April showers bring…lots more showers and storms. Spring is certainly severe weather season.

Even if you don’t experience hurricanes or tornadoes where you live on a regular basis, severe weather and emergencies can happen anywhere, anytime. In fact, homeowners are 26 times more likely to be affected by a flood than by a fire!

So do what you can to get ready today! Here are some steps to get you started:

1. The essentials: make a “to-go” kit. Even if it’s just a knapsack with important papers, food, water and extra medications, that’s a great start. How to make your to-go kit.

2. Get out now! Time is extremely important in any emergency. Learn how to get out of your home in a hurry. Don’t have a lot of time? Watch this quick two-minute video which offers quick tips and strategies on how to exit your home.

3. Dig deep. Last year, we dedicated a month-long series to help you get ready for anything and everything. Don’t worry, you don’t need to do every task all at once! Just pick and choose what works for you and your family. Get ready for emergencies…

4. Disaster ready. Is your area typically prone to certain disasters? Brush up on your preparedness skills and knowledge with these helpful guides:

• Get Ready: Tornadoes
• Get Ready: Hurricanes
• Get Ready: Floods
• Get Ready: Earthquakes
• Get Ready: Storms

That’s all for Day#3! Tomorrow we’ll suggest quick tips and tasks you can easily tackle over the weekend.

Bloggers Marc and Angel have a list of the top ten phone numbers you should have in your cell phone just in case. You just never know when you might need them!

• 10 Handy Numbers to Save in Your Mobile Phone [Marc and Angel via Lifehacker]

Also, this brings to mind another blog post from a while back:

• Four Professionals Everyone Should Keep on Speed Dial

Still in need of additional contact lists to have just in case? Print out these handy emergency contact lists to keep a hard copy of your contact numbers - store them near your landlines at home or at work.

Picture this scenario: You wake up early to get a head start on your Monday morning, have your morning cup of coffee, the sun’s shining and all’s right with the world. You head out the door, jump in your car anxiously awaiting the morning radio show and you turn the ignition key and…nothing. No blinking lights, no friendly chime to remind you to fasten your seat belt, simply no sign of life.

We’ve all been there, and especially when it’s below zero outside! You never know when your car’s not going to cooperate with you, so it’s best to think ahead. If the temperature plummets, think of the worst-case scenarios that might happen: icy windows, dead battery, low air in your tires, no heat, frozen brake and gas lines, etc.

Now that we’ve listed some common problems you can prepare for them! Check your car’s manual for extra winter-weather tips for your specific car. Be sure to add extra winter items to your car and your car’s emergency kit:

• Air-activated handwarmers
• Anti-freeze (gallon)
• Bag of sand in trunk - help tires with traction
• Extra blankets and sleeping bags
• Extra winter clothing (hats, jackets, mittens, and boots)
• Jumper cables
• Matches and ’survival’ candles in a 3 pound coffee can (to warm hands,
  heat a drink or use as an emergency light)
• Phone number for roadside assistance
• Portable electric car-starter kit (usually costs about $25 or so)
• Windshield washer fluid rated -40º proof

Have a cold weather car maintenance tip? Add it in the Comments section below!

After feeling numbness in one of her toes, a friend of mine went to the doctor to discover that her toe was frostbitten!

When the mercury plummets, frostbite can become a real possibility (Tom Coughlin’s face after Sunday’s Giants/Packers game, anyone?!?).

So what can you do to stay warm and keep your skin safe? A few tips from the CDC and just some plain common sense:

1. Dress warmly! Wear many layers and choose “breathable” fabrics like wool, silk, or polypropylene - these fabrics will hold more body heat than cotton, according to the CDC. What to wear:

• Hat (wool works well)
• Mittens/gloves (mittens are usually best - your fingers can warm each other by staying close together)
• Long underwear
• One-two long-sleeved shirts
• Sweater
• Pants (choose snowpants if playing outside)
• Warm thermal or wool socks
• Coat (choose a longer-length, properly insulated coat)
• Boots with a thicker sole and some insulation (my friend was wearing thin-soled boots with heels!)

2. Going out? Bring someone else with you. They can help identify signs of frostbite such as:

• a white or grayish-yellow skin area
• skin that feels unusually firm or waxy
• numbness

What to do if you suspect frostbite…

3. Do not ignore shivering. It’s an important first sign that the body is losing
heat. Persistent shivering is a signal to return indoors. Take plenty of regular breaks.

4. Keep moving. Movement can increase blood flow to the extremities - nose, ears, fingers and toes - which are particularly vulnerable spots for frostbite.

More winter weather preparedness articles and tips…

Do you make the following winter driving mistakes?

