When Storms Hit, Community Matters

Public Safety Starts With Personal Choices

When Winter Storm Fern swept across a massive stretch of the country, it didn’t knock on the door and ask who was prepared. It arrived with ice-laced roads, widespread power outages, and a sharp reminder that public safety isn’t something reserved for emergency responders or government agencies alone. In moments like this, public safety becomes deeply personal — and unmistakably civic.

Every major winter storm reveals the same truth: preparation and response only work when individuals do their part. Plows can clear roads, utilities can restore power, and officials can issue warnings, but none of it functions as intended if people ignore conditions or take unnecessary risks. Choosing not to travel when roads are dangerous, slowing down when ice turns pavement into glass, and staying home when staying home keeps first responders from avoidable calls are all acts of civic responsibility.

Neighbor Helping Neighbor Is Civics in Action

Living Civics doesn’t end with individual restraint. It shows up most clearly in the spaces between households.

Across the country, neighbors checked on neighbors — not because they were told to, but because they understood it mattered. A quick text to an elderly woman next door. A knock on the door of a family sitting in the dark without heat. A snow shovel shared across driveways. An extension cord run quietly from one house to another. These moments rarely make headlines, but they are the backbone of public safety during storms.

This is civic engagement in its most human form. No formal plans. No press conferences. Just people recognizing that their well-being is tied to the well-being of those around them.

Why These Small Actions Matter

Winter storms don’t discriminate, but their impacts aren’t felt equally. For some households, losing power is an inconvenience. For others — older adults, people with disabilities, families living alone, or those without reliable transportation — it can quickly become dangerous. Checking in on neighbors who may need help isn’t charity. It’s shared responsibility.

Communities where people look out for one another experience fewer emergencies, faster recoveries, and less strain on already stretched resources. When neighbors help neighbors, emergency services can focus on the most critical situations, and small problems are less likely to escalate into life-threatening ones.

Information Is a Form of Public Safety

Another often-overlooked piece of public safety during storms is information. Sharing accurate updates, pointing neighbors toward warming centers, or reminding someone how to sign up for local alerts can make a real difference. In an environment where rumors and misinformation spread quickly, being a calm, informed presence is an act of service.

Living Civics includes knowing where to get reliable information and helping others navigate it — especially when stress and uncertainty are high.

The Lesson Storms Leave Behind

Winter Storm Fern will pass. Roads will reopen. Power will be restored. Life will return to its familiar pace. But storms leave behind more than snowbanks and fallen branches. They leave a snapshot of who we are when conditions are tough.

Living Civics reminds us that citizenship isn’t limited to election days or policy debates. It’s reflected in everyday choices, in awareness of others, and in a willingness to step up quietly when it matters most. Public safety isn’t only the responsibility of professionals in uniform. It belongs to all of us — in how we act, who we check on, and whether we choose community over convenience.

Sometimes the strongest safety net isn’t infrastructure or equipment. It’s people looking out for people.