BAD WEATHER - FOLLOWUP

During the week and the storm it occurred to me that I had not mentioned to you an important item of preparation.  Light.

Battery powered lights are much safer than candles.  There are very small flashlights, perhaps 4-5 inches in length, which have LEDs.  These are wonderful for use in storms, as well as in general.  They easily fit in a pocket to carry with one.  After Hurricane Sandy my husband and I went out for a walk.  We found the local supermarket was open and we went in.  They were on emergency power and were not selling items which were refrigeratored  or frozen.  There was only low light in the store.  We were looking through the cans of soup left on the shelf and could not see them - nor could others who were also looking.  I stuck my hand in my pocket without thinking and there it was - the flashlight I had been walking around the house with.  I pulled it out and we were able to see the items on the shelves. 

We each had one of these in our pockets throughout the storm.  Normally we keep one in the kitchen, in our bedside table drawers, and in the basement.  They are sold in many stores.  We get ours at a national tool chain which often sends out coupons making them free with a purchase - so whenever we make a purchase we get one (unless we are using a “free” coupon for another item needed). 

The same store, and other stores, also sell a rectangular flash light which has a number of LEDs (something in the 20's) in the front, as well as in the end and can be used either way.  These are great as they give off a great deal light.  There is a magnet on the back of it.  We normally have one in the kitchen on the refrigerator and others elsewhere in the house.  Husband has one in his closet to light same.  This is another great idea for light during an emergency. 

The spares we have of both these lights are kept in a drawer in our studio - easy to find if we need another one for something and there are always spares.

We also have a camp light which runs on batteries - regular ones or a rechargeable unit.  It is also a great thing to have when in the dark. We recharge it before the possible blackout and then can always use batteries if needed.

Candles give off less light than the above devices.  One must also be careful that the candle is placed where it will not cause a fire.  Similarly oil or kerosene lamps are good with the same precautions as the candles.

If one has children one must make sure that they do not play with or near the candles.  The small pocket size flashlight is great for children who are old enough to know not to put them in their mouths. 

If you have a wood fireplace and the bad weather is coming when it is not hot out - make sure you have firewood and starter for it as it can be used for light and heat.  Make sure your damper is open before starting the fire and make sure that there is a fireproof firescreen in front of any fire, especially if you will leaving the room.  Never leave small children (or even some no so small ones) alone in the room with a fire in your fireplace - even with a firescreen.

So, how did we do.  We were lucky.  Our lights and heat stayed on.  The community we live in received 2 feet of snow (a lot for some of you, a little for others, and a lot for us).  Strangely the community to our north - less than 5 minutes away - only received 16.5 inches while a community to our southwest - which is the next community to where my mom lives - received 28 inches.

We have someone who comes to clear our driveway (at a rather expensive charge) and he came with his assistants at 1 am - before the storm was over and said it was then or not and he would not come back later.  They do not do a great job, but we cannot find anyone else to reliably come for this. 

The day after the storm we went out and looked around and found that they had blown the snow onto the sidewalk in front of our house.  It is illegal for it not be cleared, as well as we have a van parked next to the sidewalk (parallel to same) that was in the snow they blew and could not be driven.  We cleaned up the driveway a bit for what fell after it was cleared, as well as what they left - they did a terrible job next to our side door which is how we go in and out.  We also salted.

The following day, Monday, we planned to try to dig out part of the sidewalk.  Our plan to was to clear a foot of the sidewalk a day.  However we found that the plows had come through again and our two driveway cuts were filled in.  Since the plows had not cleared the parking lane in the street, we ended up shoveling out the driveway cuts and the street itself to the end of the where the snow was in the street in both cuts.

Tuesday, we started to clear the sidewalk.  In addition to what fell on it and what the snow crew had blown onto same, when the road was plowed overnight Sunday to Monday, that was added to what was on the sidewalk.  It had been above freezing and some of the snow had melted, but our house faces east and there is not much sun to help melt the snow.  (Last year we still had snow on the ground in May.)  The snow was, luckily, still light in weight, so other than ice that had been thrown onto it and the thin ice that formed on the bottom of it through melting and refreezing, it was easy to move.  We started out to do a foot.  We did about a third of the sidewalk before needing a 5 minute break.  We were breaking up large, heavy chunks of ice with a regular garden shovel to make it manageable to lift with our snow shovels.  We did not have much room for both of us to work in the same place, so I went to the opposite end of the sidewalk and started shoveling there towards where husband was shoveling.  It took us only about an hour and a quarter to clear a path the length of the sidewalk and dig out the van. Husband started and rolled the van forward and we even cleaned out under it. 

We do own a snow blower, but the closest that we can get it to the house is in a small shed next to the garage - getting to it would have involved shoveling more snow than we did.  We are going to work on finding a small enough plastic storage unit to store it in front of the side porch, which is still large enough to fit the blower so that we could actually use it. 

Unlike last year it seems we will have time between storms as well as above freezing temperatures.  Last year we had snow every 2-3 days - while not this much snow with any storm, they were sizeable and added up to much more than we had with this storm.  In addition we had the coldest weather we had in years last year - the snow did not melt.  We would run out, run errands - buy food and any needed medications, send mail, check the mail in our post office box, and return home to await the next storm. 

I did manage to get the ornaments off our main Christmas tree and our studio tree and pack them in their boxes while in the house from the storm.  More about storing Christmas to come.