How to Survive a Severe Snow Storm – Do You Have What it Takes?
What are your survival skills? Will you team up with anyone for support? Would the rest of your family know what to do and be able to survive as well?
The snowstorm that just hit northern and upstate New York here on February 14, 2007 left many stranded, secluded, and surprised in their homes, with no transportation, electric, and some without food. Not to mention the lovers who were waiting until the last minute to buy their valentine something. With eleven foot of snow blocking their doorways asking each other, where did you leave the shovel? Hopefully that answer was not on the front porch or in the garage.
Could you just imagine eleven foot of snow? Where would you start? Where does it all go? How long is it going to take to get to the main road, let alone a store? Going back in time to ration food to last long enough for the emergency plows to get you dug out. If the electric goes out how will the food be cooked or warmed up, and that is in the event someone was smart enough to think that far ahead to prepare the food.
After you get dug out to the bare minimum, will the vehicles start? Did you know there are different kinds of snow? There is the light powdery snow, the slushy snow, and the heavy packing snow, good for making snowmen. The very light powdery kind is actually the worst, because most snowmobiles will not work in it, they go through the light powder, instead of on top of it, the big heavy vehicles used to plow most rural places out end up getting stuck on top of the snow, because it ends up underneath the vehicle and smothers the engine, not letting air in to let it run properly, and if the wind gets involved, you end up with white outs, not being able to see on top of all that.
Here, is where I wanted to give those who have not experienced any of this some basic clues on how to have a fairly functional life when a major snow storm hits, and some basic survival skills or reminders to those who have experienced it, and have either forgotten over time, or might find some reminder of something that wasn’t thought of before. Yet, some will say where was this before the storm hit! Any way you end up looking at it, I hope you will find something useful, or at least something to look back at and laugh.
There are many websites to view for survival in any situation, and many lists for survival things to have on hand, the basics of an emergency kit, clothes and food are all the obvious, and for the basic survival techniques, but what doesn’t seem to be on the lists are how to effectively prepare to be home for a while without power, and a lot of time without heat for the people who’s heating units run with electricity.
If you know a storm is on its way most people will run to the store and grab supplies, a good idea would be to cook up a storm so all you had to do is heat things up, no pun intended there. The other issue like I stated above, is what if the power does go out and the microwave will not work? If you have a wood stove (indoors), you could always heat things up on top of that, but what if you don’t? Go to the nearest camping store, hunting store or the hunting department, there are many cooking units to choose from that are fairly safe, and under these circumstances could be used indoors, though it is not recommended for daily use, run on small propane cans, and will heat your food up in a jiffy. You may want an alternate method of heat as well, also the propane heaters, not something I would recommend myself for heating everyday, but in an emergency they are the ticket, and are nice to have around if your larger heating supply for your home were to give out, until a repair person can get there. It makes life so much nicer. So,
Before winter hits, some items you may want to consider getting are:
- Propane heater
- Propane cooking unit (nice for camping trips and hunting or fishing)
- Shovel
- Emergency food and water kit (also nice for camping trips and hunting or fishing)
- Home and car emergency kits
- Check on your blanket status (good for many situations)
- Do a search for survival needs, lists, and other ideas for getting stranded in an emergency situation.
Caution: Please read all manufacturers directions and warnings on propane products.
Before an actual storm hits, some other idea’s you may want to consider are:
- Always bring the snow shovel inside the door! (At least you will be able to start digging a tunnel out)
- Stop at the store for supplies. ( Bread, milk, eggs, sugar, flour, etc)
- Start cooking for things to heat up later, for those who don’t cook: make sure you did the previous step and got lots of snack foods!
- Make sure your emergency supplies are within reach, not in the garage or storage.
- Relax……..you may be there for a while!
Survival Kits for any situation can be found at these sites:
Weather Emergency Survival Kit–
For those who are thrifty- Here and here.
Though these are not always necessary in an emergency, they can come in handy weather you are weathering a storm or stuck on a camping trip, and anything in-between –
