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Floods, outages, evacuation bags, and boil-water advisories.
View on AmazonWhat is extreme cold?
Extreme cold is a heat-loss problem. The body loses heat faster when clothing is wet, wind is strong, nutrition is low, or a person is exhausted. Hypothermia can begin with shivering and clumsiness before the person realizes judgment is failing.
Frostbite is a localized freezing injury that most often affects fingers, toes, ears, nose, and cheeks. Numbness is a warning sign because pain may disappear as tissue gets colder.
Power outages create a second hazard: carbon monoxide. CDC guidance is clear that generators, grills, camp stoves, and gasoline engines must not be used indoors, in garages, or near windows because carbon monoxide is invisible and odorless.
The first-hour strategy is to get dry, block wind, insulate the core, preserve phone power, and use only safe heat sources. Warmth should never come at the cost of poisoning risk.
Vehicle cold exposure requires its own plan. A stalled car can become a shelter, but only if the exhaust pipe stays clear, ventilation is controlled, and people avoid overexertion while trying to dig out.
First-hour steps
- Get indoors or into a wind-protected shelter as soon as possible.
- Replace wet clothing and add dry layers, especially over the head, neck, hands, and feet.
- Gather people into one smaller room if household heat fails, and block drafts with towels or blankets.
- Use only outdoor-rated generators outside, far from doors, windows, vents, and garages.
- Check that carbon monoxide alarms are working before using any combustion-based backup heat.
- Give warm sweet drinks only to someone who is awake, alert, and able to swallow safely.
- Call emergency services for confusion, slowed breathing, severe shivering that stops, or suspected frostbite.
What NOT to do
Do not run generators indoors, in garages, on balconies, or near windows.
Do not use a gas oven or charcoal grill as a room heater.
Do not rub frostbitten skin or use direct high heat on it.
Do not drink alcohol to feel warmer; it can increase heat loss and impair judgment.
Do not ignore confusion, slurred speech, or unusual sleepiness in cold exposure.
Do not overexert yourself shoveling snow if you have heart disease or chest discomfort.
