When you embrace skiing, snowboarding, building snowmen, and snowball fights with the family, winter can be a wonderland. While winter can be fun and exciting, a winter storm can quickly change the situation.
The Dangers of Winter
With large amounts of snowfall in a short amount of time, snowplows can’t keep up. The accumulated snow causes horrendous traffic jams of all kinds. Clearly, unsafe roads are a major factor for vehicle accidents. People out on the streets that are caught in a storm are at high risk. It is best to stay indoors and off the road during a storm.
However, even being indoors does not guarantee safety. A strong winter storm can bring winds powerful enough to topple down trees and power lines. With power lines tipped and trees fallen, travel becomes impossible. Once power is cut, extreme cold becomes a risk to your well-being. Additionally, not being able to travel means you have to rely on the food that’s in your home. Those in emergency situations may receive delays care from emergency responders. You may be isolated for days without any form of communication.
What are you to do? Your best bet is to be prepared in the event of severe winter weather conditions. Below are some winter storm preparation tips for your consideration.
Winter Storm Emergency Preparation
If you find yourself outdoors when a storm strikes, find shelter. Take shelter in any building. Any cover is better than none. If you’re stuck in the wilderness, dig a snow cave.
Once you have shelter, get a source of heat going. If you are outdoors, this means you should get a fire going. If you are at home and power fails, know that you have options.
- Close the doors to all rooms that are not in use. This will contain what remaining heat you do have to the area that you are occupying.
- Cover windows with shades, blankets, plastic, bedding sheets, or anything similar to minimize heat loss.
- Wear a hat or put some sort of fabric on your head to retain body heat.
- Huddle together. Warm bodies keep everyone else warm, too.
Your safest bet is to be prepared with a diesel generator. With advances in technology, owning a home generator is much more affordable. Likewise, you can save a bundle on used diesel generators.
