I received an email from friend that follows my blog and she chastised me for not updating it more. I know shame on me. So with June here I realized it was now hurricane season. I am so behind it is not funny. So I started looking at our supplies to see what we would need in case one hit the east coast.
Since we are inland about 2 hours we will not take the full brunt of the storm. We will have the spin off tornadoes winds and rain. I will have to prepare differently now for hurricanes than when we lived in the Panhandle of Florida. I pulled out my trusty notepad and started making notes. The big issue is electricity and the loss of it…this will effect us a great deal since our house is totally electric and we have a well. Loss of electricity means loss of water. I store some water but I have never stored enough water to sustain our household. I just don’t have that kind of room. I have to get creative.
Drinking water will be bottled water and the blue water jugs that are made especially for storing drinking water. This will be used for cooking, animals, and drinking. Now for the toilet and bathing I have decided that if it holds water and seals it will be used to store water. That includes garbage cans, new cleans ones of course, empty 2 liter soda bottles and empty cat liter buckets.
I know you are probably shaking you head wondering why I am storing so much water well like I said we have a well loss of electricity means loss of water. If the storm does a lot of damage we may not be able to get out for a week or two and if we can’t get out how is anyone going to get in?
Now that I have covered water, I moved on to cooking and feeding the guys. We have a grill and a camp stove so I need to be prepared and have fuel on hand. Our grill is charcoal so I added charcoal and lighter fluid (we use a lot of this during the summer any ways since we love to grill) also I added another small propane tank to the list. Instead of buying a bunch of little cans I would like 1 or 2 large tanks it will also be cheaper. Also to the list I added matches and lighter sticks. Never can have too many of them.
Next I checked the stock of batteries and realized that the battery monster had struck and all of my batteries were gone. (I am sure you have batter monsters at your house. I have 4-2legged battery monsters in mine they are known as husband and sons. They use the batteries but never remember to add them to the list to replace.)
Next on the list was lighting. We have several oil lamps and several battery powered lanterns. I have a good supply of oil and wicks but added new 6-volt batteries to the list and replacement bulbs.
I left all the “outside” stuff to hubby. He is in charge of making sure we have everything we need to clean up outside. His list is not as long as mine. Mostly it was more gas and oil for the lawnmower, weed eater, chainsaw and new gloves for everyone.
That leaves just food. If we loose power for an extend period of time we will have to cook and eat everything in the freezer and refrigerator first. If we have to leave our home we will need to take food and water with us. It is suggested that if you have to leave your home that you take at least 72 hours or 3 days worth of food and water with you. I would suggest that you take 5 days worth of food and water with you. The less dependent on aid you are the better your chances of survival are.
Let’s face it folks. Those in charge of aid are human they need rest just like us; they have lives out side of the office just like us. Not only that but it is not easy work organizing and moving thousands of people and supplies. I have worked in service organizations long enough to know that NEVER are all the “i’s” dotted and all the “t’s” are crossed. Humans are not infallible they will stumble and if you are depending on another human to take care of you in a crisis well don’t expect perfection and don’t expect the aid to be right there Johnny on the spot. It is not … I repeat… IT IS NOT going to happen that way.
Ok off my soap box and moving on. Food, it is summer it is hot and we are all going to be ill and cranky if we loose power. Let’s face it a/c has spoiled us. So I will need quick easy to fix meals that require no refrigeration. There is so much available from pop top cans and power bars to freeze dried meals in single serving portions. But remember you are in a crisis, if you have small children they are going to be ill and cranky just like you because they too will be out of routine. Keep as much comfort food available as possible. If you children are like my boys they are not big on junk food but love fruit. So I keep lots of canned fruit ready for when they need something quick.
Oh and don’t forget the can opener!
No comments:
Post a Comment