Emergency Preparedness

[live4christp1]

In light of the recent storms I am glad to have recently attended an FRG meeting were the guest speaker was from the Red Cross and did an emergency preparedness session with us.

Things I am glad to have had in place:
1. Flashlights
2. Safe place to take cover
3. A plan
4. Bag with emergency supplies
5. battery powered radio

Things I still need to do:
1. Find out where the schools would evacuate too in the event it was necessary (everyone needs to find this out from your school (including me) as if it gets to the point of being necessary I am sure it will be impossible to get through to the school)
2. Need more flashlights and more batteries
3. Need a weather radio
4. Need some gallon jugs of water (had plenty of bottled)
5. Need to make sure I can charge the cell phone if the power is out (should have plugged it up in the car)
6. Take emergency kit including first aid with you to next destination - when my niece and her family finally made it to my dad's they were unloading stuff from their van and had brought an axe with them in the event they came to debris and had to clear it to get through. Well, while unloading the axe fell out and hit her in the leg leaving a pretty good gash - trying to scrounge up first aid supplies in the dark at my dad's house was a task - if I had brought my kit it would have all been readily available.

I will have to go back through our booklet she gave us as I'm sure I've probably left out other important things but this is what came to mind as I was thinking about it.

Do you have an emergency plan & supplies?
Please share tips & ideas here.

 

[golfgal]

When tornado season hits here, we put some stuff in our room under our basement stairs and just keep it there all summer. Some things we have in there that you don't have on your list are a pair of shoes for everyone in the family-might not be time to grab some, our extra leash for our dog, charging cords for our cell phones and several blankets.

I haven't thought to put a first aid kit in there but that is a good idea . I would say that if we experience something like Alabama had though, we would not be very well prepared, mainly out of apathy because 'it hasn't happened here". We should be better about it though.

Our kids get evacuated to the community center so I know that (but they are in high school now and I am not too worried about that eventuality as they can always just walk home, etc. if needed). I know there are good lists out there for hurricane "boxes" that probably would be good to have for tornadoes too.

 

[Jedana]

We have a first aid kit prepped and ready at all times. Sits in the bathroom closet. I go through and replace everything in it every 6 months. whatever is old will be used first during DH's treatments, so it isn't wasted.

I have 2-3 5 gallon jugs of water in home at all times. we use bottled water (FL water is HORRIBLE!!!), but we just go up to Publix and get the bottles refilled at the filtered water station.

I always have a pantry full of food. Can't help it.

Always have flashlights and batteries. One big and one small in the car. Each kid has their own flashlights, plus we have 2 big ones and 3 small ones around the house. We also have our camping lanterns (2 electric and 1 propane) that we can use.

Camping gear is all easily accessible, so if I need to get to the sleeping bags or camp stoves or wood axe, it's not a problem.

We have a car charger for all the cell phones. Emergency radio w/battery (new battery every year).

Dh's tools are in a bag, in the corner near the back door--easy to get to.

We have an evacuation route on a street map in the glove box. (got it from the state) It shows us exactly where we are to get on the highway and where to go from there. We also have a couple of state maps (FL,GA, AL).

In our emergency papers ziploc, I have social security cards, Birth/marriage certs, copies of the dog/cats shot records and tag numbers, extra insurance cards, car registration/title, information about DH's medical history (and to a smaller extent, the rest of us as well), stuff from SSI about his disability, as well as the paperwork from his clinic, about his treatments, if we are evacuated.

We would be able to bring his supplies with us, for at least a week (longer, if I could figure out how to fit them in the car, lol--we have at least a 2 month supply of everything except saline).

I need to pack clothes/shoes. I usually don't keep those packed, except under hurricane watch. Dh's meds also, I don't have any extras to pack, so we just put them in a bag then also. I do have a bag with shampoo/soaps/razors/etc ready to go.

If there was a hurricane evac ordered, we would have to come get the kids from school, on the way out. If it was a tornado, well, I think they keep the kids there until it has passed.

 

[Geoff_M]

3. Need a weather radio

Make sure that you get a weather radio that allows you to use SAME selective alarms. SAME encoding on weather radios allow you to select when the alarm goes off based on the county(ies) you choose. If your radio doesn't have this feature it may "go off" at 2 AM for a severe thunderstorm two counties north of your location, or some other place covered by your nearest National Weather Service branch. That gets old quick.

