Officials Urge Everyone To Prepare Now For Winter Weather
Officials Urge Everyone To Prepare Now For Winter Weather
December 09, 2021Steve Schwaller
(Spirit Lake)– With a potential winter storm bearing down on us for the first time of the season, officials say we should be getting ready now. Dickinson County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Ehret reminds us of the things we should have on hand this time of the year…
“Depending on where you live and how your roads get plowed you could be stuck at home for a day or two or three. So anything you need to get by, food, don’t forget the medications, things like that; stuff for pets if you have pets. Just sort of all that good stuff that you need to get by for a few days in case you can’t get out and get to the store. If you’re going to be traveling the next couple of days, it could get to the point with this storm that you might not want to travel. Either you might want to get going today or hold out until later in the day on Saturday once the roads improve. But if you do absolutely have to travel, get that kit in your car. Make sure you’ve got supplies there in case you do get stranded while you’re out on the road.”
Ehret says that kit should include things such as a blanket, nonperishable food, and a fully charged cell phone. He adds it’s important to let others know of your travel plans and the route you plan to take. Ehret adds should you become stranded, do NOT leave your vehicle. But he says the best advice is simply not to travel when conditions are bad…
“The biggest issue we have with storms like this, there are accidents and people going into the ditch and so forth, so, you know, it looks like the snow is going to potentially be fairly heavy tomorrow. The forecast is 5 to 10 inches. I think we’re on the higher end of that at this point. So if you can avoid travel and just stay put, stay home and stay safe, keep our responders safe too. We’ll go out if we have to but we’d just as soon not have to and if folks stay home and that sort of thing it just keeps everybody safe.”
As we mentioned earlier, a winter storm WARNING is now in effect for most of the region, including Dickinson county, from 6:00 am tomorrow (Friday) morning until midnight tomorrow (Friday) night.
