Hi everyone, I want to make sure and remind all of you to be safe if you have to travel today. The Iowa Department of Transportation has already closed several roads and I’m sure as the storm continues throughout the day, we’ll see more closures.

The best thing to do is to stay off the roads if possible.

I don’t remember winter storms this bad since the 1960’s. I remember one winter we lost electricity for several days. I was working on my mother’s farm and our cattle hadn’t had any water during that time. The only thing I could think to do was take an axe down to the nearest creek and try to break the ice. It was the weirdest thing how all of the cattle followed me down there without any coaxing. I got through the ice and they were able to get water for the first time in days. I don’t have livestock on my farm anymore, but I’m sure livestock farmers are trying to find ways to get water and feed to their animals just like we used to.

I hope you are all finding ways to manage during the storm. Before you find yourself without power, you might want to check where shelters and warning stations have been set up through out the state.
Please check out www.bereadyiowa.org / or the Des Moines Registers story “Storm Survival” at http://www.desmoinesregister.com for more safety tips and shelter locations.