Winter storms aren't an every-year event in Central Mississippi, which is part of why they catch people off guard. An ice storm can coat the pines around Brandon and Flowood, bring down lines, and leave neighborhoods without power. For a mother or father living alone, an hour of preparing for a power outage this month means they won't be sitting in a cold house later wondering what to do.

Pack an Outage Box Together

Skip the candles. Flashlights are safer. Put two or three in the box with fresh batteries and a battery-powered or hand-crank radio. Add enough bottled drinking water for a few days, since a frozen or broken pipe can make the tap unreliable.

Then turn to the pantry. Stock food that needs no cooking, such as peanut butter, crackers, canned fruit, and shelf-stable milk. Don't forget a manual can opener. Pack extra blankets and a knit hat, the kind your dad would never wear to church but will gladly wear at three in the morning in a dark house.

Walk through the house and note everything that plugs in. This is a step that the Ready.gov power outage page recommends, along with keeping flashlights and a backup power source on hand.

Plan Around Medications and Medical Devices

When preparing for a power outage, ask the pharmacist how to store refrigerated medications and tuck a written list of prescriptions into the kit.

Oxygen concentrators, powered lift chairs, and other equipment that runs on electricity need a backup plan. Ask the equipment supplier about battery options. Then let the local utility know if your parent depends on powered medical equipment, since some companies maintain lists of such customers.

Heat Safely When the Power Is Out

Outages turn dangerous when people try to warm a house with a gas oven, a charcoal grill on the porch, or a generator in the garage, and carbon monoxide builds up without any warning smell.

Generators always belong outside, far from windows. An oven or grill should never be used for heat, however cold the house gets, or however long the utility says repairs will take. Make sure the home has a battery-powered carbon monoxide alarm that will keep working when the lights go off.

If the house gets too cold, it may be safer to go somewhere warm, so settle ahead of time where your parent would go, whether that's your place in Ridgeland or a friend's house in Clinton. When cold weather is on the way, keep an eye on the winter alerts from the National Weather Service.

Set Up a Check-In Routine

Cell phones die fast in an outage. Give your parent a charged power bank and a car charger, and agree on a time each morning and evening when someone will call.

Recruit a neighbor in Pearl or Richland, too. Write the plan on one sheet of paper with names, phone numbers, and the address of where to go if the house gets too cold, and tape it next to the phone, where nobody has to hunt for it in the dark.

Winter Readiness and Preparing for a Power Outage With Senior Helpers

Flashlight batteries go dead in junk drawers all the time. Before a storm, a caregiver can check them, help gather supplies, and pick up groceries. During a cold snap, they can stop by for company and regular check-ins. That kind of non-medical help is available from Senior Helpers Central Mississippi. Contact us to plan for your parent this winter.