Southerners are never prepared for the rare snow storm and freeze out.
Notes from Tammy… 2021

Hi y’all! I wanted to get this post out to you before my phone battery dies again in case it can help someone. Some of you may already knows this stuff, but I am just learning to adapt as I go, so I thought I would share a few things.

If you are blessed with indoor shelter, close all of your blinds and curtains, and if you have some, cover the windows with the thickest blankets you can find.
You can also cover windows with tin foil or plastic to help keep the cold out and the heat in.
If you are fortunate enough to have a gas fireplace, this is a wonderful way to keep a space and yourself warmer without electricity. Be sure to open the flue first. 👍
Layer up in lots of clothes. Cover your head with a hat, and put some gloves on to keep your hands warm.

No electricity=no water coming from your tap as the pumps need the electricity to get it to you.
A bathtub filled with water prior to an electric outage is ideal, so you can use it to fill your toilet tank when you need to flush.
But…if you were unable to do this ahead of time; go outside and grab some snow and pile it into the tub. Don’t forget to plug it up. 😉 When the snow melts, and it hopefully will be warm enough inside your space for this to happen, then you have your water for flushing.

Food saving: grab a cooler and fill it with a layer of snow from outside. Pack your refrigerator supplies inside and fill in the rest with more snow. Keep your cooler outside in the cold or in your cold garage and your cooling will last longer.
Your fridge items will only last about 4 hours in an outage inside a closed fridge.

Your freezer items can last about 48 hours, so you can leave those where they are until you start to reach that amount of time without power, and hopefully you don’t. 😬
You can bring some snow inside and melt and boil it for a potable water supply if you have a gas stove. You will just need to light the burners by hand with a match rather than just flipping the switch.
If you don’t have a gas stove but have an outdoor grill, just bundle up and fire it up and viola’…camping cooking.

Add these items to your emergency preparedness kit

2 Large Pots for boiling water (One for boiling, one for storing what you boiled)
Cheesecloths for straining the yuck out of dirty water you have to boil. (If you have to boil snow, this is important).
Pack of Click n Flame Utility Lighters
or
Rechargeable Flameless Electric Lighter – These are USB power, so you need some way to charge them if you haven’t been keeping them charged.
Solar Charged USB Power Bank – Because most of us are unprepared for times like these.
Rainwater Catchment Barrel – You don’t need a big one; just something to stick under a gutter downspout for emergency water. However, you could get a few and save on your water bill by watering your outdoor plants with rainwater.
Solar Lights – I use little solar lanterns all the time. I use them at our cabin as porch lights, or even night lights.

If you don’t have gas in your house, it’s a good idea to buy a gas grill; even a small one, so you can boil water and cook during an emergency. Just keep a few of the 20lb propane tanks on hand in case you have to rely on them.

I know this post is a little late, but on the anniversary of the 2021 Texas snow disaster, it’s worth revisiting preparedness measures. Many of these tips come in handy during other weather disasters. No need to panic. Just do a few simple preparedness exercises, and take a deep breath.

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