We Suck At Emergency Preparedness

Watching the Weather Channel yesterday for updates on what Hurricane Irene did to the East Coast, it made me realize just how ill-prepared we would have been had it stayed on path and actually hit the Carolinas. Hearing the warnings urging people from Virginia to well above New York not to leave their homes made me look and assess just how little we had to survive should something just -BAM- come up tomorrow. I feel it's high time to change that, and want to spend this week going over out emergency supplies, getting them all together in one easy location, and also padding our stock with things that we don't even have.

Ready.gov had a PDF checklist that you can download to check against your own home's supply list. Since I am currently in the process of making this week's grocery/Target run list, let's see how the Blake household stacks up should disaster strike before I head to the store:

• Water, one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation (FAIL- we have NO extra water)

• Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food (Semi-check. Husband has a load of soups, I have very few meatless ones. We also have a decent supply of nuts, dried berries, nut butters, and cereals, which of course fluctuate with usage)

• Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both (Check, the shower radio is battery operated, and we always keep a few extra batteries around!)

• Flashlight and extra batteries (Semi check, we need to have a dedicated flashlight in the emergency box)

• First aid kit (Check, thanks flexible spending account from the past job!)

• Whistle to signal for help (What? Never heard of this. Fail)

• Dust mask, to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place (FAIL on the masks, CHECK on the duct tape)

• Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities Can opener for food (if kit contains canned food) Local maps (Currently we are a CHECK on all of these, but again they are scattered all over the house and not dedicated for emergencies)

• Cell phone and chargers (CHECK, of course we are twenty first century digital boys and girls who don't function without these!)

• Personal preference extras: blankets, pet food set aside in a plastic baggie, matches in a waterproof container, a lighter, mini bottles of vodka (as disinfectant and stress relievers), and a big plastic box to put everything in

So what's the shopping list getting added to it? Looks like I'll be picking up: water, vegetarian emergency food, batteries, extra flashlight, whistle, pack of dust masks, a small pack of moist towelettes, an extra wrench, extra can opener, matches, mini bottles of vodka, and a big plastic box.

Plus, I'll pull out things like garbage bags, twist ties, paper towels, and some items from the first aid kit to stash in the box so that when and if disaster strikes, we know right where to go, starting here with husband's soup smorgasboard: