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Dec.5,2011
Just this past week, the Santa Ana winds were huffing and puffing and blowing trees down in numerous Southern California communities. These photos shared by the Los Angeles Times remind me of the strength of nature and just how unexpectedly we can find ourselves in an emergency situation. A photo of a mother sitting in her candle-lit living room with her children wrapped in blankets makes me wonder how many people were caught without a plan.
Five years ago, I relocated from Los Angeles to a small cabin in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. My neighbors told me to expect an average snowfall of 2″-8″ during a storm. There was one particular storm that changed my point-of-view on emergency preparedness.
As the weather front moved in, the snow flakes landed on pine and oak tree branches, painting a beautiful winter wonderland. The sky quietly dripped snow, leaving me feeling peaceful and comforted by the silence. As the snow started to accumulate, I had no idea that I should be turning my attention to emergency preparations. Instead, I settled into an afternoon nap and awoke three hours later to find four feet of snow!
The burden of snow on branches toppled trees into power lines. We lost power for 36 hours. The storm had come in early, and had caught us without a reserve of seasoned wood on our porch. Like everything else outdoors, the wood was under a thick blanket of wet snow. After digging the wood out, I discovered that I could line the wood along the inner walls of the fireplace and let the heat pull out the moisture.
We ate food from our pantry, burned wood, and waited for the snow to melt. It was 9 days before a snow plow was able to clear the roadways leading to our property. We weren’t prepared; we should have had a plan.
The Ready.gov website includes many helpful resources for preparing for various natural disasters. Here are some basic guidelines to help your family be prepared for winter storms and severe cold conditions:
lines remain in operation. More tech tips
The best time to prepare for an emergency is when you are safe. Having a plan and knowing how to quickly execute it, may save your life.
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