A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

Winter storm preparations

Posted: Jan 21, 2016

I always thought it was strange to stock up on milk, eggs, and bread, rather than other things.

What do you stock up on when winter weather is forecast?

So, here in the south, when ever we have winter storm forecast everyone rushes to store and stocks up on french toast infredients (milk, eggs, bread). The grocery shelves will be literally bare. Its sort of bizarre.

I always thought it was strange to stock up on milk, eggs, and bread, rather than other things.

What do you stock up on when winter weather is forecast?

;

Deep south and all of us do not stock up on - the things you list

[ In Reply To ..]
Bad enough in the south we are still trying to educate others that we actually wear shoes here and when you put something out that others might think true, then here we go again. First of all not a milk drinking person in our home, no bread folks here either and husband usually keeps eggs, no running to the store for them. We hardly face a time to where we are so snowed in or iced in for that reason that we are unable to get to the store in 2 or 3 days so no big deal about winter weather. As far as making French toast, we never have that either.

Winter storm - LTMT

[ In Reply To ..]

I live in the Laurel Highlands in the Appalachian mountains in PA. At my house we stock up on kerosene, it's a good bet we will lose power and need to use kerosene heaters for heat!

So what about the answer to her question for other scenarios? - Heloise

[ In Reply To ..]
What do you stock up on to have in case of fire, flood, tornado, earthquake, contaminated water, blackout, riot, or just inability to drive for a while or missing some paychecks?

Or do you depend entirely on divine intervention plus instant government assistance to keep you from ever encountering anything that interrupts being able to resupply from the store every 2 or 3 days and going thirsty, hungry, or cold as a result?

Imagine the difference during Hurricane Katrina if everyone had their own bugout bag with 3 days of food, water, clothes, and basic necessities. Imagine the difference in the aftermath of Sandy if everyone had kept their own complete household supplies for at least a month. Too many Americans these days seem to be turning into some of the most helpless and unprepared people on earth.

well arent you just a ray of sunshine! - glad Im not snowed in with you

[ In Reply To ..]
Just when we get people to believe that we in the deep south really do wear shoes and are actually nice, you post and blow that image. Glad you don't need milk, eggs, bread and don't eat french toast. Goody for you!

No I do not eat French toast, as in - big F, not little f

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks, everyone says they enjoy being around me and nice at that. I said we do not use milk, bread and eggs are usually here so I answered that question. I also said here our storms are usually over in 2 to 3 days and we have enough to last us much longer than that food wise. Underground wiring in the neighborhood so electric hardly ever out. Chill out folks.

Toilet Paper - Beer

[ In Reply To ..]
Chips, Pretzels, Little Debbies, Double Stuff Oreos.

LOL. If you buy a lot of beer, you WILL probably need a lot of TP. sm - Heloise

[ In Reply To ..]
I never used to worry about that, but now phone books are going the way of the Sears catalog, I suppose I need to. ;)

storm south - tt

[ In Reply To ..]
I live coastal, and the only storms I usually prep for are hurricanes. If we get a rare storm that might knock out elec and/or water, we'll prep for that, but otherwise, we just ride it out. When we prep for any storm of any kind, we NEVER stock up on things that require the frig or anything that would spoil if power is out for a few weeks.

I agree with not stocking up on things that require a refrigerator or freezer unless sm - Heloise

[ In Reply To ..]
you can reliably power them off grid.

OTOH, the run on milk and bread is understandable since many people have kids who go through a fair amount of both in a week, and they are used to using only fresh milk and bread from the supermarket. It's more sensible, though, to stock up enough to always have shelf-stable milk (powdered or in tetra-paks) and shelf-stable bread or substitutes/ingredients to make it for at least a couple of weeks without a grocery store trip. (And having that kind of thing in your pantry actually comes in handy in more situations than just a winter blizzard.)

Americans seem to feel the need for the biggest refrigerator/freezers in the world by far and don't generally buy the kind of shelf-stable pantry items that are standard emergency or even just everyday kitchen stock in lots of the rest of the world. If you've got your own wind turbine, solar panels, and/or giant propane tanks to run off grid, that's probably fine, but otherwise, it's likely to leave you with a lot of spoiled food and nothing to eat in any major disaster.

