Take these steps to protect yourself from winter weather dangers

HOUSTON– HOUSTON (AP) — Winter weather presents various dangers that people must face to stay warm and safe.

These dangers can include carbon monoxide poisoning, hypothermia, and frozen pipes that can burst and make homes uninhabitable.

Public safety officials and experts say there are many ways people can prepare to avoid these winter dangers and stay safe.

The dangers are on the radar this week as millions of people in the United States are expected to be hit by heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain from a “significant winter storm” this weekend that will affect the Midwest, the East Coast and much of the southern United States, including Texas, Georgia and the Carolinas, according to the National Weather Service.

Officials say during a winter storm, people should stay indoors. But home heating systems running for hours can increase the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, because the deadly fumes can be produced by furnaces, stoves and radiators, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Carbon monoxide can also be created when people use portable generators or run their cars in their garage to stay warm or charge their phones.

Dr. Alex Harding, assistant professor of emergency medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said because carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless, people aren’t necessarily aware of it.

“The symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning can be really insidious. They can sneak up on patients and can range from a simple headache or maybe a little nausea to loss of consciousness and seizures,” he said.

The cold weather hitting the United States this weekend can be dangerous and even deadly due to dangerous exposure to the elements.

Cold temperatures could grip residents in parts of the country, including Texas, which have experienced a largely mild winter so far.

“Very cold temperatures and winds can make temperatures much colder, and that could lead to cold air that could potentially lead to frostbite at a much faster rate or hypothermia at a much faster rate than normal,” said Jon Palmer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine.

Prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures can put people at risk of hypothermia, a condition that occurs when the body loses heat faster than it can produce it.

“Hypothermia is definitely one of the biggest concerns, especially if we have some certainty about power grid or power outages,” Harding said.

The risk of hypothermia is greater for a person who is outdoors, exposed to gusty winds and who is not wearing appropriate clothing or has wet clothing.

“If they have a safe, warm place where they can hide, where they have water and food and all those kinds of necessities… then that will limit their exposure to those risks,” Harding said.

But vulnerable populations, like people with disabilities or the homeless, may struggle to find a warm, safe place to stay.

Frozen pipes in a home during harsh winters are a particular problem in some areas of the South because this equipment is often located outside of structures. But other parts of the country also face this problem.

Jose Parra, master plumber at Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical in Houston advises people to insulate all exposed pipes outdoors, turn off and drain sprinkler systems, and let faucets inside a home drip during freezing temperatures so water can flow through the pipes and protect them.

“A lot of what we’re fixing, I’d say 80 to 90 percent, could have been avoided with just a little work up front,” Parra said.

Experts acknowledge that cold weather can be difficult for electric vehicles. But they say that with a little planning and a bit of adjustment, owners should be able to travel pretty much normally.

Inside electric vehicle batteries, lithium ions flow through a liquid electrolyte, producing electricity. But they travel more slowly in the electrolyte when it’s cold and don’t release as much energy. This reduces range and can drain a battery more quickly.

In the short term, automakers will likely find better ways to protect battery life and warm them for charging, Neil Dasgupta, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at the University of Michigan, told the Associated Press. And new battery chemistries under development are more resistant to cold.

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Associated Press writer Tom Krisher contributed to this report.