The ice storms that hit several states last week have left millions of people without power. Utility crews are struggling in subfreezing temperatures to turn the power back on for over a million people. Officials in some of the rural cities in Kentucky are warning that a lack of help from the state and FEMA is turning the situation into a disaster.
This should be yet another wake up call for people to have an emergency plan, and an emergency kit that can help them during this type of situation. Thousands of people in Kentucky have been asked to leave their homes because emergency crews were not prepared to reach everyone who needed food, water and warm clothes.
Dozens of deaths have already been reported, and people are pleading with the government to help with the power outages.
- 536,000 homes and businesses in Kentucky are without power.
- Outages have disabled water systems causing people in rural areas to resort to using buckets in a creek as their only source of water.
- Officials are warning that it could take weeks before power is restored in some areas.
- 200,000 people are without water or are under mandatory boil orders.
- People are being asked by the state to pack a suitcase and head south to a motel. They say that they can no longer handle everyone in the shelters.
So what can you do to prepare for a Winter Emergency?
- Check out our article on Surviving a winter power outage.
- Have a good supply of emergency water and a good emergency water storage system.
- Get a good Water Filter in case your water supply becomes contaminated.
- Stock up on Emergency Candles
- Have some good winter sleeping bags
- Have a 72 hour kit or a good Bug Out Bag
Scary stuff indeed! Not an end in sight, either…my heart goes out to them and I wish I could do something to help.
I lived in one of the affected areas during that ice-storm and I can tell you from first hand experience it looked and sounded like a war zone with the trees breaking and popping like they did.