Don’t Die Trapped In Your Car
This Is A Warning — Be Prepared
Right before Christmas 2022, about 90% of the country fell into a deep freeze. Killer snowstorms raged across the country and over 30 people died in New York State alone. One of those people was Anndel Taylor, a 22-year-old Buffalo nurse. She got stuck in the snowstorm on her way home from work.
She frantically called 911 multiple times but no one came to rescue her. She was found without a pulse when her family pulled her out. Her family, not emergency responders.
The cause of her death hasn’t been determined yet but the likely culprit is carbon monoxide poisoning. Stuck in a snow bank she probably kept the car running to keep warm and accidentally poisoned herself.
This is a senseless tragedy. Her family is angry, and rightfully so. They claim that city wasn’t prepared for this brutal storm, and I tend to agree.
Were some preparations made? Of course, but no one expected things to get this bad. All of us were forewarned about the storms and cold weather, but it turned out worse than we imagined. The storms are getting harder and more brutal than ever, and they will get even worse thanks to Climate Change.
I’ve written about this many times before but the warmer temperature the more moisture will be retained in the air. That moisture will eventually come down as rain, hail, or snow.
More moisture in the air equals more precipitation. Where it falls depends a lot on your location and the area's geography. If you live in the Buffalo region of New York, then you know all about the crazy snow storms they get.
The storms will get worse, whether droughts, fires, snowstorms, or floods. You will need to be prepared and the first thing you can do is prepare your car.
Here’s my suggestion for packing your car with a small and cheap survival pack.
Warmth
Get an emergency space blanket (affiliate link). I bought these as a pack of four for $12 from Amazon and put two in each car. They’re cheap, about $3 a piece, and take up very little space and you can put them in your glove compartment.
Water
You’ll need a few bottles of water in your car. I always carry my refillable water bottle (affiliate link) with my cool lizard sticker on it, but you can put a few plastic bottles in your car trunk.
Food
Go to Costco, buy a box of granola trail mix bars, and then put a bunch in your car. They take up little space and can save you if you’re stranded for a long time.
Light
Have a flashlight with charged batteries in your car. In a pinch, you can use your phone flashlight but you want to conserve the battery on your phone so you can communicate.
Communication
Everyone should have a way to charge their mobile phones. Make sure to have an extra charging cable in your car so you can charge your phone, or consider stashing a charged battery bank in your car. We carry a charged battery bank with us when we travel, even if it’s a day trip into New York City.
First aid kit
This should be a no-brainer but people often forget about first aid kits. I’m not suggesting you pack a hospital but a small first aid pack (affiliate link) for your car. We used ours quite a bit for bandaging up sprained ankles and soothing cuts. You’d be surprised how often you need band-aids and
Spare tire
Of course, this should go without saying but make sure your spare tire is inflated and you have all the tools needed to change a flat tire. In a pinch, you can get a can of “Fix a Flat” and put that in your trunk.
I know many emergency responders and they’re heroes. They run into burning buildings and help our communities in times of need, but they can’t be everywhere at once. Sometimes they can’t get to you fast enough.
The story of Anndel Taylor is tragic and I’m not blaming her or anyone else for this, but let her death serve as a warning to all of us.
The storms will get worse and you might find yourself in a bad situation like Anndel. Emergency responders might not be able to get to you so you’ll have to stick it out till they get to you. To be able to “stick around”, you’ll have to be prepared to increase your odds of survival.
Just a few simple and cheap things as I highlighted above can go a long way to increasing your odds of survival.
Be prepared.
Note: some of the links I shared above are affiliate links and I’ll earn a few pennies if you click on them. Thanks.
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