The last time I was in a prolonged power outage (the 2003 blackout), in Detroit we lost cell phone service (the towers were all out) as well as water (the pumps were out). An actual land line is probably a better bet than a cell phone, although having both is best.

A localized power outage is more likely with storms and won't be quite as bad...get some camping gear and try to have fun with it. At least your food will be spared due to your handy outdoor refrigeration system!

We don't get that worried about storms. Living in Maine it comes with the territory. Gas burners for cooking(along with the camp stoves), wood burning parlor stove for heat, bottled water and lots of food stored. LCD lanterns for light. We play cards or board games til the power comes back on. Listen to the radio, read and talk. I did have to run out this morning for the most important item I did not have....TOILET PAPER! The cell phones are charging as we speak. Called my daughters in Mass. to make sure they made it home from classes ok. Their colleges didn't cancel classes til later on. So we are prepared to wait this storm out. Stay safe all, NancyLouise

nancy, it's the same here, we just don't get worked up over them. We've done it too many times before and we are really good at moving snow, lots and lots of practice. You did hit the one necessity, though. Amanda called and asked if I could bring toilet paper when I go out tonight. (grin)

Chicago is really good at moving snow, too, so a person there won't stay snowed in for very darned long. The Lake is an issue if you live close, there's ice and 25 foot waves and flooding that those of us who life further inland don't have to deal with.

Mudlady, I see you are in zone 5 New York. I'm in zone 5 Michigan and I can tell you that it won't take more than a day or so without heat for your pipes to freeze. If you have city water, leave the water dripping, but if you have a well, frozen pipes could be a problem. You'll freeze way before the cats do, though, my barn cats used to stay in an unheated barn basement all winter, just sucking up body heat from the horses and cattle.

Stay safe and stay warm.

You too, Ilana. I'm hoping your gas fireplace is like Elery's, it starts with a push button ignitor, no electricity needed. You have to stand pretty close to stay warm without the blower, but if you close the door to the room, it'll keep the room very comfortable.

I'm leaving work at 4, going to the farm to fill tanks and hay feeders. The animals can go into the barn for shelter if they feel the need, although they seldom do. Then make the TP delivery to Amanda and get home before the real fun starts..

Annie

One thing I did not mention is shovel your roof if at all possible. It seems like we have had snow every week lately. I did the roof rake standing on the ground and Wayne climbed out our 2nd story bedroom window and shoveled the rest off the porch roof a few days ago. With what we have coming down today and the over a foot of snow expected tomorrow it is less weight on this 100+ year old house. NancyLouise

Nancy, I did that last night! Along with some ice melt on a big ice dam right along the edge between the house and garage. I used a ladder, though...

Annie

Here's a lesson I learned if there's a chance of losing power: grind your coffee beans in advance! Once I had to smash coffee beans with a hammer to make coffee during a power outage. I can light my gas stove with a match. Last time I had ground beans, so I boiled water and poured it through a filter filled with grounds. Should have had a french press handy, but this worked.

Ice is on the way here and I have charged my cell phone, gotten the flashlights in place and have my transistor radio.

If you can light your burners, try boiling big pots of water and that will generate a little heat.

I have plenty of firewood but find that a fire doesn't really make that much heat, but some is better than none. You can always roast hot dogs over the fire!

Guess I'll print out a few crossword puzzles for entertainment! I hope everyone comes through this unscathed. After a half inch of ice, we are supposed to have an inch of rain. All this on top of a foot and a half of snow. Gruesome. I don't go anywhere without a shovel and salt in the car.

Uh oh, whiteout blizzard here in Chicagoland. DH still not home nor is grandson. The wind is fierce. BBCue grill is useless. So so loud outside. Food is not the problem. Stay ok, everyone. Not fun. not yet, anyway.

I know Annie, I'm not afraid of heights but climbing out the window to shovel is man's work! I'll stick to the shoveling and snow blowing on the ground. NancyLouise

Well it's started but thank goodness all my kids are now home as is dh. He's baking, kids are snuggled up and I'm sewing and on the computer. Praying we don't lose power. We did manage to snag some canisters for the camping cooktop and I picked up an extra tank of gas for the BBQ but I don't think we can even get to it outside. We have the fire lit in the fireplace.

School has been canceled for tomorrow and dh may even get the day off.

