Winter Weather WARNING!!!

Last week, area meterologists predicted that Kansas might have a winter storm the first part of this week. Looks like they were right! Yesterday, the authorities announced that a Winter Storm Watch had been issued which means that a storm is a possibility. Today, it has now been discontinued and a warning has gone into effect. That means that this weather will probably take place.

Now is the time to prepare your home, your outdoor pets, your vehicles...

Make sure that you have adequate amounts of food in your home for you and your family that will last for several days in the event that you cannot get to your local grocery store. Have candles, matches or cigarette lighters handy in case electricity goes out. Bring at least one sturdy shovel and Ice Melt INTO your home so that they are readily available to go to work for you on your porches, steps and sidewalks. If you have poor health or are older, DO NOT go outside to do these things!!! Instead, call a friend, relative instead. Here in Leoti, Skyler and Brice Mason have a snow-blowing machine that removes the snow from sidewalks. Please give them a call at 375-2133 to get on their schedule. They will also scoop the snow off of your porches and steps.

If you have outdoor animals that cannot come indoors, make sure that they have adequate food, water and warm dry bedding and a place to go to get out of the weather.

Fill your vehicles with gas, anti-freeze, flashlights with extra batteries and windshield wiper fluid. Don't forget your cellphone and an aotomobile cellphone charger! Have blankets, food, water, extra clothing, socks inside your vehicle in case you are snowbound on the roads or highways. It is also a GREAT idea to pack an empty 1 pound METAL coffee can with a roll of toilet paper. Have a bottle of alcohol and a cigarette lighter or matches handy. If worse comes to worse, take the coffee can lid off of the can, saturate the toilet paper with alcohol and light. There is a wonderful amount of heat that will be expelled from this technique! There will not be dangerous flames! I also recommend that you also pack some books or other things to keep you busy as you sit and wait. Of course, if you do not have to drive, PLEASE DON'T!!!

VLE-B