For two weeks in February, it was so cold for so long, with temperatures as low as -15-20°, that many people were forced into survival mode. While it would be nice to think this is a once-in-a-100-year event, some scientists said the polar vortex event was a result of climate change and that this kind of severe weather event could become more common in the future.
“Clearly climate change makes our weather much more unpredictable,” retired Greenpeace scientist Pat Costner said. “We have good documentation of the increasing incidence of weather extremes. This means we have to be prepared for not only arctic cold spells, but also extreme heat spells.”
It was challenging for Costner to keep warm during the back-to-back winter storms. She heats with wood, with a propane gas heater used only in an emergency. During the polar vortex, she used both and felt fortunate that she could keep the house temperature up to 60° in the middle of the house.
“I want to improve that,” Costner said. “I started some years ago with making window quilts, and I did make one. And then I cobbled together insulating materials I put up in most of the windows with tension curtain rods. There is a company, windowquilts.com, that makes really fine window quilts. They are costly, but I think they are worth it. In my big windows, I already had insulated panels that I can pull across the windows, but those were not sufficient for the vortex. So, I’m going to use better materials and make it all tighter.
“My house is too large, so I want a smaller area that I can heat more efficiently. During the cold I put bubble wrap up on some of my windows. And to keep warm in the bathroom, I mounted an infrared lamp on a stand. It is wonderful. You are not heating the whole room, just yourself.”
Costner gets most of her electricity from solar panels and had no issues with her electrical supplies after removing snow from the panels.
Out in the wilds
Even more isolated and off grid are Valerie and Dave Damon, who live about a mile from the main road off a very steep driveway that was covered in snow for weeks this winter. They rely on solar panels and a gasoline generator for electricity, and wood and propane for heat. They nearly ran out of gasoline because of the bad roads.
“It was a wake-up call,” Valerie said. “It was scary. Dave and I traded days being afraid so we didn’t freak out at the same time. We had prepared for not being able to get out and get supplies for three to four weeks, and now know we need to plan for six weeks. We are upgrading all our systems. Since we live off the grid, we are upgrading by adding to our solar panels and upgrading to lithium batteries that are more efficient storing energy. We are switching to a propane generator and bringing in another propane tank.”
Valerie considers ice walkers for shoes an absolute must for everyone. “Even if you are going ten feet to the car, it can be lethal if you fall down and break something,” she said.
While they had 55-gallons of spring water inside, they almost ran out of water when the lines from the holding tank were frozen for three weeks. Next year they are insulating the pipes better and planning to store more water.
When their gasoline supply got low, they got help from Dr. Ty Burden, who was able to make it up and down their steep roads and then hauled a sled with eight gallons of gasoline to the house the last half mile.
“That gave new meaning to the term doctor house calls!” Valerie said.
They have no plans to leave their home on the side of a mountain with a view of the Kings River and thousands of acres of Nature Conservancy land.
“It feeds our spirit and it feeds our soul,” Valerie said. “We are fiercely independent or stubbornly stupid. I would rather be inspired and live surrounded by nature, plus we have so many projects we have been working on here over the years.”
Preparing to be prepared
Fiona Lavan and her family live near town, but that was no guarantee of safe passage. A week before the storms hit, she called to have her propane tank filled. But it was two weeks before they got a delivery. They use propane for heat and cooking. They had to use a lot more propane than usual and ran out.
“I understand that it wasn’t anyone’s fault that we ran out,” Fiona said. “Many people were waiting for gas. I was concerned about my pipes freezing and concerned about the comfort of my two younger children who live with me. Luckily, I had one electric heater from my glass studio. We brought it inside and were able to stay reasonably warm with just one electric heater.”
“If it was to ever happen again, we would have wood heat to cook and be warm,” Fiona said. “It is important to have diversity in your fuel choices.”