Thanks for all the wonderful ideas. I'm clipping the entire thread.

Stay safe and warm everyone.

westsider,
be careful!! I am an extreme west sider, (like 90 mins west!!) and driving down 64, (north avenue to you!) was a complete white out at 2pm. Our little airport clocked winds at 46mph at 4pm! I've never seen such a thing in my life.
(Tom Skilling is in his GLORY!!)
I live on a couple acres in a rural area and the split rail fence has been completely drifted over along with the 4 year old evergreens. There's no sign of them. I don't worry about generators or anything like that. Last time we lost power, we got on the highway and stayed at the nearest Holiday Inn Express. We aren't the Little House on the Prairie type!!

If you have a gas fireplace, you can buy ventless gas logs that will help roll back the heat into the room. (Later, after the storm, when you can go shopping.) Those ventless logs have saved our behinds many times and really do heat up a room well, as you keep the damper closed to your fireplace. Even if the family has to camp out in the same room, at least you can stay warm.

We seem to lose power a lot because our neighborhood still has overhead power lines. I also have a hand-crank radio, along with hand-crank flashlights so I don't have to worry about batteries. I can light my gas range with a long match, so we can make hot drinks. (You can keep a kettle in your fireplace too. Actually, I also thought about keeping a gas range when we were thinking about it because of losing power.) We lost it for seven days once, which really got old. I was so happy when it finally came back!

"----....but the issue will be keeping warm.....and getting the refrigerator to dispense it's supply of ice cubes for my scotch! "

I understand it's a joke.

Seriously, never drink alchohol when your body is trying to keep warm. You will be doing the opposit.

dcarch

To all the Chicago and midwest CF'ers, stay indoors. I can barely see across my street, the power is flickering, teh house is moaning and creaking. My gas stove and oven are lit on low in case the power goes. Even Dylan is on a water ration so he doesn't need to go out.

The city has told us that main streets will be plowed first, then side streets, so I am home until Friday. Snow day!

LC, call if you need help. You have the info.

Peppi, I'm inside here too. The wind is blowing like crazy and Cooper was sure he wanted to go out. I opened the door and he turned around and came right back in! The tanks are filled and when I was at the farm the horses just had their tails to the wind, they haven't even gone inside the barn yet.

I have a 4 bean venison chili simmering and honey wheat bread in the bread machine as well as a chuck roast in the Nesco so Cooper will have food too if the power goes out.

School has already been cancelled, along with hundreds of other "activities" and some workplaces. Somehow, though, I'm sure the County will be open tomorrow and I'll put on my boots and walk to work...

Stay warm and stay inside, everyone. Visibility is pretty close to zero, and right now accidents are a big worry.

Annie

Sitting here watching this storm is incredible!!
We now have thunder and lightning with our blizzard, in Northern Illinois. It sounds like there is a train in our backyard. Hubs tried to get the paper off the front porch, but when he opens the storm door, too much snow blows in the house!!!
We have power, so we had a wonderful chicken chili with corn chips and there's a loaf of banana bread ready to be sliced. Tomorrow will be sukiyaki with sticky rice.
and more snow, I'm sure...

Stay safe, everyone!

The blizzard in the midwest is coming our way, but here in Maryland, we'll probably have a freezing rain/ice storm, not snow. I don't mind driving in snow, but a glaze of ice stops me in my tracks.

Can't wait for Spring!

Sue

Hi Loves 2:
You had a lot of good suggestions, especially to be sure you gas heat will work without electricity.

Don't forget! you have 40 Gallons of water in the hot water heater. Flush it out before the storm hits.
Just hold a pot under the valve and draw out some water.
**********************************************

First thing I do is fill my auto's gas tank.

Then start the Generator to be sure it is OK.

Set out the kerosene lanterns on the tables.

Bring the Gas Barbecue into the front mud room and open the Miami Windows.

Fill ,3 - 5 gallon buckets of water in the tub for flushing.
I can get more in the Lake.

Fill 2 - 5 gallon water cooler Jugs with drinking water,
plus about 8 half gal.milk containers and Pots.

Set up a battery operated Radio, with extra batteries.

Check all my flashlights and set them out for quick access,
alongside the Peach Brandy.

Collect some icecicle's and put them on the back deck.
Have some coolers ready for food.
Set up some canned food for meals.

