Wow, that was a looooong break. Hope that everyone has had a wonderful summer. Thanks for coming back to read! :)
You may recall that I have never claimed to be an expert on food storage and emergency preparedness. While that remains true, I hope that I am gradually getting better, but I am very fortunate to know some emergency preparedness experts. One in Utah recently sent me an e-mail about some bizarre weather that took place in Utah on Saturday, with some really good questions to ask myself about my level of preparedness should I need to evacuate, or if I were caught in a situation where the weather made my circumstances perilous. This included information on lists that would be extremely important, if not crucial, if you needed to suddenly leave your home--I have heard this idea before, but have not yet followed through, and actually made such lists.
Ah, you gotta hate procrastination.
And you gotta hate it worse if, because of procrastination, your situation is more difficult when an emergency takes place...
So, I asked said expert if I could post a portion of said e-mail, and said expert graciously agreed to let me share it on my blog. Without further ado, the pertinent information:
"Yesterday’s
storm was a good wake up call to let us know that a variety of unexpected things
can happen in a hurry. A tornado?! Good thing it was a little one!!
Do
you have a “bug home” kit in your car???
Saturday
night there were several groups of people caught between slides in American Fork Canyon because of the storm. According to
the paper there was more than one car that ended up sliding into the river.
If
that had been you would you have had emergency blankets, water and snacks for
each member of the family? Would there have been a flashlight in the car?
Can
you think of what else you may have wanted during the 3-4 hour wait in the
rather cool dark to get out of the canyon? If it had been your car that slid
into the river would you have had a way to break a window, if it were necessary,
to get out?
Is
your evacuation list ready? Do you have a plan for a FIVE MINUTE WARNING TO
EVACUATE? What will you take if you have 15 minutes? What if they give you a
half hour? Does everyone know what to do if you have to leave NOW?
Here
are the lists I sent last year after the fire in Herriman, if you need some
prompting. My list is not yours but it will give you a starting place. We did
practice the 5 minute list for the Alpine fire last year even though we could
see we didn’t need to. All of our kids were here for a reunion and the grand
kids helped. Then we made cookies so they could feel we weren’t really in
danger even though the smoke being so close was scary. It took a while to put
everything back!! J
I
have had many questions about what should be on the 5, 15 and 30 minute
evacuation lists. The following are my lists. Yours will be different and the
priority will vary, sometimes extremely, depending on your family situation.
There are only three adults for us to evacuate but I have some suggestions for
families with children below.
5 minute
list:
A) Grab 72 hour
kits for each of us and stuff meds in refrigerator in top along with billfold
and purse so we have credit cards, cash and
checks.
B) Run to
basement and get zipped 3 ring binder with copies of important papers, and
memory sticks and disks with pictures on them, plus the bucket of instant meals
that sits next to fire safe. {It would be wiser for us to put all of the ring
binder things on a memory stick and put that in the 72 hour kits, eliminating
the trip to the basement.}…C. did scan
things in for us since I originally sent this last year and our kids also have a
copy of the important stuff.
C) One of us
take down pictures of great grandparents while other one pulls quilt and pillows
from bed to wrap them...I love my pillow and want that with me anyway!
[You may have jewelry, photography equipment, collections or other sentimental
or valuable things, and hunters will want their weapons
]
D) Grab laptop,
Ipad and current tax record file folders from office
drawer.
E) Get in car
and truck and leave to pick up C.'s mother at the assisted living
center.
If I had young children
at home I would grab their 72 hour kits and strap them with their favorite
blanket or toy in their car seats first so I would know they
were safe and couldn't go missing. Then I would pack what I could in the order
on my list in the time left. It may take 3 minutes just to get every little
one buckled in. With older children they need their own lists posted on closet
doors or back of bedroom or bathroom doors where they can find it immediately.
They will have hair dryers, video games, etc that are necessities to them. They
MUST understand that they ABSOLUTELY MUST be in the vehicle in 4 minutes max so
you don't have to worry about looking for or waiting for them! It would pay to
practice this to see just what you can do in 5 minutes even if takes a half hour
to put back everything you tried to pack! :) Practice yelling Go! Go!
Go!!!
15
minute list:
Do
first 5 minute things as fast as we can except for
(E)
F)
Pack first aid and home remedy things ( see lists on
inside of doors under main and guest bathroom
sinks)
G)
Grab journals and boxes of unscanned photos on bottom basement shelves ( see
list on shelf at bottom of stairs. Empty bins are next to fire safe
)
H)
Stuff more clothes and bedding in back of car ( see list on closet
door )
I) Toss
cases of water and camping and cooking things in back of truck along with
garbage can on wheels full of the "175
hour kit"
( see check list on wall by garage door)
E)
Get in car and truck and leave to get C.'s mother at the assisted living
center.
30 minute
list:
We are still
working on this. I am making lists for pantry and closet doors. I think this
will depend on the situation for priority order. If it is an "evacuate for a
couple of weeks and come back" the priority will be different ( food storage
can stay put) than "evacuate and you probably won't be back and your house
won't be here either". Or "the looters will steal or destroy everything you
leave." Or whatever scary emergency you might have in your community. Food
storage is a valuable investment and I would want to take what I could of the
most expensive and light weight things... freeze dried stuff, if at all
possible, for an example. If you have expensive tools that might be your
priority.
We have to plan
to pick up C.'s mom at the
assisted living home if conditions require it, so possibly we won't even have
this full 30 minutes. We may have only 5 extra added on to the 15 minute
deadline. Almost too much to think about and decide on now. Imagine how much
more overwhelming it would be if we haven't even considered what to do
before "IT" happens. It is no wonder that many people lose everything because
they cannot begin to decide what to do, so they do nothing but
leave.
If
you do not have a 72 hour kit for every family member now is the time to get
one. You really don't have time to pack everything you need in 5 minutes.
First look around your home for old backpacks or diaper bags to carry your
things. I have some lists with suggestions on what to put in them. Basically
tho it is what you will need to survive at least the minimum 72 hours it will
probably take for the churches, the Red Cross or others to get to you if the
emergency includes thousands of people. Think Katrina or an earthquake. For
smaller emergencies like the Harriman fire help will arrive right away.
Even then it is nice to feel you have some control over your own
well-being."
Many thanks to the emergency preparedness expert, who shared this information, and the information on September being National Preparedness Month, which I posted earlier today on my other blog if you are interested. I'm not an expert, and I don't play one on the blogosphere, but I am certainly grateful that there are experts that are willing share what they know with others...
Hope that all is going well with your garden and/or any other preparedness activity that you are working on!