Thursday, January 21, 2016

A doozy of a blizzard

I've been watching the news coverage of the blizzard of "historic" proportions approaching the east coast. Since Older Daughter is likely to be strongly affected, I've been emailing her various apocryphal warnings.

Washington D.C. had traffic snarled last night in a particularly nasty way due to an inch of snow over icy roads. Traffic was in gridlock for hours and there were hundreds of crashes; and yet they're expecting another 18 to 24 inches of snow over the next couple of days. Yikes.


"Both the weight of the snow and the heavy winds could lead to power outages. If you haven't started already, you should begin preparing for the storm," warned the article.

Drudge posted an article about chaos in stores.


While Older Daughter isn't quite in the heart of the predicted storm path -- that's apparently reserved for the D.C. area -- she's likely to be snowed in for awhile. I can only hope the family for whom she's nannying has heating and lighting backup options.

To all my dear readers in the path of this storm -- please stay warm and safe!

UPDATE: Here's a wild little video showing a grocery store with insanely long lines which wrap and wrap and wrap again around aisles. (On the upside, notice how polite and patient everyone appears to be.)

28 comments:

  1. Praying for the safety of all involved in this storm. I am on the east coast in NC and we too are bracing for it. We have our heating source, light source and cooking source ready. My hubby and I have learned so much from your blog and I am so glad that we have been getting things together in cases like this.

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    1. In Piedmont Triad area...We are older and live on a hill in town with a huge treed lot...We only have our grill outside for food source...We have not been able to prep as we would liked to have....UGH...We do have plenty of blankets to keep us warm and candles for lighting....Praying for you in NC..and hoping your area and ours is not in the direct path..
      Love from High Point

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    2. Sandy,
      You could get a cheap folding stove and cans of sterno so you can heat up food indoors. I recently purchased a few stoves and sterno kits so my elderly relatives wouldn't have to go outside to use the grill in a storm.

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  2. Odds are it won't be too bad where she is, if they are not prepared your daughter will be a godsend to them and may give them reason to start being prepared.

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  3. DC area reader here! The reason it was so bad last night was that the roads were not pretreated before the snow came in, and with below freezing temps the last few days, it just turned to ice as it hit the roads. The stores are insane, there is no ice melt/salt available in the stores, or shovels or milk and bread.

    I always find it funny that there is not bread and people are complaining, yet there are dozens of packages of buns next to the empty bread shelves. LOL.

    We secured our wood pile and brought in several loads of wood for the fireplace, the plow is on the lawn tractor and in the morning I will fill the tub with water for flushing and get some water put into pitchers for drinking. We have gas for the generator and plenty of food in the house. (not even counting the "prep" food).

    It is nice feeling prepared and not having to go to the stores and deal with that chaos.

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    1. Regarding the bread - not just hot dog buns. My dd works in a grocery store and said people were complaining there was no bread. She asked if they had checked the bread/biscuit area of the freezer section. *That* never occurred to them! Think outside the box, people! {BTW, when I picked her up from work Friday afternoon, after the snow had been falling for a few hours, there were still plenty of frozen biscuits available}

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  4. Our roads here in High Point (Piedmont Triad of NC) were brined night before last...We only had a dusting and it is 45 degrees now...It is supposed to do that ugly rain, freezing rain, and a ton of snow early on tomorrow....
    We live on a main thoroughfare but we are up on the hill about 75 feet from the street....we havea huge treed lot...so if it storms, we are stuck....We don;t have but a huge gas grill on the deck for food preparation, but no way to heat the house if the power goes out....we have a gas pack that needs power to get the heat in the house....We only have tons of blankets to keep us warm....and only candles in hurrricane glass for lighting....UGH...Wish we had been able to do prepping when we were younger, but never had space or time or money to do that....
    Thanks for letting me whine....Prayer is what keeps me going.
    Love from NC

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  5. Greetings from the Heartland,
    We've had some wintry weather here too, and schools have been closed the last couple of days. Everywhere I go, I hear people talking about prepping. Interestingly enough, the stores didn't run out of milk and bread before the storms this week. This is the first time I ever remember that happening. Maybe people really are listening.

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  6. For those with only gas grills out doors...you will find a single folding camp.stove that uses a gel fuel a great comfort in the house when power out. I'm talking about the little folding stoves for.under $10.00 sold at Wal-Mart etc. You can use it in your kitchen to boil water..heat coffee..heat soup. Cap the flame when done and it's as safe as any indoor lantern. Maybe safer. A hot cup of coffee or tea while you decide what to do next is awesome. I've used mine many times.during outages and have lived to.tell the tale. I bless God for that little dandy.
    P.S.
    My son is at a temporary base near New Jersey with the Army National Gaurd. Basically a small tent city. Yesterday they had no plans to move to anyplace with actual walls. I am praying for him and everyone. Be safe and warm all.

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  7. Echoing "Huntingoat" above, I think the parents will have a good reason to be VERY happy that Older Daughter is caring for the children (and possibly them). She has chased down chickens, cattle and such and dealt with much more in her upbringing.

    I am pretty sure that she will make you proud and that she will be very happy with her upbringing.

    Super-Nanny!

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  8. Clemmons, NC signing in also.......... Picked up 35 gallons of non-ethanol tonight to run the genset.

    To Sandy, post a comment here if you need any help. I check a couple times a dan and I have a lot people.

    DeNiece, used to love it around Morehead when it snowed. Good luck tonight, you should be out of the woods tomorrow.

    Sandy, I have my gas pack controler and fan hooked up to a circuit on my generator panel. Works like a champ. Get it done professionally though. All you do is throw it into emergency heat and let if fly.

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  9. The good thing about such storms is that it has the potential to shut down Washington D.C. (the government part) for several days. Always got to look for silver linings.