Break out some Games , like Monopoly.
I threw UNO in the trash after the last power outage.

Set all the candles in one place for later. Have dishes filled with water for the candles.

Get my Plumbers torch ready to make coffee.

Break out my insulated hunting clothes.

Make some phone calls to see if my friends are OK and are ready.

Call my DD's to be sure they did everything, to be ready.

Eat a good meal before the Storm hits.

Watch a good John Wayne western 3 times , to hold me over.

I just finished mt last Tomato from my 5 gallon indoor Garden.
I won't have to worry about it freezing over.
- - - - - - - - - -

Look for my checklist, that I misplaced.

When I find it, I will put in more tips.

LOU

Annie, can you call in "sick"? Bad back? Snow bound? Just bound up? And I bet cooper will be happy with his chow, I know I would be.

Dilly went out the back door, took 3 steps, lifted a leg and came in, completely soaked in snow. So was dad, holding the door open.

Peppi, Annie, Nancy, Westsider and everyone else

Stay safe! Annie, please don't walk towork tomorrow. It's truly awful out there.

I'm lying here in the dark, TG not because we don't have power, we do, but because dh is sleeping next to me. LOL.

The wind is howling, the snow drifts are over the table, the dog needs top go out buy she is only 10" tall and doesn't know what top make of all this white stuff.

Hopefully we keep power but after this is all done, I am definitely going to need to put a plan in place. I went to go get a generator today and they were sold out.

Sleep well, stay inside and stay warm.

Hoping everyone will make it safe through this. I still remember David Lakeguy's ice storm stories!

The worst of the storm went north of us (I was hoping for a snow day :( ) Ironically, today I'll probably be working in a house that has no power, no heat and no water.

Hope everyone else is safe and warm.

Morning all, just checking in to see how everyone is doing-it started snowing harder about an hour or so ago (We received just 5" of snow yesterday). Wayne's office is closed at the shipyard,so is my store so thankfully we are both home today, no driving. Both Ariel and Kayla's colleges in Mass. were canceled no worries there either.
Annie they can do one day without you. Please don't walk today.
And to keep this on cooking-we are making crock pot whole chicken with veggies and Wayne is baking Italian baguettes from a new bread book he received for Christmas. Take care and stay safe. NancyLouise

There are terrific tips noted here, not only for keeping food but for being safe too. Thanks to all who posted.

I've been through hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, heat waves, forest fires, floods, blizzards, ice storms, golf-ball sized hail and even Mt. St. Helen's volcano where I've lived all over North America (Alaska to Mexico to Quebec to Puerto Rico and all in between). Getting everything ready in advance is the right answer and keeping it in the same place and updated year around is necessary. Events happen quickly and sometimes there is absolutely no warning.

One thing we learned is to keep a stack of unread paperbacks (buy cheap at goodwill), a deck of cards, and a scrabble game handy as you will get really bored after several days without power. If you have children, put in a few new small toys for them to get excited about. I also keep a box of cotton yarn to knit or crochet boring washcloths. It seems like an exciting new project when it is seldom done. A friend used to go organize her stack of photos to while away the time without power.

Another important thing is to eat chocolate, in any form. What an excuse! Anyway, it will keep you warm and smiling. A supply of suckers is also in our emergency box. We usually don't eat them in moderate weather but they taste wonderful when you're housebound.

Consider keeping your medical records, insurance papers and agent's phone numbers (medical, car, house) in your emergency kit. If you have to evacuate, or your home damaged and unlivable, or are injured and taken away for care, you won't have to search them out.

My prayers are with you all in the storm's path, and with those in Queensland, with Cyclone Yasi coming, it will be worse than just snow.

Nancy - safe in NC

Things turned out to be not so bad here, although there was plenty of ice. Now the temps are rising and we basically have a lot of slop. I hope the rain and warmer temps will melt away some of the mountains of snow. Of course, the schools are closed! I feel sorry for parents who must scramble to make arrangements for their kids while they go to work.

Amtrak service to NYC was stopped this morning so my neighbor who commutes to Manhattan didn't get there. She's safe at home.

I do feel just awful for the Aussies who are being slammed by the cyclone. I can't imagine it.

Now THAT was a storm! I opened my door this morning to let Cooper out and pushed snow with the door. That would be not so bad, except the back door is about 2 feet off the ground, LOL.