In addition to that, I recommend getting one that allow you to pick which weather events to alert you against. Some will alert you to ANY event (like small boat advisories, fog warning, flood watches, etc.), and again these get pretty annoying in the middle of the night. Different radios allow different levels of selectivity. Some only allow you to pick either "All" or "warnings only" while the better ones let you pick the specific event. For example, I don't care to be awoken about flood warnings (we don't live in a low area), or fog warnings, or even blizzard warnings. I'm mostly interested in severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings. Here's an example of the type of radio I have on my nightstand. We both lived through the April, 1974 Super Tornado Outbreak (148 tornadoes in less then 24 hours, a record still today) in the Midwest and have an appreciation for the need for good warnings. A good chunk of my wife's hometown was destroyed in that outbreak and the church we were married in was replacement for the original that was destroyed.

 

[minkydog]

We've evacuated to the basement safe room many times over the years, but I never thought about putting a first aid kit down there. That's a good idea. I assume that if we ever got hit by a tornado we'd probably need a few bandaids. Its a good idea to put copies of our important documents down there, too. We had a small safe down there. We could easily put our docs in there. It's waterproof and fire resistant. We already have our birth certs, marriage cert, and passports in it. It wouldn't be hard to add our deed, credit card numbers, insurance info, family phone numbers(in case we lost our phones).

I keep a small pantry in the basement already. It would hold us for about a week if we lost power. Our sleeping bags & camp stove are down there, too. I have one battery operated lamp, but no weather radio. Guess I need to get on that. Just because we've never needed doesn't me we won't need it in the future.

 

[wovenwonder]

Remember to keep a manual can opener in your pantry too [or wherever you keep your canned goods]. If you are sheltering in place in the basement and your canned goods are down there - it doesn't do much good if your can opener is upstairs in the kitchen.

 

[hulagirl87]

I have started a small pantry in our basement and add to eat each week that I do our grocery shopping. Water was one of the first things that I purchased. We have a fireproof safe where we keep our important documents. I have a first aid kit that I keep stocked at all times and we have 3 flashlights stored at different areas in the house incase the power goes out. Batteries too. While I don't think that there is the chance of a tornado hitting us here, there are certainly other disasters that can occur. The thought of that happening is scary, so it's always good to be prepared. We had an ice storm several years ago and were trapped in our home for a week. No power, couldn't leave the house, etc. I was in high school at the time and remember just sitting and reading, hanging out with my mom I'm definitely reading some good ideas here for things to make our home even more prepared in case of an emergency.

 

[Noah]

I am an emergency preparedness geek and I take it very seriously for my family. I have read at least 3 books on it and spent hours on time, money, and sharing with others about it.

The most VALUABLE advise I want to share with you is storing drinking water on containers. Try to rotate them every 6 months to a year.

Here are other tips:
*Take NERT or CERT (firefighters do the training)
*Read a book or 2 on the topic (some of them are very very good)
*Invest in a battery less flashlight but not hand crank. Check out nightstar flashlights.
*When you go grocery, buy 1 extra can for storage
*It's not just what you have and own, it's also the strength of mind to be positive, strong, and to think like a survivor instead of someone who gives up
*Occasionally talk about what you got or did with your family. Even if they are not interested, you are implanting the idea in their minds
*Prepare a 1st aid kit
*Know the weakness of your state (Tornado-prone vs Flood Prone vs Earthquake prone) and you will know what you need.

I am happy to show you a link of a website i prepared for my friends on items to buy.

 

[live4christp1]

Great ideas here!!!!!!

Wanted to add for anyone using a camp stove that runs off propane make sure the area is ventilated. I don't think you are ever supposed to use those in a confined space due to the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning.

 

[cruisnfamily]

Make sure that you get a weather radio that allows you to use SAME selective alarms. SAME encoding on weather radios allow you to select when the alarm goes off based on the county(ies) you choose. If your radio doesn't have this feature it may "go off" at 2 AM for a severe thunderstorm two counties north of your location, or some other place covered by your nearest National Weather Service branch. That gets old quick.

