Winter Storm Preparations
A Habitual Impending Snowstorm Response
Things have been a little crazy around the Kat-stead as of late. Last night was the start of my daughter's championship basketball tournament, and now we are facing a rather large snowstorm.
This morning we all woke up early as we had to drive to a neighboring town for the start of the second day of the regional basketball tournament, however, my daughter's coach texted us early to say that the festivities had been canceled due to weather. Many of the kids participating in the tournament have to drive multiple hours to attend, and I am glad officials thought of the safety of the kids and their families first. The reason for the cancellation is the storm that has just started dumping its glorious frozen floofiness upon us. At my house alone they are calling for eighteen inches of snow, along with up to fifty mile per hour winds and negative wind chill factors. Yippee!
Whenever I learn of an impending weather event, a strange phenomena happens. I kick into storm prep mode. The first thing that I do is go out and make sure all of the animals have plenty of feed, fresh bedding, and completely full water troughs.
Next, I stop by the generator and make sure my green machine is full of fuel, for power outages are most definitely a thing out here in the woods.
I then come in the house and like a little homesteader hummingbird, I flutter around the house filling pitchers with waters, doing all the laundry and dishes, stock the firewood rack, and double check my convenience food section of the pantry. While I was completing this bad weather is coming routine this morning, I had a little chuckle, for it is totally a habit now, I don't even have to think about it, and that makes me feel good.
I wasn't always this prepared.
The generator came after spending three days without power with a newborn. My admiration for our pioneering ancestors knows no bounds. A couple of years later I bartered some Algebra tutoring and a million cookies for a professionally installed generator circuit panel courtesy of my journeyman electrician neighbor. When the power goes out I just flick off the main circuit and engage the generator panel. Now when the power is out my entire house, with the exception of the microwave and the dishwasher, runs like nothing is amiss.
There are only two areas that I am lacking in when it comes to home weather or disaster event preparedness, water and easy food. Don't get me wrong, I totally have plenty of food, but when bad weather or some horrid thing is going down, it's nice to have easy to prepare food. For the last few years I have had canning ready made meals as a to do on my never-ending task list. This year I am going to make sure that I take some time to can some soups and chili that can just be popped open and heated.
The water project is a little more involved. For a long time I have wanted a huge in-ground cistern system. I have a magnificent well, a gargantuan water font with a five horse pump and an 8 inch casing in a huge aquifer. However, my water is 447 feet in the ground and when the power goes out I am limited to what is in my pressure tank, about 120 gallons of H20. My plan has always been to install a 1500 or 3000 gallon cistern into the ground next to my house. Not only will the cistern take some stress off of my well pump, but it will be a nice water cushion if the power should be out for a while. I also have a huge generator just for the well, so I could always just fire that beast up and fill up the cistern as needed.
Regarding my earlier amusement when I was going through my storm prep rounds, some of my mirth came from the fact that when I reflected on my potential catastrophe ministrations, I realized that I have come such a long way. And that is what I really want to reiterate with this post. Squaring away your emergency preparedness can seem like such an overwhelming task, but if you just start small and continually build on what you do, you will eventually get to a point where you feel reasonably prepared to handle potentially stressful life situations. The less you have to worry about when things are bad the better. I know that if the storm rages and knocks out our power and ability to get out for a few days that my family will be warm, fed, and hydrated. It is a contented feeling indeed.
So my friends: Do you have a routine that you go through when bad weather is coming? Or do you just wing it? I love hearing about what other people do when it comes to dealing with what Life throws at us!
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No wonder you have been reminiscing about your trip to Hawaii!
If it gets too far below zero on Monday, I may not return from The Surprise excursion. Blech!
Snowing here today too. You have inspired me to come up with an emergency snow plan. Hmm, two inches of snow today. High of 60 on Tuesday. Ignore snow until it melts. Now I have a plan!
When you live in the boonies you have to be prepared. Glad you have your system down pat. You guys are getting nailed with snow this year. Is it more than usual or is it normal snowfall in your area?
We are having a weird winter temperature wise. December and most of January were brutally cold. Last week we had a warm up with lots of rain. Snow and ice replaced with mud and floods. Today light snow, but pushing 60 later this week. Temps might break record highs from the 1930's. Stupid groundhog, he promised 6 more weeks of winter! Then again we had 3 feet of snow in March last year so I guess I shouldn't judge him yet.
I hope you enjoy your snow day @generkiat. Stay warm and dry.
Your plan sounds totally shovel worthy, you know, like the stuff I remove from my barn....
Heh.
It's actually been a pretty normal winter, I live right in the middle of a snow belt, but around February I am totally ready for the ground to be back.
Your weather sounds like it's a been a bit bipolar this winter, egads! How in the world do you decide what to wear? lol!
At this point, I am so used to the snow that I don't let it detour me from my plans for the most part. Tonight the hubs and I gorged on seafood and went and watched Thor: Ragnarok at the discount theater. It was a pretty nice evening, even if we did ramble off a bunch of verbal incantations at a woman in a Ford Ranger who thought it would be a great idea to drive 18 mph in a 60 with not an ounce of snow on the pavement. Fun times!
Oh! And when we were driving home from my son's basketball game this afternoon, my nemesis and her spawn made an appearance in my driveway:
Hope you are having a splendid weekend Chops!
You're going to need a bigger shovel for my bs. Glad the weather didn't ruin your day.
I totally feel the same way when it comes to storm preparations. I keep easy food and water on hand, just in case. Then for actual decorations in our home, we have 4 "Little House On the Prairie" style Lanterns hanging around our house. I think they are cool looking anyway, but when our power goes out, we just light them up! It's so cool, and we don't have to scramble to look for flashlights.
We got over a foot of snow today too! And it's still snowing! LOL
I love lanterns! They are just so cool, and I can remember playing Monopoly during power outages with only the glow of a kerosene lantern to light up Park Place. Good times!
It sounds like you have got yourself squared away if things go awry. We got a foot too, but our power didn't go out for once which was nice:o)
Hope you are enjoying your weekend and staying warm!
I try to run the dishwasher at least, and make sure some lanterns and flashlights are available. The generator is my husband's department. I need to be more diligent about filling water pitchers. I'm glad you didn't have to go to the tournament today! The roads were rotten.
It was nice not to have to go up the road to PR, but the boy still had his last game down the road, so out we went, and the highway hadn't even been plowed yet at 1pm! It's always a little disconcerting when you see a tow truck slid off the road and stuck in the ditch, but we made it to the game just fine:o)
It sounds like you have your routine down pat though, and I hear ya about things being the husband's department. Here over the last couple of years I have been trying to learn and master the things that he usually does, just in case, as I am somewhat not useful in the mechanical department. Getting better though:o)
Hope you are having a lovely weekend!
Look what kind of snow we got.
Hey! That looks like my yard too! LOL! You guys got buried alive!!! Now we are going to get frozen by a northeast wind for a couple of days, hope you are staying warm:o)
I love how vigilant you are with things. You are strong minded!! Love that.. Stay safe :)
Ha ha! You are so awesome! Next time one of my family members is annoyed at my stubborness, I will just tell them that I am "strong minded" Yay! Thanks my friend! lol!
Hope you are having a fantastic weekend!!
Yea that is the way to be! :)
Have a fantastic weekend also!!
P.S is that a moose in the photo you shared above?
It sure is! We have a mama and baby moose that haunt our farm every winter. They are pretty cool, even if they do try to steal my alfalfa hay!
That is so awesome!! I have been trying to spot a moose up north from me for the last 2 years! And it is moose country there... in Muskoka. Hopefully this year :D
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STOPWe might not get snow my friend but we sure get our fair share of hurricanes and storms. The power is always a problem. This year we have our own generator for a back up. Though we can’t press the button and everything comes on. It will keep the food cold. Same problem with the well as you have.
I hope you and your family get through the snow and cold safely. I am glad they postponed the game. Take care. Hope you have a good book waiting for you. 🐓🐓
Ah! It totally sounds like you are well down the preparedness road! I am sort of pouting today, it was 8 below when I woke up this morning, any time it is below twenty I get cranky, lol!
Lived through a couple of hurricanes (typhoons) in my youth, that crap is scary, so I am so glad to hear that you are ready for the worst. My librarian self has a nice little collection of reading material, hope you have more than a few books for such occasions as well:)!
That is one big cistern. I’m sure all your animals would be pleased with that much liquid in a storm. On a side note, part of my work is crypto trading. Hopefully Steem at $50 this year takes care of that cistern for you!
One last thing, that professionally done generator panel is now on my wish list. You inspired me!
Ooh! You inspired my "I really hope that it happens" dreamscape with that $50 Steem possible projection. Wouldn't that be marvelous? I am so super impressed that you are into crytpo trading. In January 2017 I made a small dive in that pool with some of my Steemit earnings and have enjoyed the results:o) Of course, I just leave my portfolio alone, I am the ultimate HODLer, lol!
I hope that your generator panel becomes a reality, it really is a convenient thing to have:o)
Sounds like you have your bases well covered for winter storms and are aware of the few small gaps in your preps.
I find it odd, but I know some people that have lived in the country for a couple decades and don't have any preps for a power outage, even though it happens to them all the time! It is aggravating to see them so blissfully unprepared.
I don't get that whole mentality either. Out where we are you used to be able to call 911 and no one would show up, so you learn really fast to become self-reliant.
Each year I try to reevaluate and do a bit better, it's less overwhelming to think about if I approach it in prep-chunks, lol!
Breaking preparedness into chunks makes a lot of sense.