The power stayed on and the County closed because the state police and sheriff declared travel unsafe and asked people to stay off the roads.

I had shoveled my deck a couple of days ago, and so I got a measurement this morning. No drifts on the back deck, just accumulation, the drifts in my road are about 5 feet tall, a few are ove my head. Elery got slammed harder than I did, so Sherry got it worse too. We'll get a couple more inches of snow this afternoon and it's still windy but the 40 MPH winds have diminished to about 20 MPH.

And I didn't have to walk to work! The City hasn't touched my road yet, and I'll have to shovel a bit later. Right now the whole neighborhood is quiet. No traffic because the road is impassable, even the kids aren't out yet with sleds or cross country skis or snow shoes.

Unlike those poor people who are getting the cyclone, though, our roads will be cleared and life will be back to normal in just a day or two. There won't be lasting damage or clean-up and the ski resorts are loving it, just another February day here in Michigan. I just heard the newest "Pure Michigan" ad, with Tim Allen talking about ski resorts and ice rinks, cross country trails and horse drawn sleigh rides and snowmobiles. The catch line was "when people ask why you're smiling, tell them you heard it was going to snow". Well, yeah, except those of us holding shovels. (grin)

I'm glad everyone kept their power though, and that everyone is safe and sound except Peppi's Dad, who is still probably shaking off snow. Give him a hug from me, Peppi, I just knew he'd have that door open, keeping an eye on Dylan. On thought, a white dog probably shouldn't go too far in that weather anyway!

Mudlady? Are you and the cats still with us?

Annie

I'm happy to report that although I only live about two hours north of Annie, this storm all but missed me.
I woke up to a light dusting of snow this morning.
Right now it is sunny and 15 degrees F and calm.

Nancy

Annie, you must have had that yardstick out there already, as I don't see footprints! That's about 22 1/2 inches more snow than we got, but then we didn't really get snow, we got sleet and ice. As I mentioned over in the conversations page, they're doing rolling blackouts in Texas right now, because two of the major power plants broke down.

And no, I wasn't nearly prepared for this because I didn't believe it was going to be this bad. It usually isn't. In fact, the more the media hypes the prediction of snow or ice, the less likely it is to happen. So, I'm almost out of milk and canned cat food. The cats can live without canned food, (they have plenty of crunchies) but we'll have to go get some milk before long. DH had to go to work, but I'll probably miss another day of work, which is bad, as no work, no pay. But, as my BIL, who lives in Oklahoma City pointed out, who also works at a job that doesn't have paid days off, it's cheaper to miss a day of work than it is to repair a wrecked car. Good point!

Sally

Well, the power and the satelite TV held on. By 5 am we had an official 18 inches but it is now giving us lake efect snows, so they say another 4 to 6". The first plow out is done and we will tackle again this afternoon. I do love my neighbor with his monster blower. He cleared a six foot drift that was between our houses for me. For now Dilly will have to potty on the paths until i plow more. He is not amused and has requested indoor plumbing like the cat has. I had to plow to the pond to open up the air exchange hole for hte koi. TG I had the spot marked with a 5 foot stake in the ground. The only window we can look out is one on the second floor bath, the rest are covered in blown snow from the storm. We still have to clear off the front porch, tons drifted up and I cannot open the doors there.

Everything here is closed other than emergancy services. The side streets are basically snowed in and forget moving the car out of the garage through our alley. We opened the overhead door and there is a 4 foot drift across it. My back neighbor has a Bobcat and he said he will clean us up there. I do love the men and thier big snow toys.

Annie, Dad threathened to paint an orange stripe on Dilly's back. But I will give him the hug anyway.

Round 2 is tonight when temps go to -8. Can't wait!

Sally, that's right out my back door, LOL, I have a big glass sliding door that leads to the deck. I opened that slider and got an avalanche of snow onto the kitchen floor. So, I just reached outside as far as I could and stuck the yardstick down until I hit the decking, took the picture and turned around and went right back inside the kitchen. Then I shovelled up the snow on my kitchen floor, and had a cup of coffee. I'll shovel the deck later, I did have to shovel a path for Cooper, the snow was over his head. Thankfully it's light and fluffy snow, except at the bottom of the driveway, where the city plow will plow me in with another bank about 5 feet tall!

