Tuesday’s snowstorm brought with it the reminder that an emergency can strike at any time and without much warning. The widespread power outages caused by the heavy snow had many people wondering how prepared they would be, should the outage continue beyond a few hours or a few days.
The American Red Cross encourages families to have a plan should an emergency such as a power outage occur. It is important that you create an emergency-preparedness kit for your home that contains water; a supply of nonperishable, easy-to-prepare food items; a flashlight with extra batteries; a battery or hand-crank radio; first-aid kit; medications; a multipurpose tool; personal-hygiene items; copies of personal documents; a cellphone with chargers; and family and emergency contact information. You also want to make sure that you have adequate blankets or sleeping bags on hand should you lose the ability to heat your home, and remember to dress in layers of clothing to retain as much of your heat as possible.
It is very important to keep food safe during a power outage. Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible while the power is out. Use your perishable food items first and keep frozen foods frozen by transferring them to a cooler and packing it with ice. Throw away any food that has been exposed to temperatures of 40 degrees for two hours or longer or that has an unusual order, color or texture. When in doubt, throw it out!
During a shelter-in-place emergency, the danger of carbon-monoxide poisoning is increased. Never use a generator, grill, camp stove or other gasoline, propane, natural gas or charcoal-burning device inside a home. Install smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in central locations on every level of your home and outside sleeping areas to provide early warnings of accumulating carbon monoxide and have a plan in place to evacuate your home if the alarms sound.
Spending a little bit of time before a disaster occurs to make you and your family better prepared will not only bring peace of mind, but it will also help create a more resilient community.
For more information about disaster and emergency preparedness, visit www.redcross.org.
Eric Myers is executive director for the Red Cross in Western Colorado. Reach him at eric. myers@redcross.org or (970) 242-4851.
