The holiday season is a great time for people to come together, so everyone being on the same page in terms of emergency preparedness is a must in the case of something like a power outage, or worse. The last few days of intense windchill is one scenario that could bring major problems in the event of no power.

Precautions that people can take in the winter include making sure that the right items are readily available in light of a power outage at home, a kit being ready in your vehicle in case you become stuck in there, and even being safe when it comes to your house and making sure no vents are being covered up and causing danger. That one especially important, as snow and ice buildup could cause carbon monoxide to be present inside thanks to gasses not being able to safely escape the home.

We spoke to Rosetown mayor Trevor Hay as the 2021 holiday season continues, and one message he wanted to share during our conversation was the importance of being ready in emergency situations. He shared the message as the mayor and a resident of Rosetown, but knows it goes out to nearly everybody.

“Residents should prepare for a power outage. Having a 72 hour care package with the essentials like water, food, flashlights, candles, and a battery radio. A full tank of gas in your vehicles. I think sometimes people forget about those simple things,” iterated Hay, “but to have that emergency preparedness because we have been having power outages yearly, and we have been lucky because it hasn’t got too cold the last few times, but when it’s really cold there could be some serious issues going on with people. It’s important to get the word out there for people to think about that and maybe be prepare for if something happens.”

An early peek into the Christmas forecast sees partly cloudy skies and brisk conditions continuing up to the 25th, as it continues to hover around the -30s entering the new year.