In 1972 when I was about 7 and my younger brother was 6, we were driving to NYC with my parents and got clobbered by a blizzard in Marathon, NY. So many scenes were etched into my mind - including stopping at a gas station where the attendant told us where to go to find shelter. We walked into a gymnasium where there were hundreds of other stranded folk.

But to you point, from that day on, my father kept an emergency kit in the trunk. Food, water, cash, space blankets, sweaters, etc.

I should do that too.