Winter storms can be absolutely beautiful. Overnight, your neighborhood is transformed from a mundane grid of streets lined with houses to an ethereal, inhuman landscape of delicate white and silver. All the children are outside laughing, and you see more of your neighbors than at any other time (except for maybe the beginning of Spring barbecue season!), as they emerge from their homes to inspect the drifts in their driveways and icicles hanging down off the power lines.
Unfortunately, winter storms can also be one of life’s greatest hassles. Because at some point, as much as you might want to prolong the moments where you get to play in the snow and sit by the fire drinking cocoa, your regular life’s responsibilities demand you return your attention to them. Groceries need to be purchased, you need to get back to work, the kids need to be reminded that they need to get their project done because school won’t be closed forever. And when you do start plugging back in, the snow that initially protected you from having to deal with life’s responsibilities now becomes an extremely tedious obstacle that makes all of those responsibilities infinitely more complicated.
So it’s a good idea to have a plan for dealing with large volumes of snow in place before that snow actually hits. Thinking about all of the things you’re going to need, and how you plan to get them if the roads are blocked and the power goes out, makes the transition from winter wonderland to real life go much more smoothly.
Blue Door Painters Suggestions for a Winter Weather Plan:
1. Decide where you are going to leave your car, and park it there before the storm hits. Leaving your car on the side of the road makes it harder for the snowplows to get through, and it also makes it so that your car gets buried under a tough, compressed wall of plowed snow. Park your car in a driveway if you have one, or up on the sidewalk. If you’re particularly clever, you’ll find a place to park your car on a more major road that is within walking distance of your house, because that road will probably get plowed before yours will.
2. Pick your route through your yard, and prepare to keep it cleared. Outdoor landscaping features, like decks and patios, should suffer no harm from being covered with snow – but it is important to have a safe, clear route from your door to your sidewalk, and to keep that route clear. Once you decide on your route, shovel it (and your sidewalk!) regularly as the snow is falling, and treat it with environmentally friendly ice-melting chemicals so that your shoveling job never gets too burdensome, and your route isn’t too slippery.
3. Hire a snow removal company. Blue Door Painters, as well as many other snow removal companies in the Washington, DC area, can offer you a contract at the beginning of the winter to come by your house and shovel you out whenever there is a major storm. The benefit of contracting at the beginning of the winter is that you don’t have to wait until a storm actually hits – when your phones might be down, and you without power – to call somebody up.
4. Get your interior ready. If you lose power, how are you going to stay warm? How are you going to see at night? How are you going to communicate with the outside world? For warmth, whether your solution is a fireplace, a generator, or a whole bunch of blankets, you want to make sure that you are stocked, and you know where everything is, before the storm hits. For light, you want to make sure that your flashlights have fresh batteries and are handy, and that you know where your candles and lanterns are, so you aren’t fumbling for them in the dark. And for communication, you should make sure your mobile devices are fully charged before the storm hits, and keep them off when not in use so that you can keep the charge. It is also sensible to fill your car(s) with gas prior to a storm hitting, as cars can be used both for heat (though make sure the exhaust pipe is clear of snow!) and for power (if you have a car charger), provided they are full of gas. Finally, hit the grocery store before the crowds do, and focus on things you can make even if the power goes out and you lose the use of your microwave.
5. Communicate your plans. You want to tell anyone who matters what you plan to do if you’re snowed in; your boss, your lunch date, etc., so that you don’t have to spend a lot of time scrambling around to reach them if the power goes out and correspondence becomes difficult.