Written by Pat Kondas, American Red Cross of Wyoming Public Affairs Volunteer
As a Red Cross Community Volunteer Leader, I’ve presented the Be Red Cross Ready preparedness classes many times. I’ve got the mantra down. But even the most prepared person can forget some of the details, and the recent snowstorm reminded me of this in a very personal way.
My husband and I live on his family’s ranch on the Laramie River about four miles from Wheatland (they’ve been here since 1878). On Saturday, March 13, it started snowing. On Sunday morning, we woke at 6:30 in the morning, to find the power was off. We weren’t too worried. Power outages of a few hours are rare but not unheard of in our area. We always keep a good stock of food and bottled water (our well water isn’t the best). We have flashlights, batteries, candles and a hand-crank weather radio.
By Tuesday, we were buried under almost 30 inches of snow and still had no power. Though we were prepared, I missed two important steps. Usually when the power goes out, the first thing I do is fill the bathtub, so we’ll have water to flush the toilet.
But by the time I remembered this, our electric well pump had quit and there wasn’t enough pressure. We were reduced to melting snow for water to flush. The other oversight can be blamed on both the isolation we’ve gotten so used to because of COVID-19 and on our own introversion. We rarely go into town and so don’t often need to fill our car’s gas tank. As often as I’ve told others to “drive on the top half of the tank,” there I was with less than a half tank of gas – not really a problem since we couldn’t move our car and all roads, including our road out, were impassable. But it could have turned into a problem as the days went on and I burned through all my extra phone batteries and had to charge my phone in the car. I notified everyone that I would not be in meetings, and began checking email, Facebook and our radio only occasionally, and I was able to maintain contact with the outside world.
Our other complicating factor was that my husband’s brother who lives just up the road from us is on oxygen 24/7. By Tuesday, his generator was running out of gas. A serious medical emergency was imminent. One of my Red Cross G/A/Ps is Government Operations, so I knew what to do. I called our county Emergency Manager, and that afternoon a Sheriff’s deputy arrived on a snowmobile with a can of gas. Crisis averted.
Throughout the whole incident, our worst discomfort was the lack of heat. We have a gas furnace, but the thermostat needs electricity to work, so it got cold. Fortunately, our house is very well insulated, and the inside temperature never dropped below 50 degrees, even though outside it dipped into the mid- twenties. We just threw on extra sweaters and blankets. And I had Sterno for hot water for coffee and tea, which helped.
On Wednesday afternoon, four Rural Electric Association linemen showed up in a large snow cat and within an hour had replaced the transformer a tree branch had taken down. The next day our neighbor brought his equipment over and cleared our road enough that our little Skid Steer could finish the job.
It has been an interesting and weird experience being on the other side of the Red Cross mission. Having to ask for help and depend on other people for that help is a new situation for us. A definite new feeling was the sense of helplessness and the desperation we felt when my brother-in-law’s oxygen was about to run out. But at least I knew the resources to call. I can imagine the frustration and fear of others who feel all alone out there.
I am now doing my own After-Action Review, restocking our emergency kit and planning for the next emergency. And I’m ready to get back to the Red Cross business of helping other people.
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