Imagine a solar flare or cyber attack knocks out the power grid, and everyone in central and southern Maine loses power for a month or more.

Most Mainers know what to do for a few days, said Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency Director Casey Stevens said. Mainers have had some practice, such as the two weeks or more in the 1998 ice storm. And the 2017 windstorm knocked out power to a broad swath of the state for about a week in some places.

But Stevens pointed out, those times, not everyone lost power; there were places to buy food and fuel, and get block ice for freezers so they didn’t lose all their frozen goods, and get warm. In a worst case scenario, when an electrical grid goes down due to something like a cyber attack or solar flare, everyone within a gas tank’s travel might be powerless, and for an extended period of time.

What would you do? How would you keep your family safe, warm, and fed? What if someone has special needs or requires medication? What about your pets and livestock? What if your bank is closed for the duration and you can’t get cash even to buy wood for your stove? If you need to leave home because it isn’t warm or safe, where would you go?

“We are trying to create a culture of preparedness in Lincoln County,” Stevens said. “That’s why we’re sponsoring a Preparedness Fair on Sept. 21.” The fair is at the CLC YMCA from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. In addition to a checklist of things to have on hand, there will be numerous exhibitors who each have a piece of the preparedness puzzle – banks, pharmacies, insurance companies, clean up services, Central Maine Power, the Coast Guard, Maine Warden Service, Maine Floodplain Management, disaster aid volunteers, HAM radio operators (mobile phones and even landlines may not work after such an event), Lincoln Health, first responders, and Maine Department of Economic and Community Development. Burgess Technology will provide guidance on how to prepare for losing computer data; Windowdressers will teach people to make indoor storm windows to button the home up against a possible loss of heat when the power fails.

Some presenters will also have information for children, helping them understand the importance of preparing for a long stretch without power. There will also be entertaining figures such as Smokey the Bear, McGruff, Red E. Fox and Sparky. Attendees will be asked to fill out a survey, and some of them may get door prizes from local merchants. Stevens is firming up food providers, too. But the main reason for the fair is the potential for serious threats to the local population if the power goes out for an extended period of time.

Stevens said few gas stations in the county have backup power; so, if the power goes out, they can’t pump gas for cars or generators – even if the stations’ tanks are full. “We are encouraging gas stations to have hookups, even if they can’t afford to keep generators,” he said. The county could travel to the stations with a portable generator and provide back up power briefly, enough for local residents to fill up gas cans for generators and fill their gas tanks. But only two or three stations countywide have generators, and few even have hookups, which would leave them – and the population they serve – stranded.

Scheduled speaker Michael Mabee is the author of “The Civil Defense Book.” It makes clear how vulnerable the electrical grid is, and outlines the chain of events even the most prepared household will face soon after realizing the situation will be a long one. “He’s been trying to get people to understand how tied we all are to the electrical grid for years,” Stevens said. “And how fragile it is.” The book’s first few pages remind communities that essential services, such as water pumping stations and sewage treatment plants, need electricity, and even homeowners would be unable to use their wells without fuel to run their generators.

There are steps to take to prepare for the big one, or the almost big one, Stevens said. “You’re better off with a wood stove as a secondary fuel source. Other fuel sources might dry up, but this is Maine.”