With winter just around the corner in many parts of the country, it’s important to start thinking about what you need to do to prepare your home and family for a potential winter storm that could be coming your way. To assist you with this, here are three ways you can get prepared when a winter storm has been forecasted to be in your neighborhood.
Make A Plan To Keep The Cold Out
When bad winter storms are on the horizon, it’s best to just hunker down at home and ride out the storm. However, if your home isn’t ready for the onslaught of cold and snow, you might find yourself vulnerable at home too.
To prevent this, it’s wise to take a look at your home and make a plan for how you’ll keep the cold out when temperatures drop. If you have exposed pipes, try to insulate them so that your pipes don’t freeze and burst during the storm. Additionally, if there are gaps between your exterior doors and their frames, use weather stripping or other materials to close these gas and keep the cold out. Along with this, putting additional insulation around your windows to seal them properly can also help to secure your home from the frigid outside air.
Prepare For Potential Loss of Power
In many winter storms, there’s a good chance that the power could go out. Not only could this happen due to thick blankets of snow weighing down and snapping power lines, but if someone is on the road and loses control of their car, they could crash into power lines that could then cause power outages as well.
To plan and prepare for this possibility, you may want to get a generator that you can use for emergency purposes. Then, if you do lose power, you can switch on your generator and continue to heat your home, keep your food at a safe temperature, and have some of the comforts that you need to ride out the storm.
Stock Up On Emergency Supplies
When heavy winter storms bring with them a lot of snow and ice, it can be very hard for people to get around in their cars. This can make it so you can’t make it to the store to get any supplies that you need until things thaw out. So to ensure that you can survive at home until you’re able to go out and get more supplies, you’ll want to stock up on emergency supplies before the storm hits.
Ideally, you should have a few day’s worth of food and water at your home. Additionally, keeping warm clothes and blankets on hand will help protect you from the cold. And if you have medicine that you need to take on a daily basis, make sure you have an extra supply in case you can’t leave your home for a few days or so.
If you live in an area where big winter storms are known to hit, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you prepare for one that might be headed your way.