There are very good-tasting milk powders these days, whole milk as well as skim, egg crystals that really taste like fresh scrambled eggs when mixed up rather than those horrible old-style powdered eggs, and things like rye bread, fresh butter, American-style cheese, cold cuts like liverwurst, bologna, and ham loaf, bacon, and even frankfurters available in cans and jars that keep for several years on a shelf. If you don't can yourself, you can also buy plain cubed chicken, turkey, pork, and beef plus hamburger and sausage all canned in just their own juices. Those plus quick-cooking grains and pre-cooked dehydrated beans will let you put a lot of good, solid, healthy meals on the table with very little cooking/fuel and without living on Spam and Chef Boyardee. There is also freeze-dried shredded real cheese in several varieties and a big variety of freeze-dried veggies and fruits that taste as good as those conventionally frozen plus less expensive dehydrated versions that work just as well in soups or stews.

Get yourself some buckets/cans, heavy-duty mylar bags, oxygen absorbers, a piece of board and an ordinary household iron, and you can buy lots of household staple dry goods much cheaper in 25- to 50-pound bags and package them in smaller amounts for use that will keep for 5 to 20 years, which makes it both economical and easy to always have a several-month food stock.

In these days of just-in-time inventory, all the supermarkets in the average American city or town combined only have enough food on their shelves to feed everyone in the area for an average of just 3 or 4 days, which is why all those shelves empty so fast when everyone goes to the store in the same day or two. If you don't want you and your family to be totally at the mercy of FEMA and the Red Cross in a natural disaster, you need to plan ahead a little.

And before you even get to the food, make sure you have potable water stored for drinking, cooking, and some very basic sanitation, enough for at least a couple of gallons per family member per day for 2 weeks. It's not just New Orleans, the Jersey shore, Toledo, or a few towns in West Virginia that can suddenly find themselves without safe drinking water, although it has happened in all those places and more in the recent past.

stocking up - me

[ In Reply To ..]
One of the first things I do is stock up on water when I hear of something coming that could stop water in the house. We were on well water for awhile and elec going out in a storm meant the well pump stopped. For one of the recent storms that would likely have taken out the pump, I stored something like 30 gallons or more of water. You have a lot of good ideas. When we lived north, we stocked up on bread, had about 20 loaves at once. We also bought milk. At that house, weather was cold enough to store things on the back porch. No risk of warming up. Things stayed frozen for a long time. Now we live in an area where weather won't help us much with storage, so I stock up on granola bars, cereal. Water on cereal may not be popular, but it can be done if milk isn't there. I guess we all have potential weather disasters & need to have some kind of plan for handling it. Watching TV during storm coverage/recovery should be a lesson to those who don't prepare. Weeks of no food or water in your town makes people cranky & they'll do whatever they want in order to get what they need. I'd rather not have to go through that level of stress. I have my own medical supply stash just in case and we stock up on appropriate foods.

In Montana....before a storm - extra gas and diesel

[ In Reply To ..]
to run the tractor for feeding livestock and moving snow to get to the feed. Make sure the propane bottle for the Mr. Buddy heater is full in case we lose electricity. Fill some jugs with drinking water. Just filled the freezer with a whole beef - I guess we are ready - funny thing - it's supposed to be 40 and clear here this weekend.....But we would be ready for the storm if it came.

I am in the mountains of NM --sm - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
We make sure there is plenty of gas in all the vehicles and we do stock up on some of the perishables like milk and eggs. I often giggle at the fact the chip aisle gets wiped out. Stocking up on milk makes sense for us as it is not unusual for I-40 to be closed and that means no more deliveries. Having extra means I can stay at home without driving on ice. We had over 2 feet of snow the day after Christmas. If the power went out, I could put the milk outside in the snow. We also double check the amount of food for the animals (chickens and dogs) just in case. We generally have enough firewood and other stuff to see us through most storms.

