I remember watching ongoing footage of the '98 ice storm (from a couple thousand miles west). DW and I looked at each other and within a few weeks we had a permanent, code-compliant wood stove and chimney in place and crackling away in the living room.

In terms of EMS access, I think that the ice on the roads was much less of an issue than the debris of trees, power poles, and power lines blocking the roads. Unless there is snow on top of glare ice, also known as "dance wax." That's just pure nasty.

Aside from that, heat, water, and sewage are the bottom-line issues. I continue to believe that each garage should be equipped with 5-gallon pails, stacked floor to ceiling, each containing a couple of gallons of sawdust. Better yet, sawdust and charcoal in equal amounts. Problem solved.