As Virginia heads into winter, officials in Albemarle County are trying to figure out what problems residents will face if snow or ice knocks out power and closes roads.
Back in October, employees of various government agencies went door to door in and around Charlottesville, asking a series of questions.
“How well prepared is your household to handle an emergency? Not well. “
The idea was to find out if people could take care of themselves after a disaster. Ryan McKay is an emergency planner.
“If we have a 2-3 foot snow storm, a 2-inch ice storm, power is going to be out potentially for several days.”
Pollsters also asked about emergency preparedness kits, hoping to get people thinking ahead.
“When we ask the question about a manual can opener, it sort of gets people thinking – Oh, right. I just have electric. “
They found only 30% of households have an emergency plan – stockpiling food, water and medicine, figuring out how they’ll contact relatives and take care of pets.