Storm preparation - Backwoods Typist

[ In Reply To ..]
Why do you get the idea that everybody will be making french toast? Though that does sound yummy.

Eggs are something that is easy to fix using an electric skillet or electric griddle run by generator, and you cant fix good scrambled eggs without a little milk. Bread for sandwiches of any sort or even toast. Stuff that is easy to fix, which is why those are the first to leave the shelf. I am making chicken soup ahead of time, which I can easily heat using the microwave (using generator if no power).

Where I live in Virginia, its important to have cars gassed up in case you need to siphon some or have to go somewhere, extra diesel for the tractor to plow snow, kerosene if one uses a kerosene heater (we dont), gas for the generator, drawing water for drinking/flushing the toilet. Living rural teaches one to make sure the freezers are full and staples on hand at any given time, because you can, and will, get stuck in for days at a time, possibly without electricity.

I am not worried if the power goes out. The generator is ready to go and I have run through the procedures to get heat going in the house so me and the dog dont freeze. Hubby will likely be gone, having to go push snow, so will be left to fend for myself, but been prepping for that. Best of luck to everybody affected by this storm. See you on the other side.

we don't ask if snow is in the forecast - we ask if we have a - bread and milk emergency

[ In Reply To ..]
It is strange to me that people freak out and run to the stores to empty the shelves of bread, milk and eggs here where I live, but it is what happens.

I happen not to have a car right now so I rent a car on the weekends with a day rate of $9.99 and get all my supplies for two weeks at a time.

I live in an apartment so no generator for me, but if the power does go out, I have a week's worth of little one-time use kerosene trays that I can put in my fireplace to cook food if I need to. That is really stretching it, though, since our power is underground and we haven't lost electricity during storms here in 8 years. I also keep shelf-stable milk in my pantry.

If you live in an apartment, you should probably look into - Heloise

[ In Reply To ..]
the new shelf-stable pelletized fuel for an emergency cooker. Unlike kerosene, it doesn't pose any storage hazards for an indoors stockpile, and it doesn't deteriorate on the shelf.

There's also a safe to store and burn indoors gel fuel. - Heloise

[ In Reply To ..]
InstaFire is one brand name for the pelletized fuel in packets or buckets and ReadyFuel for the safe gel fuel in canisters, both with long shelf lives and no vapor hazards in storage.

Can you expand on the cooker and pellets please - anonie

[ In Reply To ..]
How much and where do you get a cooker and what are the pellets. Don't they leave a smell to have to vent outside.

I wish they would come up with something besides a kerosene heater for people in apartments. I have a three room one and I always worry when our power goes out.

I don't know why our state doesn't invest in underground electricity and cable, etc. Seems stupid since we are in a high thunderstorm and tornado zone.

The best place to shop for stoves is probably one of the places - Heloise

[ In Reply To ..]
with food and supplies for emergency preparedness.

Costco had a good price on the safe gel fuel, or as good a price as that comes at. It's expensive, but there's a lot to be said for something you can stuff in a closet for a couple of decades with no hazardous material worries and burn indoors:
http://www.costco.com/ReadyFuel-Smokeless-%2526-Odorless-Fire-Gel-120-count.product.100003719.html

These are the fuel pellets for heating/cooking, which will also store well anywhere it isn't so hot it melts paraffin:
https://www.instafire.com/

Here's a preparedness blog with brief reviews of some of the fuel options and an overview of some stoves to use with them:
http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/tag/emergency-fuel/

If you are caught really short, you can rig up a stove/heater from a metal 1 lb coffee can or similar-diameter juice can stuffed with a roll of toilet paper with its cardboard core removed and then soaked in 90% denatured ethyl or isopropyl alcohol. If there's a drug store or hardware store you can get to, you're more likely to be able to find some last minute alcohol than last minute batteries. You'll find instructions for putting one of these together at numerous places on the internet. Here's one link grabbed at total random:
http://tacticalintelligence.net/blog/how-to-make-a-survival-stove-car-heater.htm

It's not the absolute safest choice and needs to be handled with care, but it's an option most people can rig up at the last minute, and it beats freezing to death/not being able to even boil water.