Ice is way worse, though, with ice I can't even walk safely. I don't really mind storms, whether they are wind or rain or snow or whatever, but I don't like the ice. It's dangerous and treacherous and causes lasting damage to trees, houses, vehicles, everything. So, if you have to go out, be careful!

I agree, the media mostly over blows all the weather stuff. We get "severe winter weather warnings" when we're supposed to get 3 or 4 inches of snow, and 3 inches of snow in Michigan is just flurries, not "severe winter weather", sheesh.

However, I took this one a little more seriously because the reports and pictures from others in the path before it hit me were showing me what a snow machine this one was going to be. So I filled the tank on the Jeep, charged the cell phone and filled stock tanks. Dave made sure there was gas for the generator, but that's all the preparation we ever do.

It'll be cold here tonight too, below zero, but the worst of this storm is over and no one lost power Has anyone heard from Mudlady? She's alone with her cats, I think, so that's worrisome.

Annie

I am totally dumbfounded at the amount of snow that people think is massive. I lived in the Denver area for 35 years and it wasn't unusual to get 24", 28" or 30" of snow from one storm in January or February or March or maybe April. When I read that the ten biggest snowstorms on record in Chicago ranged from 14 to 20 inches, I thought "pikers!" I saw them on TV yesterday bragging about how tough they are facing down these storms. I'm a woose and I did it. On the other hand, ice .... that terrifies me. Didn't have it in Denver but did experience it on a visit to Kansas City one time.

Hurricanes give massive amounts of rain--24" in a matter of 4 hours isn't unusual. Just be glad they don't happen in the winter up north. Our rule of thumb in Denver was 12" of snow for each inch of water.

Glad to see that most people still have electricity. That's wonderful!!

Success! It Works! It Works!

Based on the weather report yesterday of the ice storm coming, I came up with an idea.

I have a few sheets of large heavy duty tarps with grommet holes and a whole lot of bungee cords. I covered my cars with them and secure them with the cords.

This morning, of course everything is covered with a thick layer of ice. I just lift off the tarps and bingo! I have clean cars.

I will be getting more large sheets of tarps and figure out ways to cover the front steps and walkways. It is very difficult to chop off ice on concrete.

Tarps come in very large sheets that you can cut to any size and shapes. You will also need to buy a set of grommet tools. They are very inexpensive.

I hope you all are OK. Stay warm.

dcarch

dcarch, For some reason, I thought everyone did that! (For their cars/trucks that live outside that is.) I'm glad your brain cells had a flash of brilliance. Keeping ice off the car windshield is the hardest thing to do, but not with a good tarp. And ice is worse than snow, definitely!

Well, we only had 10 inches, and being the good midwesterner I am, knew to just stay home. I was watching all the weather stories...one about people who tried several restaurants to find them all closed but one. (Oh brother.) There was the story about the Sears store being closed, while a guy tried to open the door to fetch a snowshovel in the middle of a blizzard. (Good grief.) There were the newscasters standing next to a highway in the storm, with cars going by behind them. (Where in the world are they going? Oh yeah, to visit a restaurant and buy snow shovels in a blizzard.) I'm constantly amazed at people who are so restless they don't plan for the emergency, and have to get out to make problems for others.

They closed I-70 between Kansas City and St. Louis yesterday. I don't recall them ever doing that!

It's nice to see sun shining today. I made pork tostadas yesterday, along with sour cream blueberry pancakes, and we had a Bierock from the freezer. Today I'm making more home-made dinner rolls to use as buns for sandwiches.

I'm glad everyone seems safe and sound. Annie, that was an impressive picture of all your snow!

Super idea dcarch! You are so creative. BTW getting ice off concrete is easy - use massive amounts of Ice-Melt, or, a propane torch and a leaf blower in combo (one to melt it, one to move it before it refreezes), she said jokingly.

Glad everyone is safe. I never used to be a woose, beachlily, growing up in Toledo and living in such northern climes as Montreal, Juneau, and Aberdeen SD, but being a lot older, a couple inches here in NC is all I ever want to see of snow, ever again, and even then I say we don't live "South" enough. As close as I ever get to enjoying winter sports is watching the Winter Olympics on TV.

BTW we have a freak 71 balmy degrees here today in Wake Forest (Raleigh) NC. Doors and windows open with no snow blowing in like Annie1992 and others have. It's OK to envy me now, LOL, but wait a day and we'll have winter back with the cold and yucky, but hopefully no more snow until 2012. Gotta go now to sow some snow peas and spinach seeds.

