Preparedness
As much as I don't like Yahoo.com, they sometimes have articles that interest me.
Like this one for example http://news.yahoo.com/farmers-almanac-predicts-another-nasty-winter-154326000.html
As I sit here sweating like a dog (I was just outside testing out my dads old Hillary tent during a humid and hot day, while wearing jeans and a heavy knit golf shirt), I am both sad and happy that this winter will be "nasty." Personally, I don't mind the cold. I have seasonal allergies that turn my nose into a cold sored waterfall of salty slime, and make my eyes more blood shot than a Zombie pothead.
As a prepper, there are luckily only a few bad things that can happen during the winter and it is very easy to be prepared for those things. I learned something new this year:
Never trust the Weatherman. Thank God these guys don't work for the Pentagon because their intel on the weather is usually wrong. I now rarely watch the Weather Channel, I get my weather info straight from http://www.wunderground.com/US/CT/
What are some of the situations associated with extreme winter weather?
-Blackouts (power outages)
-Roads blocked by fallen trees or too much snow and/or ice
-Freezing to death (it happens more often than you know)
-States of emergency (CT and MA both had shut down after a massive blizzard in 2013 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_2013_nor'easter)
-Closed schools
-People lose their jobs http://www.nhregister.com/business/20140314/connecticut-lost-10400-jobs-in-january-harsh-winter-blamed
So, how can you prepare for those things?
Here is a list of some basic supplies that you should have:
-Flashlights (one per person + at least 2 back up flashlights)
-Plenty of blankets (fleece throws are great and not expensive)
-Batteries (if your flashlights each use 2 AA batteries, you should have 2 batteries in each light + 6 exztra batteries for each flashlight)
-Emergency Radio. (WX/FM/AM is best, a police scanner would be better if you can afford one.)
-Power Bank for electronic devices and phones
-Ripstop tarp (used to cover your vehicle to make clearing the snow off it easier)
-5 gallon bucket of sand (keep in your vehicles trunk, if you lose traction, put some sand down in front of your tires to help get you back on the road)
-Road flares (if you crash your vehicle, these can be used to alert drivers of the wreck and also signal for help if you don't have a flashlight.
-Snow shovel
-LED lantern or light with strobe mode (for signaling emergency responders if you need help)
-Money aka savings. If you lose your job, you should have enough cash saved to pay bills and buy basic things for at least 3 months.
-Things to keep your kids busy (if you have any.)
-Hand warmers
-Bottled water (one gallon per person per day)
-Non perishable foods and snacks (at least 6 days worth)
-Jumper cables (cold weather can kill your car battery)
-First aid kit.
-10 gallons of gasoline for your snow thrower.
-Motor oil for your snow thrower.
-Fire extinguisher (this is a general household prep)
-Bags of rock salt or ice melt.
*I recommend candles but you NEED to keep a window cracked open to ventilate your house and prevent a buildup of Carbon Monoxide. This applies to fuel (kerosene) lanterns and heaters, propane stoves etc. If you have a fireplace, you're lucky because I don't. You should stockpile firewood and keep enough firewood for a week stored in the garage or basement.
If you have the money, buy a generator. If you keep it outside (which you should), you should have it chained to something so that no one can steal it.
Well, it's still August and we have a few months left until the first snowfall. The best place to buy some basic supplies is a hardware store like Home Depot or a mega retailer like Walmart. If you can, shop at locally owned mom n' pop businesses instead.
I hope you found this useful. Feel free to share your winter weather stories and experiences. Don't forget to follow me and share this with your friends. Thanks for reading.
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