If you want a safer version of this, look into marine heaters and cookstoves designed to use alcohol fuel safely in the galley on a pitching boat.
Examples:

http://www.practical-sailor.com/issues/36_3/chandlery/Alcohol-Heater-Stove_5894-1.html

http://us.binnacle.com/p2527/COOKMATE-3100-DOUBLE-BURNER-STOVE/product_info.html

I live in a city where most things are underground--and there have been 4 prolonged (more than a day) blackouts affecting much or all of the city since I've lived here. Underground isn't a cure-all.

One more suggestion if you have a gas stove that's still on. - Heloise

[ In Reply To ..]
(Which is to say the gas is on and you haven't been suckered into a stove that won't ignite its burners without electricity.)

An old-fashioned covered boiler/washtub set over the 2 back burners or a couple of big stockpots can be used to keep 10 gallons or so of water at the simmer with the pots functioning as mini-radiators to keep the kitchen, at least, from being subzero. And you'll have hot water at the ready for cooking/washing as well. I've done that and just rolled out the sleeping bag and pad out on the kitchen floor for the night. They were big pots, it was a very small kitchen with barely floor space for that sleeping bag, and it worked well. I had hot water to fill grannie's old earthenware pig and tuck it down into the bottom of the sleeping bag, too. :)

Thanks Heloise - anonie

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks Heloise. Helpful

Here are some of the cooking items I have around. Most of them sm - Heloise

[ In Reply To ..]
get used for camping as well as emergencies.

I love my Kelly Kettle for boiling water and cooking with gas/canned gel fuel/fuel pellets indoors/almost anything available outdoors in the base. It's the only camp kettle I've ever met that can boil water as fast as my Russell Hobbs electric kettle.
http://www.kellykettleusa.com/
Mine got rigged for indoor use with a can-lid vented hat friction-fitted with can opener-punched flanges to keep flames from shooting out the top of the chimney and an added plastic-coated S-hook bottom handle to make pouring easier than with that long chain designed for use with campfires. It's a poor-woman's gas-stove Simplex kettle with a small diameter, which also gives me extra space on the adjoining burner on my tiny apartment stove top. I ordinarily make my coffee with a non-electric single-serving stainless Vietnamese phin coffee brewer, so my tea kettle is also my coffee kettle/Keurig.
http://www.vietnamese-coffee.com/about_acc_steel_filter.php

I have an alcohol-fueled chafing dish and silver tea kettle inherited from my mother and grandmother, which led to going with a little alcohol-fueled camp stove for back packing back when plus eventually a marine alcohol stove/heater, a Coleman folding camp oven to sit on top of it, and a folding bread toasting rack ditto. (I figure by the time my gel fuel/pellet fuel runs out, someone somewhere around will be making high-proof moonshine, lol. Alcohol is a heck of a lot easier for amateur manufacturers to produce from materials ready to hand than things like propane, white gas, or Sterno, and it's not one of the things there's an immediate big run on in an emergency, so you can stock up at the last minute and not worry where/how to store a lot of it safely.)

I do also have a solar oven that can be used as a combo solar/electric or all-electric big slow cooker because this isn't good solar cooking country, but it adds another option.

If I had a yard/was likely to be cooking for more people, I'd consider a Volcano stove to go with my cast iron cookware. It can cook with propane, charcoal, wood, or even some of that pellet or gel fuel.
https://www.volcanogrills.com/

This would be really nifty to have, but I can't come up with a good excuse for adding one since I have a crank charger for the cell phone and no good outdoor cooking space:
http://www.biolitestove.com/

One of those ingenious things like the double earthenware pots with sand cooler invented for the 3rd world that can clearly be useful in certain situations in the 1st world, though.

Another idea - Backwoods Typist

[ In Reply To ..]
There is a way to make a room heater using clay pots and a few other items you likely have. Could be good info if in a pinch. See link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l4jg_FJ5Yc

Interesting. Have you tried it, and how well did it work? sm - Heloise

[ In Reply To ..]
Basically, if you burn anything for heat, you'll get more out of it if you trap the heat of the fire in some kind of thermal mass that can release it slowly over time--bricks, water, clay, a big chunk of cast iron, or anything that will safely soak heat up when exposed to fire and then cool down slowly. Classic materials for old-fashioned foot/bed warmers were heated bricks, slabs of soapstone, and clay "pig" bottles filled with boiling water.

