are you prepared for it? Last week, I admitted that I was not.
I've been doing some haphazard research, in my downtime at work, and these are some of the immediate countermeasures I've come up with:
· I need emergency food and water supplies. At least enough for four persons for a week, preferably longer. This is good policy for just about any emergency situation, and would at least cut me out of the class of people who rushes to the grocery store for milk, bread and toilet paper every time it looks like it will snow. I especially need water, since I just found out that with the well my house is on, if the power goes out, there goes the water.
Google has an entire directory for Home Emergency Supplies
Food Storage Central is an information site for Latter Day Saints "or anyone interested in preparing their household for any trials to come." The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has a long association with emergency food storage and preparedness, since they've been encouraging their members to do this stuff for years.
· I'm already fixed up pretty well for non-electric cooking, what with two large fireplaces, at least a years supply of firewood, and an Eagle Scout on the property.
· I need a decent first aid kit. I don't know if I'm representative of the rest of the population around here, but the medical supplies in my house are limited to: tylenol, hydrogen peroxide, pepto bismol and a box of bandaids.
Once I get these things taken care of, I'll at least be able to hole up in my house during bad news, until I figure out what to do next.
Getting a generator would give you both electricity and water, then.
I've got the contents list for an uber-first aid kit that we have copies of at home, in the car, and I take with me on longer motorcycle trips. I'll forward it, or if there's interest, I'll post it. In some areas, I think it might be overkill, but I've not yet come across anything I haven't been able to deal with using the gear it contains. It came from the guys at Insights Training in Bellvue Washington.
A.L.
MRE's.
Tasty Edible and nutricious. Plus they last forever.
Start testing some of that camping food. The beef stroganoff was the best at this point in time. Also a stash of cash, just in case.
A.L.
Absolutely post that list! What a great blog entry that would make.
Rand - Generator is an excellent idea.
A.L. - I'd be mighty pleased to see your first aid kit list as well.
And Kevin - MRE's 'tasty'?? The only way I was ever able to stomach an MRE was by emptying the entire mini-bottle of tabasco they included into it, and mixing it up. True, they last forever, but my intestines won't on that diet. :)
You should know that MRR's do not last forever. They have a shelf life of about 7 years in the right temp. conditions. This is not something with an indefinite shelf life.