Preps found wanting, or sufficient in current severe weather

[vtsnowedin]

They are called undershirts in America, and are presumably available with long sleeves.

Ahh that explains it. Long underwear tops and bottoms here. No point in short sleeves if you need thermals.
To Yanks a vest is part of a three piece suit or something made of leather worn by a Western Cowboy alah Bonanza or Gunsmoke.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMI_oNGFBFo

[vtsnowedin]

I've just read that your entire East Coast is in for a 'Bomb Cyclogenesis' of unusually huge size.

We've a lull in the snow at the mo but due freezing rain tonight.

Yes the weather channel is all abuzz about coastal flooding with newscasters leaning into forty mph winds with raging surf behind them. Storm track too far to the East to give me more then a windy day and enough snow to be a bit of bother. If it had tracked more to the West as they often do I could have got a foot or more and still could well into April.

[Mr. Fox]

when I nipped to the Co-Op to get some there was neither organic milk nor ANY crisps!

That's been the most major effect of our 2-day ***SNOWMAGGEDON*** (all melted now, thanks ) - the co-op ran out of organic milk! (they still had crisps, though).

Although, come to think of it, the co-op are ALWAYS selling out of organic milk...

We had a major disruption to the water supply, but 5 mins with Mrs. Fox's hairdrier sorted that out (I must remember to lag that 3' of exposed pipe).

The local kids really enjoyed 2 days off school, though.

[PS_RalphW]

Just come back home after driving 20 miles in the most snow we have had, about 4 inches on the ground. Roads will be very icy tomorrow if we start getting melting and refreeze.

[vtsnowedin]

Just come back home after driving 20 miles in the most snow we have had, about 4 inches on the ground. Roads will be very icy tomorrow if we start getting melting and refreeze.

Four inches can sure grease things up if they don't plow and grit it. What do you expect for temps at fist light?

[woodburner]

How prepped are the preppers then? Not so much by the sound of it. We are sitting comfortably (with appropriate clothing) in front of the wood stove in our draughty (not really, but you have to humour the planet guardians) Victorian cottage with no upstairs heating. This needs a log every 45 mins. Have next years wood supply in store and probably enough of this years to last the next month or two if the weather warms up.

More than enough food for the next week or two. This is where we fall down, as decent nutrition means most carbohydrates are a poor diet. What I need is a decent size patch to keep a cow, chickens etc, but then cows are really a specialist activity as there is so much red tape nowadays. A pig would have been ok once, but the same stupidity is applied to them. A gun and squirrels is probably a good meat supply.

[Little John]

Meanwhile, up North....

[Little John]

Brotton, a village round the corner from me a couple of days back

[Little John]

And, finally, in other news....

[PS_RalphW]

Heating oil companies are taking advantage of the weather. Quoted prices have risen 20% in a week to 60p a litre.

[adam2]

A neighbour paid about 50 pence, two weeks ago fortunately.
They have an oil burning stove, it looks like a solid fuel stove but burns oil.
The stove also provides limited heating upstairs by gravity circulation, no electricity needed.

Other neighbours THOUGHT that they were well prepared, but underestimated the volume of logs required and ran out, fortunately some "artificial logs" were obtained at short notice.

Locally LPG is said to be in very short supply.
Paraffin seems unobtainable, but it is little used these days.
Coal is plentiful if the customer can collect it, long wait for deliveries.
Logs are in short supply but only due to delivery constraints, I know someone who has about 100 tons, but cant get a vehicle near in present conditions.

[kenneal - lagger]

..... What I need is a decent size patch to keep a cow, chickens etc, but then cows are really a specialist activity as there is so much red tape nowadays. ....

If you have a small secure shed I would advise a couple of goats rather than a cow. The animals are much smaller so the feed requirement is lower; they will thrive on browse and also eat grass rather than needing a high quality grass supply as a milking cow does; they will milk at least a couple of years without a visit to the billy; their milk is more digestible than cows milk having a smaller molecule size ( a calf does better on goats milk than on its mother's milk); their offspring grow to edible size much quicker than a calf does and because their kids are smaller they are easier to keep.

The disadvantage is that unless they are kept well confined they will break into your vegetable garden and decimate it within minutes. Apart from that the the evil so and sos are lovely animals.

[kenneal - lagger]

.....Locally LPG is said to be in very short supply.
.....

Our four 47kg bottles used for cooking only last us about a year so we replace them two at a time. No excuse for running out or having to buy at high prices.

Gas oil for our genny is the same although we generally have about six months worth. Must get another tank for the full years backup.

We've already got next years logs in the yard but they need to be cut and split in the next couple of months so that they can dry fully under cover over the summer.

[adam2]

Looks as though many people were not very well prepared.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-43302735

"snowed in for 6 days and out of food"
"no heating for 3 days"

And other similar reports.
Surely almost anyone should keep food for a couple of weeks ?

Several reports refer to lack of heating from want of coal or logs, It would seem to me that 4 weeks stock should be the absolute minimum, and with at least a weeks worth INDOORS in case severe weather prevents access to outbuildings or to supplies stacked in the open.
More would be prudent, especially in places liable to become cut off.

Although climate change will probably reduce the chances of such events, there are many other eventualities that can affect food or fuel supplies, so supplies are prudent to have even in the absence of another freeze up.

It is not hard for most people to keep a few weeks of food and fuel.

[mikepepler]

Surely almost anyone should keep food for a couple of weeks ?

Many don't, they have just a few days at home, and eat out a lot...

Several reports refer to lack of heating from want of coal or logs, It would seem to me that 4 weeks stock should be the absolute minimum, and with at least a weeks worth INDOORS in case severe weather prevents access to outbuildings or to supplies stacked in the open.

We store enough at our house for a whole winter (well, a whole winter like this one), and it's easy to access. Plenty more seasoned timber in the woods (5 miles away), though it needs cross-cutting and bringing home in the trailer. But I've not had to re-fill the store mid-winter since the last upgrade to our home insulation.