Prepping For The Ice

How did I spend my day today know that we had a Winter Storm Watch posted for our area?

Well, we always have a well-stocked pantry so there was no rushing to the store for last-minute items. I had earlier in the week planned a trip to the store today to pick up some items that are non-essential, but ones that I've had on my list for a while - things like chips, salsa, lemons, apples, banana, juice, dog food - nothing we had to have, but a few items we wanted. So I went ahead with my scheduled run, but could have just as easily waited for another day.

Yesterday I happen to have made 4 loaves of wheat bread from home-ground wheat; I was trying a new recipe which turned out great, so we're good for bread.

I did put on a big pot of stew, which will be easy to re-heat over a propane stove if we lose our power tomorrow. We have plenty of pantry and freezer items to turn to of the power happens to be out for any extended period of time.

I also made a batch of cinnamon roll dough, just because it will be a nice treat for breakfast if we don't lose power. If we do lose power, I'll just pop them into the freezer for another day.

My oldest daughter made a cranberry-apple crisp that we had for dessert tonight, and there was enough left over that it can be our breakfast tomorrow morning instead of the cinnamon rolls if the power does go out.

The kerosene heater is close by and fuel is at the ready. Plenty of firewood has been moved from the wood pile to the barrels on the back porch. Our Mr. Buddy heater was moved from storage into the house just in case we need it and we have 4 spare propane cylinders here in the house as well - more in storage. We have oil lamps and plenty of oil if we need lighting. The flashlights are in their proper places and batteries are full.

Since we just finished having several days of 70+ degree temperatures, we had uncovered our water faucets outside, so I did make sure the hoses were drained and the faucet covers were back in place.

Cell phones, emergency radios, etc. are fully charged; vehicles are full of gasoline. I usually do my laundry a little each day as we go through the week; today I went ahead and kept doing loads so everything will be clean and put away in case the power goes out for any extended period of time. The dishwasher has a clean set of dishes waiting to be put away as well.

Since we've stayed on top of our preparedness items, there was no stress, no rushing about, no trying to make sure nothing was forgotten. The few extra loads of laundry and draining the water hoses were the only thing really "extras" that I did that I might have let go for another day. The rest of the items were pretty much just mental checklists to make sure everything was where I knew it should be.

Here's hoping that the forecasters are off the mark and all we get is a light dusting of snow! But it pays to be prepared for whatever might come our way.

Winter Storm Watch Tonight

From the Memphis NOAA Weather Forecast for West Tennessee for Wednesday, 11 Mar 2009:

ARZ027-028-035-036-048-049-TNZ048-049-088-120100-
/O.CON.KMEG.WS.A.0003.090312T0900Z-090313T0000Z/
POINSETT-MISSISSIPPI-CROSS-CRITTENDEN-ST. FRANCIS-LEE AR-
LAUDERDALE-TIPTON-SHELBY-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...HARRISBURG...BLYTHEVILLE...
WYNNE...WEST MEMPHIS...FORREST CITY...COVINGTON...
BARTLETT...GERMANTOWN...COLLIERVILLE...MEMPHIS...
MILLINGTON 1156 AM CDT WED MAR 11 2009

...WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT
THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING...

RAIN WILL BEGIN LATE THIS EVENING ACROSS EAST-CENTRAL
ARKANSAS AND SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE. RAIN WILL CHANGE
OVER TO FREEZING RAIN OR SLEET SHORTLY BEFORE SUNRISE.
FREEZING RAIN OR SLEET WILL CONTINUE TO OCCUR THROUGH
THE MORNING INTO THE AFTERNOON. A CHANGEOVER TO SNOW COULD
OCCUR IN AREAS NORTH OF INTERSTATE 40.
ICE ACCUMULATIONS WILL LIKELY BE AROUND A QUARTER OF AN
INCH. ONE TO TWO INCHES OF SLEET OR SNOW ACCUMULATION
IS EXPECTED.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR
SIGNIFICANT SNOW...SLEET...OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY
IMPACT TRAVEL. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS.

Remember KY in late January? A little bread and milk from the grocery will not help you if we lose power due to ice. You should have plans in place at minimum for alternate heating and cooking options, a stocked pantry and a manual can opener. Alternate sources for light - be careful if you use candles. Make sure cell phone batteries are charged. Gas tanks on your car should be full. Check on elderly neighbors and relatives to see if they need any assistance. Stay off the roads if at all possible before driving becomes hazardous.