Winter is coming...

   Winter is coming and its time to prepare. This time of year can be exciting with all the glittery decorations, yummy smells and festive holiday music. On the flip side it can also be a very harsh time, with all the bitter cold winds, power killing ice storms, and devastating blizzards. Just this month , still autumn by the way, the killer storm Atlas did real damage, leaving several thousand  people without power and an estimated 100,000 livestock deaths. Read these stories about the people of Wyoming or this one about South Dakota to learn more. What happened is truly tragic, worth our prayers. We need to learn from it not just mourn the losses. Especially since The Farmers Almanac is predicting a harsh winter. So what can we learn from the storm Atlas and other storms like it?

Lesson One: 

Expect the worst from Nature. It is unpredictable and uncontrollable. The weathermen are doing their best to read the atmosphere and predict what it will produce, but they are not always right. For example, the 2013 Oklahoma Tornado's where we lost experienced  Meteorologist Tim Samaras. No one can predict a storms path with perfect accuracy, experienced or not.

Lesson Two:

Head the warnings from those meteorologists. Think back to Katrina... if they say get out of town, get out of town. Perhaps they say stay inside and not to drive in the bad weather. Do not go out to drive, walk, ride your bike, or any other form of travel. Weather will and can kill you! NO errand or little chore is worth your life. " What if I need more food for my family, could I go out then? " You ask. Well my answer would be...

Lesson Three:

Be prepared for the worst. Makes sense right? If you expect the worst why not prepare for it. How to prepare you ask? Well that's a crazy rabbit hole that I can not cover in this one post but I will do my best to share some basics. They are as follows:

    *Baby it's cold outside- Lets make sure we have things to keep our family warm in the event of a power outage. Warm winter clothing and lots of blankets. If you have a wood burning stove or fireplace, keep enough wood around to last a week or more.

    *Peanut Butter Jelly Time-  Make sure you can feed your family. Nothings worse for a mother then watching her babies suffer. Keep enough non perishable foods around to last your family for a week. It shouldn't be anything fancy because you don't know when your power will resume. Also don't rely on your local store. They will not have anything in stock and it probably will not for awhile after a big storm.

    *Bubble Bubble Toil and Trouble- Don't be caught without clean water to drink. According to Ready.gov the average person should have a gallon of water per day for emergency storage. You never know what contaminates might get into your cities water supply during a natural disaster, so try to keep bottled water around. If utilities are down it may be hard to boil tap water, and that's if you even get anything out of your faucets!

    * A few more things- You may want to have these things on hand as well.:
                                           + Candles and lighters
                                           + Paper Plates and Plastic Utensils
                                           + Hand Sanatizer and Baby Wipes
                                           + First Aid Kit
                                           + Camping Stove
                                           + Personal Protection
                                       

Lesson Four:

Above all do not rely on anyone else to take care of your family. FEMA should not be your emergency plan. It is up to you to do right by those who count on you, not the governments. Proverbs 31:21 says "She has no fear of the snow because she has made jackets for her family." Be prepared so you do not have to fear. You can start small, anything is better then nothing.

Again preparedness is a rabbit hole that you can explore for hours to days or even devote your life to it like some have. I recommend going onto your favorite search engine and looking deeper into keeping your family prepared for what winter may bring. It's better to be on the safe side with this mommies. I know this was not the most light hearted or moving of posts, but this subject has weighed heavy on my heart and I had to share. The idea of anyone suffering needlessly breaks my heart.

Love,
Ashley Brewer