• Following too closely. “Increase the spacing between you and the car in front of you, which will give your room to stop or avoid the vehicle in front of you if the driver loses control. Don’t get caught up in someone else’s mistake,” says Matt Edmonds, vice president of The Tire Rack.
• Having insufficient traction. “Tires may have too little tread depth or be summer tires that do not give enough traction in winter’s worst conditions which can make you lose control,” Edmonds says.
• Driving too fast for conditions. Packed snow has about 25-30% of the traction of dry pavement so drivers should be going one-fourth the speed they would normally,” says Brandon Bogart, vice president of In Control Advanced Driver Training.
• Having poor visibility. “Snow creates extra hazards for visibility and drivers should make adjustments to compensate: clearing their whole car of snow and ice and using good windshield wipers and Rain-X to keep their visibility good. Fog lights can also make a big difference in dense snow,” Bogart adds.
• Driving fatigued. “Most drivers don’t realize that snowy conditions can use up to four times the energy and concentration of regular driving,” says Bogart. “As fatigue sets in, drivers quickly lose driving skills and become the equivalent of drunk drivers. Drivers should make sure they are well rested before attempting trips where there may be snowy or inclement driving.”

Brush up on your winter driving skills with these top tips from snow plow drivers…

Hopefully this will never happen to any of you…but it might happen (or has already happened) to someone you know.

Layoffs are a common cause of job loss but natural disasters can also cause someone to lose their job. Just one month after Hurricane Katrina, over 217,000 of the 800,000 evacuees were unemployed (that’s more people than the population of Salt Lake City!!), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

To help you combat the financial crisis that may come with any job loss or to prepare just in case this might happen to you, the University of Florida Extension service has put together an article with 9 guidelines to “help you hold onto what resources you have and survive this financial crisis.”

• “What to Do If You Lose Your Job” (University of Florida Extension service)

Here in the land of 10,000 lakes (Minnesota) not a winter goes by without a news story about how someone lost their truck or snowmobile due to thin lake ice.

Don’t let that happen to you!

Before venturing out on a frozen lake or pond keep in mind: There is no such thing as 100 percent safe ice.

Here are a few tips from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. (I also checked out the recommendations from other states and they’re about the same):

Recommended minimum ice thickness

• 4″ of new clear ice is the minimum thickness for travel on foot
• 5″ is minimum for snowmobiles and ATVs
• 8″- 12″ for cars or small trucks

(Remember that these thicknesses are merely guidelines for new, clear, solid ice. Many factors other than thickness can cause ice to be unsafe.)

Other Tips 

1. Check for known thin ice areas with a local resort or bait shop.

2. Test the thickness yourself using an ice chisel, ice auger or even a cordless 1/4 inch drill with a long bit.

3. Refrain from driving on ice whenever possible.

• If you must drive a vehicle, be prepared to leave it in a hurry–keep windows down, unbuckle your seat belt and have a simple emergency plan of action you have discussed with your passengers.

4. Stay away from alcoholic beverages.

• Even “just a couple of beers” are enough to cause a careless error in judgment that could cost you your life. And contrary to common belief, alcohol actually makes you colder rather than warming you up.

5. Don’t “overdrive” your snowmobile’s headlight.

• At even 30 miles per hour, it can take a much longer distance to stop on ice than your headlight shines. Many fatal snowmobile through-the-ice accidents occur because the machine was traveling too fast for the operator to stop when the headlamp illuminated the hole in the ice.

6. Wear a life vest under your winter gear.

• Or wear one of the new flotation snowmobile suits. And it’s a good idea to carry a pair of ice picks that may be home made or purchased from most well stocked sporting goods stores that cater to winter anglers.
• It’s amazing how difficult it can be to pull yourself back onto the surface of unbroken but wet and slippery ice while wearing a snowmobile suit weighted down with 60 lbs of water. The ice picks really help pulling yourself back onto solid ice.
• CAUTION: Do NOT wear a flotation device when traveling across the ice in an enclosed vehicle!

Read more about how to help someone who’s fallen in or how to get out yourself…

Thanks to the Minnesota DNR!

Before you suit up and head out the door for a quick snowmobile ride, be safe and be smart: the Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that about 13,400 hospital emergency room-treated injuries occur each year with snowmobiles.

The CPSC offers these tips to have a safe ride:

I was just perusing some of the blog’s archives and I found a couple of great posts that are really helpful for this time of year:

Tired Out: The last thing you want to have happen this snowy season is to end up in the ditch. Keeping your tires in optimal condition is the top prevention tip. Learn more…

Gift Card Scamming: Thinking of buying a gift card for a present this year? Read these Better Business Bureau tips before you head to the store…

They See It All - Tips from Snow Plow Drivers: Who better to give us winter driving tips than snow plow drivers??!

Snow Days: As a hearty survivor of 20+ Minnesota winters, I just had to share my top 5 winter survival tips.

Want more winter prep tips? Visit our Blizzard category!