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If you are from an area that has major snowfalls in the winter, you are doubtless wondering what all the fuss is about - w/ predictions of a snowfall.
Please be aware that snow here usually means treacherous ICE, as snow falls, looks pretty, melts and re-freezes into a sheet of black ice.
Since we do not have plows and salt equipment on even a fraction of the level that you had in the NE or Midwest . . . roads will NOT be scraped and salted and sanded as you were used to. Therefore, roads can quickly b/c hazardous.
Also, the second problem is power outages. Ice on lines here causes massive power outages. We had a forecast for snow in 2002 and it ended up being a terrible ice storm, that put over 1 million people in this region w/o power for five days (and longer).
So please take some time to stock up on any food you may need to get through a power outage, such as tuna, crackers, etc. And baby food and diapers will be needed as well.
Also, if the power is off, you won't be able to fill up on gas, so get that this evening.
Make sure you have batteries for flashlights and candles w/ hurricane lamps so kids/animals do not knock them over or catch clothing on the flame and start a fire.
Use your outdoor grill for cooking (if you need charcoal - get it now!!!) but do not cook in the garage as that can cause carbon monoxide poisoning.
Turn your refrigerator and freezer settings to maximum cold, so food will stay cold longer in the event of an outage.
Hopefully, this won't be a storm w/ ice and the accompanying power outages. However, doing a few things for your own comfort in the hours preceding a storm can mean a lot less of a hassle while without power, if that should happen.
yeah, every year you hear about last year in so and so we had x amount of snow whats the deal. Dude, I could care less no-one can drive on ice even if you drove in "it" for 20+ years!
Pretty much the same advice for a hurricane. Power lines down, trees instead of black ice making roads impassable, hot instead of cold in the house. Keep this advice for the summer, too!
Pretty much the same advice for a hurricane. Power lines down, trees instead of black ice making roads impassable, hot instead of cold in the house. Keep this advice for the summer, too!
Oh, those power outages!!! When I lived in the Midwest, we had these god-awful blizzards and 13 " of snow, followed by 6 " three days later, followed by . . . well, you get what I am saying . . . and somehow - we never had power outages. The longest power outage I ever endured was less than a day.
Oh, those power outages!!! When I lived in the Midwest, we had these god-awful blizzards and 13 " of snow, followed by 6 " three days later, followed by . . . well, you get what I am saying . . . and somehow - we never had power outages. The longest power outage I ever endured was less than a day.
I guess we just have too many trees here!!!
No, Ani, underground utilities. The wires that DO exist are made for that kind of weather.
..and more stringent standards. Laws require the utility companies to repair any outages quickly. My father used to work for the telephone co. and if telephone service (via the telephone wires) was down due to an ice storm, it was required to be restored within 24 hours...no excuses.
That mindset is what made my father very upset that we were out of both telephone/electric service for almost 2 weeks after Hugo...he threatened to climb the telephone pole and repair it himself!! (he was suffering from early altzheimer's)
I know, I'm a smarty pants. I'm glad you can take a bit of a ribbing undeservedly, the silly smile on my face might not have traveled the interwebs as well as I could hope. Black ice is bad news.
But, I hope it snows a bunch and we all get to spend time with our family , or doing a bit of early spring cleaning. Or just not going to work?
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