Be Ready For Ice and Snowstorms

Pixabay at Pexels

PREPARATION BEFORE A SNOWSTORMor ICE-STORM:

1. Make sure your insurance is up to date, and that acts of God are all covered. Proper annual review of your insurance is always an asset, and you should review these with and without your insurance broker to make sure that there are no unpleasant surprises when disaster strikes.
2. Make sure that you have plenty of salt, sand or supplies in order to make sure than ice does not become a major problem. The last thing you need to have happen is for you or another person slip and slide. Make sure that your insurance covers falls in case of a problem—before the storm.
3. Make sure that you have plenty of gasoline in your car. Make sure that you have a brush and window scraper. Have safety equipment in the trunk and keep two flashlights, one in the car and once in the trunk. Kitty litter (standard, not clumping) works in case of sliding and getting stuck. Keep a shovel in the trunk. Have your emergency roadside assistance number ready ahead of time.
4. NEVER go up on your roof, unless it is flat (then BE very careful, think about safety equipment first)—to shovel the snow, as it is way too dangerous to handle without proper fall prevention equipment.
5. In case snow becomes too hard to handle yourself, always have a snow removal company on retainer.
6. Make sure that your snow blower is properly maintained, oil and plenty of gasoline (or a mix if older type) before the storm.
7. Do plenty of surplus shopping before the storm. Include plenty of food, bottled water, groceries—food and sundries.
8. Make sure that your cell phone is properly charged, before any outages.
9. Make sure that you have batteries, flashlights and emergency first aid equipment. This idea doubles  in ice storms, which while temperatures aren’t too harsh, the ice can be devastating—branches, power-lines and your car.

DURING A SNOWSTORM or ICE-STORM:

1. Pay attention to the latest weather reports and make wise decisions.
2. Try to have someone pay attention to you while out shoveling. If injury happens, time can be of essence.
3. Dress properly. Gloves, boots, and enough clothing to make sure that cold does not become a problem. Three items to pay attention to are:
   • Hypothermia, or lowering of or too low of body temperature. If you feel faint or think a heart condition develops due to being too cold, call 9-1-1 and follow doctors orders.
   • Frostbite, or a local skin or limb being exposed to too cold a temperature that blood flow is cut off to the limb. If it happens call 9-1-1 and follow doctors orders.
4. Make sure ice is covered with salt. Make sure that you are very careful not to go down due to a fall. Lower back injury is the most prominent way of being injured in a storm.
5. Never shovel too long. Pay attention to breathing and be properly clothed. If you have any chest pains, stop shoveling immediately, go inside and assess whether it is a problem, and if you think that you are having a heart attack, make sure to call 9-1-1. Even though it isn’t the most common injury, it is the most dangerous!
6. Shivering during shoveling causes muscles to pull very easily and risks undue injury. Don’t try to do too much in once shoveling, especially if you are not used to doing it. Injury is never worth getting something accomplished.
7. While shoveling, make sure that you pay attention to posture, and be very careful once snow is above waist level, due to fatigue and improper movement of your limbs while shoveling. This is the second most popular way of being injured.
8. If you use a snow blower, make sure that you pay attention while doing so. Always practice the best policy for safety, and be very careful to fall away from the blower. A snow blower if injury happens, will be very devastating. A common blower can lead to amputations and even death, so please be very careful.
9. Ice can be devastating, because while temperatures aren’t as harsh, it can be very tricky—branches, power-lines and your car, and falling–are all at risk. If you are locked out of your car, never use a torch. Make sure you do not venture too far, because if you run out of gas because you cannot get it into the tank, because of the ice—it can be a major problem.
10. Use a brush and window scraper with gloves on to try to minimize risk of frostbite. Try to make sure you are not sealed out of your car, from ice or other elements. Use your safety equipment, shovel, flashlights, kitty litter if you slide or get stuck. Exercise caution while rolling the wheels, as gear slipping and too much heat on the transmission can cause transmission failure. Make sure that you do not drop your cell phone in the snow. Call for emergency roadside assistance if you do get stuck.
11. NEVER go up on your roof, unless it is flat (then BE very careful, think about safety equipment first)—to shovel the snow, as it is way too dangerous to handle without proper fall prevention equipment.
12. If snow becomes too hard to handle yourself, call your snow removal company.
13. If your power goes out, all land-lines usually won’t work, so you will probably have to use your properly charged cell phone.
14. If your power goes out, call the power company, and make sure that devices using gas and electric are not used. Always smell for natural gas, and if it is present, turn the gas off at the main and call the gas company. These are times that if you elected to buy into a power back-up generation system, you will be so glad that you did!
15. Before the thaw, test the sump pumps and drains, and make sure the back-flow flap valves are operating to assure that water does not back up from the drain pipe.
16. Make sure that you are ready for the thaw, as rains can exasperate the conditions. A lot of water run-off is imminent. Make sure that you pay attention to covered storm drains in your area, and if they are blocked, unblock them before a re-freeze. Never leave puddles sit that would normally go down.
17. Also before the icicles get very heavy, make sure that you pay proper attention to the inside of the house, and move important items out into the center of the house away from the eaves and any portion of roof where snow is on it as it melts. Ice dams happen when the snow melts into ice by day, and then re-freezes at night, and then re-melts a second day later and starts running any direction except down.
18. Make sure if you walk in a downtown district near buildings with icicles, that you look “up” before proceeding to walk into the building. Sound moves too slow to signal danger. Exercise caution at all times.
19. Make sure if you elect to knocking icicles down, that you knock them away from you due to risk of injury and death. Icicles if they hit your head can be absolutely devastating. Make sure that you do not exert too much force on the icicle, as it could rip shingles, siding, support beams, gutters and molding right off, causing damage to the house.
20. It is always a handy item to take before photos for your information and insurance purposes. Keep them current and up to date as much as possible. They may be necessary to assist your later damages from the storm.
21. If you do have a problem, take photos, and save them to consult after the storm with your insurance agent.
22. Save calling police and fire for emergencies calls only. Don’t call them for maintenance or city public works related issues. Keep the emergency numbers open for persons having real emergencies. Here are some survival tips:
23. Stay informed by monitoring the storm by radio, and if power is still an option, plug in the TV, and/or internet. A battery operated NOAA.com weather radio is most helpful.

AFTER A SNOWSTORM or ICE-STORM:

1. Access any and all damages carefully and pay attention to safety.
2. Call insurance and only follow the following tips after proper accessing has been done, and don’t forget to take photos first before you fix damages. keep all receipts for supplies, fixing–for insurance or to claim a loss.
3. If you had to turn off any utilities, access the possibility and turn on utilities ONLY if possible.
4. Make sure that you replenish salt as the snow or ice melts. Repeat the above “during the storm” tips as necessary until a complete thaw.
5. Check up on the sump pumps and drains, and make sure they are operating properly.
6. Continue to make frequent checks on the outside drainage similar to that of during the storm. Blocked sewer can be devastating, particularly if the thaw ends and the cold starts up again.
7. It may take several weeks to dispose of refuse, make sure if any waste is hazardous to dispose of properly.
8. Have any property that is not functioning maintained or replaced as necessary.
9. Fix the decor to return everything to it’s normal state.

A winter storm is a nasty fact of life, but truly is a part of life that all have to deal with. They are not going away, and we need to be prepared, and be safe.

FIND YOUR LOCAL NOAA.com WEATHER RADIO STATION:

FIND YOUR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORESCAST:

Efdal YILDIZ at Pexels

BE PREPARED FOR ANY WINTER STORM!