Cook County urges winter preparedness for homes and vehicles
With winter weather upon the North Shore, Cook County Public Health is reminding residents to stock their homes and vehicles with supplies in case of emergencies.
Cook County commonly experiences snowstorms and extreme cold during the winter months. In January, a power outage affected many residents as temperatures dipped to minus 20 degrees. Winter conditions can also extend well into spring. An April storm earlier this year brought about a foot of snow to parts of the county.
County officials encourage residents to prepare for a variety of situations by keeping basic necessities on hand, including food for people and pets, formula for infants and warm clothing for everyone in the household.
Emergencies are not limited to severe weather. Becoming stranded on the road or going through the ice while recreating outdoors are also dangerous scenarios where having the right equipment can be critical.
“There’s a lot of individual preparedness that can come with just driving around or also recreating in the outdoors,” Public Health Supervisor Grace Grinager told WTIP. “So you kind of got to know your situation and what you’re doing, but it’s always a good idea to have a car kit, just in case you find yourself in a situation that you didn’t expect.”
Cook County has partnered with several local businesses to make preparedness supplies easier to identify. Grandview in Lutsen, Joynes Ben Franklin in Grand Marais and the Grand Portage Trading Post are offering emergency preparedness checklists to customers at their stores this winter.
“I don’t think you necessarily need to spend funds to be prepared,” Cook County Emergency Coordinator Andrea Tofte told WTIP. “Rather, you can thrift or look for these items around the house and just have it ready in one easy spot to find.”
For those who need financial assistance, the county’s Healthy Homes program can help residents obtain materials such as plastic for windows, weather stripping for doors and supplies for a home emergency kit. People interested in the program can contact Tofte at andrea.tofte@co.cook.mn.us.
Preparedness also extends beyond supplies and into building community networks, county officials said. Checking in on neighbors and making sure people have what they need can be just as important as having physical supplies.
Care Partners is also offering one-on-one assistance for older adults who want help going through the county’s preparedness checklist.
“I think also it’s worth mentioning that Care Partners, as part of our preparedness campaign is offering to help older adults who want to go through this preparedness checklist that we’ve created to make sure that they have all of their items in an easy to find place,” Grinager said. “That’s actually one of the biggest pieces here, right? Like a lot of us, have a lot of the items on these preparedness checklists, but could you find them quickly if you needed them, if there was a power outage and it was the middle of the night.”
To encourage preparedness, the county is offering a raffle for residents who share what steps they have taken. Entries will be accepted through the end of the month. Participants can tag Cook County on social media or contact Tofte at 218-264-9465 to be entered for a chance to win a pre-made preparedness kit from Paramount Planning.
“We want people to take those first steps. We don’t want people to feel overwhelmed by the prospect of getting everything ready,” Grinager said. “Anything you do now is something that you won’t have to do in the moment if an emergency hits.”
WTIP spoke with Grace Grinager and Andrea Tofte about emergency preparedness. The audio of that conversation can be found below.
Josh Hinke November 27, 2025
