Growing up in New England I have experienced a few blizzards in my time. There is something about mother nature that is incredibly awesome when it comes to large scale weather events; and blizzards are both amazing and devastating at the same time. The swirling clouds of giant heavy snowflakes, the powerful winds, and the freezing temperatures all contribute to a potentially life threatening experience. But, once the storm has passed there is an ominous sense of calm that hovers over the area. Everything is quiet, there is a white blanket of snow covering the landscape, downed trees are no longer creaking in the wind, the animals of nature have taken shelter, people have stayed inside. The snow even insulates the ambient noise and you wonder how something so purely beautiful like snow could produce so much devastation but leave such a peaceful wake.

Snow is beautiful, but it can be a massive problem. There is an unspoken prep list of items that everyone runs to the store for before a blizzard or other large natural event. Milk, eggs, bread, and water. These simple items can help for short term survival (3-5 days). The after affects of a blizzard can leave its victims with no power for days in freezing temperatures, block walkways and driveways with over a foot of heavy snow, and if the temperatures fluctuate enough you might even have frozen doors or windows that are difficult to open. Picture yourself in this post-blizzard scenario. What do you do? How do you survive days without heat or outside sourced necessities?

In this scenario, the governmental emergency management agencies will be working to restore order. Your best ally right now is information gathering. Maybe your cell phone still works and you can turn to local media outlets for the answers. But what happens when your phone or tablet dies? Reach for your GoBox!

Inside you will find a 20,000mAh powerbank that has enough juice to charge your devices. In the meantime you could use the handheld AM/FM/WB to listen to publicly broadcast information via your local news station or get local weather updates on the weather band (WB). There is also a flashlight in case you need it to navigate your shelter at night. Check your 2 way radios for any radio traffic, and if you find any, monitor the conversations. There may be a call for help or a coordinated effort to locate people in need. You would want to communicate if you need help and your situation is urgent.

Until the power is restored, or help arrives, there are a few things you can do to make your situation more comfortable. The first thing you should do is gather your group into one smaller area of the house. A bedroom, den, or some living rooms could be good. If there is a fireplace in your house then that would be the best place to gather. Start a fire, make sure the flue is open, block doorways with large blankets to keep the heat from escaping the room. If you do not have a fireplace it is important to create a small space inside the house, blocking doors or keeping them shut, and using that space to gather body heat to keep the temperature as close to normal as possible. Blankets will help keep you warm and a good sweatshirt and sweatpants will help as well. Don’t forget to wear a winter hat and a good pair of heavy socks because your head and feet are the most vulnerable areas for heat to escape. Dress for the weather even though you’re trapped inside, houses can easily become ice boxes with no heat and freezing temperatures outside.

Hopefully you have access to running water and there have been no pipe bursts, but if you don’t have running water you will need to rely on your preparations. We usually have a case of water bottles and a couple gallons of water on hand. This should be sufficient in most cases. Gather your water preparations in your “warm room” to keep them from freezing and minimize exit and entry from the room. Try to keep the refrigerator door closed as much as possible to keep your food from spoiling. If you have a fireplace or gas stove then boiling water is an option. There is a small pot and pan set inside your GoBox you could use in the fireplace. Just fill the pot half way with water and place it a few inches above the fire or directly on a bed of coals. Once the water is heated it could be used for Ramen noodles, hot cocoa, coffee, tea, oatmeal, or other simple “just add water” meals. Be careful with gas stoves that have electronic igniters (they make a clicking noise when the burner is turned on), with no power they won’t ignite. You can still use the stove, however, some caution is required. Grab the matches from your GoBox essentials kit. Carefully light a match and hold it next to the stove burner, slowly turn the burner on until the gas ignites. If the match goes out before the burner ignites, open a window, turn off the gas, and wait for about 20 minutes for the gas to dissipate before trying again.

You should worry about heat and water before anything else. We need heat to stave off shivering and potential hypothermia and water is essential for our wellbeing especially when our bodies are under stress from keeping warm. Next you should start considering basic food options. With bread you can make sandwiches, use your lunch meat or other perishables first, then peanut butter and shelf stable items last. Milk will help a little with dehydration but it’s main purpose is sustenance. Milk is filling and provides small amounts of protein as well as electrolytes. Eggs could be hard boiled or even fried over a fire. It would be a good idea to boil eggs at the first sign of a storm before power is lost and then you would be one step ahead of the game.

With shelter warmth, water, and food all set it would then be time to focus on being proactive in your liberation. If your doors are unable to open, try a window. I have jumped out of a window into fluffy snow at least a couple times due to heavy snow blocking our storm door. Then I would dig from the outside in until the door was free. Head outside, after the storm, and preferably during the day, and asses your situation. If you live in a neighborhood check on the elderly. Often times they cannot get out or call for help.

If you have lost power and have an electric stove, or are otherwise unable to boil water for food, there is a chimney stove inside your GoBox. This should be used outside only, or inside of a fireplace with a chimney venting to the outside. It’s pretty easy to assemble and there are a couple options for a fire. One option is to use the solid fuel alcohol tablets provided in your essentials box. These burn for about 15 minutes and should be enough to get a small pot of water boiling. Another option is to use wood. In this case you would use a tinder ball like a cotton ball or dryer lint as the base. Use some kindling wood from your GoBox by stripping off slivers into fine matchstick sized pieces and placing them on top of the tinder ball. Next gather some marker size pieces of dry wood, these will be your fires fuel. Place them to the side for now. You can light a match or use a lighter to ignite the tinder ball at the base, wait for the fire to catch, then add more matchstick size pieces a couple at a time until the flame is steady. At this point you can start adding a couple pieces of fuel at a time to your fire. Wait for them to catch before adding more. Within a few minutes you should be ready to place the top on your chimney and start cooking.

Preparation is the key to surviving any disastrous situation. Keep water on hand and dry food stored for unexpected emergencies. In a blizzard the most important things are warmth and water. We can only survive 3 days without water and no one want to freeze. Take care of your loved ones and exercise caution when dealing with gas appliances. Proper ventilation is required when operating gas due to carbon monoxide (the silent killer) buildup, so be sure to keep a steady flow of fresh air if this is an option for you. Hopefully your experiences will not be too serious, but if they turn into a nightmare, at least your GoBox is there to assist making things a little better!