Nancy

Glad to see so many of you checking in, safe and sound.
cdl - I think you said it just right: "being the good midwesterner I am, knew to just stay home".

I was glad to hear from MI family that that's what they all did too!

Ann

That's true, beachlily, Denver gets a LOT more snow than we do. The real difference is that it usually melts in a day or two, and so they can start again from "scratch", LOL.

Here we already had a couple of feet on the ground, so now we have a couple more, and we'll get more and it won't go away for a few months. Now, that's not a problem for my area, we just load snow in dump trucks and dump it into empty fields. Places like Chicago, though, and Washington DC, they have to find places to PUT the snow when the move it, because it won't melt tomorrow. It won't melt until April.

So the real issue isn't really getting the snow, it's storing the snow until it melts in a couple of months. I think we should just truck it all to the ski resorts, they have machines that MAKE snow. They could give the machines a rest. (grin)

Really, though, you're right. As I mentioned, in a day or two life will be back to normal. As long as we can keep power on so no one freezes to death with the 10 below zero wind chill, it's just another storm. 22 inches in 7 hours was pretty impressive though, when I opened the door this morning and Cooper jumped out to find the snow over his head, LOL.

Now, understand, I would have disagreed with you about an hour ago, when I was up shoveling off the roof. Since the snow doesn't melt, it piles up and you get 4 or 5 feet of snow on the roof and the roof caves in before spring thaw. And THAT sucks. Especially if you're in there when it happens. (grin)

Annie

Annie, you're right that the snow melts quickly here; and what doesn't melt, evaporates. We never have dirty snow!

Breckenridge, in the mountains 95 miles from our house has had a little over 300" of snow this season. We have had about 12" total for the season in Boulder. But I remember well the 38" we got in May when the trees had leafed out and a 30' pine tree broke in our front yard and completely blocked our driveway. So this is unusual for us to have had so little snow - I am not complaining.

Beachlilly, you're right, most snowfalls don't even make us blink, and snow plowing is pretty efficient. It's power outages and windstorms that I fear the most.

Lee

Dcarch:
I cover my auto with a piece of rubber roofing.

Don't have to tie it down. It is not cheap !!!
But I had this piece left over from a roofing job.
************************************

Many just get gas for the Generator and do not do anything
else to prepare for a storm.

WHAT IF THE GENERATOR WILL NOT RUN ????????

******************************************

I have a Kerosene Heater also but use it only if I have to.
LOU

Dolly reports snow deeper then a dog's backside. I've not ventured out today. Work is closed. My tractor is in the far side of the garage ready to go when I get up the energy to ride.

No real planning. I bought a box of Cheez-its because I knew I'd be on the computer. If the power goes out I'll go down to the bar and drink beer. Tunafish and canned pineapple.. some oranges I bought. Single burner propane camp stove with a partial bottle of fuel if needed. Several oil lamps and 4 gallons of kerosene to burn in them... I burn them for heat all the time anyways. Love the soft light they give at night.

Went down my driveway sideways in 4 wheel last night... almost bounced off a christmas tree on the third curve. We call it playing in the snow... Keeps me in practiced so I can keep it under control out on the road. When I was younger I drove 500 miles a week at night on very rural roads for a janitorial route... in small front wheel drive cars. Kept a shovel in back because I couldn't afford a wrecker. Stopped at every bar along the way for "anti-freeze".

They are right about the alcohol. I was a strong young boy back then that grew up in the snow. These days drinking and driving in a snowstorm way out in the middle of nowhere would be dangerous. Also caffine! I was surprised when that appeared in my first responder training. It make sense.. caffine does not help blood circulation.

Thinking about maybe chili. Stay home or go out for beer... bar is on facebook so I know they have a snowmobile crowd right now. Just chatting with my sister about how nuts the 100mph on snow guys are. Lost a school chum to a bump that bounced him off his machine at 70 mph... snowmachine was undamaged but he hit a tree.

