Scenario-Blizzard

[coastie]

The following is one of the scenarios I used when I came up with my various plans and checklists. I finally wrote a few of them down and figured I would throw this up here with the coming winter. Have others like hurricane, ice storm, EMP and a few others also.


Tues morning early Feb - You are sitting down eating your breakfast and watching the news. The weather report has been predicting 6-8 inches of snow starting Thurs morning for a couple of days. Today the weatherman says that there are 2 fronts that look like they will collide with the potential of a blizzard rivaling the Blizzard of 78. He puts this potential only at about 10-20% though and states that more than likely we will get about a foot of snow. What do you do? Do you have plans for this?

 

[Gonzo]

Never gonna happen to me. I don't eat breakfast.

 

[Jaxon]

The following is one of the scenarios I used when I came up with my various plans and checklists. I finally wrote a few of them down and figured I would throw this up here with the coming winter. Have others like hurricane, ice storm, EMP and a few others also.


Tues morning early Feb - You are sitting down eating your breakfast and watching the news. The weather report has been predicting 6-8 inches of snow starting Thurs morning for a couple of days. Today the weatherman says that there are 2 fronts that look like they will collide with the potential of a blizzard rivaling the Blizzard of 78. He puts this potential only at about 10-20% though and states that more than likely we will get about a foot of snow. What do you do? Do you have plans for this?

Yep. I'd probably get a few more victuals, but other than that... sit back and watch the news.

 

[Mike-Mike]

This is an easy one. The weather channel has said just that almost once a year.

All you can do is make sure we always have food etc. on hand. Cigars/wine.

Serious: I might make sure my oil tank is above half I might also do a big food shop. Other than that, I love storms and ciaos. I also have my snowshoes in the house and not in the shed ( I learned that lesson).

 

[M1911]

Well, I haven't put the snow tires on my 4Runner yet, so I'd do that. I'd run the generator again to make sure it is working. And that's about it.

We've got plenty of food and water in the house to last us, lots of firewood outside. This is New England. Most everyone is ready for a big snowstorm.

 

[BillK]

GREAT! State of emergency...time to ride the Skidoo down the roads without getting fined!

 

[doobie]

I email work tell them I won't be there that day and will be working from home and keep in contact with them about when I'll be back. I'll plow my driveway every 1-2 hours depending on snow conditions, turning on my generator as needed and setup my tent on the front lawn for some REAL camping!

PS: my town got hammered with snow last year, so I've been told. This is my first year there so far and we've had about 1 inch in two small storms and 1 tinnnnnny storm.

Assuming my woodstove installation goes through properly on the 11th.

 

[AMV]

"What do you do? Do you have plans for this?"

First thing I do Is go to the store and get Beer, Then I bring a couple days worth of firewood!

 

[arlow]

My plan?

Strap on the plow and go fleece the public of their hard earned cash.

 

[EC1]

The following is one of the scenarios I used when I came up with my various plans and checklists. I finally wrote a few of them down and figured I would throw this up here with the coming winter. Have others like hurricane, ice storm, EMP and a few others also.


Tues morning early Feb - You are sitting down eating your breakfast and watching the news. The weather report has been predicting 6-8 inches of snow starting Thurs morning for a couple of days. Today the weatherman says that there are 2 fronts that look like they will collide with the potential of a blizzard rivaling the Blizzard of 78. He puts this potential only at about 10-20% though and states that more than likely we will get about a foot of snow. What do you do? Do you have plans for this?

Cupboard good for a couple of weeks, three Coleman lanterns ready to go and Coleman stove ready and several gallons of fuel, beer in the fridge + a couple of 12 packs, wine fridge full, extra gas for the tractor to plow (10 gals), several days of dry wood already stacked in the garage; let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.....

 

[freedom2012]

GREAT! State of emergency...time to ride the Skidoo down the roads without getting fined!

Damn, stole my thought!

 

[Palladin]

The genset is auto, nat gas and plenty to do the house. House is gas heat.
I'd add to freezer, enough to make 1-2 weeks, make sure I plow the drive every 2 hrs & watch New England weather at it's best.

 

[Domenic]

I work at a hospital, i'd be at work... but i can say blizzards will melt eventually... couple days would be easy to weather if you were familiar with New England

 

[buffermop]

Been there, done that. blizzard of "78". three day statewide shut down. The corner bars did a booming business.

 

[OnTheRoad]

I'd loot the local stores for beer, send the National Guard to confiscate guns, and scream that FEMA didn't give me my debit card so I could go to the strip club all night. Then I'd blame the President for everything and insist it was a racist plot.

Oh, sorry, you said "blizzard" and not "hurricane". My bad.

 

[Adam_MA]

This ones pretty easy. With the ability of the state and town plow services the roads would be kept up pretty well, and we would see a minimum of down time if any at all. I guess the only thing I would do is go to the store and get some more beer. Even if I didn't have the chance, I have 6 gallons of my Christmas wine ready to bottle, and another 6 gallons of hard cider that are ready to go as well.

After all that, I'd probably be out making naked snow angles, so its all good!

 

[depicts]

The Blizzard of '78 was an enlightening, and enjoyable event that first intruded on us, and then released us back into community. I have fond memories of living in Foxboro Center near the Library during the '78 Storm.

