Winter Care for Older Adults

Winter is an important time to check on older adult family members, friends, and neighbors to ensure they stay safe throughout the season. In addition to colder temperatures and snow, winter weather can bring an increased risk of health problems and injuries to older adults. The Ohio Committee for Severe Weather Awareness offers tips to consider when helping older adults this winter: ·        Falls are a concern for everyone, especially for older adults. Putting road salt, cat litter, or sand on sidewalks, steps, and driveways will make these areas as slip-free as possible. Non-slip shoes are also a great way to help older adults navigate slippery conditions. ·        Cold temperatures make older adults susceptible to hypothermia, a dangerous drop in body temperature. Learn the warning signs of this weather related illness and how to prevent it. ·        Shoveling can put too much strain on the heart. Older adults, especially those with heart disease or high blood pressure, should leave snow shoveling to others. If you do not live near your older adult family members, it may be helpful to create a plan about how you’ll connect with them during an emergency. Download and complete the Family Emergency Communication Plan from America’s PrepareAthon! and share it with your family today.

 

Four Ways to Keep Finances Intact in a Natural Disaster

To prevent a natural disaster from becoming a financial catastrophe, take the following steps:

1.  Stockpile savings.  An emergency fund with three to six months' worth of savings is a key part of any household financial plan.  But it's also important in an emergency.  Funds that you can draw on quickly and easily can be a lifesaver in the wake of a natural disaster.

2.  Protect your credit.  Part of protecting your finances involves protecting your credit.  Include the contact information for your creditors--such as your mortgage lender, credit card companies and utilities--in your financial preparedness kit.  If you have to evacuate, reach out to your creditors as soon as possible to request a temporary reprieve from payments.

3.  Review your insurance.  Your insurance policies can help you recover financially from a disaster, provided you have the right coverage.  Review your property, flood, life, and disability insurance policies once a year when you receive the new documents from your insurer. 

4.  Put together an emergency kit with important documents.  Some people rent bank safe deposit boxes for important papers.  It's also recommended to scan important documents and save them electronically, whether by emailing important documents to yourself, saving documents to a thumb drive or storing important information to the "cloud."  In addition, it's a good idea to prepare an emergency kit to store at home, containing photocopies of those you're likely to need after a disaster.  Your financial emergency kit should be in a fireproof, waterproof, lock box in a place that's easily accessible.  Once assembled, mark your calendar with a reminder to go through it in a year to make sure the contents remain current.  Some items to consider including in your financial emergency kit:

• A small amount of cash
• Birth, death and marriage certificates
• Negatives of irreplaceable family photos stored in plastic sleeves
• Social security cards
• Mortgage/property deeds
• Car titles
• Insurance policies
• Recent tax returns
• Thumb drive of important documents

Cold Weather Shelter

With the temperatures dropping into the 20’s during this Thanksgiving holiday week, Love Overwhelming is thankful to announce that they will be supporting Shekinah Christian Center to offer a cold weather shelter.
Beginning Wednesday, 11.25.2015, Shekinah Christian Center (1015 3rd Ave. Longview, WA) will open their doors and provide a cold weather shelter from 8pm – 8am on nights when it is predicted to be 33*F or colder. Anyone interested in volunteering at the cold weather shelter or donating blankets, food, coffee, cold weather items, etc… can make arrangements by contacting the cold weather shelter coordinator, Caleb Luther, at:
volunteer@loveoverwhelming.org
Or
360.749.8056 ext. 101
Thanks,
Chuck Hendrickson
Executive Director
Love Overwhelming
chendrickson@loveoverwhelming.org
360.749.8056 ext. 110

Free Smoke Alarm Installation

The American Red Cross has launched a national campaign to reduce the number of fire deaths and injuries by 25% over the next five years.

• Fire related deaths and injuries are highest in homes without smoke alarms.
• Last year the Red Cross responded to nearly two home fires each day in the Cascades Region.
• More than 60% of fire deaths occur in homes without a working smoke alarm.
• Fire experts agree that people may have as little as 2 minutes to escape a burning home before it's too late to get out.

You can get a FREE smoke alarm installed by a trained Red Cross volunteer, by calling:  (503) 528-5783 or by sending an email to preparedness@redcross.org.

For more information about the Home Fire Preparedness Campaign or to volunteer for this important outreach effort, visit:  www.redcross.org/cascadeshfpc

Cold Weather Coming!

From the National Weather Service: Coldest weather so far this season will be arriving Tuesday and continue into the weekend.

Snow levels will start off between 4000 and 5000 feet ahead of the cold front this evening and will then plummet to around 1500 to 2000 feet as showers continue in the cold air behind the front tonight and Tuesday.

Shower will taper off Tuesday night as cold high pressure builds into the Pacific Northwest. Temperatures are expected to fall quickly on Tuesday night, possibly causing icy conditions for all elevations across our area.

Cold and blustery weather is expected to follow, continuing well into the Thanksgiving weekend.

Are you ready for Winter Driving?