Glad to see that most are making it through this storm. Here in west central IN we are getting chiseled out as I type. I say chiseled out because we had 12 hours of constant sleet hitting the windows. It added up to about 6 inches of sleet, with 6 inches of new snow on top of that. I am lucky that DH got to come home from the hospital yesterday before it all started. We are staying put until Friday when I have to take him for a doctor�s appointment. The cold is supposed to set in tomorrow as usual after a major storm here. I have spent most of the time in the kitchen baking and doing some freezer cooking. Stay warm and safe everyone.
Linda

Let's do an International Deal. You send some of that cooler weather over my way, and I'll send you some of our warmer weather!

That should even things out a bit.

I'm currently covered in heat rash from high temps and high humidity. Still, I'd prefer that to being frozen solid.

How dare I complain! After all, I've not been affected by floods, bush fires or cyclones, like so many of my fellow-Aussies!

Keep warm, all of you.

My survival tips:

Keep on hand packets of bread and bread products such as wraps.

These can be filled with a variety of tinned foods - tuna, salmon, chicken sandwich fillers, tinned veges (asparagus, beetroot, corn niblets spring to mind). Don't forget - cheese slices or other real cheese snacks.

CAN OPENER!!

Long-life milk in small lunch-pack containers. Flavoured if you prefer. Fruit juice ditto.

Cigarette lighters or water-proof matches - can't light a candle without some sort of flame.

Packets of dried fruits and nuts, snack size.

Ladies - personal hygiene products.

Yep - running out of toilet paper is a TRUE DISASTER!

Bottled water - not necessarily the extravagant commercial stuff, but fill bottles from your own tap in advance.

Chocolate, doled out in small doses for medicinal purposes!

Remember Dry Shampoo? Make some if you can't buy some.

Keep safe! Keep warm!

Here is a link that might be useful: dry shampoo recipes

We had PB&J for lunch because I didn't want to open the fridge and I'm doing dinner early just in case we lose power again.

We're not just concerned about us either. We live in south Texas where many birds winter over. The temp did not get above freezing today so I rotated water for the birds. They were definitely thirsty since freezes are rare and frozen water in the daytime is unheard of.

After not having enough T-paper and dog food (with two hugh dogs) during the blizzard in Indianapolis in the late seventies and having to walk 10 blocks to get some to hold us over, I swore that would never happen again so I always have a good supply of both. Then, after we first moved down here to the boonies on top of a high hill and experiencing many power outages while living in a mobile, I decided what I would do and get to be prepared when we got our house built. The first thing I did was research woodburning stoves until I found one that didn't take up all the room in the world yet would provide all the heat we could want, light and plus I'd be able to cook on it. Bought it a little over a year before the house was done and stored it. Then we bought a generator which the one dog tore all of the wiring out of before it could ever be used much. Lesson learned. The next generator we bought is encased. I also started stocking my pantry, overstocking it as DH always complains. I don't think there is such a thing as overstocking it. Also put in a good supply of flashlights, batteries and candles. Since we were on a well, everytime they predicted a good storm or tornado or the wind just got up high, I'd fill the bathtubs and washer plus have drinking water on hand. About two months or so ago we went on county water. Just in time. No more problems with flushing. We heard this storm was coming in and got extra gas for the generator. I'd just bought a 40 lb. bag of dogfood and had my normal back ups of everything else. Didn't need to go to the grocery at all.

The ice storm hit but power didn't go out until about 1:30 a.m. so the generator, already set up and filled, was fired up and we already had the woodstove going strong. We watched some weather reports on television for a little while, then on to bed where our CPAP machines worked great off the generator. When we lose power, we also lose our land line, so we make sure our cell phones are always well charged and we can always contact relatives to make sure they are well and let them know we're okay. We do have our backpacking stoves and some battery operated Coleman lanterns as well.

When we got up, the house was pretty much as warm as we always keep it. The young man from the place down the road came over to make sure we were okay. He said no one could get up the steep hill that we live on or down it. I heated water on the woodstove for hot drinks and we had cereal and fruit. Later I started dinner on the woodstove, smoked sausage, onions, carrots and potatoes, and the power came back on. This was around 4:30 p.m. Finished cooking on the kitchen stove and its just like nothing out of the ordinary never happened.

When we first found out this storm was coming, DH went out to the 5th wheel, put the slide in and started up the furnace. We figured we'd just move into it if the power went out. He'd just had the two big propane tanks filled so we'd be able to stay warm and cook in there. However, he didn't like the way the furnace sounded so decided to turn it off and stick it out in the house. I'd say the first thing we were going to do once we can get out of here was take the 5th wheel to have the furnace checked, but I know better. We were supposed to leave here for a warmer climate shortly after Christmas and kept getting delayed. When we can get it out of here, we're getting in that RV and heading south or southwest. We can get that furnace checked wherever we wind up and our ceramic heater or two will work until then.

