The frustration of being stuck at home during a lake effect blizzard can be furthered by the inconvenience of frozen pipes, but the concerns don’t stop at a lack of water access.
One way to stave off frozen pipes is to keep the water running, since running water freezes slower than stagnant water, said Hamburg Emergency Management Coordinator Sean Crotty.
Another key factor is whether residents have their pipes inside. People whose homes are pre-manufactured or built on concrete slabs are more likely to have issues because their water pipes will be outside in the elements, Crotty said.
"While there (aren't) too many of them that are built directly on a concrete slab, there are a fair number of pre-manufactured — like mobile homes — in our community, as well as around the county," he said. "That has the water pipes' external features that they run in, they're exposed to the elements a little bit more than they would be if you had a home with a basement, where it'd be inside of a heated portion of the residence."
Residents’ pipes might stay frozen even after the storm, but they shouldn’t try to heat the pipes without professional help, Crotty said.
“It's a good idea to utilize those professionals, especially when you're attempting to heat pipes up. There's some slower methods you can use, you know, between like space heaters or electrical heaters that will warm the environment around the pipe," he said. "But so often people, you know, want to really warm them up rapidly and they use a torch or open flame, and certainly, open flames and in any residences dangerous. A lot of times the pipes are in insulated spaces and they're in the house, so that is an extreme fire hazard.”
Another concern is high efficiency vents getting blocked, which can lead to carbon monoxide buildup, and possible poisoning, Crotty said.
People should make sure to keep their vents clear of snow, and have working carbon monoxide detectors, just in case, he said.
