(Spirit Lake)– Officials are urging everyone to take extra precautions with the extremely cold temperatures that are in the forecast. Dickinson County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Ehret says anyone venturing outdoors tonight through the upcoming weekend need to be properly prepared for the elements…
“Try to limit your time outdoors as much as possible and when you do have to be outdoors, make sure you just bundle up. Multiple layers. Cover every bit of skin that you can. With the wind chills that we’re expecting approaching 40 below, exposed skin can suffer from frostbite within about 10 minutes. Those windchills do improve but just slightly through the weekend. We’re still looking 10 below to 20 below wind chills pretty much throughout the weekend and that can cause frostbite on exposed skin in, you know, a half an hour or so.”
Ehret says homeowners also need to be taking some precautions…
“If you have issues when it gets real cold like this with pipes freezing, keep those cabinets under the sinks open to let air flow through. You may even want to leave a faucet drip just ever so slightly to keep that water moving. That little trickle can just prevent a burst pipe. We typically don’t recommend using space heaters, but I’m going to be real here, I mean I know people use them, so. If you do use space heaters, keep them at least three feet away from anything flammable. Things like curtains, bedding, blankets, things like that. And plug them directly into the wall. Don’t ever use a power strip or an extension cord or things like that. If you do leave your home make sure you turn them off and unplug them.”
He adds it’s important to also make sure smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are working…
“Go ahead and give them a test. Make sure they alarm like they should. Make sure they’re plugged in, make sure the batteries are good. That’s very important. Yeah, like you say, furnaces are going to be working overtime in the next few days here.”
Ehret urges anyone traveling to make sure they have a winter survival kit in their vehicle…
“I would even throw in some extra blankets, coats, hats, gloves, things like that, just in case you do break down on the side of the road. And if you do break down, stay with your vehicle. Yes, it’s going to be cold, but you’ll at least be inside the car, out of the wind. Again the wind is what causes the wind chill and that’s what’s going to cause potentially a lot of issues. So stay in your car, call 911 or call somebody for help. When you do go traveling, let somebody know your destination, when you’re leaving, when you’re going to get there, your route, all that good stuff. So just be safe out on the road. Make sure your car is in good working order, of course, before you leave and keep that fuel tank above half tank as well.”
And when it comes to staying warm at home, Ehret says you should never use a gas stove as a supplemental form of heat.
He also urges everyone to check regularly on friends, neighbors and the elderly, especially those living alone with medical issues.
