BRAZOS COUNTY, Texas — An arctic blast is coming to the Brazos Valley later this week with temperatures dropping in the teens by Friday.
Brazos County Emergency Management spoke with KRHD News on ways you can prepare at home before the temperatures drastically drop over the next 48 hours.
Chief Jason Ware is a deputy emergency management coordinator in Bryan and says planning ahead is key.
“Just kind of plan ahead and always be prepared,” says Chief Jason Ware, Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator, Brazos County. “That goes for winter weather, severe weather, throughout the whole entire year being prepared and having a plan if things go bad then you’re ready to go and you’re not scrambling at the last minute.”
As we expect extreme low temperatures in the Bryan-College Station region, Chief Ware says to avoid using generators inside your home and garage.
“We see that quite a bit with carbon monoxide poisoning because people will put generators in the garage, but those carbon monoxide fumes can make it into the home, and you may not realize you’re being exposed to it until it’s too late,” says Chief Ware.
You can also be at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning by using your stove to heat your home, which is not recommend by emergency management.
“Over the years, we’ve seen a lot issues with carbon monoxide poisoning, fires that have occurred because people were using their oven and stove tops to heat their home and it’s just not a good practice,” says Chief Ware.
Using a space heater is a safe option to heat your home, but make sure its properly maintenance.
“Make sure that your cords are good on your space heaters,” says Chief Ware. “Make sure they’re clean. Make sure that you have that three-foot circle around the space heater from all combustible materials, furniture, curtains, that type of stuff so you avoid burning your house down.”
If you are planning to be on the road during the next couple of days, Chief Ware also recommends you pack extra blankets in the car, bottled water and snacks.