The week ahead for a change - Emergency preparedness

Blizzard
It has been a good winter thus far - meaning not many storms and dumping very little snow. I have gotten to gloat over weather on the east coast. They seem so unprepared for it. But it hit me this morning as I was reading the Winter Storm Watch for the East Slope of the Sangre de Cristos this might just be serious


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBUQUERQUE HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM MONDAY MORNING THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING.
* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS... AS MUCH AS 15 TO 20 INCHES OF SNOW IS POSSIBLE IN THE HIGHER MOUNTAIN TERRAIN FROM THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE TO THE CENTRAL MOUNTAIN CHAIN. LOWER AMOUNTS CAN BE EXPECTED ELSEWHERE.
* TIMING... WHILE THE HEAVIEST SNOW IS MOST LIKELY LATE MONDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY WEDNESDAY... SOME LIGHTER SNOW ACCUMULATION MAY WELL BEGIN DURING THE DAY MONDAY ACROSS WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST NEW MEXICO 

And am I prepared? Usually by this time of year buckling down for another storm is routine. Not so this year. The biggest snow this year has been 10 inches and no significant loss of power. For some reason this storm has bothered me since they began issuing advisories on a change in the weather. It is one of the reasons I changed my plans and ran to Taos yesterday to pick up fur kid food and art supplies.
This morning when NOAA weather service went from advisory to watch I decided I should get a bit more serious.
  • Firewood - check (need to move more into the house and on to the back porch)
  • Snowshoes - check (used to get to neighbors, wood shed or just play)
  • Containers of water - this needs done. Power goes out so does the well.
  • Batteries for emergency lights - check. 
  • Emergency lights - make note to locate all of them.
  • Book light and books to read - find and centrally locate
  • Art supplies to entertain me - Check
  • Fur kid food - check
  • People food - check ( plenty in pantry and freezer)
  • Coffee - check (okay maybe that isn't seemingly that important)
  • Dumb phone (all phones requiring a cell tower or an electrical outlet won't work with no power)
  • Snow shovel - Check (on porch where it won't get buried in snow)
  • Serious shovels - put on back porch
  • Gas tank of van full - check
  • Emergency road kit in van - check
  • Guns and ammo and cleaning kit - locate all
You might laugh at some of these but in the year of the 6 foot New Year's snow my firewood was buried under a snow drift my snow shovel could not budge, my snow shoes were sealed by another drift in the garden shed, and my renter had left the snow shovel sticking in a snow pile by the road where the snow plow buried it.

All passes in and out of my valley were closed for four days and we had a town full of tourists while the local market's shelves were devoid of food due to no supply trucks getting in because of closed roods. Some of the tourists hung out at the bars closest to the passes so they could make a quick escape drunk or not. To this day I don't understand why they gave up their hotel rooms and condos. If they could not get out the next person on the reservation list could not get in. And once passes were open there was no fuel for the cars until the tankers arrived. It was ugly out there.

It is always wise to remember that the one thing weather forecasters get wrong is mountain weather. This winter they have had it more wrong than right. But while they generally over estimate how bad it will be the 6 foot in 2 days New Year's snow was suppose to be 15 -20 inches total accumulation. Shit happens so be prepared.

Oh, and BTW On-Star is absolutely no help with roads closed.

Comments

  1. AnnJanuary 30, 2011 at 7:31 AM

    Ahh so maybe now us on the east coast can watch someone else get slammed for a bit, short bit as that storm is supposed to hit us too WAHHHHH.
    Stay Safe Jacqui

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Blog of BeeJanuary 30, 2011 at 5:07 PM

    Stay safe - I think you are well prepared but the picture accompanying this informative blog is quite frightening. Haven't seen snow like that for years.

    You did say elsewhere that it's been downgraded?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Terry RoweJanuary 31, 2011 at 9:34 AM

    Stay safe. Storms are wonderfully energizing and scary all at the same time.

    First aid supplies?

    BTW, I think coffee would definitely be on the must have list.

    ReplyDelete
  4. JBinford-BellJanuary 31, 2011 at 9:38 AM

    Being an avid do-it-yourselfer I of course have a large contractor's first aid kit.

    Storm is now moving in but no significant snow yet. Couple last minute errands to run in town.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I write for me but I care what my readers think. Please be polite and no scamming.

Popular posts from this blog

Swimming

Image
For much of my college career my fitness workout was swimming on the B squad of the swim team. I remember it as the days before heated pools and women coaches. I also remember being so exhausted and cold I could only lean against the shower wall and throw up. Not exactly warm fuzzy images but I was in awesome shape. Needless to say it did not leave me with a overpowering desire to swim laps. Point of fact for years my swimming became really informal: Swimming to shore after the canoe tipped over, challenging my sister once a summer to across the lake and back, seeing how long I could back float without moving a muscle, and a scuba course. I also played around with other ways of staying fit: aerobics, bicycling, jogging, skiing and dance classes. All of which seem to be bad for the knees, back or feet. After my ski accident my physical therapist steered me back to the pool. Damn if I was going to swim laps! However, aqua fit was just getting rather seriously taken so I took it. It r
Read more

The Pruning the Crown of Thorns

Image
Crown of Thorns Before I am a lover of Euphorbias . They are from the deserts of Southern Africa and Madagascar. They have evolved physical characteristics and forms similar to cacti of North and South America and are often incorrectly referred to as cacti. My big Crown of Thorns was one of my first of a growing collection of these succulents from the spurge family of Euphorbiaceae. I picked it up as a 6 inch plant in a New Iberia nursery when my sister and I were touring the northern gulf coast. I believe that was 15 years ago. I made an attempt at limiting its height a few years back to allow it to devote more energy to the new branches and make it a denser plant. That failed. And the height of the plant continued to challenge the window space and soon the long branches were leaning over and leaning against the window. I googled and found the proper way to prune this treasured plant. Still it was very difficult to cut off the four longer branches. Even with a plan. The f
Read more

Eagle Nest Dam

Image
Tour of Eagle Nest Dam Eagle Nest Dam is the largest privately built dam in the United States. It was begun by the Springer family in 1917 and completed in 1920. It and the reservoir beyond it one was privately owned by the CS Ranch which recently sold it to the state of New Mexico. Eagle Nest Lake is now a state park, but the dam and the waters in the lake are another matter all together. Water is well regulated in New Mexico especially during a drought. The lake is now at 25% of its normal capacity, and the water in the lake are water right lease holds of Raton, Cimarron, and historic ranches in the area like the UU Bar and the CS Ranch. Game and Fish department also get involved because the Cimarron River is an active fishery of the state. Our guide was a state engineer and the Gateway Museum secured permission of the land owners below the dam for us to gain access to the area. Some 100 locals and tourists attended this rare event. I have lived here almost twenty years and th
Read more