If last year’s pandemic taught us anything, it’s that you need to be prepared. Whether it be a natural disaster, pandemic or some other catastrophic event, having emergency supplies on hand provides peace of mind for you and your family.
Today the winter storm “Uri” is blowing through much of the south and heading through the midwest to the northeast. We woke up in Oklahoma to a “balmy” seven degrees with windchills well below zero. Althought we don’t have much snow (it has been accumulating since this AM and coming down harder now), with the Oklahoma winds it’s way too cold to venture outside if we don’t have to!
View from our front door this morning:
Fortunately we were able to make it to the grocery store on Friday (along with the masses) and snag the last loaf of bread and package of hamburger buns on the shelf. It was like another pandemic starting all over again!
Minus some perishables we’ll also need to purchase, we are always prepared for some kind of emergency (tornado, earthquake, etc.) and keep supplies on hand. It is much less stressful to gradually accumulate emergency supplies than trying to run out (if you even can access roads/stores) and purchase items at the last minute.
You can find lots of resources on the web for what kind of supplies to keep on hand. Here’s a suggested list from the American Red Cross. Our list includes the following:
- Batteries, flashlights, candles, matches
- Old school AM radio
- Canned foods (rotate your inventory to avoid expiration) and MREs
- Pet food
- TP and paper towels
- Toiletries (soap, saline solution, etc.)
- Medical emergency supplies
- Plastic garbage bags
- Water
- Cleaning supplies (in particular bleach)
We also have this product: DB Power Portable Car Jump Starter.
This jump starter also serves as a flashlight, emergency light, compass, and cell phone/laptop charger. Every couple months I check the charge on this and it holds a charge pretty well.
While not everyone can afford to acquire and keep an extensive amount of emergency supplies on hand, anything you can start to accumulate will provide you peace of mind in case of emergency.
If you have any great ideas to add to an emergency kit, please share with us. And if you’re stuck in this storm, hope you stay safe and warm!
DCG
Manually operated can openers, in case the electricity goes out for quite some time – also applies to other utensils which people may be used to using electricity.
I also have a propane heater which I can use with either a 1 pound bottle, or a 30 lb tank.
I have a Coleman camp stove I can use,as well as cooking on my wood stove. (The quality of meal varies widely on the wood stove,but generally won’t kill anyone.) I can’t stockpile a lot,but I do have a store room to make sure I have a good supply of the stuff I use a lot of,and a little of everything else.
I also have the Coleman camp stove, as well as a 2-burner outdoor stove for heavy-duty cooking.
Very good article and advice! OK is bad. Here in NE OK now 9 degrees and big north wind. Always be prepared.
A few things recently came to mind in addition to what DCG mentions here. One is, if need be, a manual old fashioned coffee grinder, isopropyl alcohol, sterno, and camping utensils like a cast iron teapot.
Recently there was an article at Lew Rockwell titled “A Story Of Extreme Cold and Snow.” It is about cold climate change. No longer sure about posting links but you can google the article to read it.
Over the past two weeks, there has been 3′ of snow in areas of the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, Eastern Upstate NY, and Southern Vermont. Perhaps other regions as well.
One interesting observation is that since flights are limited there seems to be fewer chemtrails.
Thank you, DCG, for this reminder.
A solar-powered charger is also a good thing to have.
Also, have a grab-bag ready in case you have to evacuate quickly from your home because of wildfire or earthquake.
Thanks DCG.
Thank you DCG for the wise advice and helpful information.
That’s sop for us okies…
Jackie, thanks for reminder–we need a manually operated can opener! We have Swiss Army knives w/tools including can opener. Easier to have an old hand opener. Also,have old hand coffee grinders (I’m tea …hubbie grinds coffee) & various camping stoves/homemade arrangements. We’ve also a spot in the family rm w/ton of candles, compact/packaged thermal “blankets,” MRE’s, a can w/ $100+ cash (if emergency, no electrically-run pay stations will work ….we’ll be lucky if anyone can even take CASH…but it’s still best)….Keep at least one functional bicycle, always keep our 3 cars filled w/gas to go …pet transport cages at an easy access, solar & hand-wind flashlights/ radio/ charging stations to run phones/iPads, In addition , b/c we live in a fire-danger area AND an earthquake area, we agree to meet at certain places (usually, check any school parking lot in our wide area) should we have to refugee out of our home in different cars or from different areas, etc…..AND, we notify our employers/neighbors with an OUT OF STATE contact should we need that. Last, we use a large empty tin…like the kind you can buy at Christmas with several kinds of popcorn inside…..to store a “mini” survival package in it of some of the above….cash, basic meds–aspirin, bandaids, & then…thermal blankets, MRE’s for 2 for a week, a few bottled waters…contact names, batteries, flashlights, canned tuna/ easy other, Swiss Army Knife w/tools…a nylon rope, mesh bags…easy, useful things that take up no space…AND, we seal this can, & use bungie cords to strap it to a out-of-the-way place on our 1/2-acre backyard fence. We figure, if our house collapses…or burns to the ground….we might have a few days of grace w/ this out of the way supply until help might arrive.