Prepare for Inclement Weather

Praise the Lord from the earth, all sea monsters and ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and cloud, powerful wind that executes His command

Psalm 148:7-8 HCSB

Prepare Your Home

Here in North Alabama, it's easy to forget to prepare for extreme weather. We have it all year-round, but it comes in so many shapes and sizes and flavors, I think the Alabama Tourist Division forgot to advertise it in their catalogues. In fact, I read somewhere once a few years ago that likened Alabama to having upwards of 12 different seasons compared to the average four of most of our country. I'll go look that up for you in a minute to share that exquisitely written description that is both humorous and startling as it truly does depict Alabama weather perfectly.

For now, let me just say this: I'm stuck in my house right now and have been pretty much trapped here for a week due to a winter storm them left our road in ice. The temperatures have been below 10 degrees Farenheit and the wind chills making it feel ten degrees colder if that. To give you a better perspective of just how crazy Alabama's weather is, just think about this: January weather averages can be anywhere between 21 degrees and 60 degrees Farenheit! Yes, I just looked it up for myself from the weather. For January, the temperature could range anywhere from 20 to 60 degrees NORMALLY and the average high from historical records show 48 degrees Farenheit.

If that doesn't make you wrinkle your nose at the severe changes in Alabama weather, then I don't know what will. Maybe telling you January's average daily low is 33 degrees Farenheit, but just remember that is only an average! These statistics are from data compiled since 1970, so if you ask me, all this Global Warming talk is just that - talk.

Sorry, Let me get back to the point of this post. Preparedness. I don't think Alabamians even know what preparedness means sometimes; you'd think folks down here would know what to do when there's any kind of storm, but most people either ignore it completely and pretend nothing is happening, or they altogether freak out and act like the Apocolypse is happening. Trust me, we'll know when Jesus returns. But it wasn't this week. So, I want to share just a handful of thoughts on the matter of preparing for a Winter Storm in particular - all learned the hard way by yours truly. I hope that you'll find this list useful, put into effect and be thoroughly prepared whenever the next Winter storm hits.

How to Prepare for a Winter Storm

• Be sure you are stocked up on essentials a week before any storm, but especially a Winter storm!
• Do you have enough of your Rx on hand? If not, you had better make sure you get it well in advance to the storm, as you never know how long places will be closed!
• Check that your heater is going to work. If filters or anything else needs to be changed, do it. Have a backup plan in case you lose power and ALWAYS prepare for the worst as a winter storm can leave you stranded at home for upwards a week or more!
• Make sure that you have emergency heat in case your central heat does go out. If you don't have a gas heater, look into a radiator heater that can heat the home (for a two bedroom house, I suggest getting two to distribute the heat). Stay away from heaters that are just ornaments, the kind that look pretty, because they likely won't put out the kind of heat you need to stay warm if you have to rely on it.
• Days before the storm, be sure your vehicles have a full tank of gas just in case.
• Have some cash on hand in case some kind of emergency comes up where you have to pay someone but their power or card reading service is out. Think in worst case scenario: having to rent a hotel room if all else fails; having to pay the air and heat servicer who comes out to work on your heater but doesn't take checks for some reason.
• Stock up on candles and emergency heating accessories like Hot Hands (they make body warmers, hand warmers, toe warmers, and they often sell them in bulk during the year).
• If you don't already have blackout curtains, buy them and put them up in every window that you can. If they don't have blackout curtains that fit all your windows, improvise and start finding old quilts or blankets that you could hang up instead. This will help you retain heat in the home and keep the cold air out.
• Speaking of cold air - drafts will come in under the doors to the outside. You could buy those cute draft blockers that look like animals, or you could improvise and just throw blankets down when the time comes.
• Do you have a heating blanket? It will help keep you warm at night if you still have power. Even if you don't have power, however, they are usually nice and thick anyway so it will help keep you warm no matter what.
• Finally, while waiting out the thaw, be extremely careful! Not only could you get hypothermia, but you should always be extremely careful to not walk over frozen lakes, ponds, or any other large body of water as you will NOT know how frozen it is and could risk falling in.
• Do not walk under large trees, as the branches could fall from the weight of ice on it.
• Do not walk on icy roads as you could easily slip and hurt yourself.
• If you do go sledding or anything else for fun while there's snow on the ground, be sure to wear sufficient layers and appropriate outerwear: warm hat, warm thick socks, gloves that can are for snow, etc. and safe shoes that can provide traction on snow/ice.

Closing thoughts

There you have it. A rough list for preparing for the worst. Now, I promised I would look up the twelve seasons of Alabama, so here it is:

• Winter
• Fool's Spring
• Second Winter
• Spring of Deception
• Third Winter
• The Pollening
• Actual Spring
• Summer
• Hell's Front Porch
• False Fall
• Second Summer
• Actual Fall

Note: All the seasons usually last about a week except Actual Spring and Actual Fall, which usually last only 2-3 days, and Hell's Front Porch, which lasts anywhere around 40 days.

Thanks for reading and stay safe out there!