[member=24672]harmony[/member] I am all
too aware of how badly an event like this impacts on the elderly and vulnerable - I'm one myself and a one-time hospital nurse and I know how quickly someone can succumb to hypothermia. My rant was not directed at them but at those able bodied people who seemed to just stand back and expect help to arrive, having made no effort to make themselves ready for such an event. There are plenty of situations in life where we truly need help; if there were not then we would not have organised emergency services. But for their time to be taken up with tending to those who could have helped themselves, when they are needed for the truly vulnerable is galling.
In fact I think most elderly people are like me and doganjo and still see a good electricity supply as a bit of a wonder, but one not to be totally depended on, so we have an alternative up our sleeves. I love the vox pops of smiling people dressed snuggly in all their winter woollies, showing how it should be done. [member=26320]doganjo[/member] a supply of those sticks and handwarmers which give off heat when you open them would help in an emergency, also keeping moving warms you up while your rellies are on the way. Our rellies are too far away to come - you are so lucky in your family
I have also realised that few younger people can imagine a time without electricity or some reliable power supply, so they can be connected by computers, phones, food deliveries and other instant services. Also people under about 30 have only known the UK in fairly mild times, although we had a whopper of a winter storm here about 20 years ago. I was on my own for that, initially locked out of my house as I got home from the airport to find my husband had flown with our doorkeys in his pocket!! A blizzard produced 8' snowdrifts which initially were too soft to climb over. I couldn't get to my coal which was lost somewhere behind the drifts, I couldn't get to my animals until we had a really hard frost to make the drifts almost climbable (but not quite, occasionally breaking through the crust). Of course I was 20 years younger and not so badly affected by a medical condition then, but it was extreme. It was 4 days before the electricity came back on and five before the roads were cleared enough for anyone, including my husband to get through. However, I survived (as did all my animals), with only the little bit of help from a neighbour who dug out my coal for me. So I learned a whole lot from that, and I apply it to how I prepare myself and our farm for winter.
My rant was directed at those who
could prepare themselves but choose not to, to rely on the emergency services to do everything for them instead of taking responsibility for their own wellbeing. Many people were well prepared. Maybe we just need to get more information out so everyone has the knowledge they need. After all, Climate Change means storms like this are likely to become a regular occurrence in the future, just as droughts are too.
Most people on farms have some stocks and maybe a generator, and are used to braving the cold to reach livestock, but in the end we must be aware that we have to guard our own lives first and be sensible about when to hole up and ignore what's outside the door.
Sometimes I'm mocked by those who think being prepared is just a Boy Scout motto, but in our family we had a death due to extreme weather and a bit of a lack of good sense on the part of the person who died. Also someone living just a half mile from us lost his sister who froze to death on her way home from the pub on foot.
So be sensible folks and be prepared - it sounds as if most of you are.
