] TIME.2025 Billion-Dollar Climate Disasters.
2025. https://time.com/7344568/2025-billion-dollar-climate-disasters/
[2] Climate Central.2025 in Review: Climate Matters.
2025. https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/2025-in-review
[3] Baron Weather.2025 Year in Review: Extreme Weather.
2025. https://baronweather.com/extreme-weather/2025-year-in-review
[4] National Weather Service (NOAA).2025 Year in Review.
2025. https://www.weather.gov/pah/2025YearInReview
