Friday, October 13, 2006

Winter Survival at Home in a Blizzard

Hubby and I have discussed this, the only thing we don't have is a generator - someday. We are also sorta stuck because we don't have a fire place or a wood stove, we would like to move and live someplace were we can have the wood stove, if not two of them. We may be able to install one on the second story of our house, ideally we would like one that lives outside of the house and the heat is pumped in. We'd also like to be off grid with solar/wind enegery and a ground pump for heat. We do have a kerosene heater and a propane heater, both varities that are designed to be used in living quarters - or so they say - but they are only good as long as the fuel lasts and then too bad.

Ideal situation that demands survival sitaution: Mind you we both grew up in the country and there are times when a person just can't get to town. But if the blizzard/ice storm is bad enough then even townies will need this stuff.

Generator and fuel for electricity - to power the furnace and major appliances.
Note TV and Computers don't count as major appliances.
Source of Heat if you don't have the above and don't have electricity
Lighting - flashlights and fresh batteries. We prefer oil lamps to candles and have a few that mount to the walls making them pet friendly!

Food: You should always have enough food and water for every member of your family - including pets - for a minimum of three weeks - I'm thinking the ice storm of '78 here, and preferably 3 months. We could survive three months, would need water source, but anything beyond that is a crap shoot.

Water - You would be amazed at how much water you use, turn the water to the house off for a day and then note the number of times you need to flush or wash your hands and this doesn't even include drinking water. And I have noticed the pets seem to need more water when it has been shut off - twice this summer when the city put new water mains in.

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