Remember the blizzard of 1993, which brought 3 feet of snow to the Northeast, engulfing cars, crippling travel and closing school for a week in one shot?

Now, imagine a snowfall measured in feet instead of inches this winter.Add to that an extreme cold spell that freezes everything in its path, followed by a fast warm-up. A second storm, this time a rain maker drops over 2 inches of rain on the already saturated grounds, swollen rivers and piles of snow that line roadways, covering storm drains.Would you be prepared for the aftereffects of a snow event like this.Carbon County officials recently took part in a statewide winter weather emergency exercise at the county emergency management agency to prepare for a disaster of this magnitude.Sixteen volunteers gathered in the emergency operations center conference room Wednesday morning to complete the exercise, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, in collaboration with the National Weather Service.Groups present included the American Red Cross, Pennsylvania Department of Health, Carbon County EMA, Pennsylvania State Police, Lansford Police, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Carbon County Amateur Radio Club, PEMA and Knowledge Center.The exercise was designed to help prepare organizations for potential winter storm-related catastrophic events stemming from a massive snowfall, followed by icing then rapid warming and flooding.Carbon was one of only five counties in the state to participate in the drill. Other counties that participated include Bradford, Erie, Franklin and Northampton.Finding solutionsAudrey Wargo, of the Carbon Conservation District and the public information officer of the exercise, explained that this is taking actual possible disasters and testing the volunteers’ skills in assessing, organizing and finding the solutions for problems.“Today is an exercise for a severe weather drill happening after a 36-inch snowfall,” she said. “This is how we prepare. We train.”During the exercise, PEMA issued numerous emergency situations in the county that members of the volunteer Emergency Operations Center staff had to work through.Emergencies resulting from a 36-inch snowfall included large snow drifts that closed roads, power outages, looting and burglaries, evacuations and snow and rock slides that took out power lines and closed major highways.Volunteers were required to identify what emergency departments were needed for the specific problem.They learned about utilizing resources to learn proper procedures for specific elements in a situation, filing necessary requests to the state if supplies were needed and continually updating information until the emergency is resolved.Mark Nalesnik, Carbon County Emergency Management Agency coordinator, said this was the first year this winter exercise was held. The county participates in the annual statewide spring weather exercise held between March and April.He thanked everyone who participated.“We appreciate the participation from the volunteer EOC staff and state agencies involved,” Nalesnik said, adding that many departments worked together to make the training event a success.This year, the team completed the exercises electronically, using the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Knowledge Center, which helps emergency responders throughout the state locate incidents and find contacts.They also utilized radio operators from the Carbon County Amateur Radio Club. These operators act as an auxiliary back up in the case other forms of communication are compromised during a disaster.What you needWargo said that in addition to emergency personnel preparing for emergencies, county residents also need to plan and prepare for emergency situations.“I can’t stress enough how important it is for each person to be prepared to take care of themselves,” she said. “Don’t rely on anyone else to help you in the event of an emergency.”This includes making a 72-hour kit for each member of your family, which should contain water, high energy ready-to-eat foods and personal medications, as well as a first aid kit, blankets, a change of clothing, flashlights, a battery-operated radio and fresh batteries.PEMA has created a website to help citizens prepare for emergencies. Emergency kit checklists; as well as family plan templates can be downloaded at

www.ReadyPA.org.