My family was recently hit by an ice-storm that knocked out our power for 4 days.   This was a scary situation and one that I hope no one has to go through.

My quick tips:

1.  Have a back up plan in place.  DO you have family or friends that you can go to if you need to get out of your house?  Ask friends and family BEFORE you have an emergency to see if it's okay to come and find warmth and support.

2.  Buy a small generator and have it on hand, ready to go with a can of gas. Put extra gas in a shed.

3. Find places that can house your animals if need be.

4. Contact emergency services in your town for updates and help.

5. Try to get some sort of web contact for your phone.  Having a phone that I could read the news on was SOOOOOO valuable and a cell phone is so important as my phone was also knocked out. 

6. Prepare your children in a gentle way for the upcoming events.  My children are old enough to know what was going on...so therefore I had to make the situation positive, even thought inside I was a basket case.

7. Reach out to your neighbors - check on them often.

8. Don't be a hero, try and let emergency professionals remove trees and such from the road, etc.  It's safer that way when power lines are dangling. My hubby was a few feet from a falling limb that would have knock him silly....so scary to watch, and not fun for him!

9.  DO NOT FIRE UP a generator in your HOME!  Put it OUTSIDE. 

10.  Think before you do....even driving around can be dangerous.  Stay put until the storm passes and then find a safe place to go to get warm and food.