Take these steps to protect home when extreme weather strikes
The bright lights and sounds of the holidays are past, and the bitter cold and snow of winter is soon upon us in many parts of the nation. Snowstorms are more frequent in the north than the south (and indeed, snow is virtually nonexistent in Florida), but many of the same principles of emergency safety apply in case of earthquakes, hurricanes or other natural disasters. Snowstorms pose a particular danger to children, older adults and pets, but fortunately, you’re likely to have 12 to 24 hours of warning.
Follow these tips to protect yourself, your family and your home when extreme weather strikes.
Take warnings seriously
Pay attention to warnings from the National
Weather Service or your state or local government. Time is the most precious resource in any weather situation; in most cases, you will have several hours or days of warning of incoming poor weather. Listen to the advice given and prepare as directed; the best-case scenario is that afterward, you’ll breathe a sigh of relief that you didn’t need to prepare as much as you did. But in the worstcase scenarios, preparation makes a major difference in outcomes.
Stay on top of regular maintenance
If you haven’t done these tasks already, it’s a good idea to complete them before they become urgent. Winterize your roof by checking for damage and cleaning gutters.
Double-check your caulking, insulation and weather stripping. It’s always a good idea to keep those in good repair for energy efficiency, but if the heat goes out during a snowstorm, you want to preserve every degree of internal heat you can.
Drain your sprinkler system in accordance with instructions.
Prepare plumbing and pipes by sealing off exterior cracks, insulating pipes that can easily freeze and leaving the heat on even if you’re away so the temperature never drops below freezing.
Trim trees of dead branches and overhanging limbs. Broken tree limbs can cause a lot of damage in a windy storm.
Stock up on supplies
The federal government’s disaster preparation guidelines (available at ready.gov) recommend keeping enough nonperishable supplies on hand to sustain everyone in the family for at least three days of no power or assistance. Prepare a disaster kit with enough food, medication, water and pet needs. Store it in a safe, easily accessible place and make sure everyone in the house knows where it is. (In the event of a disaster, you might not be the person taking charge.) Ready.gov has an extensive list of specifics.
If power goes out, keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed as long as you can. A freezer can keep food frozen for up to 48 hours if it stays closed. Food can stay fresh in a closed fridge for 24 hours.
In an extended power outage, snowdrifts outside your door can be used as a temporary freezer to keep food ready.
Stay in contact
Another basic tip that’s good in all disasters: Don’t count entirely on your tech. Write crucial phone
numbers on paper, including emergency services, plumber and HVAC. Keep family and friends’ phone numbers written down as well; our mobile phones do a great job maintaining all this for us most of the time, but you might not be using your own phone when making these calls.
One more useful hint:
If your power goes out, unplug any equipment that will turn on automatically when power comes back. Voltage irregularities and spikes occasionally take place during a major power restoration. Keeping things unplugged from the wall until power returns prevents any damage from such a surge.