Blackmon Mooring Blog

Maybe it is just wishful thinking. Lately it seems as if we skipped right over winter and went straight into spring. However, we all know how crazy weather can be, so we should go ahead and make sure our homes are freeze ready just to be on the safe side. Besides, these tips are good to follow in general. You never know what tomorrow may bring.

·       Make sure walls and the attic space are adequately insulated.

·       Caulk and weather strip doors and windows to reduce wind drafts.  This is also good for maintaining an energy efficient home.

·       When expecting a freeze, detach all gardening hoses and shut off the water supply to outdoor faucets.

·       Install faucet covers to all outdoor faucets.

·       Tag the location of your main water valve and make sure you can easily turn it on and off.

·       Follow ice dam prevention tips to minimize ice dam formation on your roof.  We will go into these tips in next week’s blog.

·       Follow precautionary steps to safeguard your water pipes from freezing.

·       Keep garage doors closed to help eliminate drafts into the attached house.

·       During power failures, disconnect your electrical appliances to avoid damage from power surges.

·       Follow general weather safety tips to protect yourself and others from low temperatures.

 

Next week…The Ice Dam Predicament

 

Sources:

Ready.gov. 2012. FEMA. Retrieved January 5, 2012. www.ready.gov

During the severe weather that struck the Houston area on January 9th, the Beth Yeshurun Day School experienced massive flooding in areas around the facility. Due to excellent forethought on the part of the school administration, an emergency preparedness plan was in place and immediately enacted in order to ensure the safety of the students and staff.

Flash flooding in the playground area caused the drainage system to back up. This caused water to enter the school and leave around an inch of standing water in two-thirds of the newly renovated preschool wing and 80 percent of the new administration wing.

BYDS took action when local authorities issued a tornado watch for the area. As part of its emergency preparedness plan, school officials followed evacuation procedures. Around 130 students were moved into the unaffected synagogue where everyone was kept dry and safe.

Blackmon Mooring began the cleaning and restoration process the same day as the flooding. We installed pumps and dehumidifiers to dry out affected areas as quickly and safely as possible.

BYDS continues to hold classes as scheduled throughout the clean up process.

http://jhvonline.com/school-keeps-kids-safe-dry-during-building-flood-p12333-96.htm

It is important to always be prepared when it comes to hazardous weather.  You never know when something may happen.  Especially considering one day it’s 72 degrees and the next it is 48 degrees.  Having a plan in place ensures that you and your family or business is prepared.  In many of the blogs that we will be posting in the coming weeks and months, we will talk about having an emergency kit.  For the most part these emergency kits will have much of the same things: batteries, radio, non-perishable food, etc.  There are a couple of things that you should have in your winter weather emergency kit that part from the normal items.

·        Make sure you have rock salt or other such product to melt the ice on walkways.  Rock salt does not have an expiration date so it can be purchased and stored months before an event takes place.

·        Make sure you have sufficient heating fuel should your home or business lose power.  Texas and Oklahoma are particularly prone to ice storms rather than snow.  Ice is more dangerous because its weight tends to cause more tree limbs to fall on power lines.  In case of a power outage, store a good supply of dry, seasoned wood for your fireplace or wood-burning stove.

·        Make sure you have adequate clothing and blankets to keep you warm.  Again, in case of a power outage, it is important to take every precaution to make sure that everyone is warm and toasty.

·        Make a family communication plan.  While in most cases, the Southern half of the country is particularly watchful of uncommon winter weather, there is the possibility that your family may not be together in the same place when a storm hits.  Therefore, have a plan in place to determine how each member will contact one another.

·        Listen to local news channels to keep yourself and your family or business up to date on weather conditions.

·        Minimize travel.  As stated previously, ice storms tend to be more dangerous than snow storms when it comes to roadway travel.  Use good judgment and stay indoors if at all possible.

·        Bring animals and plants to sheltered areas.  It’s cold out there.  Bring your pets and plants inside.  Move other animals or livestock to a barn type area with non-frozen drinking water.

 

Next Week…The Abode-Flurry Expectation

 

Sources:

Ready.gov. 2012. FEMA. Retrieved January 5, 2012. www.ready.gov

 

December 21^st may be the shortest day of the year, but that just means that colder weather is on its way. Because of the tilt of the Earth’s axis in the winter months, the Northern Hemisphere is not subjected to as much direct sunlight. The atmosphere is not able to trap as much heat during the shorter days. Heat from the Earth’s surface is lost without the heat from the atmosphere to keep the ground warm, thus making the months following the winter solstice the coldest of the year in most locations.

Just because all of Blackmon Mooring’s locations are in the southern half of the United States, it does not mean that these markets do not experience winter weather events. In fact, because of many factors ranging from the location of pipes within a structure to the lack of consistent cold temperatures, homes and other buildings are more susceptible to damage as a result of freezing weather. We are simply not as accustomed or prepared as people and structures are in the northern states.

Over the next few weeks, we will be exploring facts about cold weather and what you can do to protect your home of business from the effects of a freeze.

Winter Weather Vocabulary

Winter Weather Advisory – issued by the National Weather Service when forecasters expect winter conditions to present an inconvenience to a certain level depending on geographic area.

Winter Storm Watch – issued by the National Weather Service when there is a possibility of snow, sleet or freezing rain in your area.

Winter Storm Warning – issued by the National Weather Service when hazardous snow, sleet or freezing rain is impending or occurring in your area.

Blizzard Warning – issued by the National Weather Service when large amounts of snow fall with winds sustained or gusting at a minimum of 35 mile per hour for more than 3 hours.

Wind Chill Advisory – issued by the National Weather Service when wind chill temperatures pose a possible risk to life if subjected to prolonged exposure.

Wind Chill Warning – issued by the National Weather Service when wind chill temperatures pose a significant risk to life is subjected to more than a few minutes of exposure.

Freezing Rain – when rain hits the ground and then freezes causing ice to form on surfaces of trees, roads and power lines.

Sleet – when rain freezes into ice pellets before reaching the round. Typically will not stick to surfaces, but accumulation can pose hazards.

Snow Flurries – light snow for small durations with no to little accumulation expected.

Snow Showers – snow that falls for brief amounts of time at varying intensities with some possible accumulation.

Next week…The Pre-Squall Discussion

Sources:

Ready.gov. 2012. FEMA. Retrieved January 5, 2012. www.ready.gov

NOAA. 2012. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. Retrieved January 9, 2012. www.noaa.gov