Ensure you are ‘winter-ready’ during cold weather

We are generally lucky here in Southeastern Oklahoma that we don’t typically get the harsh winter weather that our neighbors to the north usually get. We still should be vigilant about what to do if frigid weather creeps in and drops the temperature below freezing.

The Choctaw Nation’s Emergency Management team offers tips each year on how to safeguard your home and family. Also, our Choctaw LIHEAP program can assist low-income families to ensure that the heat and utilities stay on during the cold winter weather. I’m proud that these resources are available to assist our tribal members and communities during especially difficult cold snaps. To ensure your knowledge of these resources, I would like to offer a few services and preventative measures that our team at the Choctaw Nation have put together.

LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program)

The LIHEAP program assists low-income Native American households within the Choctaw Nation service area with payment of home heating or cooling bills. Priority is given to elderly, disabled households, and homes with minor children.

LIHEAP has served approximately 2,000 Native American Households since Oct. 1, obligating over $900,000 to keep our members warm during the winter months.

Eligibility

• Must reside within the CNO service area
• Native Americans with CDIB or tribal membership card
• Applicants may not receive LIHEAP funding from Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS)
• Income limits do apply

How to Apply

Apply in the Chahta Achvffa member portal through May 31, 2025.

You can apply online at choctawnation.com and search for LIHEAP in the search bar.

For more information contact the LIHEAP office at 580-634-0686.

From the Choctaw Office of Emergency Management, the Nation offers several tips to safeguard your home and family during harsh winter weather. For instance:

Safeguarding Your Water Pipes

• Know your pipes’ and shut-off valve’s locations and do preventative maintenance.
• Frozen pipe prevention and prep begins with identifying where your plumbing leads throughout the home and locating your main water shut-off valve. Insulate pipes before the winter with materials available at most hardware stores.
• Drain outdoor water lines.
• Winterizing your home and landscape is crucial when determining how to keep outdoor water pipes from freezing. Each fall, homeowners should completely drain any outdoor water lines to swimming pools and sprinkler systems and disconnect and drain hoses and close valves on outdoor hose bibs
• Turn on faucets ahead of, and during, freezing weather.
• If you know that a cold snap is headed your way, leave a couple of faucets running at a trickle in the coldest areas of the house (where pipes would most likely freeze). This age-old trick is effective since the water flow can prevent pipes freezing.
• Leave sink cabinet doors open to warm indoor pipes.
• Open the cabinet doors under kitchen and bathroom sinks to expose cold pipes to warm air. To that end, be careful not to close off any indoor pipes from heat in cold areas of the home. During the coldest times of the year, plugging in space heaters to run on a low setting in these problem areas doesn’t hurt, either.
• Keep your house extra warm when temperatures are at or below freezing.
• Never completely turn off the heat on days or nights that dip below freezing, even if you’re out of town. Shutting down your HVAC system could put your pipes at a much greater risk of freezing—and even bursting—and the water damage when you return home could be extensive.

Winterize Your Car

Service the radiator by maintaining the appropriate antifreeze level. Ensure tires are in good condition to drive safely on wet or snowy roads [if necessary]. Check car battery strength. Keep an emergency kit in your car that includes a blanket along with food and water in case you’re stranded in the cold. Keep an ice scraper in the car.

Extreme Cold Exposure

Limit time outdoors when temperatures fall below freezing. Dress in warm layers. When wind chills enter the forecast, cover all extremities. This will mitigate frostbite and hypothermia potential.

Winter Overall Plans

Winter weather can range from snowstorms, sleet, dangerously cold wind chills and ice storms. When temperatures drop below freezing, limit your time outdoors. If you must go outside, dress in layers of warm clothing and know the signs of frostbite [numbness, firm or waxy skin, and white or grayish-yellow skin] and hypothermia [shivering, exhaustion, confusion, memory loss, slurred speech or drowsiness and fumbling hands].

Seek immediate medical attention if you believe you or a loved one are suffering from prolonged cold exposure. The CNO is notorious for ice storms. Heavy accumulations of ice can bring down trees and powerlines, cutting off power and communication for days, creating dangerous driving conditions.

Make sure you’re prepared and safe for all winter weather and have a plan in case you lose electricity and traditional heating methods. When traveling in winter, ensure your car is equipped with an emergency kit that includes a blanket, food and water, and ensure tires and fluid levels are good.

How to Make Sure You Are Winter Ready

• Know what to do before, during, and after a winter storm.
• Listen to local officials.
• Have emergency supplies in place at home, at work, and in the car.
• Stay off the road during and after a winter storm.
• Use a carbon monoxide (CO) alarm, especially if using alternative heating devices.
• Use heating devices safely.

Preventing Heating Fires

Although trending downward since the early 1980s, heating fires remained the second leading cause of home fires in 2021. An estimated 32,200 home heating fires were reported to fire departments within the United States. These fires caused an estimated 190 deaths, 625 injuries and $442 million in property loss.

• Keep anything that can burn at least three feet from all heat sources including fireplaces, wood stoves, radiators, portable heaters or candles.
• Plug space heaters directly in an outlet, and make sure its cord isn’t damaged or frayed.
• Never use an oven to heat your home.
• Maintain heating equipment and chimneys by having them cleaned and inspected each year by a professional.

Winter brings cold temperatures, increasing the risk of fires and CO poisoning as folks heat their homes. Make sure to check the batteries in fire and CO detectors. Install these detectors in your homes if you have not already. If you lose electricity during a winter storm, do not use gas range ovens or grills inside to heat the home, and if you use a generator, make sure the generator is placed outdoors and not inside the home.

Please note, CO is odorless and not easily detectible without a device. Signs of CO exposure include headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain and confusion [your common flu-like symptoms]. CO exposure can be lethal. Seek immediate medical attention if you believe you or a loved one have encountered CO.

Visit the U.S. Fire Administration Home Fires page to learn about how to prepare for and prevent home fires including tips for individuals with disabilities and older adults.

Hopefully with these prevention tips and access to utilities help during the winter months your family will stay safe and warm during the cold winter weather.

Yakoke!