Blizzard preparedness
Sep. 6th, 2020 12:42![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillI've been reading Jenny's account of the great blizzard of '08, which she kindly handed me, and in the midst of marveling at a 65-year-old woman hiking three hours in the snow in plastic clogs(!) to rescue people stranded in a pickup truck, I have been noting what she had and didn't have that would be useful in future blizzards. They don't happen often here -- the previous one was in the mid-60s -- but I'll try to make note, in the interest of planning for contingencies.
Have a can of pre-mixed gas for the chainsaw before snow season.
Keep a rescue pack for stranded hikers or travelers: emergency blankets, Ensure, thick socks (for feet and hands), some individual packs of cookies, and a thermos for hot water.
Keep a bucket of bark dust or kitty litter pellets handy (for stuck vehicles). Know where the spare cedar shingles are.
Keep a bucket of ice melt in the garage.
Make sure there's milk on hand, and either cocoa and sugar or instant hot chocolate. If not rice/oat milk, hermetically sealed cow's milk (donate it to the food pantry in the spring and buy fresh every year).
Keep hiking poles, with snow/mud cups, next to the door (probably a good idea for snow in general).
Keep a couple of kerosene lamps for light in the house; the power can be out for over a week, and it's best to save batteries or solar charge for outdoors. Candles are all right for navigation, but lamps are bright enough to read by, and safer.
Keep a trickle charger/jump battery, and make sure it's plugged in.
Keep chains for the pickup truck in the garage.
Maybe install an oil lamp where it can be seen from the road? Power outages can eliminate the comforting sign of a lit window for motorists in need, and a Burning Man-style lit hurricane lantern might serve as a beacon, just in case. It might aid location for emergency vehicles as well. This wouldn't be for just blizzards, particularly when the road is blocked by trees, but for winter power outages in general; I may not want to run a generator all the time even when I have one. It's possible there's a solar option that would last all night; that could be placed out at the head of the driveway, though its panel would have to shed snow.
Have a can of pre-mixed gas for the chainsaw before snow season.
Keep a rescue pack for stranded hikers or travelers: emergency blankets, Ensure, thick socks (for feet and hands), some individual packs of cookies, and a thermos for hot water.
Keep a bucket of bark dust or kitty litter pellets handy (for stuck vehicles). Know where the spare cedar shingles are.
Keep a bucket of ice melt in the garage.
Make sure there's milk on hand, and either cocoa and sugar or instant hot chocolate. If not rice/oat milk, hermetically sealed cow's milk (donate it to the food pantry in the spring and buy fresh every year).
Keep hiking poles, with snow/mud cups, next to the door (probably a good idea for snow in general).
Keep a couple of kerosene lamps for light in the house; the power can be out for over a week, and it's best to save batteries or solar charge for outdoors. Candles are all right for navigation, but lamps are bright enough to read by, and safer.
Keep a trickle charger/jump battery, and make sure it's plugged in.
Keep chains for the pickup truck in the garage.
Maybe install an oil lamp where it can be seen from the road? Power outages can eliminate the comforting sign of a lit window for motorists in need, and a Burning Man-style lit hurricane lantern might serve as a beacon, just in case. It might aid location for emergency vehicles as well. This wouldn't be for just blizzards, particularly when the road is blocked by trees, but for winter power outages in general; I may not want to run a generator all the time even when I have one. It's possible there's a solar option that would last all night; that could be placed out at the head of the driveway, though its panel would have to shed snow.
