I always keep at least one bottle of water, a few food bars, a jacket,a blanket, small folding shovel, kitty litter (traction), and some spikes you strap on your shoes like overshoes to walk up slick inclines. I never let my tank get below 1/4, and I try to keep it above 1/2. Now I working on more ideas like space blankets to tape to the windows with painters tape to reflect body heat and keep in any heat from the heater if possible in an emergency. I just replaced all the flashlights and batteries in my vehicles since some were dead or worn out so I have plenty of options between battery fed, rechargeable from a cigarette lighter, and one wind-up light. I got rid of the ones with replaceable old-fashioned bulbs and pretty much only have LEDs now to help the batteries last longer and not have to suffer for lack of a bulb.
Realistically, I asked for a location transfer on my job to be closer to home after the 2014 Snow-maggedon so it would not take me hours to get home in another event. My company expanded their work from home capability so we can do a lot of work that way on those days or if we are sick or need to be home for servicepeople. So I am less likely going to be out if it bad weather is predicted. I know that some jobs are location-sensitive and cannot be "moved" like my bank job was.
In Wyoming, we kept whole winter's worth of food at the ready, and we knew how to and possessed the equipment to cook it on a woodstove or a camping stove (if a family didn't have a woodstove.) We always had extra clothing to layer on (especially tights to go on below our longjohns to keep us warm when out skiing or working - pantyhose are almost as good and even the guys would wear them skiing and snowshoe-ing.) We kept a huge bucket of rock salt ready to sprinkle on the sidewalk if we couldn't chip off all the ice with a sharp square shovel (couldn't use spades with a point or you could crack the concrete or a snowshevel which are not sharp on purpose.) I still keep a grain shovel in my garden shed in the "city" for shoveling snow, sand, wood chips and composted material.
Right now I am working on buying our water pipes more deeply from the street to our current home because I had a broken pipe (in the yard fortunately and not the house) during the really bad polar vortex down to 10 degrees one night a few years ago. We would never bury something only 12-18 inches down in the Northwest as it would freeze in 20 below weather every year. We had our pipes put at least 2.5 feet below the frost line in the mountains at 6000 feet elevation on the valley floor where I lived. We are remodeling another house, and that one will have electric wires on the crawl space pipes that can be flipped on when it's below 20 degrees if necessary when the natural gas pilot light for the furnace is not enough.
