Back / Up / Next

 Winter Preparedness:
A “Worst-Case” Scenario

You wake up and it’s dark and cold. The clock radio is dark. You reach for the light switch and it’s ... “click ... click.” You realize there is no electricity. Throwing on some clothes, you look outside. It is deadly quiet. Every few seconds you hear the snap as another tree limb falls under the weight of an inch of ice. The sky is  brightened by a brilliant green flash as another power line gets torn down under the weight of tons of ice.

Things are not looking good. You check on your family. Your 12-year-old son is nowhere to be seen. His 9-year-old sister is in the kitchen. There is a dim light. A single candle  glows on the kitchen table. The smell of bacon fills the air. She isn’t an honor student by accident. She is one smart cookie. The electronic igniter on the stove doesn’t work, but you can turn the gas on and light it with a match. Already the chill is beginning to dissipate. The 12-year-old comes in the back door from the deck, and proudly announces that he has got the gas grill up and running.  “At least we won’t be eating raw meat,” you say to yourself.

You go to the front door and look out onto a wonderland of ice. Nearly an inch of ice covers everything. There are two black things across your lawn. Oh my! … It’s the power line into the house and the TV cable.

You decide to get the SUV warmed up and get to the store ASAP. You struggle to make your way across the ice field. After an hour’s work, you’ve chipped enough ice off the windshield and are now warming the vehicle up.

Slowly making your way out of your subdivision towards the main road, you encounter trees down, wires down, and four cars piled up in a wreck, totally blocking the road. “Guess I’ll have to walk to the store. It’s less than a mile; not too bad.”

When you get there, it is already chaos. People are fighting over what staples are left. The clerks are at a loss. No power — the registers do not work, and neither do the bar code readers. Somebody is yelling from the back of the store, calling out prices. The clerk at the register is struggling with third grade math trying to add up the customer’s bill. More fighting. It’s starting to get ugly. You gather up a few items, toss a twenty-dollar bill towards the clerk, and leave. You suddenly realize that money isn’t going to get you anywhere  soon.

As you slowly make your way up the sidewalk to your home, your feet slip out from under you. As you reach out to break your fall, you hear a sickening snap and a wave of pain envelopes you. A broken arm. The twelve-year-old, who just got his First Aid Merit Badge is quickly at your side and puts into practical use the things he learned. He checks you out: no bleeding, but the pain is intense. He soon has the broken arm immobilized, helps you to your feet, and gets you inside into the warmth of a nice and cozy kitchen.

You turn on your cell phone to call an ambulance. “NO SERVICE,” says the phone. Cell towers are out. This is NOT the way you planned to spend your weekend.

There is a knock at your front door. Standing there is Fred, your neighbor from up the street. He looks like an Eskimo in his heavy boots, fur parka, gloves … the whole nine yards. In his hand is a walkie-talkie. Fred is a “ham” radio operator. He is a member of the local radio club and heads up the emergency communications group. “Saw what happened,” he says. “I’ve got a fellow with a snowmobile headed this way, and have also alerted an ambulance.” He reaches into his pocket, pulls out a small package, and unwraps it. It’s one of those silvery rescue blankets.

“Get your coat on and wrap up in this thing,” Fred says. “George says he’s at the main road and will be here in a few minutes.” Things are starting to look a little brighter. George, also another “ham,” has you on the snowmobile and soon heads towards the main road.

Sitting there with lights flashing is the local volunteer fire department’s rescue truck. Thanks to George, Fred, and “ham” radio, your weekend isn’t looking quite so bleak.

You chat with the crew and ask how things are going. “Not good,” is the solemn reply. “Half of the state is without power, and it will be days, if not weeks, before everybody is back up with power. You’re lucky … we were just coming down the highway when we got the call to your place. We’ve already answered over three dozen emergency calls this morning, and it’s only 7 AM. Gonna’ be a busy day.”

The above is fiction, but could be real. Think about your situation. Think of the worse-case scenarios. You’d be surprised at all the “what ifs” there are. I won’t begin to list all of them. What about medicines? How about Rover and Fluffy? How much food do you have, and how do you prepare it? Hopefully, it will be cold enough to preserve it, but keep the wild critters out of it.

Go on-line now and look up survival stuff or contact your local Red Cross for info about surviving natural disasters. Or just browse our website. It might just save your life.

Contributed by:

Kenny Harris, WA8LLM
Director, Wood County Emergency Communications

This page was last updated at 17:09 on Wednesday, 11 January 2012 17:09:22