A Big Island resident's plea for help after a storm-related power outage highlighted the high stakes of losing electricity with over 200 pounds of meat sitting in a deep freezer with no backup power.
After 24 hours without electricity, the question was no longer whether the power would return but how to stop the meat from spoiling — with the Redditor considering securing a generator, finding ice, or throwing "a huge barbecue" before the food spoiled.
Here's what to know
The request, posted on r/BigIsland by a Hawaiian Paradise Park resident, sought two things from neighbors who still had electricity: a generator available to rent "long enough to bring freezer temps down" or information on where to get ice on the east side.
Users offered reassurance and advice. "You should be good for 48 hours if it's really full and you don't open it," one commenter wrote. (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also shared this food-safety tip.)
If the meat could not be saved, one commenter suggested giving it to Amedeo Markoff, who runs the Pāhoa Lava Zone Museum and Community Kitchen so the food wouldn't go to waste but help people in need.
"We're in HPP. We have a 4KW generator. It'll take two men to get it into a truck bed, and I'm happy to loan it out to you for a few hours," another neighbor posted.
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More background
Food loss is one of the biggest financial setbacks families can face during an extended outage. A full freezer can represent months of expensive groceries, hunting, fishing, bulk purchases, and meal prep. When the power goes out for a day or more, that investment can be at risk.
That risk is even more serious as extreme weather disasters grow more disruptive. Stronger storms and grid failures can threaten public health by making food unsafe, cutting off refrigeration for medications, and sending people onto dangerous roads in search of fuel, ice, or supplies. They can also erode community safety and economic stability, especially for households already burdened by high grocery and energy costs.
The original poster updated the thread that they were looking for ice since they didn't gain access to a generator.
What can be done?
The practical takeaway is to conserve the cold temperature inside a freezer for as long as possible. "You only need an hour or two per day [with a generator] to keep it below freezing," one neighbor wrote, advising draping the unit with blankets to keeping it out of direct sun.
Backup power is another consideration, especially for people who store large amounts of food. A generator might be a valuable investment since it can be weighed against what could be lost in a single outage. For some families, even a short-term backup solution can protect a significant amount of food from going to waste.
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