So all of a sudden prepping is cool! Well, OK, that might be stretching it a little bit, but there are at least a couple of TV shows dedicated to people who prepare for emergencies. I've been watching "Doomsday Preppers" on National Geographic and I now know I'm in the bush leagues when it comes to preparing for disasters. I only prepare for the aftermath of a major hurricane, following the guidelines (plus a little extra) suggested by government emergency planning web sites. (For the record, that's 72 hours on your own with no power, electricity, water, or other services.) I maintain an emergency food supply kit during hurricane season then when the season is over I donate the food to a Thanksgiving food drive.
I did a thorough clean out of my food kit last November, even down to the spices, so I started from scratch again this year. I usually wait until closer to June (the start of hurricane season) but I got a bee in my bonnet about it this time and started a little early. I start out with shopping, using my inventory list. I generated the inventory list several years ago based on my 10 meal strategy. I have 5 recipes that all use non-perishable ingredients; I buy enough to make each recipe twice, which gives us 5 lunches and 5 dinners. I rely pretty heavily on "Apocalypse Chow", now re-named "Vegan Unplugged", for both advice and recipes. The book suggests the emergency meal kit and gives a lot of ideas for how to stock up and cook in a no-power situation. I have a single butane burner (like chefs use for demonstrations, according to the book) that will get a lot of use if we don't have power. (I also have a metal garbage pail full of charcoal should we need it for grilling.)
In addition to the 10 meal kit, I also have items for snacks and breakfasts. I've put some hot chocolate in there too, although without power it will probably be too hot for hot chocolate, but then again, hurricane Wilma hit in October and it was pretty chilly afterwards. There's tea for DH. Boxes of mac and cheese and oodles of noodles for the kids. Organic popcorn and oil, since I have a popper for use with a campfire.
I have a dilemma about all of this stuff, though. I had everything in big plastic bins with lids but they were too heavy to lift. I found some slightly smaller clear plastic bins and I've put the food items in those. (Clear bins, as in I can see in them, which is very handy!) All of the food, but just the food, is in these clear bins, but now I have to do something with the cookware, the butane burner and butane, and all of the kitchen gadgets required to prepare all of these wonderful meals. I have a large stash of cookware for camping; should I plan to use that, or should I put together another kit with a pot, a frying pan, utensils, etc., that can stay closer to the bins with the food in them??? There's limited space where I want to store the food, though. (Heck, there's limited space throughout the house.) Is it even necessary to put everything together? If we're in a "bug out" situation (as in SUPER POWERFUL CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE AIMING RIGHT FOR US) then I doubt we'll take the emergency food supply. (Yes, I have bug out bags, but I still have to update those. They currently contain outdated protein bars and clothes the kids have outgrown, among other things.) We would grab the bug out bags and head out, although now that's a little more complicated with the dogs. But that's an issue for another post!
This is going to require more thought and planning, for sure.
Showing posts with label emergency preparedness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label emergency preparedness. Show all posts
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Emergency Preparedness Part II
As I was stumbling around on the internet this morning I ran across a site relating to home organization. Since today is the day to "Spring Forward" by setting our clocks ahead one hour the site recommends this as the day to make safety checks around our homes. There are the usual things, change the batteries in the smoke detectors, for instance, as well as the very topic I discussed in my last post- update your emergency preparedness kit. Additional information includes links to a printable list of first aid supplies, a family emergency information page, and FEMA. It's potentially life saving information that is well worth checking out.
(Maybe I'm not the only one with emergency preparedness as a hobby...)
(Maybe I'm not the only one with emergency preparedness as a hobby...)
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Emergency Preparedness
Some people have, oh, I don't know, stamp collecting as a hobby, others build model trains, others work on craft projects. My hobby is a little unique; I am into emergency preparedness. (That's the kind of thing that happens when you live through a couple of doozies named Andrew and Wilma.) I like being prepared for whatever life throws my way, both in day to day situations as well as in an emergency. The project for today was updating the family "Go Bags". I put together one backpack for each of us a few years ago then stashed them in our entry closet. I knew I needed to go through them on a yearly basis and refresh and update items as needed but I've missed the past few years. Since my class is on Spring Break and hurricane season is right around the corner (well, two and a half months) I finally decided now is the time. I pulled out old clothes that don't fit the kids anymore and put in new items, took out expired Tylenol and Motrin, tossed the old granola bars and put in fresh ones, added a few items I didn't think of when I filled them the first time, and made an inventory of each bag. The inventory will be helpful when I think of things that should be in the bags- is the item in there already or do I need to add it?
