As of the time of writing, the threat that we will get a foot of snow has moved north—as in towards New York. Instead of a heavy snowstorm, we now expect a wintry mix, with lots of sleet and freezing rain and intermittent snow mixed in. In other words, the experts aren’t sure what kind of weather we’re getting, so we’d better be prepared for anything.
Personally, I was hoping for snow. I’ll take rain, but I’d prefer to avoid the freezing stuff. I’ve lived through two severe ice storms, and both ended in multi-day power outages and required significant tree cleanup, and that was back when I owned only a couple of acres. Suffice to say I have sharpened my Stihl chainsaw’s blade, filled the gas tank, and topped off the bar and chain oil.
The incoming winter storm is the talk of the town. From what I have seen, people around here are far more prepared for this storm than they were for Hurricane Helene. I’d like to say that this is because Helene scared them into prepping, but I think it is more accurate to say people are preparing this time we are getting clear warnings from the weather folks well in advance. Being so far inland, we had little of that for Helene, which is why people were caught off guard.
They are not pulling any punches. Here’s what the official warnings sent out by the county are saying: “Significant ice accumulation on power lines and tree limbs may cause widespread and long-lasting power outages,” and “Widespread power outages are likely…. The outages could last for days in some areas.”
Last Minute Winter Storm Preps and Panic Buying
From what I am observing, the message has been received. When I went to the gas station to fill up my two 5-gallon gas cans with ethanol-free gasoline, the guy on the other side of the pump was filling up at least five cans in a range of sizes. I figured that, like me, he had learned his lesson.
At the post office and the pharmacy, the storm is the chief topic of conversation. People are getting their prescriptions filled a few days early instead of waiting until next week when they run out.
When I went to Walmart, it was packed. Kudos to the manager who called in extra staff. Seven checkout lanes plus all the self-checkout lines were open. The parking area for curbside pickup was also crowded. Bottled water is sold out. Three of the twenty-nine things my wife ordered, including carrots, were out of stock. Who knew carrots were a desirable item before an ice storm? This is proof that people were buying everything they could get their hands on and that panic buying covers more than just milk and bread.
Securing Emergency Heat: Firewood and Gas Logs
One good thing about living in the mountains is that I bet at least half the residents have wood-burning stoves or fireplaces. I would not be surprised if at least five percent of the population heats with wood full-time, as we do, while another 30 percent use it as a supplemental heat source.
Friends of ours were delighted to get a delivery of firewood on Wednesday. Another poor fellow posted on Facebook asking to hire someone to come out and sweep his chimney before the storm hits. I wish him luck with that. Real preppers prepare in advance.
I have told several people about my plan to fill the bed of the pickup with firewood and park it in my garage for ready access. One fellow liked the idea so much that he adopted it. He doesn’t have a garage, but he’s going to fill the back of his truck with wood, put a tarp over it, and park it right off the front porch.
Our supply of firewood is ready. I estimate we now have ten to twelve days of wood in the house or the attached garage.
One neighbor down in the valley is worried her pipes will freeze if she loses power. After her husband passed, she replaced her wood stove with gas logs so she didn’t have to lift and carry the firewood. The propane logs have a remote control, but she is afraid they won’t work in a power outage. I used Gemini AI to do some research and was able to reassure her that they should still light. Many gas logs use AA batteries for backup power. She just has to make sure her batteries are fresh.
Testing Starlink Standby Mode for Emergency Comms
Our primary Starlink antenna is in standby mode, and I tested it out by connecting my phone to its router. I was able to send and receive texts and email, make a phone call, and use an app no problems. Loading a busy website like Fox News takes longer than I am used to, but I can still read the news. (Sadly, the ads load before the photos.)
The good news is we can limp along on Starlink just fine in an emergency. And if the electric utility or our fiber optic provider tells us it will be a week or more before we get power back on, we can buy 100 gigabytes of roaming for $50 or turn residential power back on for a month for anywhere from $50 to $120, depending on which plan we choose.
I can’t imagine this outage being as bad as the one during Helene, where we were out of power for three weeks and lost our fiber for ten months. If that much of the fiber network is knocked out again, it wouldn’t surprise me to see our supplier throw their hands up in despair and abandon the market.
I haven’t even gotten around to testing my Starlink Mini. However, at $10 a month, I am happy to keep my antennas in standby mode forever.
Honey Sales Before Disaster Strikes?
Curiously, we’ve just had two orders for honey from occasional customers. What is it about the threat of being stuck at home that makes them want honey? Or maybe it’s not the threat, but the opportunity to sit at home with a hot cup of tea that drives them.
A day or two in which you are trapped at home by bad weather can be a pleasant break. My wife said to me, “I’m looking forward to the preps being over so I can do nothing all day but read a book.” I’ll probably sleep late and take a nap every afternoon.
Thanks to these latest sales, I have sold my last one-pound glass jar of honey, and we have only six one-pound plastic squeeze bottles left. I have about ten bears (eight or twelve ounces each) and five quart jars. Most of the 2025 harvest has sold, and there won’t be new honey until June.
The chickens are producing between 1 and 5 eggs per day. We are still keeping them all for our own use. No idea when the hens will lay enough that we can sell them again.
I have made list of which circuits in the breaker box we will turn off if the grid goes down and we are living on our solar power batteries and what little sun eeks its way through the clouds and ice. Rather than list them all, it will be easier to say we are leaving on the main room in the basement, the master bedroom, the kitchen, the great room, and one bathroom. By shutting off all the other circuits, we eliminate any phantom loads (like from alarm clocks or phone chargers), and our batteries should last longer.
Hardening the Homestead for the Ice Storm
The storm was supposed to hit Saturday, but the worst of it is being pushed back a day. We’re going to take advantage of that extra day to do basic things like shower while we still have hot water and do an early load or two of laundry. That night, we’ll shut down our PCs and batten down the hatches.
If Sunday is the worst day in this region, I predict ratings for the AFC and NFC championship games will be down. Not because of a lack of interest, but because millions of households will be without power.
First time I’ve even been glad my team didn’t make it.
Video of the Day: Latest Storm Tracking Update
Here’s the latest from Ryan Hall