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  10. I grew up just North of Boston. I can remember when I was about 4 years old (1947) standing on 5 feet of snow. A five foot chain link fence barely poked the top points through the snow. We had two blizzards back to back in a four day period. This was more or less normal. Today because of TV and the need for stories that grab you storms like this are ballyhooed on every channel. For a week afterwards they will hunt up every story sad or happy about the snowmageddon. Don't get me wrong if you are driving in it or stuck someplace it's no fun but it happens back East or in the midWest every year. And every year the MSM makes it sound like it's the end of the world. Just like for three years we heard about California's drought as though it has never happened before and now we are hearing the sad stories about California's heavy rains and mud slides as though that has never happened before. It's just weather, send the kids out to play.

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  11. Realizing people can get killed and die.....yet the snowstorms we have had over my lifetime were exciting , especially when the weather forecast were wrong as in saying 2 inches and it turned out 2 ft . !! When we lost electricity and had to scramble around to make due , and days of playing monopoly ,or cards and reading .And even hiking across the field to the woods for "bathroom" !!! Somehow the days of forecasting 3 ft. takes all the fun out of it . I know most people don't feel the joy of an unexpected " roughing it camping trip in the livingroom" but we always really enjoy it as an adventure, and to see what ways we have to overcome some of those modern items we lean on normally . Karen

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    1. Karen, I agree. Snow storms were a lot more fun when the American Spirit was alive and well.

      Americans today are right where the government wants them. They are living in fear and in bondage to those fears. Our grandparents would never recognize them as Americans.
      Montana Guy

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  12. I can just see Older Daughter reaching into the cupboards to fill the oil lanterns.....and there are none.

    No fear! She quickly confiscates the children's shoestrings and makes up some oil lamps out of wine goblets and olive oil.

    :) that family could not be in better hands!

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  13. I think Older Daughter will be OK. Yes, it looks like Jersey's gonna get nailed, but she's a smart cookie. Might teach her employers a thing or three.

    I hear the snorting about the media playing things up. I can remember snow so deep (1993) that us teenagers could go out and dig tunnels in it. We put my 5-year-old cousin out the window (she asked us to, I promise) and she was over her head in snow. All the news said was that a State of Emergency had been declared. We dug out to the woodpile...

    ...and then we dug out the driveway, because the coal mines expected people to be at work, State of Emergency or no.

    I also enjoy "cold camping with all the comforts of home." I guess that makes me silly. I'm glad when the conveniences come back on, but it's fun when I know it's only going to last a few days or a couple of weeks.

    Ironically, where we are (northwest of Pittsburgh, near the Ohio border) we are really not expected to see ANY of this storm.

    There's still been a run on milk, bread, eggs, convenience food, and TP.

    I guess the whole county decided to become preppers, all on the same day??

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  14. I noticed in the video that no one had their cart full of groceries and many just had a hand basket! I guess their magic 8 ball told them everything would be back to normal after the weekend. SuccotashRose

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  15. Okay, I'll be about the 9th one to chime in and say how fortunate Older Daughter's employers will be to have her experience there.

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  16. Maryland reader here. We haven't had long lines at our stores, because most everyone in our neck of the woods is always prepared for just about everything. The people who have been at the stores have been socializing in the aisles and picking up one or two items. (I went to go pick up the ingredients for S'mores.) Everyone I've spoken with is looking forward to a long weekend at home with their families, power or not. I wish everyone in the path of this storm warm thoughts. Stay put and stay safe!

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  17. Praying for all facing this brutal storm. It is sleeting here about all we are expected to get this far south. Blessings, Kat

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  18. Good grief! It's weather! I find it somewhat amusing that frozen pizza seems to be the meal of choice. No chance that there would no heat to cook with, would there? How about soup, a stew, hot tea/coffee, maybe bake some biscuits instead of frozen pizza and serve it with eggs and jam? I don't see any water, fruit juice, or milk being picked up but one gentleman had a large bottle of wine. Did the grocery have no precooked chickens on sale? It would be comical if it were not so sad. THIS would be the time for a foreign entity to hack the electrical system.
    I'm so thankful that I'm a prepper!
    Incidentally, if Californians heard that Tahoe or some other resort was getting all of this snow? The roads would be jammed with people trying to get there.
    -Sandra

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  19. Any takers on a bet that we will hear of people crying that their power went out in freezing weather and they lost all their refrigerated food? Happens every winter. The lack of common sense still amazes me.

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  20. When I was in college in TN, I was at home with my parents during the 1993 blizzard. No electricity for a week...but my mom just pulled out her camp stove and we ate like kings. My dad kept the fireplace running and we stayed warm. A little prep and know how goes a long way! Stay safe everyone!

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  21. 93 was nothing compared to 78

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  22. Only got about 6 inches here in Our part of P.A. Have the wood cook stove burnin, and a nice pot of deer soup simmering.Looking at the snow out the window : )Fully stocked larder in basement life is good.

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  23. In our part of PA we got over two feet - nearly 30 inches - in less than 24 hours. This is the first snow of the season and 30 inches is usually our total snowfall for the entire winter. This storm set records.
    I've been thinking, though, how little preparing we actually did. The sum total of our storm preparations were: catch the crazy turkey that always insists on sleeping in the tree and put him in the chicken coop; bring up some extra wood; fill a five gallon bucket of water (for flushing in case of power outage) and put the calf in with her momma overnight in case we could not get out to milk in the morning. A couple minor adjustments but no major stresses. A lifestyle of preparedness is much simpler in times like these.

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  24. The coolest thing that happened in this snowstorm was the college kids returning from the March for Life who got stuck on the PA Turnpike for 30+ hours. Instead of wasting this time, they built a snow-altar, praised God for the opportunity to witness His awesome love and had Mass right there in the middle of the highway.

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