Vernon Household Winter Readiness Checklist

Build toward 14 days on your own. In a heavy snow year, roads, power, and emergency response can all be cut off at the same time. Start with 3 days, then build to 7, then 14.

Items marked LIFE SAFETY keep people alive. Get those first.

Heat without the grid

• ☐ LIFE SAFETY: A heat source that needs no electricity (wood stove, or a propane heater rated for indoor use)

• ☐ LIFE SAFETY: Battery carbon monoxide alarm on every sleeping level, plus spare batteries

• ☐ LIFE SAFETY: 14 days of dry, split firewood under cover, or 14 days of propane

• ☐ Wool blankets and a sleeping bag for each person

• ☐ Warm layers, hats, gloves, dry socks for each person

• ☐ A plan for one warm room: close doors, hang blankets over openings

• ☐ Fire extinguisher near the stove

• ☐ Chimney cleaned before winter

Never run a generator, grill, camp stove, or charcoal indoors or in a garage. Carbon monoxide kills quietly. Keep generators at least 20 feet from doors and windows.

Water

• ☐ LIFE SAFETY: 1 gallon per person per day for drinking and cooking, 14 days

• ☐ Extra for pets and livestock

• ☐ Well owners: no power means no pump. Store water, or plan a generator for the pump

• ☐ Water filter, or unscented bleach to treat stored water or melted snow

• ☐ A pot and fuel for melting snow

• ☐ Know where your main water shutoff is

• ☐ Insulate exposed pipes before the first hard freeze

Power and light

• ☐ Headlamp and flashlight for each person, plus spare batteries

• ☐ Battery lanterns. Avoid candles

• ☐ Power banks, charged before every storm

• ☐ Small solar panel for charging

• ☐ Generator with stabilized fuel and a heavy outdoor extension cord, if you own one

Food

• ☐ LIFE SAFETY: 14 days of food that needs little or no cooking

• ☐ Manual can opener

• ☐ A stove that works without power, used only with ventilation or outdoors

• ☐ Extra calories. Cold weather burns more energy

• ☐ Baby food or formula if needed

Health and medications

• ☐ LIFE SAFETY: Refill prescriptions before storm season. Keep a 14-day supply

• ☐ LIFE SAFETY: A backup plan for anyone using oxygen, CPAP, or other powered medical equipment

• ☐ First aid kit, pain relievers, thermometer

• ☐ Spare glasses, hearing aid batteries, mobility aids

• ☐ A written list of medications and doses for each person

If someone in your home depends on powered medical equipment, call Navopache Electric and your doctor before winter to ask what options exist.

Communication and neighbors

• ☐ LIFE SAFETY: NOAA weather radio, battery or hand crank

• ☐ LIFE SAFETY: Sign up for the Apache County emergency notification system

• ☐ A written list of phone numbers. Cell phones die

• ☐ Two-way radios (FRS or GMRS) shared with nearby neighbors

• ☐ A check-in plan with at least two neighbors

Window signal (PROPOSED, not yet adopted)

Tape a sheet of colored paper in a front window so neighbors and responders can check homes from the road.

• Green: we are OK

• Red: we need help

This only works if the whole community uses the same colors. Confirm with the community center before relying on it.

Snow and the house

• ☐ Two shovels and a roof rake. Heavy wet snow can overload a roof

• ☐ Ice melt, sand, or cinders

• ☐ Pipe insulation. Let faucets drip in a hard freeze

• ☐ A path cleared to the propane tank, woodpile, and meter

• ☐ House number visible from the road

Vehicle kit

• ☐ Keep the tank at least half full all winter

• ☐ Blanket, water, snacks, flashlight, radio

• ☐ Jumper cables, shovel, sand, ice scraper, tow strap

• ☐ Chains or winter tires

Animals and livestock

• ☐ 14 days of pet food and any pet medications

• ☐ Hay and feed stored for 14 days

• ☐ A way to keep stock water from freezing without power

Sanitation

• ☐ Bucket toilet: a 5-gallon bucket, heavy bags, and cat litter or sawdust

• ☐ Wet wipes, hand sanitizer, trash bags

• ☐ Feminine and infant hygiene supplies

Documents and cash

• ☐ Copies of IDs, insurance, and prescriptions in a waterproof bag

• ☐ Small bills in cash. Card readers go down with the power

Fire season (May to July)

Winter is not the only hazard here. Keep this part of the same plan.

• ☐ LIFE SAFETY: A go-bag by the door for each person

• ☐ Clear brush and wood piles at least 30 feet from the house

• ☐ Know two ways out of your area

• ☐ Learn the Ready, Set, Go evacuation levels

Donating to the community emergency center

Cash and gift cards first. They let the center buy exactly what fits its storage and its specifications. Everything below is PROPOSED until the center confirms its capacity and storage space.

Most needed

• ☐ Cash donations and hardware or grocery gift cards

• ☐ New wool or fleece blankets, still in packaging

• ☐ New sleeping bags rated to 0 degrees F

• ☐ Cots

• ☐ Chemical hand and body warmers

• ☐ Batteries: D, AA, AAA, 9V

• ☐ Battery lanterns and headlamps

• ☐ Phone charging cables, all common types, extra long

• ☐ Bottled water, sealed cases

• ☐ Shelf-stable food that needs no cooking: canned protein, peanut butter, soup, crackers, dried fruit

• ☐ Manual can openers

• ☐ Propane cylinders, sealed

• ☐ Snow shovels and ice melt

Hygiene and family

• ☐ Toilet paper, paper towels, heavy trash bags

• ☐ Soap, hand sanitizer, wet wipes

• ☐ Toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant

• ☐ Feminine hygiene products

• ☐ Diapers in several sizes, wipes, formula

• ☐ Adult incontinence supplies

• ☐ Reading glasses in several strengths

Supplies for pets

• ☐ Pet food, sealed bags

• ☐ Crates in several sizes, leashes, bowls

Please do not donate

• Used bedding, pillows, or clothing

• Home-canned or home-prepared food

• Expired food or medication

• Prescription medication of any kind

• Opened packages

• Large furniture or appliances

• Anything not on the current wish list

Unsolicited donations fill the storage the center needs and cost volunteer hours to sort. Ask before dropping anything off.

Before you drop off

• ☐ Check the current wish list. It changes as stock moves

• ☐ Leave items in original packaging with labels readable

• ☐ Bring a note with your name and what you brought, so it can be logged

Numbers

Fill in the blank lines and keep this page somewhere everyone in the house can find it.