With the holidays and winter fast approaching, we want to remind drivers to be prepared for snow and ice before the first storm hits. Even mild winters can have sudden, severe storms so it’s always better to be plan ahead and “know before you go.”

We have several tools to help with winter conditions and to allow you to make safe travel choices: 

• Check our best times to travel charts for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday
• Download our mobile app visit our website for travel alerts 
• Follow us on Twitter and Facebook or sign up for email alerts about traffic, road and pass conditions 
• Pre-program your vehicle radio to 530 AM and 1610 AM or call 5-1-1 for highway advisory radio alerts
• Get prepared for your trip with winter driving tips and by packing your car kit

We expect heavier than normal traffic starting Wednesday afternoon and early Thursday for the Thanksgiving weekend, as well as Friday and Sunday afternoon and evening, so leave extra, drive safely and keep warm. 

For more information about winter driving and holiday traffic, visit our blog.

Cold Nights are Coming!

Heating Your Home Safely

As winter weather moves in, many people use fireplaces, space heaters, and other fuel-fired equipment to warm their homes. While alternative heating sources can make your home cozy, using them increases your risk of a home fire.   According to the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), heating is the second leading cause of home fires following cooking.   Taking simple steps can prevent a fire from happening in your home. The National Fire Protection Association and USFA offer these heating safety tips, including:  ·        Keep anything that can burn at least three feet away from a fireplace, wood stove, or space heater;  ·        Make sure the fireplace has a sturdy screen to stop sparks from flying into the room;   ·        Always use the right kind of fuel, specified by the manufacturer, for fuel-burning space heaters; and  ·        Remember to turn portable heaters off when leaving the room or going to bed. For more ways to have a fire-safe home when the mercury dips, check out this USFA resource guide to share with family and friends.

Deep Fryer Dangers

Thinking about what to prepare for your holiday feast? If your menu plans include deep frying a turkey, there’s important safety information to keep in mind.

 

According to the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), Thanksgiving is the peak day for home cooking fires. Keep your festivities from going up in flames; only use turkey fryers outdoors.   USFA wants to remind you of the dangers that exist when deep frying a turkey, including: ·        Turkey fryers can easily tip over, spilling hot cooking oil over a large area; ·        A partially frozen turkey will cause cooking oil to splatter when put in the pot; ·        Even a small amount of cooking oil spilling on a hot burner can cause a large fire; and ·        The sides of the cooking pot, lid, and pot handles can get dangerously hot.

Wet days ahead!

From Portland National Weather Service: Significant rainfall beginning tonight and continuing through Saturday over SW Washington and NW Oregon.

A mild and very wet front will stall over SW Washington and NW Oregon tonight through Friday night. The front will lift North and West Friday night with rains continuing but at weaker rates. The primary rain band will then shift south and east as a cold front across the rest of the area Saturday afternoon and evening.

Additionally, breezy winds will continue to strip leaves off trees which may result in clogged storm drains and culverts. This may lead to ponding of water on roads and localizes flooding.

Missing 12 year old in Longview

Please share. If you have seen Lexi call 911.

Longview Police Department

4 hrs · 

Last known location was near 7th Ave and Peardale. Last seen wearing a brown jacket, blue jeans with sparkles on back pockets and brown cowboy boots. 5'0", 110 lbs, Brown hair, Blue Eyes. Please contact 911 if seen or located.

When the Shaking Stops

Sure, we know to Drop, Cover and Hold.  But then what?

 

1) Carefully assess your environment with all your senses. Be careful not to inhale airborne particles (keep eyes and mouth closed) and be on the alert for heat or smoke. Listen for anything that may still be shifting or falling.

 

2) Then, open your eyes and look around in all directions. Has anything shifted or fallen? Slowly get up, being sure to not hit your head or stumble into anything that has moved. Look at the ground - are there any broken objects or glass that could hurt you?

 

3) When you are back on your feet: You may need to evacuate your building if there was strong shaking, especially if there are reports of structural damage. You may also need to turn off your gas valve if you smell gas. Consider turning off your circuit breakers, but only do so one by one and after you have shut off all light switches to prevent any sparking which could cause a fire. If you are near a large body of water (the ocean or a large lake), move to higher ground as soon as you can safely do so - damaging waves can arrive within minutes:

 

- Go on foot. Roads and bridges may be damaged. - If evacuation is impossible, go to the third or higher floor of a sturdy building or climb a tree. This should only be used as a last resort. - Stay away from the coast until officials tell you it is safe to return. The danger may last for days.

 

4) Once you have determined that you are safe, begin informing others of your status, or check in on others. Text first, talk second - a text is far more likely to go through. Cell lines may be busy, due to the great amount of phone calls others are making. Texts take way less bandwidth than a phone call. For more tips about what to do once the shaking stops, visit earthquakecountry.org/step6. Remember: as the minutes, hours, and days pass, stay vigilant. Aftershocks could continue. You can learn more about reconnecting and restoring as time goes on in the weeks and months following an earthquake, such as tips on filing insurance claims and rebuilding, at earthquakecountry.org/step7.