Quote of the Day

10.18.2008

emergency preparedness & winter prep

As winter (and the impending socialist regime) approaches, my thoughts turn to emergency preparedness.

I found a great site, ShelfReliance, that presents lists of what you might need, emphasis on the might. It seems to me that the emergency preparedness list is a bit of over-kill, but I did glean from the site these items that every home in the county should have on hand before the winter storm season:




Food Stuffs - The Shelf Reliance food calculator will itemize a list of what you need to have on hand to feed your family for a month (or more, you can pick the amount of time). These estimates are customized for your family size and family members' ages.

According to them, if I had all this, we would be just fine if we were stormed in for month.

Grains/Pastas:
  • 30 pounds of wheat, not ground up - (of course they are happy to sell me a wheat grinder)
  • 6.5 pounds of pasta
  • 7 pounds of rice
  • 10 pounds of quick oats
  • 7 pounds of cornmeal
  • 7 pounds of white flour
  • 14 pounds of whole wheat flour
Vegies: remember that they are selling these items in cans, so of course they are advocating canned items. Nevertheless, I think the recommendations of quantity are sound, regardless of form:
  • 5 pounds of carrots
  • 4 pounds of onions
  • 5 pounds of potatoes
  • 5 pounds of instant potatoes
Fruits:
  • 5 pound of banana chips
  • 20 pounds of apple slices
Dairy:
  • 5 pounds of cheese
  • 15 pounds of instant milk (blech)
Beans:
  • 15 pounds of dried beans
Baking:
  • 10 pounds baking soda
  • 7 pounds salt
  • 17 pounds of sugar
Food Storage:
  • a feasible plan for preserving the food in the freezer if the power goes out (I have some food in ice chests in the freezer, which will keep things cold a bit longer.)
Emergency - I added some items to this list

Light and Information:
Warmth:
  • full warm layers for all: boots, socks, legware, torso, neck, ears, head, hands.
  • heat packs/handwarmers
  • matches
  • firewood
Food:
  • pocket knives
  • a means of cooking if there is no power or if the gas goes off (Coleman stove or BBQ with full propane tank or BBQ & brickets or, for us, a wood stove with a flat surface and a handful of cast-iron pots and pans)
  • bottled water, or at least clean containers for catching rain/snow or dipping into the well
Shelter: in case the windows blow out or trees fall on your roof
  • tarps
  • plywood
  • duct tape
Health & Hygiene:
  • cold & flu medications
  • bandaids
  • anti-bacterial ointment
  • Vitamin C & D
  • backstock of any necessary prescription drugs
  • tp
  • lady products
Pets:
  • backstock of pet food
  • backstock of any necessary prescription drugs

What else?

:: one year ago today: first storm of the season
~Suzanne

5 comments:

Shelby said...

Our emergency preparedness kits looks a bit different than yours since we don't have a winter storm season and our likely emergency is an earthquake (e.g., chief among our preparedness items is a sturdy tent, should it become necessary to live in the yard if the house isn't stable--not so helpful to you in the winter). But I think you've got a solid list there.

The one thing I'd add is to not forget about entertainment. I know your family is not one that relies solely upon electronics for stuff to do, but if your electricity is out and it's dangerous outside, it's easy to get cabin fever. I've heard it recommended that you set aside some new or seldom-played-with board games or card games, or a book of new card games to learn, so that if you do end up cooped up, there will be something different to do. Maybe stashing a few long, exciting books to be read aloud as a family that you haven't heard before would be a good idea?

As a tip, we've found an easy way to make sure that the pet food in our emergency kit is always fresh. We simply bought two big bags of food--one in the house and one in the shed (with the kit). When the one in the house runs out, we buy a new one and put it in the shed and then use the one that was in the shed. That way we are always rotating the bags and know that should we need to fall back on it, the dog food won't be years old or have gone bad.

Luciana S. said...

Extra Batteries, different sizes depending on your radio/light/cell phone...

Unknown said...

The Thrive line of products from Shelf Reliance are fantastic---they are high quality as well as tasty!! Freeze dried items are great because not only do they have a long storage life, but they are easily incorporated into your everyday meal planning.

Suzanne said...

Thanks for the recommendation Rebecca, I was considering some of the onions . . .

Suzanne said...

Good idea about books Shelby.