I still put a ceramic pig filled with boiling water and covered in sheepskin down at the foot of the bed under the comforter on freezing cold nights. Much cheaper and more effective cure for my cold feet than an electric blanket.

Apparently it does work, but here are some things sm - Heloise

[ In Reply To ..]
to be aware of when it comes to safety.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnna1PAakV4

All of that makes sense to me. I'd be more inclined to use this version using one small tea light surrounded by ceramic and use a fired ceramic flower pot in the constructiion as well, plus placing the whole thing on a hearth or stove burner--some truly heatproof surface. I wouldn't trust the usual cheap earthenware flower pot not to crack under the heat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-NTZOE0A90

Still not something to leave unattended, but it could keep you from freezing if you had just a few tea lights to burn.

Bottled water - NE

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't usually stock up. In fact, the storm before last hit on the day I normally do grocery shopping so I just went anyway. I'm used to driving in blizzards! I think it's a good idea to have gas in your car and enough for a snowblower or whatever equipment you have. Bottled water seems like a good idea too. I like knowing I have a camp stove and propane to cook with if the power goes out. I think other posters are confused about your "french toast ingredients" comment. I think it's not that everyone is going to make french toast, it's that those are typical perishable foods that are staples you want on hand if you can't get to the store, right?

Yeah, water. No one thinks of water because it will just be there, right? - Heloise

[ In Reply To ..]
Until it isn't.

Millions of people in this area, and the vast majority of them seem to be totally unaware that if the lights go out and they live in a building with more than 4 floors, the water is going out too as soon as that piddly tank on the roof empties (usually a matter of just a few hours), because it's filled by an electric pump. Most of them also don't stop to think water weighs 16 pounds a gallon, and their elevators won't be running either.

Nothing. Everything needed to cook and eat for at least 6 months - Heloise

[ In Reply To ..]
is already in the house, plus supplies for nonelectric heating and cooking, basic medical kit, etc.

Milk? Got a year-plus of skim and whole powdered plus cream, yogurt, sour cream, cheese, etc., powdered, tetra-pak, canned, and freeze-dried.

Eggs? Got a year-plus of crystal whole and whites and canned hard boiled in water plus a couple of dozen fresh.

Bread? Got a year plus of canned sliced pumpernickel and rye breads, crispbreads, and rusks plus all the makings for turning out my own loaves.

A dozen kinds of fruit and juices, a couple of dozen varieties of vegetables, beans, grains, meat, fish--it's all here, with some of it ready to eat and some more needing just boiling water/less than 10 minutes cooking.

Oh yes, and lots of what the foolish young and not-so-young were roaming the streets really desperate for in the last 3-day blackout: tea and coffee plus the nonelectric means to prepare them. :D

Lots of wine. - No message

[ In Reply To ..]
x

I don't stock up on anything, I let the chips - fall where they may.

[ In Reply To ..]

.,

Yes grasshopper. So now we know who is buying all the chips. ;-) - Heloise

[ In Reply To ..]
:::

Similar Messages:

Aug 02, 2012
In the middle of all the pomp and circumstance that surrounds the Republian National Convention, a hefty dose of heavily-armed police repression of citizens exercising 1st Amendment rights is planned. Convention insiders, namely candidates, delegates, lobbyists and billionaires who pick up the tab, will remain unmolested and oblivious to authorities in riot gear, unlike the commoners assembled and speaking outside the hall, who will find themselves thrust into the middle of a temporar ...

Feb 17, 2015
The Homeland Security Department will cease preparations for a program intended to protect millions of immigrants from deportation in the wake of a federal court ruling halting it, Secretary Jeh Johnson said Tuesday. Johnson said U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will stop working on plans to launch a program to protect parents of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents from deportation until further notice. Link: http://news.yahoo.com/feds-halting-preparations-challenged-immi ...

