Plan will help in rough weather (01/10/2009)

Keep your fingers crossed, but so far Mother Nature hasn't been too rough on us yet this winter.

That will come, of course. It always does.

Sometime between now and spring - probably this weekend in view of the forecast - we'll find ourselves under several inches of snow or snow mixed with ice.

Since that's virtually inevitable in Indiana and Ohio, it only makes sense to plan for it in advance.

Emergency agencies and the American Red Cross underline that message all the time.

The specifics of the plan will vary from household to household. The important thing is that the plan exists. It doesn't need to be written down, but it needs to be understood by everyone in the household.

Do you have enough food in the house to weather a few days when you won't be able to get to the store? Do you have sufficient medications to meet the health needs of those on hand? Do you have a weather radio, preferably one that requires no batteries? Do you have flashlights with fresh batteries in them? Do you know where they are? What will you do if the power goes out for an extended period of time as it did during the 2005 ice storm? If you rely on cell phones, how will you charge them? If you have a landline telephone, have you held onto one of the older models that will work without electricity?

And beyond your household, what do you know about your neighbors and their needs, particularly those who are elderly or may be disabled?

If you're like most people, simply going through the process of thinking through these and similar questions will result in a series of lists.

Some of them will be shopping lists. Others will be lists of responsibilities, spelling out who does what and where things are.

Unpredictable as the weather can be, you know what winter can be like in this part of the country.

There's no real excuse for letting it take you by surprise. Make a plan. - J.R.[[In-content Ad]]