West Hartford’s Office of Emergency Management has provided tips for staying safe in the expected bitterly cold weather.

Submitted

As you may be aware, arctic air is expected to sweep across Connecticut Friday, bringing bitter cold and dangerous wind chills. The National Weather Service has issued wind chill warnings from late Thursday through Saturday afternoon.

West Hartford’s Office of Emergency Management asks that you be prepared if you plan to go outside in the frigid weather by doing the following:

• Most of your body heat is lost through your head so wear a hat, preferably one that covers your ears.
• Dressing in layers helps you retain heat. You can remove layers as needed if you become too warm.
• Mittens provide more warmth to your hands than gloves.
• Wear waterproof, insulated boots to help avoid hypothermia or frostbite by keeping your feet warm and dry and to maintain your footing on ice and snow.
• Get out of wet clothes immediately and warm the core body temperature with a blanket or warm fluids like hot cider or soup.
• Recognize the symptoms of hypothermia.
• Recognize frostbite-warning signs.

Heat Your Home Safely

As families turn to alternative heating sources to supplement their home heating systems, they should take the following precautions:

• Use caution with portable space heaters. Heating equipment is the leading cause of home fires during the winter months, according to the National Fire Prevention Association.
• To prevent fire, place space heaters at least three feet away from anything combustible, including wallpaper, bedding, clothing, pets and people.
• Never leave space heaters operating when you are not in the room or when you go to bed. Don’t leave children or pets unattended near space heaters.
• Drying wet mittens or other clothing over space heaters is a fire hazard.
• Do NOT use Grills or Cooking Elements to heat your home.

Prevent Frozen Pipes

Now is the time to protect your house pipes from freezing and bursting. With the cold weather upon us, preventive action may make all the difference. American Red Cross offers tips.

Keep Your Pets Safe

Temperatures below freezing along with wind chill can be dangerous, even deadly, for our domesticated pets. Animal Humane Society offers this advice.

Can we reach you in times of an emergency?

Get alerts about emergencies and other important community news by signing up for the Community Emergency Advisories. This emergency notification system enables the town to provide you with critical information quickly in a variety of situations, such as severe weather, unexpected road closures, public health alerts, and evacuation of buildings or neighborhoods. Opt-in today! Click HERE.

IMPORTANT NUMBERS

• Life-threatening Emergencies: 911
• Non-Emergencies: 860-523-5203
• Eversource: 800-286-2000
• CT Natural Gas: 860-456-8747
• MDC: 860-278-7850
• Town Hall: 860-561-7500
• Public Works: 860-561-8100

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