Preparing Your Family For Disasters

When you get the order that you have to evacuate your home due to fires or floods, what do you do? You don't have time to pack a suitcase in many instances. I know for myself, the items I will certainly grab will be this laptop, that is my lifeline, and there is no way I'd leave it behind. My digital camera is the other thing. I would not want to be without either. And the external hard drive. This is where I keep my pictures, music, videos, my books and articles that I have written. All important stuff I would not want to lose. This is one reason I have been putting everything in digital form and getting rid of physical items. Less to worry about.

The item that you should have for each and every family member, including the littlest infant, to each of your pets, should be a Bug Out Bag, or better known as a BOB. These are available for sale all over the place. In fact, the government sites for emergency preparedness, recommend having what they call a 72 hour kit for each member of your family. I prefer to make my own up and not buy one already made. This way it has what you or each person of your family will need or want in that type of situation.

The very first item to get for your BOB is the bag itself. I picked up a really nice one at my thrift store. The last time I was there, I noticed they had a lot of them available. Make sure it has room for everything you want to carry, and most important, that it is waterproof.

Water - You can buy water in little bottles for this purpose. I don't usually like to use plastic, but in this case it is probably your best option.

Food - Three days of nonperishable food. Food that can be eaten directly from a can with no cooking is good. Even if you normally like it warmed up, but edible, is all that matters. Include a manual can opener. I have bought the kind of cans that are pop tops. Or you can buy MREs from the emergency preparedness sites, Amazon or the Sportsman Guide. They are light weight and campers and hikers use them because they are easy to use. You will need a source of hot water to use them.

Food needs to include some canned milk and juices, not including the water.
Some ready to eat foods, even if they are not the kind of food you usually eat. Like Spam (it IS meat, protein!), Dinty Moore Stew, roast beef hash, tuna, canned soups, etc (you get the idea).
High energy foods like peanut butter, nuts, crackers, granola bars, etc.
Instant coffee, tea bags, powdered creamer, sugar.
Include some hard candies, cookies, cough drops, etc.

First Aid Kit - Assemble or buy one that is not bulky. Keep it in your BOB. You only need one of these in your family.

Clothing - One complete change of clothing for each person in their bag. Warm clothes, especially if in a flood is essential. Here is what you need to include:


Jacket or coat
Long pants, like sweat pants are good.
Long sleeve shirt, like a sweatshirt.
Sturdy, comfortable shoes
Waterproof boots
Hat, gloves and scarf
Rain gear
Change of underwear
Socks, more than one pair of these.
Blanket or sleeping bag


Sanitation Supplies - The worst thing is to go without our basic needs to be clean. Include plenty of these items for each family member. If someone has different needs, include them. You can include the items you share as a family in one larger BOB. Like an Army duffle bag would be good. It would not be something you can carry easily through the woods by foot though.

Toilet paper
Soap
Liquid Detergent
Mini or Maxi pads
Toothbrushes and toothpaste
Shampoo, brush, comb, etc.
Deodorant
Disinfectent
Bleach
Plastic garbage bags and ties (can be used in the bucket for toilet)
Plastic bucket with lid (can be used for a toilet)

Wind-up flashlight

Tools - Items needed for various reasons. You can adjust this list to suit you. But remember you may need some items that you don't normal use and this list is from FEMA's site.

Mess kits or dishes for each member with utensils
Transistor radio with extra batteries
Flashlight with extra batteries, or wind-up version
Jack knife
Scissors
Duct tape
Pliers
Hammer
Compass
Waterproof matches in waterproof container
Whistle
Pencil, pens, red marker, paper
Signal flare
Portable water filter
Needles and thread
Plastic sheeting
Aluminum foil
Plastic storage containers


This is just a basic guide that I tried to put together. I am back to working on my own BOB right now as I never finished assembling it. As I discover what works for me, I will post here, so you can put together your own too. Hope this will help you get started! No matter where you live, from a fancy apartment building in Hollywood, CA to the wilderness of Minnesota, to Key West, FL............you REALLY do NEED to be prepared!

*All the photographs of the products in this post are from Amazon and contain my affiliate link. I did not have photographs of these types of products to show you, so I used their links. If you have any questions about what that means, than please view my page, FTC Blogging Disclosure.

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2011  Kathleen G. Lupole

Are You Prepared For Your Next Emergency?

Never know what is on horizon as far as weather goes!

If you are coming to my blog because of my networking with people who are not a part of my homesteading community, welcome. I am glad to have you here. My focus though on this blog is self-reliance, self-sufficiency and being independent in a very dependent world. Most people are dependent on others. And even homesteaders are in some aspects. Though we all strive to stand on our own two feet.

Why be prepared? Even our own government tells us to prepare. The Latter Day Saints have always been taught to prepare. That is why many people use their guides on preparing. In the old days it was just what people did. They didn't discuss it so much with each other because it was nothing unusual or new. My grandmother lived in the city with her children, grew a huge garden and canned just about everything she could get her hands on. She raised chickens in the city. Worked at the local shoe factory, made all her children's clothes and was self-sufficient. She never learned to drive but she was an independent woman before the feminist movement ever took place. I say to that question, why not?

Water for all your animals as well!

What will happen to you if you cannot leave your home for days? Your water pump will not operate due to no power. Your refrigerator is not working and your food in the freezer is defrosting. Your car is low on gas and the local gas stations' pumps all need electric to operate. You go to the ATM machine to pick up some cash and find out that the ATM machine also need electric to operate. So now you also have no water. Just enough food for a couple of days. No power to cook it. Now here's a biggie for some people. They have no heat and it is cold. Or they have a wood furnace or heater but it needs electric to work. You need alternatives for all of these issues. And not electric alternatives. Remember a generator is only good as long as you have gas for it!

Pitcher Pumps use manpower not electric!

Are You Ready? That link is to the FEMA website that will explain to the people who think they don't need to be prepared why they should be. You really never know what could happen. If you all of a sudden are hit with a really big bill of some sort and an unforeseen expense, and could not buy groceries for a few months, could you survive it? If you were prepared you could. They recommend having three days worth of supplies but I recommend much more than that. Though if you at least start preparing, no matter where or how you live it will help.

I don't mean to scare you into doing this, but wouldn't you rather be the one to help others than to have to find someone to help you? Don't forget in preparing about your grown children who are on their own, as well as other family members and neighbors. So always store extra if you possibly can. Do not forget your pets and livestock too. I have written on this many times before as it is utmost in my mind every day. Here is a link to a post I wrote in 2006 called Being Self-Reliant.

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole