Lessons to Learn From a Tech-Age Ice StormCatherine J. Frompovich After several days in icy frigid weather without power, light, heat, food refrigeration, phone service, cable, the Internet and all the high tech appliances even cell phones at one time modern life made us servants to, life stood still and we had to scramble to survive in what seemed like returning to a pre-technological world of make believe. However, it was all too real and many were totally unprepared. No school, no work, and no services it seemed like no anything! As a result, I got to thinking how readers would react if confronted with such out-of-control circumstances and what you should know to do when Old Man Winter turns worse than wicked. Some of my thoughts are below. As I write this, the sixth day of the ice apocalypse, more than 35,000 are still without power. I have power and can access my computer word program but no Internet service, so I will submit this when Im able to connect to the outside world. I hope my ideas and suggestions will encourage readers to prepare a bug out bag, evacuation plan, or shelter-in-place strategy, especially in order to gear up for the rest of this 2014 winter since Punxsutawney Phil, Pennsylvanias weather prognosticating groundhog, claims there will be six more winter weeks before astrological spring arrives. That critter surely must know something because he no sooner made his prediction on February 2nd than the weather socked it to us on February 5th, and it just does not want to let up. Several inches more of snow as I write this! If I seem to be rambling along, please bear with me because in the end, I think it will be well worth your time. Stay indoors away from windows, sliding glass doors, and near solid walls, preferably in the center of the house to maximize using warmer areas of the house. Those who live in Tornado Alley know how important it is to seek proper shelter within the house. During winter storms, like the ice apocalypse, tree limbs, whole trees, power lines and poles can burst into flames or come crashing down onto anything standing in their way, including you if you are out and about walking or playing. One of my nine lives was used up when a huge tree uprooted and crashed onto the street where I had just walked only 25 steps before. Discourage playing in snow, as clothing will become wet, cannot be dried and you will be wet and cold. Frost bite can set in within 15 minutes, so remember that. Cars and Personal Vehicles Bottled Water is a must regardless of what type of disaster happens. Always have at least one case (12 liter glass bottles) of water stored within easy access regardless of whether you have municipal water or a well pump that needs electricity to operate. If you have a well pump, check out online whats available to draw water from the well without electric power. Battery-operated Radio with fresh batteries is a must so that you can access important information and updates regarding power outages, safety measures, and/or warming shelters. Dwellings Family Homes Plumbing and Water Pipes Without heat pipes will freeze, especially those pipes that run along the outside walls of the house, e.g., under the kitchen sink inside the wall of the house/foundation, powder room, and laundry room, or if there is no basement and the house sits on a cement slab, like many townhouses do. Frozen pipes can cause thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of water and/or mold damage. Beforehand, learn the proper procedures for your dwellings specific plumbing situation. However, some suggestions to check out would be: No Working Toilets; Where to Go Heres a trick that works rather nicely. Along with the stored water, food and clothing, store several large buckets (with lids would be nice) and several bags of kitty litter. To use the kitty litter toilet Cover the bottom of the bucket with kitty litter and use it as a toilet. After each use, spread some kitty litter to absorb the moisture. Use toilet tissue sparingly. Cover with lid and use as needed until full. Place full bucket with lid on in a bathroom so that when the water is back on, and the toilet is running properly, you can flush the kitty litter toilet contents down the working toilet. However, you may have to add a few cupsful of water to the kitty litter toilet to make it pour more easily. Clothing Since we seem to be living in dramatic and traumatic times, maybe it would be best to be prepared with special survival clothing that is not worn any time other than when it is needed, especially for winter. Keep that special clothing in an assigned closet or dry basement area where everyone in the family knows his/her gear is located. Schedule a practice drill or two, similar to fire drills at home and in school, so children will know where to go, what to look for, and how to act. Consider it indoor camping. Each member of the family should have a hooded sweater rather than sweatshirt so that layering of other clothing can be more effective in keeping body heat in. Have several long sleeve shirts, cotton long johns/long underwear, and a pair of gloves, not mittens, so chores or games can be played while keeping hands/fingers warm. If sheltering in place, the last layered piece of clothing should be a full length heavy duty bathrobe, which will keep body heat from escaping from the shoulders down to the mid calves of the legs. Heavy duty knee-hi socks, heavy duty sweat pants, and a cap rather than a hatsomething that a childs head can fit into to keep the ears warm. Remember, the body loses most of its heat from the head, so a snugly fitting cap is important, especially when worn under the sweaters hood. Its nice and snuggly warm! Dont plan on changing clothes to sleep. When sheltering in place, keep all clothing on until the house is warm again. Dont take a chance on changing into pajamas or other bedclothes because: a) you can become very cold and not be able to get warm again, and 2) if you have to leave in a hurry, you will not have proper clothing on. Do not undress; staying warm and keeping body heat from escaping [wearing cap, hooded sweater, gloves, and robe] is the trick that works for being comfortable when sheltering in place without heat in frigid temperatures. If you can find a hotel/motel that is warm and has not raised the nightly rate from $100 to $250, as happens in disasters and/or emergencies, or if you cannot get to a community warming shelter, then