Frozen Fossil Fools
Outlast them, don't be them
Despite being a superpower nation with extraordinary assets - including education - at hand, weather emergencies can stretch our capacities. Almost all can avoid breaking our capacities and can survive these unprecedented low temperatures.
This edition is dedicated to that effort.
First, specific things that won’t work:
1) Tweeting and retweeting political claims. They don’t even generate hot air. Save that for after the thaw.
2) Running a generator or any fuel-filed device indoors. If you have them, keep them outside, 30 ft from doors and windows. Don’t run your car in the garage, either except to get in and out of said garage.
3) Hard exercise. Movement is great, but exercise that provokes sweat can backfire.
4) Drinking alcohol. It can warm you a little briefly but it can thin the blood and cloud the mind. You may need all your wits.
What to do that helps when the power’s out
1) Confine your living area to the warmest room in the house and get everyone in the house to reside in that room. Including pets. The more body heat, the better. Stuff rags, towels, even your best clothes in places where drafts can get in. Losing expensive stuffing means it gets replaced. Your household members aren’t replaceable. Bring in blankets, comforters, quilts, pillows from other rooms, too. They can also help over windows or stacked against electric outlets where small drafts can occur. Be sure to have all meds/med supplies in a safe spot there too.
2) Pencil lead thin streams of water from all faucets. Outdoor ones too unless they’re heavily insulated. Once temps drop below 20 degrees, this keeps pipes from freezing. From now through the thaws, pipes are guaranteed to break in hundreds or thousands of homes. Plumbers will be overbooked. Flush your toilets every two hours. If you can’t swap sleeping hours so someone’s awake at all times or you live alone, do it as often as you can during sleeping hours. Thoroughly clean, rinse, then fill your bathtub. This can proide emergency water for washing, for flushing a toilet and even work for drinking water, though bottled water makes more sense.
3) Keep freezers closed throughout. Open/close the fridge door as quickly as possible to preserve the cold there. Bring snack foods or meal foods that aren’t refrigerated into your warm room.
4) Bring pets outside to potty quickly and back in as soon as they finish. Their paws can get frostbite, so no lingering and no walks.
5) Go start your car twice a day. Keep it running for 10 minutes. It helps keep the battery charged. Plus, you may get to sit iin a warm car for half that time, which may be your only heat source. Don’t do this when tired. Don’t risk falling asleep there. Ten minutes.
6) If you have rolling electrical blackouts when the energy comes on, first recharge cell phones. Heat your warm room. Cook. If it won’t be on long enough to heat the water in your water heater, heat water on the stove for quick sponge baths. Don’t heat other rooms besides your warm room and the bathroom. Be sure bedding and clothes are away from heaters when they’re in use.
7) Layer up clothing indoors and more if going out. Keep cotton clothing away from your skin. That can wick up sweat and hold it next to your skin which will make you colder. Between cloth layers, you can even stuff plastic grocery or produce bags. Outdoors, cover all skin that you can. If only your eyes are exposed, that’s about as good as it gets.
8) if you have multiple cell phones, keep one off when fully charged. That’s for emergency use. If you have one phone, turn it completely off when not in use. An active phone and a car radio may be your best way to stay in touch with city/town conditions. Check a few times a day to find out what’s open. Places with emergency generators include police, fire, ambulance, hospitals, nursing homes, shelters, schools, national guard armories and more. As people are less likely to be out and about at night, you MIGHT be able to charge phones there. Better yet if you can do so with an adaptor in your car.
9) If you can find an open store, consider stocking up on essentials such as: bottled water, food, hot drinks, batteries, flashlights, candles/lanterns, stick matches, caps, scarves, gloves, hand warmers. Using candles/lanterns can add hatt to your warm room BUT NEVER leave them on during sleep hours.
10) Check in on neighbors once a day, especially the elderly ones or those in frail health. If ever there’s a time to consider breaking pandemic protocols, this is that time. Inviting one or two people into your home and warm room helps keep them safe and adds body heat. You may still find ways to distance and stay masked. And should, if feasible. Or maybe you can help evacuate them to an emergency shelter.
11) Know where and how to shutoff water mains to your house. A burst pipe can flood you and can happen till outdoor temps get above 35 degrees. If you get a main pipe burst, in addition to shutting down the main, shut off the breaker(s) to your electric water heater(s). Don’t risk burning up the coils inside them if the water empties out.
12) Definitely don’t have sex till electricity’s fully restored with anyone except me. Okay, forget #12. I’m really not like that. Sometimes my humor is a little twisted but really, I’m good. I stocked up.
You will find other useful advice on this thread and here. And here.
AND IF YOU HAVE OTHER GOOD IDEAS PLEASE ADD THEM IN COMMENTS.
Later you can figure out who made things worse, especially in Texas. Especially when the culprits use misleading claims as a favor to the fossil fuel lobbyists.
I’ll resume normal newsletters after this one.