Eye On the Sky
By Brookings County Emergency Management Director Bob Hill
9-11-2026
The weather is changing; you can feel it getting cooler in the mornings. We will still experience some hot days, but we need to start preparing for the Fall and Winter seasons.
Fall may bring images of changing leaves, football games, and pumpkin patches to mind, but as we prepare for these annual autumn favorites, it’s also time to prepare for potential illness, home safety and weather hazards.
Take steps to prevent the flu.
The single best way to protect against the flu is to get vaccinated each year in the fall. Of course, the decision to get any vaccination is a personal choice. To stop the spread of germs, cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Wash your hands often. Stay home if you get sick. Antibiotics can cure bacterial infections, but not viral infections. The common cold and the flu are viral infections, so avoid using antibiotics if you have one of these. Using antibiotics when they are not needed causes some bacteria to become resistant to the antibiotic, and therefore stronger and harder to kill. See your doctor or nurse to find out if your illness is bacterial or viral.
Be safe in your home.
Smoke Alarms. It’s important to have enough smoke alarms in your home. Fire research has demonstrated that with today’s modern furnishings, fires can spread much more rapidly than in the past when more natural materials were used. Because of this, having enough properly located smoke alarms is essential to maximize the amount of available escape time.
The technology of smoke detectors has been advancing. Some newer Smoke Detectors do not need the battery replaced; after a period of time, they need to be totally replaced. If you have an older Smoke Detector with an accessible battery, then they need a new battery at least once a year. A good rule of thumb is when you move your clock back an hour, change your batteries in your smoke detectors and other home safety devices. If that alarm chirps, warning that the battery is low, replace the battery right away. If your smoke alarms get power from your home’s electrical system (hardwired), make sure the backup battery is replaced at least once a year so that your alarms will work during a power outage. For those of you who have the 9-volt smoke detectors, remember that they are only good for ten (10) years. Hopefully, when they were installed, someone wrote the date/year on them so that you know when to replace them. If you are ever in doubt about the age of a smoke detector, please replace it. The life that gets saved could be yours.
Carbon Monoxide Sensors – Should be installed on each floor. Install and maintain battery-powered or battery-backup carbon monoxide detectors. I had an issue with my furnace; if it hadn’t been caught promptly, I would have had leaking carbon monoxide in my residence. This also reminds me that your garage is usually attached to your residence. Do not run a vehicle in the garage because the carbon monoxide can creep into the main residence and cause health issues up to the point of death. In the event of a power outage, regardless of the time of year, NEVER run a generator in a residence or garage. The same rules for vehicles and the spread of carbon monoxide apply to gas-powered generators.
Fire Extinguishers – keep on hand and ensure everyone in your home knows how to use them.
Prepare for Winter now.
Use the days and weeks ahead to complete the necessary preparations before the snow starts to fly.
o Winterize your home – Inspect seals and insulation on any doors and windows, caulking and weather-stripping doors and windows, and install storm windows or cover windows with plastic if needed. Clear rain gutters, repair roof leaks, and cut away tree branches that could fall on a house or neighboring structure during or following, a storm.
o Complete any outdoor building maintenance items
o Clean up gardens and vegetation beds and remove leaves from gutters
o Winterize lawn sprinklers
o Keep enough non-perishable food, water, and medications for at least 3 days.
o Check the furnace and fireplace and replace filters as necessary.
Insulate water pipes with insulation or newspaper and plastic and allow faucets to drip or trickle during cold weather to avoid freezing. When I moved here in 1993, I lived in a manufactured house for a few years. The first cold spell caused the pipes to freeze up.
The culprit was a quarter-sized hole in the outside skirting that allowed cold air to freeze the water line. Learn how to shut off water valves if a pipe bursts.
It is important to clear leaves away from the foundation of your residence and keep them off of walking paths. Keep pathways and driveways clear between storms to avoid the buildup of snow piles and icing.
There have been years that I have had to use a snow rake to get snow off my roof because I feared that it would get to heavy. You may want to hire a contractor to check the structural ability of your roof to sustain hefty weight from the accumulation of snow or ice. Another key thing to keep an eye on is the vent pipe on your roof that vents air from the sewer system into the air. If it freezes up, you start to get a sickening smell in the house. The smell is like rotten eggs, and it can become dangerous at higher levels.
The greatest risk factors for winter storm-related deaths are exposure, dangerous road conditions, and carbon monoxide poisoning from improper use of alternate heat sources. Develop a plan for staying warm at home or work or consider spending the coldest part of the day in public buildings with heat (e.g., libraries, schools, movie theaters, shopping malls, and other community facilities). Ensure that your plan includes checking on the welfare of family members and vulnerable neighbors.
In closing, remember that mosquitoes will be around until the first hard freeze, so keep using mosquito repellent if outdoors in the evening.
Keep an Eye on the Sky,
Bob the EM
