It’s a Blizzard OUT There: News From The North Country

I’ve lived in the North Country all my life.  Blizzards are no new thing to me.  I know what to expect; you always expect the unexpected and prepare for the worse while hoping for the best.  You learn survival skills at a very young age when you grow up in blizzard country.  They don’t worry me much but I am always concerned.  A blizzard is dangerous at best. The wind and drift and bitter cold are more dangerous than the actual snowfall.  It is dangerous out there.  The highways are dangerous at best.  

Schools were closed ahead of the storm and businesses closed early.  People headed for home and safety.  Gas lines at the filling stations were long and some were running out of gas.  Emergency supplies were quickly being depleted from the store shelves, water, canned foods, flashlights, lanterns, batteries, generators, extra blankets, gloves, mittens, hats and wool socks; snow shovels, you can’t find a snow shovel anywhere.  They have sold out.  People were all preparing for the Big Storm.

It is blizzard season in the North Country.

Yesterday, before the storm really hit I began checking my own emergency supplies.  I wanted to be ready, prepared, just in case.  Storms can be unpredictable.  You need to keep your head and use some good old common sense or you can be in a peck of trouble.

I have plenty of supplies ready for this storm.  My cell phone, my computer, my radio are ready, their batteries all on 100% charge.  I have enough food and water for myself and my pets for at least a week to ten days should the power go out and I have plenty of warm blankets and clothing.  I even have my shovel ready.  I know I am going to have to use it.  It is blizzard season where I live.

Blizzards are like hurricanes in some ways, high winds, lots of precipitation, only it is snow instead of rain and there can still be flooding in coastal areas and lots of drifting inland.  The wind can be horrendous.  Trees break under the weight of the snow and power lines come down.  The wind, the drifting, the cold; these are the things that make a blizzard so dangerous.  It is no laughing matter.  When a blizzard is predicted, take the warning seriously.  It is a matter of life and death.