What are "Go Bags" for, you may be wondering? Well, if we get a category 4 or 5 hurricane bearing down on us, these are the bags we'll grab on our way out the door to a stronger shelter. (DH and I have agreed we won't leave town, getting caught in traffic could be deadly, but we would probably go to a stronger building than our house to hunker down.) The bags contain items we need for identification, (dog tags I had made for each of us), personal comfort (hygiene items, spare clothes) as well as for post storm conditions (work gloves, multi-purpose tools, emergency food tablets, that type of thing). Add my 10 meal boxes, water, and our family tent and we could survive for a while, at least the 72 hours the State of Florida recommends, in fairly good shape.
Do you have an emergency plan?
What are "Go Bags" for, you may be wondering? Well, if we get a category 4 or 5 hurricane bearing down on us, these are the bags we'll grab on our way out the door to a stronger shelter. (DH and I have agreed we won't leave town, getting caught in traffic could be deadly, but we would probably go to a stronger building than our house to hunker down.) The bags contain items we need for identification, (dog tags I had made for each of us), personal comfort (hygiene items, spare clothes) as well as for post storm conditions (work gloves, multi-purpose tools, emergency food tablets, that type of thing). Add my 10 meal boxes, water, and our family tent and we could survive for a while, at least the 72 hours the State of Florida recommends, in fairly good shape.
Do you have an emergency plan?
Monday, June 15, 2009
Emergency Preparedness
Did you notice the switch from analog to digital? Chances are you didn't, but you will if the power goes out and you are planning on using a battery operated TV. It won't work unless you have a battery powered converter box. How do you get a battery powered converter box, you say? Why, you click here for instructions!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
The 10 Meal Box
Hurricane and emergency preparedness is kind of a hobby for me. Odd, I know; I listed it on my profile and, where all my other interests link to other people with the same interest, that one links to... nobody at all! I guess I'm the only one who considers it a hobby. ;) I live in an area prone to hurricanes and went through one that did a lot of damage, to say the least, so I'm very aware of what can happen. The worst case scenario is total destruction due to a direct hit from a powerful storm. Far more likely is damage that leads to extensive power outages, which can last weeks, and roof damage. I’ve taken steps to prepare our house and family as much as possible, thinking through what might happen during a storm and the aftermath and what I can do in advance to lessen the damage and discomfort as much as possible.
One thing I’ve done, since I like to eat, is to put together a 10 meal box. (Actually it’s a couple of large plastic storage bins with lids.) I went through my cookbooks, including Apocalypse Chow, and found 5 recipes my family likes that use non-perishable ingredients. After trying them out, I bought enough of the ingredients to make each recipe twice, including seasonings, and put that in one box. Additional items to fill that box and the second box include breakfast and snack foods, cookware, paper plates, bowls, plastic utensils, water, dish soap, a can opener, matches, and so forth. I also purchased a butane stove, as recommended in Apocalypse Chow, and store it with the boxes.
This is something I think every family should try to put together, and it doesn’t have to be a big expense. You can buy enough for one meal at a time and accumulate the items slowly instead of all at once, for instance. Once your box is established you’ll need to rotate the food to keep it all fresh. (Even canned goods expire after a while.) I go through my hurricane supplies at the beginning of each storm season to freshen everything then donate any unused items to a food pantry in November when the season is over.
