[Vet_6780]

After 30 years in back country and many lessons learned the hard way, I thought I was prepared :

- 500 gal propane tank, propane central heat, propane hot water heater, propane fueled generator in the shed permanently wired into house through a switch

- large diesel tractor with scraper blade and front end loader, extra diesel

- four All Wheel Drive vehicles

- monster woodstove, wood fireplace

We still got caught with our pants down. We were low on propane when the storm started and the gas company has still not delivered after a week ! Lesson learned - get a second 500 gal tank and only use for emergencies. Also keep some wood around (my wife got tired of the mess 10 years ago).

[piperpilot]

I, too, thought we were prepared. I bought a bunch of groceries, pet food for the dogs and the cat, and 5 gallons of diesel for the tractor. We had plenty of wood to burn if the power failed and enough camping equipment, water and dehydrated food to keep us going for quite awhile. No amount of preparation, however, is sufficient for 5 feet of snow in 5 days. While we never lost power, our snow removal capacity was less than optimal. Our first mistake during storm 1 was not staying up all night and plowing every couple of hours. By the time we woke up on Saturday morning, there was easily 2 feet of snow on the ground with drifts much higher in front of the back door and garage doors. With snow that deep, a 4WD diesel lawn tractor with snow blade and tire chains struggled to gain traction. It took 6 hours to make one pass down our 250 ft driveway, and when we did finish that first pass we found that no snow plow had even touched the street. That was the worst feeling in the world, because if we ran out of fuel or someone had a medical emergency, there was no way to get out. You couldn't even walk out. The snow was waist deep. Note to self: get snow shoes! After days of hours and hours plowing and shoveling, we got the driveway clear and wide enough to drive our vehicles out and the street was finally plowed. I took the opportunity to stock up on more food and more diesel before the second storm hit. Many stations were out of diesel, but I managed to find some without having to go too far out of the way.

we stayed up and plowed/shoveled throughout the second storm, which turned out to be a very wise decision because we lost the tire chains from one of the wheels of the tractor somewhere in the snow and thus didn't have great traction. It was miserable out during the height of the second storm with the blizzard conditions, but it had to be done. We have now ordered a snow thrower attachment for the tractor, which we feel will make snow removal easier the next time. Lesson learned: no matter how well you think you have prepared, mother nature can throw a monkey wrench into those plans in a heartbeat.