Pedestrians in a snowstorm should observe the following precautions:

- Try to tie your routes to “eternal landmarks” - rocks, lonely trees, accumulations of stones ...

- Don't go alone. If the weather worsens, separation of the group is categorically unacceptable.

- Don't travel at dusk

- The speed of movement depends on the physical and moral condition of people, the quality of shoes and clothing, local relief conditions and other factors. You should not rush, focus on the speed of the weakest

- For a group of people, walk in a tight chain, do not talk, insure each other, redistribute the load.

- When you stop one - stop all.

- During halts - do not sit down, do not lie down on the snow, rest while standing. As a last resort, you can sit on plastic or coniferous branches.

- In cold weather, especially with strong winds, constantly monitor your condition, avoiding general or local hypothermia.

- The best way is not short, but safe: Do not cut corners, do not make new roads.

- If movement is impossible or a person gets lost during a snowstorm, you need to try to find shelter (natural voids under overhanging tree branches or a cave in the mountains) or make it out of snow and scrap materials. For example: a snow hole covered with polyethylene or spruce branches on top. You can dig a cave in a snowdrift - this is a tunnel, the blind end of which is expanded to the required size. Punch holes in the ceiling for ventilation, clean them from time to time if snow continues. Often, spending the night in a snowy shelter is even preferable to spending the night near a fire. The construction of a cave or a snow house requires less effort and time than harvesting a large amount of firewood, making and maintaining a fire.

If the snow is not deep, you can put a wall of snow bricks perpendicular to the direction of the wind.

Department for Emergency Situations of the Ayagoz District, Emergency Situations of the East Kazakhstan