[northernontario]

Are you prepared for something like this?

Blizzard batters North and South Dakota - CNN.com

A wintry blast of punishing wind and close to 4 feet of snow in places pummeled the Northern Plains on Thursday, stranding unknown numbers of motorists for a day or more and knocking out power to thousands.

State officials said some people could be without power for days, but they had a simple message for anyone thinking of trying to drive in western South Dakota's blizzard: Don't.

It's not the end of the world, it's not a mass uprising and people looting homes, it's not a breakdown in our society... it's a snowstorm.

Do you have a way to keep your house warm? Heating your food?
Do you have a way to feed yourself and family for a few days?
Do you have all the extra supplies you'll need?
What is your plan if the water pressure in town drops, or if your pump has no power... how will you flush your toilets, wash your dishes, get clean drinking water, etc?
Do you have a way to communicate with others who may be trying to make sure you're ok?

Heck... do you have your snow tires/chains ready (or already installed), a new snow brush in the car to replace that old one that's about to break, did you remember to replace the shovel after that cheap $10 plastic one broke last spring?

It's these emergencies we need to be prepared for. If you're prepared for this, you're well on your way if something bigger happens.

 

[JeepHammer]

Are you prepared for something like this?

Blizzard batters North and South Dakota - CNN.com

Yup.
Got the basement full of canned goods, and the garden is put to bed for the winter,
Got the vehicles winterized and checked out my tire chains,
Got the generator in a quarterly service schedule, so it's just been serviced and tested...

The only question is, is the winter ready for ME!

 

[northernontario]

The only question is, is the winter ready for ME!

*Note to self... tell Winter to prepare...*

 

[Backwoods]

Where I'm at we don't have a lot of snow or ice storms but when we do we usally get hammered pretty good. We have a good stock of firewood and a couple of kero heaters for backup heat. Food prep can either be done in the fireplace or also on 2 Coleman camp stoves or our propane outdoor grill. Food stocks are pretty good since this was a good garden year and we managed to put up right much in the way of veggies. My store bought stuff is also pretty well stocked but I would like to have some more in the way of fruit stored. I updated my medical supplies last summer when we had some extra funds so I'm OK there. We have water ready specificlly for flushing toliets and my genny is also wired into our most importent items, well pump, freeezer etc....to keep them going. Comms for us are cell phones and our backup is our computer phone line which can be used as a voice line if need be. We also have a couple of CB's and walkie talkies for use around our property.

What I REALLY need to do is get the vehicles winterized and check all the BOB bags in them and it's time to rotate my gasoline cans that backup them and the genny.

 

[George_H_M]

I agree . I live inside 20 miles of NYC , but I am more worried for my family for food and shelter if I or my wife was to be unemployed for a long period of time.

 

[JeepHammer]

I'm a goofy country kid, and we don't 'Prepare for Disaster', we prepare the garden produce for basement or root cellar storage and we prepare prepare the water system for 'Outages' when the river floods every year an we get a 'Boil Order'...

We prepare for some drunk to take a out power pole with transformer or for storms to drop trees across the power lines in several places...

Crap like that happens WAY too often around here...
And since I'm a fat guy, I don't want to miss any meals!
Have generator and propane, will eat and heat!

In '78 we had a blizzard that had the kids out of school for almost 6 weeks...
Except for milk and store bought bread, we really didn't have any problems on the farm...
We DID have to make a trip out to the highway when dad ran out of cigarettes!
(Making the trip was a lot less risky than dealing with my dad going cold turkey!)

When you know stuff like this is coming, freeze a few extra loaves of bread and buns, and maybe even freeze some half gallons of milk.
Other than the cabin fever, it's just business as usual!

 

[samhain]

I agree . I live inside 20 miles of NYC , but I am more worried for my family for food and shelter if I or my wife was to be unemployed for a long period of time.

I agree with you.

Preparing for hurricane season is something we live with (my child looks forward to Nov 30th when there is a windfall of ravioli's and spagettios as I rotate the supplies).

What causes me the most preparedness anxiety now is "what if I pull my back wrestling an aggressive patient and I'm laid up for a couple of months?" Or "what if I loose my job or die, what will my wife and child do for health insurance"

My preparedness focus now that I've got the hurricane's-knocked-the-power-out-for-a-week issue covered is getting our financial/logistical operating a lot leaner and meaner so that we can maximize savings and live on less.

