Preparing for a Winter Storm

In Central Virginia we are preparing for an ice storm today. After our ordeal last winter where we endured 50 hours without power, I have a checklist of things we do before a storm hits. Since we are on well water, if we loose power we loose water also.Preparing for a storm in advance, makes it easier if the electricity does go off for an extended time. Since we live in such a rural area, it is so important to be prepared for storms.

Here is my checklist of things to do before a severe winter storm hits:

Make sure we have groceries that can be eaten without cooking since we have an electric stove. We do have a gas grill that we have used to cook outside if necessary.
Buy extra water for drinking. I also fill water bottles in the house with tap water just in case.
Fill the bathtub with water for flushing toilets.
Fill the pet bowls with water.
Plug in all electronics that run on rechargeable batteries- i.e. laptops, tablets, cellphones.
Locate flashlights, batteries, candles and matches.
Make sure gutters are clear of leaves and debris.
Check gasoline for the generator. Since our incident last year, we have a small generator to keep our freezer going.
Make sure our vehicles have gasoline.
Check the propane fireplace and make sure it is ready to go in case we need it to heat the house. Also make sure the carbon monoxide detector has batteries.
Make sure you have disaster preparedness kit.

My boys are now in tune with preparing for a storm too. Capt. M new exactly what to do when we saw the ice pellets hitting the deck this morning. He started plugging in cellphones, filling up the bathtub with water and plugging in video game devices!

What do you do to prepare for a winter storm? Anything that I missed?

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Renae Chiovaro

Renae is a married working mom of two handsome boys. She works as a registered dental hygienist by day and blogs here at How to Have it All by night. She enjoys cooking from scratch, working in her vegetable garden and functional training.