Before I had the idea to set up my 10 meal box I set aside other food stores. I have several packages of dried beans and a large bag of rice stored with a Dutch oven (the camping kind with the little legs on the bottom) to cook it all in and a trash can, purchased just for this purpose, full of charcoal in the garage. I bought an Emergency Food Supply in a 5 gallon bucket from an on-line company that has a 20 year shelf life. I also purchased a container of nutrition/survival tablets for our “go bags”. They probably taste terrible but if we’re in a situation where we need to actually eat them I have a feeling the taste won’t be important. I have water stored as well. We drink bottled water (our tap water tastes terrible) so we have a good stockpile of that all the time. I also have two 5 gallon bottles of water and a ceramic dispenser I purchased at Whole Foods. I have four water coolers, two five gallon and two smaller ones, that I fill with tap water when a storm approaches and leave by sinks to wash with. I have large 10 gallon buckets I put in each shower and fill with water to use for washing and flushing the toilet. One thing I DO NOT do is put water in my washing machine. A family member did this prior to a storm then lost power for a long time afterwards. With no power she couldn’t run the washer and drain it so the water sat in there and rusted the machine! (It’s also not a good idea to store valuables in the dishwasher since sewage can back up into it after a storm- yuck!)
These are just some of the things I’ve set up for emergency situations. Would your family be prepared if an emergency struck your area?
UPDATE: The book I recommend to everyone for emergency preparedness, Apocalypse Chow, is out of print. The authors have revised it and it's now published as Vegan Unplugged. If you're not vegetarian/vegan don't let that throw you! You'll want vegan recipes, trust me. After all, how long will meat last without refrigeration? I've also realized that the credit for my 10 meal box goes to that book. I read the book then didn't act on it for quite some time, forgot about their 5 day meal box, then came up with my very similar 10 meal box. So the 5 day meal box was probably floating around in my subconscious somewhere. I like to give proper credit, so there you have it.
One thing I’ve done, since I like to eat, is to put together a 10 meal box. (Actually it’s a couple of large plastic storage bins with lids.) I went through my cookbooks, including Apocalypse Chow, and found 5 recipes my family likes that use non-perishable ingredients. After trying them out, I bought enough of the ingredients to make each recipe twice, including seasonings, and put that in one box. Additional items to fill that box and the second box include breakfast and snack foods, cookware, paper plates, bowls, plastic utensils, water, dish soap, a can opener, matches, and so forth. I also purchased a butane stove, as recommended in Apocalypse Chow, and store it with the boxes.
This is something I think every family should try to put together, and it doesn’t have to be a big expense. You can buy enough for one meal at a time and accumulate the items slowly instead of all at once, for instance. Once your box is established you’ll need to rotate the food to keep it all fresh. (Even canned goods expire after a while.) I go through my hurricane supplies at the beginning of each storm season to freshen everything then donate any unused items to a food pantry in November when the season is over.
Before I had the idea to set up my 10 meal box I set aside other food stores. I have several packages of dried beans and a large bag of rice stored with a Dutch oven (the camping kind with the little legs on the bottom) to cook it all in and a trash can, purchased just for this purpose, full of charcoal in the garage. I bought an Emergency Food Supply in a 5 gallon bucket from an on-line company that has a 20 year shelf life. I also purchased a container of nutrition/survival tablets for our “go bags”. They probably taste terrible but if we’re in a situation where we need to actually eat them I have a feeling the taste won’t be important. I have water stored as well. We drink bottled water (our tap water tastes terrible) so we have a good stockpile of that all the time. I also have two 5 gallon bottles of water and a ceramic dispenser I purchased at Whole Foods. I have four water coolers, two five gallon and two smaller ones, that I fill with tap water when a storm approaches and leave by sinks to wash with. I have large 10 gallon buckets I put in each shower and fill with water to use for washing and flushing the toilet. One thing I DO NOT do is put water in my washing machine. A family member did this prior to a storm then lost power for a long time afterwards. With no power she couldn’t run the washer and drain it so the water sat in there and rusted the machine! (It’s also not a good idea to store valuables in the dishwasher since sewage can back up into it after a storm- yuck!)
These are just some of the things I’ve set up for emergency situations. Would your family be prepared if an emergency struck your area?
UPDATE: The book I recommend to everyone for emergency preparedness, Apocalypse Chow, is out of print. The authors have revised it and it's now published as Vegan Unplugged. If you're not vegetarian/vegan don't let that throw you! You'll want vegan recipes, trust me. After all, how long will meat last without refrigeration? I've also realized that the credit for my 10 meal box goes to that book. I read the book then didn't act on it for quite some time, forgot about their 5 day meal box, then came up with my very similar 10 meal box. So the 5 day meal box was probably floating around in my subconscious somewhere. I like to give proper credit, so there you have it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)