Winter Weather Watch - Are You Prepared?

Those of us here in West TN and in various other areas of the Mid-South are well aware of the watches and advisories that we've been seeing for potential hazardous winter weather that could hit us in the next 48 hours.

Are you prepared?

Remember what happened to Western Kentucky recently? There were places there without power for weeks on end after they got hit with their ice storm. Remember Memphis in '91 when the ice storm hit - again, places without power for weeks.

We have the "potential" for that kind of severe winter weather later this week - are you ready? Because if we have a significant weather event, believe me you're going to need more than a quick run to the grocery for milk, bread, chips and beer.

Things to Think About

If we get hit with 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice, which is what they were considering earlier this evening, followed by 2 or more inches of snow - power outages are a real possibility. Weather forecasters are also concerned because here in West TN we're supposed to have wind gusts around 40 m.p.h. - which could cause ice covered tree limbs to fall, causing power outages.

~ Do you have a generator?
~ Do you have treated, stored gasoline to power it?
~ Do you know how long it can run on a gallon of gas? How often you have to change the oil in it? What you can safely run on it?
~ If you do not have a generator - what is your alternative?
~ Do you have plenty of batteries? Alternatives for lighting?
~ What will you do for heat?
~ How will you cook? Do you have stored cooking fuel? Utensils to cook over a fire in the fireplace?
~ What will you do with your fridge and freezer items if the power is out for an extended time?
~ Have you thought about water? Do you have water stored? Do you have places you can store water inside so it won't freeze? Do you know how much water you need for your family just for basic cooking?
~ If limbs come down on your property, do you have a way to remove them?
~ If, heaven forbid, limbs come down on your home - do you have contingency plans for a place to stay? Do you have extra cash on hand for unexpected emergencies such as this?
~ Do you have battery powered emergency radios or weather radios or hand-crank radios so that you can try to find out the status of events in your area?
~ Do you have activities to keep little ones busy during the day?

This is not anywhere near an all-inclusive list, but it is a start - ways you need to be thinking to prepare - because we just don't know what we might get this week.

Stay safe, stay tuned to the weather and be ready!