Made more friends and met more people in town than I had ever before. Turned what could have been a horrible situation into a memorable community event. Brought out the compassion and generosity of all of us as neighbors, and is still beneath the surface of our beings, waiting to be let loose.

It shows that during times of loss of services, lights, TV, Telephone, and the other things we take for granted, we as responsible and independent citizens can get by without shooting and looting from each other. Instead I remember walking to the town center with a kids' sled, waving to neighbors as they passed doing the same thing, to look for bread and milk at whatever store managed to have a few things.

I remember shared ski-mobile rides to local hospitals for stranded Mothers having babies. My Niece, Jessica was born during the week of the Blizzard of 78, after we towed her mother on a snow saucer from her house without heat or stove, to ours where we shared a happy co-op house and neighborhood for a week or so.

I expect a week or two like that today would be almost the same, and maybe a bit more convenient. Maybe not so much in the cities.

 

[theGringo]

Blizzard of '78 was a great time. I lived at the cloverleaf at Rtes 106 and 24, and spent time walking the drifts on 24. 18-wheelers were abandoned with the engines running. Cars were buried to the rooftops.

Driving around the local roads was a blast, and once the package stores got opened up everything was A-OK.

If he had a repeat of that event, I would only be worried about losing power for a prolonged period. No generator. [sad2] If I had enough beer and smokes on hand, I reckon we could weather the storm.

 

[Andy in NH]

This is our primary source of heat, but we need power to get the heat to the house:

So, inside I set up an old woodstove with its own pipe. If we lose power long enough and it is really cold outside, I can at least heat the cellar. In this picture the woodstove pipe is not connected and simply resting on top of the oil burner pipe.

Water would not be a big deal. We have a small stream running past the house and a couple of water filters.

I've got twenty gallons of extra gas for the plow truck, chainsaws, etc. It gets rotated fairly regularly so it won't go stale.

We filled up the three 20 lbs propane bottles at the end of the summer. We have food for about two weeks just from what is in the house. There are a few cases of MREs after that.

I've been keeping a close look on the Mountain House thread for more long term food.




.

 

[matt]

This is our primary source of heat, but we need power to get the heat to the house:

.

Andy, is that a solar panel on roof of the shed? or is it just trimmed like that?

If all you need is to run reciculating pumps to get the heat to the house a small gen set would do it for you. Those things don't take much to run.

Matt

 

[Jose]

I am set over here. My only concern is lack of a generator to run the furnance's blower. That will be rectified next year with a 12 kw Kohler running on natural gas hooked up to an auto transfer switch. Right now I make do with some portable propane heaters and insulation made of wool and plastics.

 

[P-14]

First, I lived in Buffalo for 23 years. Your scenario does not bother me at all.

However, I would make sure the car is full of gas and the genny has fuel. We already have food in the house (dry goods, frozen, and refrigerated).

In addition, I live about a half mile from the Everett generating station and all our wires are buried in the neighborhood. Never had more than one minor outage a year lasting for less than 20 minutes.

Supermarket is 4 blocks away and we'd get there early on if we needed anything because it'll be empty when the trucks can't get through.

No electric: Fireplace and sleeping bags; frozen and refrigerated food get put out on the upper deck.

Water: Water is generally on for these episodes, but I have 55 gallons in the hot water tank anytime I need it. Just shut off the power and draing the tank as needed.

Grillin' outdoors: Been doing it for all that time in Buffalo. No big deal. I've got a second bottle of LPG if I need it.

No sweat.

Bob

 

[Andy in NH]

Matt,
That is not a solar panel. It is two rows of rolled roofing. the drip edge is on top to keep the wind from getting underneath it.

I had thought about a gen set, but haven't acted on it. I suppose it would do for the short term. I'd be concerned with using all my spare gas for anything more long term.




.

 

[center442]

The following is one of the scenarios I used when I came up with my various plans and checklists. I finally wrote a few of them down and figured I would throw this up here with the coming winter. Have others like hurricane, ice storm, EMP and a few others also.


Tues morning early Feb - You are sitting down eating your breakfast and watching the news. The weather report has been predicting 6-8 inches of snow starting Thurs morning for a couple of days. Today the weatherman says that there are 2 fronts that look like they will collide with the potential of a blizzard rivaling the Blizzard of 78. He puts this potential only at about 10-20% though and states that more than likely we will get about a foot of snow. What do you do? Do you have plans for this?

Prior to storm:

1) Check generator and snowblower to make sure they start.
2) I always have about 15 gallons of stabilized gas on hand, but I would fuel the vehicles just in case I need to siphon some if the 15 gallons should run out.
3) Make sure son is home to run snowblower, connect and start generator if necessary. Remind son that missing a few hours of "quality time" with his girl friend will not be the end of the world.
4) Instruct wife to bake pumpkin bread (with nuts) for emergency consumption.

During/after storm:

1) Have wife make fresh pot of coffee.
2) Consume coffee and pumpkin bread while watching son use snowblower to clear driveways and sidewalks. Remark to wife about how cold boy looks.
3) Repeat 1 & 2 as necessary.