So if you live anywhere in the United States you know that this past week, Winter Storm Uri wreaked havoc on the south and mid-west. Currently, there are seven million Texans without power and clean water. In Mississippi, it takes upwards of four hours to travel fifty miles. From Oklahoma to Louisiana southerners simply don’t know how to survive. Kansas experienced its longest cold spell since the 1970s. Arkansas recorded its coldest morning ringing in at a whooping -23 degrees. In Minnesota and North Dakota temperatures dropped into the negative ’40s. In Wisconsin, cars froze to the ground. And no one, NO ONE, in the south or mid-west went to school from February 15–17th.
What’s even better is the next Arctic gust, aka what caused storm Uri, is said to come within the next eight days. Now I’m no scientist but that doesn’t seem like enough time to fix the current problems. So here are some tips from a Mid-West Native on how to stay warm and stay safe.
- Stay in one room. If everyone in your household stays in one room it’ll be easier to generate heat and keep it there if your power goes out.
- Put heavy blankets and or curtains over your windows. Windows only allow the cold air to enter your home. If you experience a sunny period take the blankets down for 30 minutes but put them back up immediately after.
- This one for all the puppy lovers out there. Don’t allow your dog or any pet for that matter to be outside for more than two minutes at a time. If they do need to go out for a longer period for any reason, grab some socks. They might walk a little funky but it’ll keep them from getting frostbite.
- Place towel in the gap under doors. Similar to when a fire occurs you want to keep the air outside of the room you’re in out and the hot air in your room in.
- If you fridge is warming up, take all the perishable items out and place them outside. Pack snow around them and it’ll act like a natural freezer.
- If ya didn’t know most celling fans have a switch for winter. The fan spins the opposite way to push cold air down instead of up and out.
- Avoid Caffeine. Caffeine actually constricts your blood vessels which slows blood flow and makes you colder
Stay safe. Stay warm. Go build a snowman :)
