Ready for Anything
The Valley does its best to prepare for potent wintry blast of snow, rain, ice and uncertainty
WOONSOCKET — With ‘uncertainty’ the buzzword of meteorologists forecasting today’s winter storm, it would have been easy for some to underestimate the potential impacts that this blast of winter weather may have on the region.
But at Vose True Value in Woonsocket and Rocky’s Ace Hardware just over the border in Bellingham, customers weren’t about to take any chances, saying they’d rather be cautious than caught off guard.
Inside Vose True Value on Saturday morning, Cumberland resident Sandy Schacht was making some last minute purchases in preparation for the winter wallop. The owner of a historic home on Tower Hill Road, Schacht said his house was designed for people in the 1830s and if the storm was as significant as what was being forecast, he may “flash back to historic times.”
“I’m getting kerosene for lamps. We could lose electricity and I’m way in the woods,” he said. “Trees are dying now and I think that the threat to
“We were going to get a generator but we didn’t get around to it, so now prayer is plan B.”
—How some are preparing for today’s mixed bag of a winter storm
lose electricity could be higher than normal. That’s why I’m being a little cautious.”
Thanks to an oil-fired furnace, Schact should be plenty warm as the temperatures plummet into the teens tonight, but even if he does lose power, he’s got plenty of chopped wood and, thanks to his visit to Vose True Value on Saturday morning, he has kerosene to light his home.
“That’s my preparation, that’s my plan,” he said.
With uncertainty about the potential for power outages – and how long he could be without electricity – Schacht said he checked to make sure he had a full supply of batteries and extra water. Living in a historic home deep in the woods of Cumberland, Schacht said he wants to “very much make sure I’m prepared.”
Ann Jalette, a manager at Vose True Value, said sales in the days leading up to Saturday – particularly starting on Thursday when the forecast became more clear – had been “very brisk” as customers were stocking up on salt, sand, shovels, batteries, and lanterns. However, one item Vose did not have in supply that many were inquiring about were battery-powered radios.
Why’s that? Because, Jalette said, so many people want to make sure they have a way to keep up with today’s New England Patriots game in the event of a power outage. If the lights go out and fans can’t watch the game on their local CBS affiliate, they could at least tune their radios to 98.5 FM and hear the call of the American Football Conference Championship Game.
That’s not a concern for Woonsocket resident Scott Dickie. While he was conducting some last-minute shopping on Saturday morning, Dickie said he’ll be watching tonight’s Patriots game at the CBS Sporting Club at Patriot Place in Foxboro. Much like a mail carrier, Dickie said he’s prepared to drive through snow, rain, or gloom of night to watch the game.
“I’m all ready,” he said of today’s storm. “I’ve got gas in the snow blower, the car’s in the garage.”
Just over the state line into Bellingham, John Castagnaro of Mendon, Mass. was crossing items off his list at Rocky’s Ace Hardware. In addition to ensuring his home is prepared for the storm, he also has to consider a five-family property he owns in Woonsocket.
“I’m not worried about my house. I need to make sure the tenants can get in and out relatively safely,” he said, adding that a focus of his was to make sure he had everything cleared of precipitation tonight before temperatures dip and the snow and rain freezes into ice.
A Hopedale, Mass. resident, who asked only to be identified by her first name – Kim – was replenishing her stock of ice melt. She said she had her “fingers crossed” that the storm would blow over. When asked how she prepares for a storm like today’s, Kim laughed and said “you pray a lot.”
“We were going to get a generator but we didn’t get around to it, so now prayer is plan B,” she said with a laugh.