When winter weather hits North Georgia, the proper preparation can help get you through the storm and stay warm and safe. Follow these tips:

Braving winter weather

• Check on elderly and disabled people living alone. Make sure they are prepared for winter conditions.

• Stock up on non-alcoholic beverages like tea, coffee, hot chocolate and soup.

• Maintain good nutrition and get plenty of rest.

Prepare your home

• Have your furnace and wall heaters checked by a professional for safety.

• Check all space heaters and keep them away from walls, curtains, and furniture.

• If you have a gas heater or any gas appliances, invest in a carbon monoxide detector. (Carbon monoxide kills about 300 people in the U.S. every year.)

• Replace the batteries in all of your smoke detectors and test the smoke alarms to make sure they work.

• Check the batteries in your NOAA Weather Radio. Charge cell phones and anything else that needs charging.

• When using heat from a fireplace, wood stove, space heater or other apparatus, use fire safeguards and ventilate properly.

• Close off unused rooms.

• Stuff towels or rags in cracks under doors.

• Cover windows at night.

• Cover exposed plumbing fixtures and pipes or leave dripping when temperatures drop below freezing.

• Prepare a survival kit with supplies needed to survive for a minimum of three days, including bottled water, nonperishable foods for family and pets, sleeping bags or bedding, extra clothes, medicine, flashlights, a battery-powered NOAA Weather Radio, extra batteries, a first aid kit, and a manual can opener. See a complete list of items.

• Leave a porch light on to help power crews know when repair work is successful.

• Disconnect or turn off any appliances that will start automatically when power is restored because if several appliances start at once, it may overload circuits.

Prepare your vehicle

• Give your vehicle a maintenance check for tires, brakes, battery, heating and defrosting system and windshield wipers.

• Keep your washer fluid full of a nonfreezing solution.

• Change the antifreeze, if needed, to protect the engine and radiator from freezing in cold temperatures.

• Keep your gas tank near full to avoid ice in the tank and fuel lines.

• Pack and carry a winter storm survival kit, including: blankets or sleeping bags; additional warm clothing; a flashlight with extra batteries; first-aid kit; knife; high-calorie, non-perishable food such as candy bars; small can and water-proof matches to melt snow for drinking; bag of sand or cat litter; shovel; windshield scraper and brush; booster cables

If you must drive ...

• Plan your travel.

• Check the weather before leaving.

• Know numbers to call and Web sites to check for road conditions.

• Let someone know your timetable and routes.

Watch out for your pets

• Make sure pets have plenty of food, water and shelter.

• Move animals to sheltered areas when possible.

• Haul extra feed to nearby feeding areas.

• Have water available; many animals can die from dehydration in winter storms.

Sources: NOAA; Georgia Emergency Management Agency.