Jul 15, 2010
We had a pop-up storm the other day and unbeknownst to me, my car windows were down! Now I have this horrible sour smell in my car, it is nauseating literally! Any ideas on how I can get this smell out? The seats feel dry as does the carpet for the most part. I've been leaving the windows down during the day and spraying Lysol, but the smell is still there! Can anyone help me? Thanks :) ...

Feb 01, 2011
I hope everyone stays safe in the storm that is coming or already has hit some. I'm in Mid Michigan and we are supposed to get about a foot tonight and tomorrow. I'm figuring a snow day for my son tomorrow. Glad I work at home. Hubby has to go to work tomorrow, maybe. Anyway, I hope everybody stays safe and warm. ...

Jun 23, 2010
I am looking at a new storm door for my front door. I have read really bad reviews on a lot of storms doors. I like the full view type and I am wondering if anyone can recommend a good door that they have had good luck with. ...

Jun 27, 2012
Hello: just having a mini breakdown about car problems. My van is in the shop and I have to pay $500 deductible for repairs from an accident. The real issue though is my sister's and my niece's cars. My sister's car needs about $945 in repairs. My niece's car is basically blown engine an not salvageable. They want help to repair their cars, and I told them no. This is a long story but I can not help them, and it does make me sad but I have my own money woes. My niece i ...

Nov 02, 2012
Just in time for election day. It is not out of the question that voters will deal with torrential rainfall and high winds across the Carolinas and portions of Virginia. People heading to the polls in Charleston and Columbia, S.C., Wilmington, Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C., and Norfolk, Va., may deal with the messy weather. Rain and wind could then spread northward across much of the I-95 corridor, including in Portland, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., ...

Jul 17, 2010
I can't put this book down. I had been wanting to review some prophecy connected with recent events like 911, Haiti, earthquakes, hurricanes, economic disasters, etc., but I wanted something of substance. I was so tempted to buy a couple that sounded dramatic and exciting, but after thinking about them for a few days, they looked more like sensationalism. This one goes right to the scriptures. I'm off to read more of it. ...

Oct 30, 2012
As I predicted, Obama (and his sycophants) would LOVE Sandy because it would take Benghazi off the front page. However newsworthy Sandy might be, it has relatively little relevance to anyone's decision with respect to the coming elections. Anyone can collect food, and anyone can fly around in Air Force One looking like the big cheese after a natural disaster. These things mean absolutely nothing. The Benghazi scandal, on the other hand, is a thumbnail sketch of the genera ...

Mar 22, 2011
Some of you are probably already getting it, but here in middle Michigan, freezing rain, snow, ice. Tonight into tomorrow. We're talking maybe 10 inches. YUK! ...

Dec 23, 2009
Funny winter clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cCXPjS14i8 ...

Nov 11, 2016
when their feelings are hurt or someone expresses a point of view other than their own. This is how far we have come since the Greatest Generation. ...

Jul 17, 2014
...

Dec 21, 2015
I just wanted to wish a Happy Winter Solstice to those who observe it! ...

Apr 20, 2012
nm ...

Nov 01, 2014
Chuck roast 5-6 beef bullion cubes 1 pkg dry onion soup mix 1 LARGE BOTTLE V8 juice and not tomato juice 1 large package of frozen mixed vegetables 2-3 potatoes cubed/diced (optional) 1/2 head (or thereabouts of cabbage -- this depends on size of cabbage and size of pot, etc.) Brown the chuck roast with the onion soup and bullion until "fork tender" and able to shread (about 1-2 hours -- when it falls apart, when picking up with a fork, its done -- set aside and let cool. ...

Dec 21, 2012
disaster for the U.S., not just ecologic. Updated expectation (this article is a week old) is for a new possible crisis point in January. From the Guardian: Mississippi River Faces Shipping Freeze As Water Levels Drop Navigation has become treacherous as the worst US drought in half a century brings water levels close to record lows. The worst drought in half a century has brought water levels in the Mississippi close to historic lows and could shut down all shippi ...