Severe winter weather can lead to health and safety challenges. You may have to cope with
- Cold related health problems, including frostbite and hypothermia
- Household fires and carbon monoxide poisoning from space heaters and fireplaces
- Unsafe driving conditions from icy roads
- Power failures
- Floods after snow and ice melt
Although there are no guarantees of safety during winter weather emergencies, you can take actions to protect yourself. You should have a disaster plan. Being prepared can help reduce fear, anxiety and losses.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
-
Winter Storms and Extreme Cold(Federal Emergency Management Agency) - http://www.fema.gov/hazard/winter/
Also available in Spanish http://www.fema.gov/spanish/areyouready/winter_spa.shtm
- Severe Weather Primer: Questions and Answers about Winter Weather(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) - http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/primer/winter/ww_basics.html
- Winter Weather(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.emergency.cdc.gov/disasters/winter/
-
Are You Ready? Winter Storms and Extreme Cold(Federal Emergency Management Agency) - http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/winter.shtm
Also available in Spanish http://www.fema.gov/spanish/hazards/winterstorms/wntsft_spa.shtm
- Extreme Cold: A Prevention Guide to Promote Your Personal Health and Safety(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - Large PDF file - http://www.emergency.cdc.gov/disasters/winter/pdf/cold_guide.pdf
- Preventing and Thawing Frozen Pipes(American Red Cross) - http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.d229a5f06620c6052b1ecfbf43181aa0/?vgnextoid=78313acde6b4e110VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default
- Windchill Temperature (WCT) Index(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) - http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/windchill/
-
Winter Storm Fire Safety(United States Fire Administration) - http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/all_citizens/home_fire_prev/holiday-seasonal/winter_storms.shtm
Also available in Spanish https://www.usfa.dhs.gov/espanol/homefireprevention/seasonal-winter.shtm
- U.S. Weather Watch/Warning Map(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) - http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/wwa/
-
Winter Storms and Extreme Cold(Healthy Roads Media) - http://www.healthyroadsmedia.org/english/Files/flv/engwinterstorms.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.healthyroadsmedia.org/spanish/Files/flv/spawinterstorms.htm
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Rescue missions for totally buried avalanche victims: conclusions from 12... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18800960&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Hypercapnia effect on core cooling and shivering threshold during snow... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18717110&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Project Ice Storm: prenatal maternal stress affects cognitive and linguistic... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18665002&tool=MedlinePlus
- Winter Weather Emergencies -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=(snow[mh]+OR+ice[mh])+AND+disasters[mh]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+english[la]+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+5+Years&tool=MedlinePlus
- Know Your Winter Storm and Extreme Cold Terms(Federal Emergency Management Agency) - http://www.fema.gov/hazard/winter/wi_terms.shtm
-
American Red Cross - http://www.redcross.org/
Also available in Spanish http://www.cruzrojaamericana.org/
-
Federal Emergency Management Agency - http://www.fema.gov/
Also available in Spanish http://www.fema.gov/spanish/index_spa.shtm
- Coping with Disasters - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/copingwithdisasters.html
- Disaster Preparation and Recovery - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/disasterpreparationandrecovery.html
- Hypothermia - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/hypothermia.html
- Disasters - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/disasters.html
Winter Weather Emergencies - Multiple Languages - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/winterweatheremergencies.html