Something else everyone should think of is sleeping bags. Even with heat and blankets, my DH has been putting his Marmot -20 sleeping bag over the bed. He chills so easily and can't easily warm up. I, however, do not have that problem. Anyway, sleeping bags could be life savers for some and kids love them.

Good to see that everyone is doing OK.

Ya'll want to hear something funny? All of our schools are closed today and tomorrow because we might get a bitty bit of snow! It really is cold here but not that cold! Now if we get ice and snow we don't know how to react to that. We just don't have the neccesary equipment to deal.

Stay warm everyone!

The storm turned into much ado about nothing in my area of upstate NY. Maybe we received a few inches of snow and no discernable ice. No power outages or extreme cold temps either. In fact, my new puppy was even able to navigate the snow easily. For once, everyone else got clobbered. Schools closed anyway out of a sense of solidarity, I am thinking, but the roads were actually fine. So far this year, we've used up 5 of our 6 alloted snow days and March is usually a beast. I've lost track of the number of delayed openings.
We didn't do much to prepare for the storm as we're used to harsh weather.
jo

We were just north of the storm track so all we got was blow & cold. -10 this morning but it's supposed to get to 28 tomorrow. Can't say that I'm sorry to miss out on the snow; there is still plenty of the old stuff laying around with not even a January thaw to help reduce the piles. It's been a beasty winter.

Here it's 25F and sunny and the kids are sliding down the big piles of snow on their butts. No school because we have an awful loat of miles of roads and only half a dozen plows and drivers to get them cleaned up, so the secondary roads aren't all clear yet.

I had a pick-up at the office this morning for UPS and when I called and gave them my zip code I was informed that there were no pick ups or deliveries in my area "due to the weather. Call back tomorrow."

I told him we plowed. Geez, it's not like we're in Alaska or somewhere. Nope, they aren't coming today.

RR, Elery's sister lives in Tennessee and she's a school teacher. If they get an inch of snow, they close the schools. She says it's because of the mountains, no one could drive them in the snow. Snow is such a rare occurrence there they can't get around in it, they don't have salt for the roads and they don't have plows.

Annie

A word of warning about generators.

The one death so far recorded as a result of Cyclone Yasi here in Australia has been attributed to a generator. Or rather the fumes emanating from it in a closed-in area.

Something to think about.

"--A word of warning about generators. --"

Very important. Never run any generator, or internal combustion engine inside an enclosed space.

In addition:

There is no such thing really as "ventless heater". All combustion require consumption of oxygen. Ventless heaters have oxygen depletion shut-off switches. IMHO, I will not have my family's life dependent on the proper functioning of a little device.

dcarch

I haven't been here in a while. But, so far, I am making it.

OKC was pretty well shut down for a couple of days. People in my neighborhood can't get out, or risk getting stuck on the way to a plowed street.

I lost power for about 2/12 hours on either Tuesday or Wednesday, I can't even remember. The hot water lines were frozen for a while, but then all worked again except the intake for the washing machine.

That burst sometime overnight or early morning. I realized my water pressure was low, when I got up. Called the land lord. He will be over to assess the situation. Filled all my big containers and empty juice bottles "just in case". Well, the water got turned off, the leak fixed, but I am waiting to get the water turned back on. He couldn't get it to budge.

After the power came back on I turned my oven on. Cooked a turkey roast. YUMMY! :)

This evening, while the water is still off, I cooked a BIG pot of cabbage soup, again, YUMMY.

But overall, I am ready to get out of here.... only we are expecting more snow.

Bad for OKC, cause we are really not prepared for such amounts.

Moni

There are websites which offer MRE's (military Meal Ready to Eat) These are remarkably good and can be equipped with a heater. They currently sell for about $75 per case of 12. At about $6.40 each, they're not cheap, but they provide a guaranteed hot meal.
MRE's have a nominal shelf life of 5 years. They can last up to 10 years if kept cold.
The website I've included also offers 72 hour emergency kits, lighting options and power/radio options.

Here is a link that might be useful: One site for MRE's