Preparing for Winter Storms

The weather folks are calling for the first snow fall for this winter this weekend. It usually doesn't happen until January! But it doesn't hurt to be prepared. Down in our little hollow we'll see some but not near as much as some parts of the country.

As homesteaders, we are pretty well prepared for as eventuality, but other folks are not so lucky. I also know that many of y'all live north of the Mason-Dixon line too so winter storms are nothing to y'all. Just as hurricane preparedness is to us on the east and west coasts. Or, tornadoes in the Plains. Still bad weather puts a crimp in anybody's style.

As a stroke survivor, or any impaired person, preparedness is doubly important.We have speech, medical needs, and mobility issues that can't be ignored. I know with all the snow and more importantly the ice will cause me additional problems. Most of this blog is common sense for all storm preparedness.

My van cannot make it up the 1/4 mile, 100' rise. It will slide all the way down. But we've got Mel's 4-wheel drive, 8-cylinder truck to get out if necessary. It's a monster, but it runs. Being short, 5' squat, it's difficult to get into, but it just takes more effort to get in and out of. Worse comes to worst I can drive it to Atlanta on Tuesday. The interstates should be pretty cleared by then.

As with any bad weather, being prepared ahead of time is crucial. We are luckier than most because we live and work on our small homestead. We have everything we need within easy reach. The rabbits and chickens are within easy reach, maybe a total of 20' from the back door to tend to the animals, gather eggs, etc. No trudging 1/2 an acre in snow and ice to get to them. The food storage building is bulging within 5' of the back door. I planned it all this way on purpose given my disabilities. I learned from my first winter here.I work hard all summer and fall to make sure my pantry is full by November.

As far as electrical needs go, we have a Harbor Freight solar panel kit. It's attached to two deep cell batteries. With the inverter, we can pull power off of that in a pinch. It's enough to recharge batteries of computers and cell phones. In winter there is an advantage over summer storms, you can take your frozen or refrigerator food stuff and put it in the snow to keep it that way. We'll bury the big ice chests in the snow for use as a refrigerator.

But heat is another story. You gotta stay warm. Extra blankets are put on the beds. Which causes me the problem of getting out of bed in the morning even with a ball under the covers just from sheer weight. But I'll do it to stay warm.

We heat with wood, so a full cord of wood is placed on the front porch and a another cord is within 20' of the front porch. As a back up we have electric heaters, but that will do us no good without power. My black trashcans filled with kindling are moved to the front and back porches for easier access. Yeah, it looks like a flat mess, but inside we're cozy by the heat of the fire.

It's also time to break out the heavy coats, sweaters, and other such cold weather wear. Dressing in layers is the key I learned from living up north. You can always shed layers if you get too hot, but it sure feels good for the warmth.

With the days getting shorter, light becomes an issue. Various tasks need light to be accomplished. You can't read, you can't cook, or do anything after sunset without a source of light. For this we have several options candles, oil lamps, battery operated flashlight and lamps, and even shake lights. Remember the solar panel kit and the batteries? In a pinch we can recharge batteries off of them. We can go weeks without ever leaving our homestead and be perfectly fine. A month would be stretching it, but we could if we had to.

Cooking food, could be a problem for you. Cans of Sterno come to mind if you're are not like us with a wood stove with a cook top. Or, "Are You s Survivalist or a Prepper?" you can use old cans to build a rocket stove like I talk about in my book. There are quite a few helpful tidbits in there. (shameless self promotion plug).  But think about how you are going to heat your food or prepare your meals. I've got a propane stove, the wood stove, a rocket stove, and a charcoal grill with about 50 lbs of briquettes. Not to mention the gas cooktops out in the summer kitchen. I think I'm set if the power goes out it this respect, how about you?  I guess you could always just open up the can or jar and eat it just like it is. Speaking of which, can you use, or do you own a non electric can opener? I can my own jars so all it takes is a church key or bottle opener to open my jars. It makes my life simpler. You will burn more calories trying to stay warm.

Water is the most overlooked item you have to have. The average person needs at least one gallon of fluids per person a day to maintain their bodies. Just for general purposes we keep 5-5 gallon bottles of water in our storage building. This is set aside for drinking water. You can add at least another gallon of water per person each day for hygiene needs.Sure you can melt snow for this purpose providing you have access to fairly clean snow. We did this every winter at my grandmother's house. There were no de-icing products, animals, cars, factories or the like where we gathered this snow from. It was clean snow.

Now that food, warmth, water, and lighting are taken care of, what about activities? Do you have activities that you can do without electricity? I mean, sure you can go outside to make snow angels and toboggan down the closest hills for a while, but eventually you'll have to come indoors. Now what? Nothing makes time sluggishly tick away on a clock than doing nothing. Ask me how I know this? Go ahead and ask me. You can't hop on the internet, lighting is limited, even your  smart phone and computer batteries will run low and have to be recharged. For us, a pile of books, spinning, crocheting and knitting eats away at boredom. We'll often loose track of time and hours while go by. What will you do?

Just some thoughts on being the prepared for this first winter storm of 2018. Many more will come before it's spring again and then we prepare for hurricane season. Yes, even in the north GA foothills. Hurricane Irma taught us that lesson.

Nothing is impossible.