Where I grew up a winter storm could bring a few hours to a week of no power. We were on well water and had our own propane tanks. Readiness in that kind of deep rural environment is different than where I am now in the suburbs of a major metro area. I’m on city water and gas.
My biggest issue currently is what happens if we lose power. Despite heating with a pellet stove we would lose heat if the power went out for a significant period of time. The longest we’ve been without power is 6 hours.
I have charged all of our power bricks and lanterns and flashlights. Laptops and phones are also being kept at 100% for the day.
I’ve got the cooler cleared out and ready to be put on the back porch if needed. Though it is unlikely.
All of my lighters are filled and ready to be used on the stove top if needed.
Being on the grid is helpful at times like these.
Outside of this, the biggest issue we face are the freezing temps and wind. Our house is old and despite having new windows in much of the house when we bought it, those windows are old now. They do okay but not great.
Windows have been covered in plastic. Back when we were poorer we covered them in plastic wrap and used packing tape to tape pieces together, now we can afford the shrink film. This helps immensely. I put a camp blanket over the back door and a rolled up towel across the bottom to stop the drafts. It also helped immensely. I swear covering that back door increased the temp in the house by 10 degrees alone. That draft was killer. (Note to self, replace the door’s seals this spring/summer!)
I’m also turning the heat up NOW, instead of when the temp drops even lower. There is a point in our home where you can feel the temp drop and I want the house warmer now than it needs to be. This is a little wasteful of fuel, but I don’t need to skimp on it. Pellets are $7 a bag, and I’m probably only increasing the cost by a dollar or two a day. Better to spend more on heat than have to pay for pipes later.