you just may find sheltering in place necessary, and even safe and relatively comfortable when prepared. Thermos Bottles Keep several quality thermos bottles on hand so you can take them with you in the car and have them filled with hot coffee, tea, or hot water when you find a place open that can provide them. Food There are many long-term, vacuum-packed, ready to eat foods that you may want to have on hand and stored with the bottle water. If you cant do that, then the minimum that you should have on hand and rotate every six months by eating and replacing is: Refrigeration Kitchen Refrigerator Once the power goes off, do not open the doors on the freezer or refrigerator, as that will break the cold seal within, and your food will not stay safe as long as possible. Heres something I found surprisingly interesting: I have a regular family-size top freezer, bottom refrigerator unit and when I opened the freezer after 3 days of no power, the ice cubes I had stored in a plastic bag had not even started to melt. They were solid, which indicates the integrity of the cold seal and the freezer contents. The same with the lower refrigerator: Everything was ice cold, including a bottle of carrot juice and other items in glass bottles. Thats the key to not losing food: Never open the refrigerator/freezer doors until power is restored for at least hour and you are certain it stays on. Sometimes there are temporary startups during restoration procedures. If you must take food out of the freezer/refrigerator, do it immediately after power goes off and store it safely. See information below. Magical Refrigeration When its cold outdoors, 32 degrees and below, you can have a refrigerator for some foods by wrapping them securely and placing them between a locked storm door and the regular door. Or, if you have a secure outdoor shed, you can place food securely wrapped in the shed, which is almost the temperature of a kitchen refrigerator. During the ice storm of 2014, I was able to find a Whole Foods open and purchased cut-up fresh fruit that I stored in my garden shed to have for breakfast the next day. It was ice cold, just like out of the refrig when I went for it 18 hours later. I also kept some cheese in the shed. Same thingcold and safe to eat with whole grain crackers I had in the kitchen. Computer Disconnect your computer from the electric wall socket so that when power comes on, it doesnt get fried. My Verizon FIOS system got fried, so thats why I had no Internet or phone line. Also, make certain appliances, except the refrigerator, are turned off so that when electric power comes back, they will not be overloaded and possibly be damaged. What Else Do You Need? Something for kids of all ages when boredom sets in. Forget the electronic games, even battery-operated, which can conk out and cause more frustration than needed. Consider having on hand: A Few Creative Survival Recipes Dont expect gourmet quality food; be grateful for something nutritious and palatable. Breakfast Cereal or Anytime Food Into a bowl place breakfast flake cereal along with some chopped walnuts, non-dairy milk, and half or whole banana cut into slices. For added protein, add a tablespoon of organic chia seeds [1 tablespoon contains 3 grams of protein]. Snack sundae Applesauce with either chopped nuts or Trail Mix spooned over. Chia seeds add more crunch, taste, and protein. Hot chocolate Hot water added to chocolate mix and topped off with non-dairy coconut milk. Very tasty! Tea Time Fruit juice tea (either hot or cold; see f. above) with crackers and almond butter or cashew butter or peanut butter Note: If you have a wood stove fired up, you can have hot water, tea and coffee. If not, when you crank up the outdoor tabletop grill, heat water in a pot, then transfer it to the thermos bottles to keep it hot. If you have neither, and it is safe to travel, get in the car and see if you can find a place that is open and has hot water, coffee, and tea to fill your thermos bottles. I was lucky to find a Whole Foods openit had power, but no phone; and a Wegmans that was operating on generators. Thank Yous I want to express my most sincere thanks to both those supermarkets for what they did to help people get food, and to all who helped during this disaster: road crews, plow crews, tree and landscape people, fire departments and emergency rescue crews. Without you we could not have made it through those trying days. But the real heroes of the ice apocalypse were the unselfish power company linemen 6100 talented pole climbers some who came from as far away as Canada, Nova Scotia, Illinois, Arkansas and probably places I didnt hear mentioned on the radio, to help their fellow humans suffering in a situation deemed worse than Hurricane Sandy. Personally, I cant thank each person enough; you saved the day, as far as Im concerned. I hope our power company, PECO, never has to reciprocate your good deed, but it probably will have to, as all power company users will become more vulnerable to the ravages of going off the grid. Thank you for a job superbly done in what may be considered record time, even if it didnt seem like it was for some of us. God bless and keep you safe always. If readers have any suggestions of how to make it through a winter disaster, please share your ideas in the comments section, and thank you. Please keep safe and warm. Catherine J Frompovich (website) is a retired natural nutritionist who earned advanced degrees in Nutrition and Holistic Health Sciences, Certification in Orthomolecular Theory and Practice plus Paralegal Studies.Her work has been published in national and airline magazines since the early 1980s. Catherine authored numerous books on health issues along with co-authoring papers and monographs with physicians, nurses, and holistic healthcare professionals. She has been a consumer healthcare researcher 35 years and counting. Catherines latest book,published October 4, 2013, is Vaccination Voodoo, What YOU Dont Know About Vaccines, available on Amazon.com. Her 2012 bookA Cancer Answer, Holistic BREAST Cancer Management, A Guide to Effective Non-Toxic Treatments, is available on Amazon.com and as a Kindle eBook. Two of Catherines more recent books on Amazon.com are Our Chemical Lives And The Hijacking Of Our DNA, A Probe Into Whats Probably Making Us Sick (2009) and Lord, How Can I Make It Through Grieving My Loss, An Inspirational Guide Through the Grieving Process(2008). 