Before facing bitter cold temperatures and snow storms that may cause power outages and home damage, now is the time to make sure you have a winter home emergency kit prepared.

Adair and Guthrie County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Kempf explains that these kits should have enough supplies in case you have to stay home for several days without power. He says you should keep each person’s specific needs in mind, such as medication, and remember the needs of your pets, if applicable, “Of course extra blankets, things like that that you might put on top of that kit that you normally wouldn’t save those in that particular place during the summer months but you’re still gonna want to have water, you’re still going to want to have some things to eat, things like that. Some extra money in case you would need it, and of course in that kit even during the summer we have our important papers in case we would need to leave the home.”

Kempf also recommends preparing your home to keep out the cold with insulation, caulking and weather stripping, and learn how to keep pipes from freezing.