Up here in Maine, anyone who doesn't have a wood stove, kerosene lamps and access to water without power is double dumb.
We have become a nation totally dependent on that thin wire from the house to the phone pole. That is putting our lives in the hands of someone else and trusting all will be well. More people need to have the means of survival within their own control. During the 100 year Ice Storm of 1998, I was without power - no flush! - for 19 days in January...in Maine.
My wood stove provided me with heat, a cooking surface and the greatest wash-tub baths. My well gave me water. My kerosene lamps gave me light - in addition, more heat.
If you can't have a wood stove, you can heat with kerosene lamps - whether one room or more.
For example, years ago, I ran out of oil (before I had my wood stove) in the middle of mid-Feb, 20 degrees BELOW outside. It was a Friday night. No way to get a delivery.
The house was at 70 degrees when the furnace went out. I lit two lamps in the living room, two in the kitchen/dining area and one in the bathroom...corresponding with the number of hot air registers from the furnace.
An hour later, the temp was 72 - and remained so for the week end. The heat from a lamp is so hot you can't hold your hand over it - and is constant - unlike a furnace register.
So, at the least, keep your lamps trimmed and your oil supply filled.
And have, at bare minimum, two weeks of food on hand (NOT IN THE FREEZER)...
We conservatives spout "independence" - but how many of us can BE independent if juice stops coming through the wire?
Diversity can be a good thing! Wood heat, Kerosene backup. Coal stoves or wood pellet stoves where those are easy to feed. Make your own 'lectric if you can, it doesn't mean your off the grid, just enough to keep things going while the grid is down.
I want a Low Energy Nuclear power plant in my house, so I can be totally off the grid. Wouldn't have to worry about electricity for the A/C, heat, power for the water pump, electric car, anything. We'd even be fine on the Gulf Coast after a Katrina sized storm has knocked out the local power plant, and the water treatment system is fouled.