A Message from FEMA - Before Winter Storms and Extreme Cold

Add the following supplies to your disaster supplies kit:
•Snow shovels and other snow removal equipment.
Rock salt to melt ice on walkways
Sand to improve traction

Prepare your home and family
•Prepare for possible isolation in your home by having sufficient heating fuel; regular fuel sources may be cut off. For example, store a good supply of dry, seasoned wood for your fireplace or wood-burning stove.
•Winterize your home to extend the life of your fuel supply by insulating walls and attics, caulking and weather-stripping doors and windows, and installing storm windows or covering windows with plastic.
•Winterize your house, barn, shed or any other structure that may provide shelter for your family, neighbors, livestock or equipment. Clear rain gutters; repair roof leaks and cut away tree branches that could fall on a house or other structure during a storm.
•Insulate pipes with insulation or newspapers and plastic and allow faucets to drip a little during cold weather to avoid freezing.
•Keep fire extinguishers on hand, and make sure everyone in your house knows how to use them. House fires pose an additional risk, as more people turn to alternate heating sources without taking the necessary safety precautions.
•Learn how to shut off water valves (in case a pipe bursts).
•Know ahead of time what you should do to help elderly or disabled friends, neighbors or employees.
•Hire a contractor to check the structural ability of the roof to sustain unusually heavy weight from the accumulation of snow - or water, if drains on flat roofs do not work.

Prepare your car
Check or have a mechanic check the following items on your car:
Antifreeze levels - ensure they are sufficient to avoid freezing.
Battery and ignition system - should be in top condition and battery terminals should be clean.
Brakes - check for wear and fluid levels.
Exhaust system - check for leaks and crimped pipes andrepair or replace as necessary. Carbon monoxide is deadly and usually gives no warning.
Fuel and air filters - replace and keep water out of the system by using additives and maintaining a full tank of gas.
Heater and defroster - ensure they work properly.
Lights and flashing hazard lights - check for serviceability.
Oil - check for level and weight. Heavier oils congeal more at low temperatures and do not lubricate as well.
Thermostat - ensure it works properly.
Windshield wiper equipment - repair any problems and maintain proper washer fluid level.
Install good winter tires. Make sure the tires have adequate tread. All-weather radials are usually adequate for most winter conditions. However, some jurisdictions require that to drive on their roads, vehicles must be equipped with chains or snow tires with studs.
Maintain at least a half tank of gas during the winter season.
Place a winter emergency kit in each car that includes:
a shovel
windshield scraper and small broom
flashlight
battery powered radio
extra batteries
water
snack food
matches
extra hats, socks and mittens
First aid kit with pocket knife
Necessary medications
blanket(s)
tow chain or rope
road salt and sand
booster cables
emergency flares
fluorescent distress flag

Dress for the Weather
Wear several layers of loose fitting, lightweight, warm clothing rather than one layer of heavy clothing. The outer garments should be tightly woven and water repellent.
Wear mittens, which are warmer than gloves.
Wear a hat.
Cover your mouth with a scarf to protect your lungs.

Personal Note: In northeast Oregon we use to use the trunk of the car as the extra freezer as the average temperature was 22 degrees for months on end. Items to keep in the car during winter monist are candles in those glass jars and lots of stick matches along with a couple of lighters. Tea bags, Breakfast bars and chocolate are handy along with water and something to heat it in like a tin cup. We carry water in metal water bottles as well. One couple I knew went for a winter Sunday drive, got stuck in the snow out on a deserted road in the country side and froze to death. The door handles froze so they couldn't even get out of the car and weren't discovered until the next Spring.

sure glad my furnace burns wood

In my email today.


Dear Carol,

My friend Chuck is one of the country's leading experts on the power grid and how EMP attacks or solar storms could take it down. He's been working non-stop the past few years trying to get utility companies prepared in the event of such an emergency.

So when I bumped into him at the post office last week, I was eager to hear what he thought about the massive power outages in the northeast caused by the October snowstorm. If utilities can't keep the power flowing despite almost a hundred years of experience with winter storms, how can we ever expect them to hold it together in the event of an EMP attack or solar storm?

The October 29th snowstorm that hit the northeast left 3 million people without power. Connecticut was one of the hardest hit states. In many cities and towns, an astonishing 100% of utility customers were without power for days. And as of this writing, some of them still don't have power.

After ten days without electricity, Connecticut residents are outraged. Officials at Connecticut Power & Light were saying most people should have power restored by today ... but they weren't making any promises. At this point, it's gone far beyond mere inconvenience.

No hot coffee in the morning is an inconvenience. Same goes for no television. But if you don't have computers, phones, or Internet, your business grinds to a halt. (And in this economy, who can afford to lose even one day of work?) If you don't have appliances, you can't prepare food (and you can't order a pizza, because the pizza place doesn't have power either.) If your refrigerator or freezer is off for more than a couple of days, you risk losing hundreds of dollars of food to spoilage. And if you depend on refrigeration to keep vital medications cold, or need power to run light duty medical equipment, your very life could be at risk.

The October snowstorm was, sadly, a perfect illustration of how vulnerable the grid really is. After all, if we can't depend on a New England power company, who has plenty of practice with major snowstorms, to keep the power on - in October - then who can we count on?

My friend Chuck strongly believes we can only count on ourselves. And he should know. If there's anything his work has taught him the past few years, it's this grim fact: most power companies are more concerned about returning money to their shareholders than they are investing in grid protection. They prefer to keep their heads buried firmly in the sand, insisting "it could never happen to us."

Chuck said something to me that really got me thinking. He said,

"If every household in America had the ability to generate just 10% of their normal electricity needs, it would make weathering any crisis so much easier."

At 10% of normal capacity, you may not have your big screen TV or your dishwasher ... but you'd have lights. You probably wouldn't want to use energy-hogging appliances like electric ranges or air conditioners, but you'd have phones. You'd have life-saving medical equipment like a CPAP machine or a nebulizer if you needed them. You'd have your laptop, your modem, and you could even run your refrigerator and freezer.

What would such a backup power system look like? It would be easy to use, of course, and it wouldn't depend on any kind of fuel source, since fuel supplies in an emergency are always uncertain. Ideally, it could be used for day-to-day power needs to save you money on your electric bill.

That system already exists, and it's called the PowerHub 1800. Back-up solar generator

http://www.mysolarbackup.com/ph1800led.html?utm_source=OTG_Advertorial_PH1800_Nov9_Text4&utm_medium=OTG_Advertorial_PH1800_Nov9_Text4&utm_term=OTG_Advertorial_PH1800_Nov9_Text4&utm_content=OTG_Advertorial_PH1800_Nov9_Text4&utm_campaign=OTG_Advertorial_PH1800_Nov9_Text4