TEOTWAWKI is easy, you don't need to pay the bills or have your insurance premiums paid up.

It's the "I've just lost my job and our house and we still have to send the kids to school while living in the car" that's more realistic and tougher.

peace,
samhain

 

[TechAdmin]

I completely agree. There are so many TEOTWAWKI forums out there. I wanted to create one for more simple discussion on preparedness and frugal living to survive things such as losing a job or god forbid losing a spouse!

Other things as well like a house fire. That would be devastating to our family probably more so than losing a job.

 

[coinguy]

Yup.
Got the basement full of canned goods, and the garden is put to bed for the winter,
Got the vehicles winterized and checked out my tire chains,
Got the generator in a quarterly service schedule, so it's just been serviced and tested...

The only question is, is the winter ready for ME!

I would sure love to live where there is winter once again. I LOVE seasons, and we have but two here - hotter than hell and pretty nice.

New leaf growth on the fruit trees, had a swarm of bees I'm trying to hive this week, need to mow the lawn this week. The apple tree will probably be blooming again in a month.

But it is finally cool enough for me to get out and work in the yard. Got to work on some garden beds and put in a couple more trees soon.

G

 

[TechAdmin]

I know what you mean. It's been 85 degrees or hotter lately and no rain. In a major drought right now.

 

[tgsnod]

living in Ga we rarely ever see snow but when we do for the most part NO ONE is prepared. in 1993 we had lots of snow and ice. at our home no power for over 7 days and therefore no heat. we were still building our home and did have a fireplace and wood cut and plenty of canned goods. it was "fun" for a day or two and then it all got old pretty quick. when it finally came down to going up under the house and sleeping with the dogs or walk to town (no one could get to us for the large number of trees that were downed and across roads) we took a serious look at what we were going to do and get when we could get out. here is a list of things we got:

gas powered generator to run the blower on a Buck stove that we also bought. 5" B/W battery operated TV. 2 burner propane cook stove and 6 bottles of propane.

with the state of our economy and country I have started purchasing everything in bulk when it is on sale and have a coupon. you can never be too prepared.

 

[Jezcruzen]

Severe weather events are certainly our biggest risk here where I live. Normally, though, we are only inconvenenced for a day or three.

Two major ice storms only weeks apart back in '93 promted me to install a chimney flu and put a wood stove in the basement. I also purchased a generator. The stove has been used several times for emergency heat, and at others during frigid temps to help out the main heating system.

We currently have a variety of food to last us for several months, at least. We are always adding to the supply a little at a time when deals appear. We have long-term storage and then we have frozen and canned foods that we use on a regular basis, so it gets rotated.

Light is another necessity for us. We do have flashlights placed around the house for ease of use. The coleman lanterns are ready, and I also purchased several kerosene lanterns as well in addition to oil lamps.

 

[LVmutineer]

in my neck of the woods we get a flurry every year- that's it. I don't miss it (winter)! I take the kids to the mountains go go sledding a couple of times a year. But it does get cold (for us). The heat is electric here- I was thinking of getting or building a small wood stove to plop in the dining room in the event of an emergency, and stick the pipe out the window, but it doesn't seem that practical. I thought of perhaps a propane heater, preferably one that would use the same fuel as the coleman stove but I'm worried about carbon monoxide. Anyone got any advice on that?

 

[NaeKid]

in my neck of the woods we get a flurry every year- that's it. I don't miss it (winter)! I take the kids to the mountains go go sledding a couple of times a year. But it does get cold (for us). The heat is electric here- I was thinking of getting or building a small wood stove to plop in the dining room in the event of an emergency, and stick the pipe out the window, but it doesn't seem that practical. I thought of perhaps a propane heater, preferably one that would use the same fuel as the coleman stove but I'm worried about carbon monoxide. Anyone got any advice on that?

When I was a kid, my parents house was 100% electric in a tiny town in the mountains of British Columbia where the power-grid was flakey at best. We had electric hot water heater, electric furnace, etc. We also had a kerosene heater (see picture below) in the basement and a small fan blowing near-by to help circulate the heat. Even when the power went out, our little kerosene heater did amazing and always did well to keep us warm.