The blizzard last Monday became one of the big eye-openers in my life.
I've seen some uncalm water before, and some minor (on the global scale) flooding, but coming from a largely landlocked location to the Prairies, all I'd encountered before were some strong winds, hail and pouring rains – what I now think was just unpleasant weather. Never before, until last Monday night, had I experienced life-threatening weather.
No need to tell much about that night, you've all seen it, from the Manitoba border to Regina and further. It seemed that every single highway in the province was closed by the end of the evening.
At first, I didn't realize what was going on, but fortunately, my family was home early and we didn't need to go anywhere, so I didn't understand the scale of the cataclysm until later. Once it hit, I was scared to sleep upstairs as the house was shaking, and I didn't want to even sneak my nose outside. Husband went to lock the dogs (the cage and heated dog house are less than 10 feet away); he opened the door and said, "Nope, I'm not going there." It was just a white dancing vortex, a blind wall.
Unfortunately, this as it turned out not-so-unique blizzard caught many people across the province travelling. Dozens of people were stranded in their vehicles overnight. First responders attended hundreds of calls across Saskatchewan. And I can't even imagine the volume of stress we all went through that night.
The most tragic incident occurred in our area, and no words can express how sorry I am to the family and friends. That situation brought up many stories and memories about similar blizzards, which apparently happen every so often in this region.
I read in books about how people get lost in snowstorms, but I thought it was just literature. "If you know where you are, and if you are in clear mind, you'll find your way out," I used to think. How wrong I was. People who were born and raised in the area told me that back in a day when farmyards didn't have much lighting, farmers would have a system in place for such weather phenomena. Probably many of our readers remember it, but for me, it was almost nonsense, except it made a lot of sense after I saw that blizzard. So to make sure that they can find their way to the house from, let's say, a barn, they would have a long rope tied to a pole in the middle of the yard and would have the other end wrapped around their body when a snowstorm hit.
This way, walking in a circle, they knew that they eventually would make it from one end of the yard to the other if they absolutely had to go out. Again, before last Monday, I'd think it was just a precaution, but apparently, there was a farmer that froze 10 feet from the house door as he couldn't find his home in the storm.
Over that past week, I heard other stories about people who got lost in terrible storms, and miraculously made it out when they were ready to give up and die, and those who didn't.
In theory, I knew about the almightiness of Mother Nature, but it's one thing to know and a completely different thing to actually face it. So "avoid travel due to weather conditions," which always sounded like advice to me, now turned into more of an order.
If they say don't go out, they have all reasons for it, and thinking you are smarter or stronger than the circumstances and can beat the weather is bad. It changes faster than you can imagine, it hits harder and plays trickier than you could predict. And there is nothing you can do to change it; all you can control is your actions and your response to everything happening beforehand and at the moment.
What have I learned from last Monday's weather emergency?
If they say stay home, stay home.
If you are on the road, make sure you are up to date on the weather forecasts (they usually announce troublesome weather well in advance) and try finding shelter as soon as the weather warning comes out. Be it the nearest village or even a turn off the road; don't try beating the weather that's already here.
Make sure you have an emergency bag with some food, water, extra clothes, a first aid kit, etc., just travelling with you in your vehicle.
If you do get stuck somewhere, don't leave your vehicle (in most cases it's the safest place). Even if it doesn't have much fuel, chances are they'll find the car faster than a lost person. (The recommendation is to run the motor for about 10 minutes each hour for heat and open windows a bit at that time for air and to ensure there is no carbon monoxide poisoning, and also make sure your exhaust is not plugged with snow). Besides, it does give you shelter. And even if you think you are really close to home and definitely can make it there on foot, the weather may play a very cruel trick on you. So just stay in the vehicle and let others know your location.
Stay warm, breathe and try not to panic, as panic ruins everything. Make sure you are as visible to rescuers as possible.
Hopefully, we won't see anything similar to last week's weather any time soon, but you never know what the Prairies have for you.
