Snow/Ice/Winter preparedness.

[sophie]

How are people with this where you live?

Here every year it snows or theres multiple ice storms and it gets cold, really really cold. And 9 times out of 10 the power will go out for at least a day if not more.

But the people refuse to acknowledge that.Like most of the country we're expecting a snow storm in the next couple days.

The general population is as clueless as ever on how to prepare. The things I've seen people buy to "prepare for the storm" included: Lean Cuisines and frozen pizzas, ice cream, an electric(plug in!) can opener,5 bags of ice(the snow is free!) and cotton socks(cotton gets wet and stays that way, if you're outside for long periods of time this can cause frostbite).


This I did NOT see any people get: Water, salt or kitty litter, actual food, toilet paper, matches or any warm clothing/blankets.

Enjoy your snow storm eating a still frozen pizza.

[Seshat]

At this season, Australians should be preparing for possible fires.

Note the phrase 'should be'. Do I need to say any more?

[HYHYBT]

They're probably more worried about being unable to go anywhere than about their power being off. A day isn't that long anyway: the frozen dinners won't be much use, but you could eat the ice cream well enough, and if you keep the freezer closed, the rest probably won't actually ruin.

Around here, the last time I remember the power being out a day or more was around 1978 or 9. We went to my grandparents' house down the street, because they had gas heat that didn't depend on electricity. Since then, by far the longest it's ever been out was about 12 hours in 2009, so (again, speaking of where I live) it's not something to worry about all that much. But stores and roads closing, driveways being blocked by fallen limbs or being too slippery to climb, etc. happens pretty much every time we get significant ice or snow, which happens on average a bit less than once a year. (Twice last winter, though.)

Other than having enough food (and toilet paper, etc.) in the house to last a couple days, there's not much preparation that's worth doing in those circumstances. It makes more sense to shut down and stay home than to have the supplies and skill to treat those days as normal, because there aren't enough to justify it.

[sophie]

Last winter some people didn't have power for a week.

[KellyHabersham]

Not that we get much of a "winter" here in Phoenix, but I would imagine that most people wouldn't have any idea how to prepare for a snowstorm if we did get one. (our weather reporters don't really help either, because they exaagerate/make a huge deal out of any weather that doesn't involve sunshine and cloudless skies....so it's hard to know how serious to take things)

[Panacea]

Last winter some people didn't have power for a week.

Yeah, I was one of them. I froze my ass off. I have gas heat . . . with an electric starter. The gas fire place in my house has never worked. My stove is electric.

I got by. I put on lots of layers, have a goose down comforter that was rather cozy even on the coldest nights, and have a winter weight sleeping bag (rated to 0 degrees F). It was uncomfortable, but not the end of the world.

I keep salt and have a good quality snow shovel for the snow. Ice tends to be more of a problem where I live. Luckily, my neighbor cut down a pine that came dangerously close to falling over on my house during the ice storm last year (his house DID get hit).

I'm reluctant to invest in a power generator I might never use, or only use once. I do have a gas grill I could use to cook; I need to service it and make sure it's still working since I haven't used it lately. I also have a backpacker's stove that I know works, and I have plenty of fuel for it so I would be able to cook in a pinch.

The one thing I've been meaning to do is get a decent battery powered lamp and a radio that can be recharged with a hand crank.

[cindybubbles]

My family had no power for 24 hours last year. The tap water was so cold that we took sponge baths using room-temperature water that we stored in 1L pop bottles.

We also survived by using candles and flashlights for light and my hand-cranked radio for news about the power outage. We ate Spam sandwiches with either Miracle Whip or margarine. I wore my outdoor boots in the house to keep my feet warm and wore tons of layers. When we went to sleep, we used a lot of blankets and of course, layers of clothes.

[Kuari]

We dealt with power loss during January this year, and it was damn cold! I live in a really old house that is nowhere near up to current code for insulation, plus it is the top floor so we get all the cold wind blowing around it.

It was cold enough in January that I kept my parrotlet in my sweater to keep him warm while my caged pets (rats, hamster, and mouse) had their cages wrapped in quilts and had loads of fleece scraps for them to nest in. Thank goodness my parrotlet enjoys being snuggled up like he was or I'd have ended up full of holes from his beak and claws.

Canned food that did not absolutely need to be heated up was what my son and I lived on during that time. I have been looking for a cheap camp stove so we can heat stuff up when the power goes this year - we have already been warned to expect rolling power outages this winter -_-

[AccountingDrone]

Generator - one does only 110v, the other does 220 also, check and check.
fresh 10 gallons fuel per generator, check
[this gets us running water and refrigeration, and one room with laptop, modem, router, charging ability for 3 cell phones, and light, light in the bathroom. We cook and heat with the wood stove.]
extra case lot of toilet paper, paper towel, kitty litter. Topped up the stocks of canned basics [tomatoes in various forms, certain fruits and vegetables, especially garbonzo beans and olives] dried basics [assorted shapes of pastas, dried beans, fresh 25 pound bag of rice, we were running low anyway, flour, sugar, nuts, dried fruits]
Got 2 cords wood split, stacked and covered with tarps outside of the back door, 2 days of wood stacked on the hearth, stove set up and ready to light.
Both vehicles tanks topped up, spare 5 gallons of gasoline and diesel just in case.
Freshly tuned up chainsaw. Found and arranged entrenching tool and sapirka [Robs car gets the e-tool, I get the sapirka] and regular snow shovel for the house.
Ready for the usual.

[BlaqueKatt]

Canned food that did not absolutely need to be heated up was what my son and I lived on during that time. I have been looking for a cheap camp stove so we can heat stuff up when the power goes this year - we have already been warned to expect rolling power outages this winter -_-

outdoor gas cookstoves shouldn't be used inside, they build up CO2 rapidly(the boxes actually have that warning since people have died from it)

however if you happen to be mildly handy- build a soda can stove(uses denatured alcohol)

or MRE heaters and "beverage bags" which work for more than just beverages(they hold a 15oz can of baked beans)

I have to restock on MREs personally.

[cindybubbles]

I think Wal-Mart and Costco also supply emergency food kits.

[HYHYBT]

I'm no good at emergency food; I wind up eating it the next time I don't feel like going to the store.

Which, if I bought more, would at least mean it never got old...

[gremcint]

last year it was ice, we had to go to 5 stores in one night to find salt for our laneway. I put so much ice in front of our house grass actually wouldn't grow during spring the following season

[KabeRinnaul]

outdoor gas cookstoves shouldn't be used inside, they build up CO2 rapidly(the boxes actually have that warning since people have died from it)

Kuari might be referring to the very cheap variety which use Sterno fuel, which is denatured alcohol.

On the heat topic, I've seen do-it-yourself terra cotta heaters, but I understand they can be dangerous. http://www.instructables.com/id/Cand...ottery-Heater/

[NecCat]

I no longer have a woodstove, but I have a fireplace, and I keep some rocks by the fire just in case (place rocks in the fire for a couple minutes, put them in the pot with soup, coffee, whatever your having, liquid boils). You can also wrap fish in tinfoil with some veg and throw it straight in the fire, and of course cook food on a stick (meat, veg kebob, bannock)

The longest I remember the power every being out was 7 days, in the summer, about 15 years ago. The legion was giving out water filters, so people could use the river water and filter it for safe drinking. We at a lot of 'salad' also known as whatever we cut out of the garden that day, and I went and caught a couple of rabbit too. That was harder, the stores that were open had nothing to buy, the gas stations ran out, so I couldn't work the last three days, or the first day we had power. It seemed to last a long time.