In addition to that, I recommend getting one that allow you to pick which weather events to alert you against. Some will alert you to ANY event (like small boat advisories, fog warning, flood watches, etc.), and again these get pretty annoying in the middle of the night. Different radios allow different levels of selectivity. Some only allow you to pick either "All" or "warnings only" while the better ones let you pick the specific event. For example, I don't care to be awoken about flood warnings (we don't live in a low area), or fog warnings, or even blizzard warnings. I'm mostly interested in severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings. Here's an example of the type of radio I have on my nightstand. We both lived through the April, 1974 Super Tornado Outbreak (148 tornadoes in less then 24 hours, a record still today) in the Midwest and have an appreciation for the need for good warnings. A good chunk of my wife's hometown was destroyed in that outbreak and the church we were married in was replacement for the original that was destroyed.

Thank you so much for the info on the radios! I'm getting ready to buy our first one and the things you spoke about were very helpful!

I am an emergency preparedness geek and I take it very seriously for my family. I have read at least 3 books on it and spent hours on time, money, and sharing with others about it.

The most VALUABLE advise I want to share with you is storing drinking water on containers. Try to rotate them every 6 months to a year.

Here are other tips:
*Take NERT or CERT (firefighters do the training)
*Read a book or 2 on the topic (some of them are very very good)
*Invest in a battery less flashlight but not hand crank. Check out nightstar flashlights.
*When you go grocery, buy 1 extra can for storage
*It's not just what you have and own, it's also the strength of mind to be positive, strong, and to think like a survivor instead of someone who gives up
*Occasionally talk about what you got or did with your family. Even if they are not interested, you are implanting the idea in their minds
*Prepare a 1st aid kit
*Know the weakness of your state (Tornado-prone vs Flood Prone vs Earthquake prone) and you will know what you need.

I am happy to show you a link of a website i prepared for my friends on items to buy.

I'd love to see your website! And thanks for the flashlight info

 

[monkeybug]

We have 72 hour kits stocked with too many things to list. Obvious things like first aid kit, water filters, water proof matches, and tylenol, and less obvious things like cash, a game for the kids, and toilet paper.
We keep it in two backpacking packs and currently they are stored in our basement. I'm not sure where we will keep them in California. Our garage maybe?
We also have started a small stock of food storage. I bought some shelf reliance stuff from Costco and we plan to slowly add to it. It actually tastes pretty decent!
Hope we never have reason to use any of it (well I've used the food storage when I didn't feel like going to the grocery store...so maybe I should say a "real" reason. ) but it makes me feel better knowing it's there if we should ever need it.

 

[low-key]

I got nothing, really should take some of these ideals

 

[gottaluvPluto]

I remember a social worker told clients that they didn't need to really buy water or a three day supply of food for hurricane preparedness. I about jumped out of my skin and said WHAT??? She told me that the National Guard would come the next day with supplies so no need in buying them. I was totally shocked! I had a nice conversation with her about what ifs and how you do need an emergency kit. She never did see my side, not even after hurricane Katrina.

Anyway, we have an emergency kit filled with a lot of things already mentioned. We also have extra propane and gas for emergencies. We do rotate the gas and propane, so it doesn't get too old. I remember not having electricity for a month after hurricane Ivan, so a generator might want to be on the list.

Oh! I also put paper plates, cups, napkins and trash bags in the kit.

 

[crazelion]

But if tornado hits. I had several things on that list and safe. I can't find a darn thing. Because it either in the street or blow several miles away.

 

[sparks19]

Don't forget blankets for those in more northern states. You should keep some in your car too. but if there is a winter storm and your power gets knocked out or your car stalls and you are stuck somewhere you will NEED those blankets to keep warm. Also for the car I've heard a tin can and a candle will generate a little bit of heat... but you have to be in a small space like the car for that really work.

blankets are also good if windows are shattering or anything. they will help protect you from glass and debris.

 

[tvguy]

My mom still has part of her emergency kit my dad put together during the Bay of Pigs fiasco between JFK and Castro.
Not sure I would want to drink any of that water that has been in old Clorox bottles since 1961 !!!

Of course, a friends of mine's dad bought a case of World War II era rations....my friend ate the canned peanut butter and said it tasted fine.

We should have a kit here because of the possibilty of earthquakes, and flooding in the winter. We don't.