Disaster preparedness kit

[riverwed070707]

Curious how many here have a disaster preparedness kit, and what its stocked with. Is it a minimal couple gallons of water, some matches and a weather radio or full blown, could live and eat in the basement for a month type kit? How often do you refresh it? Sparked by an eventful evening of tornadoes and golf ball sized hail, we got home just in time for the sirens to go off. Went to head into the basement and realized all our basement lights are burnt out. Further, our basement isn't finished, and its primary purpose is to store event decor and cat boxes. So once we found candles and got them lit, located a radio and phone chargers, grabbed some snacks and such and headed down with nothing to sit on but a comforter and a pillow, I had some time to contemplate making the space comfortable enough that we could spend an hour or four down there without sitting on a dirty concrete floor.

One idea I had was to store our camping gear in the basement instead of the garage - we always have matches, dishes and utensils, propane and a small cook top, folding chairs, etc. All we'd really need to add would be the non-perishable food items and water I think.

[rennigade]

I think this site needs a disaster preparedness kit. Its down every other month...and it appears it can only be restored up until April 2019. smh


I have a generator, which is awesome. Actually used it the other night when our power was out for 6ish hours. I have a hook up where it powers the kitchen, well pump so we can always have water, deep freezer in basement and a couple outlets in our living room.

For most people, water will be your most useful item. Most people have weeks worth of food in their house, so thats not a huge concern. I have a bunch of guns/ammo on hand so worst case I can hunt deer. I live in a spot in PA where I cant forsee any disasters happening, in terms of weather related. Maybe a blizzard of the century where power goes out for weeks, which in that case I have plenty of firewood and we do have a stove in the basement that could be used. I dont have water on hand so I would be a slave to melting snow all day in pots on the stove and storing it in containers.

[kork13]

The camping gear is a good place to start. Generally, best guideline is at least 1 gal/day/person of drinking water. Food needs to be stuff you'd actually want to eat, not the 10 year old cans of beans & peas. Hand-crank radio & emergency signals (something bright, and something loud) are important ... You can get these in an all-in-one device nowadays. If your city does this, register your storm shelter/basement, so that rescuers know exactly where to look in the rubble of a tornado-struck house. Similarly, you want whatever tools may be necessary to get yourself out of your shelter if required... Hand winch for jammed doors or beams, hatchet, whatever makes sense for your house.

That's some of the stuff that I kept in our storm shelter in Oklahoma. Also, never forget your phone -- having his literally saved my brother's life once when he got trapped in our shelter by a seized locking bolt. He was alone in the house after the tornado passed, but no one would have known to check on him. He was able to call the fire department & they (literally) cut him out.

In the end though, your emergency kit needs to be tailored to your family, your house, and the potential risks that you face based on where you live. When I lived in a hurricane zone, we all had a "go bag" packed at all times with a few days of clothes, cash, and a couple full gas cans that we could evacuate with at a moment's notice. Living in Alaska, each car has an emergency kit focused on staying warm, fed, and watered. The house has a larger "kit" with basically the same focus.

[disneysteve]

We don't have a designated emergency stock of anything. We have all the normal stuff in the house - flashlights, batteries, cash, nonperishable food, some water and other beverages, etc. We don't live in an area prone to natural disasters so the likelihood of ever needing that stuff is slim. Hurricane Sandy is the only one that posed a serious threat in recent years and it ended up doing no significant damage to our place.

If something more serious were to happen, we'd load up the car and go somewhere safe. We've left the house a few times over the years due to power failures or death of our AC or heater.

[riverwed070707]

We don't have a designated emergency stock of anything. We have all the normal stuff in the house - flashlights, batteries, cash, nonperishable food, some water and other beverages, etc. We don't live in an area prone to natural disasters so the likelihood of ever needing that stuff is slim. Hurricane Sandy is the only one that posed a serious threat in recent years and it ended up doing no significant damage to our place.

If something more serious were to happen, we'd load up the car and go somewhere safe. We've left the house a few times over the years due to power failures or death of our AC or heater.

Didn't you see Birdbox?? Doesn't everyone need a zombie kit?? haha

I think one of the things that surprised me most was how long it took us to hunt down what we needed even for a short basement stay. To be fair, we've only been in this house since Aug. 1 and I don't even know what all the light switches do yet, but the time it took to find a flashlight, grab a radio, find a lighter for the candles, etc was well over 30 minutes which is too long if we'd actually had a tornado so that was the reason I got to thinking about finding a spot to keep all those things together.

[riverwed070707]

I think this site needs a disaster preparedness kit. Its down every other month...and it appears it can only be restored up until April 2019. smh


I have a generator, which is awesome. Actually used it the other night when our power was out for 6ish hours. I have a hook up where it powers the kitchen, well pump so we can always have water, deep freezer in basement and a couple outlets in our living room.

For most people, water will be your most useful item. Most people have weeks worth of food in their house, so thats not a huge concern. I have a bunch of guns/ammo on hand so worst case I can hunt deer. I live in a spot in PA where I cant forsee any disasters happening, in terms of weather related. Maybe a blizzard of the century where power goes out for weeks, which in that case I have plenty of firewood and we do have a stove in the basement that could be used. I dont have water on hand so I would be a slave to melting snow all day in pots on the stove and storing it in containers.

Can only dream of being this self sufficient some day

[disneysteve]

Didn't you see Birdbox?? Doesn't everyone need a zombie kit?? haha

Haven't seen Birdbox so I may not be properly prepared for a zombie apocalypse.

[Smallsteps]

I think the likelihood of having a disaster kit can depend on your location.
I always have a plan and would not need to worry for about a week even though we do not have like weather events on a regular basis.
A few businesses that i temped at had kits at desks in case i guess if we were trapped at office??

They say for earthquakes but we have barely had any even small shakes in my lifetime.
Made me laugh as most items with an expiration date were expired. they had water in pouches( like capri sun pouches) said they were good for x amount of time but in a real situation but they are safe to drink

I would start with having your camping items available in case and a few items but you would always need to watch if things expire. i always assumed if people live in areas with history of tornados or other weather events learn to plan for items.

[riverwed070707]

I think the likelihood of having a disaster kit can depend on your location.
I always have a plan and would not need to worry for about a week even though we do not have like weather events on a regular basis.
A few businesses that i temped at had kits at desks in case i guess if we were trapped at office??

They say for earthquakes but we have barely had any even small shakes in my lifetime.
Made me laugh as most items with an expiration date were expired. they had water in pouches( like capri sun pouches) said they were good for x amount of time but in a real situation but they are safe to drink

I would start with having your camping items available in case and a few items but you would always need to watch if things expire. i always assumed if people live in areas with history of tornados or other weather events learn to plan for items.

I mean to some extent it seems like overkill but I suppose it doesn't hurt and the cost would be relatively low. We'd be highly unprepared if the power went out for several days and we couldn't leave such as in a really bad winter storm - I think that would be the biggest long-term threat... but I'm 33 and have never experienced more than a few hours, maybe half a day without power. I live in a larger city and there are lots of resources when something major does happen. Tornadoes happen here, but they happen quickly and end quickly and even if you're one of the unfortunate ones to be hit, its pretty unlikely you'd be trapped for days or even a single day, plus they're more common in rural areas.

[disneysteve]

I mean to some extent it seems like overkill but I suppose it doesn't hurt and the cost would be relatively low. We'd be highly unprepared if the power went out for several days and we couldn't leave such as in a really bad winter storm - I think that would be the biggest long-term threat... but I'm 33 and have never experienced more than a few hours, maybe half a day without power. I live in a larger city and there are lots of resources when something major does happen. Tornadoes happen here, but they happen quickly and end quickly and even if you're one of the unfortunate ones to be hit, its pretty unlikely you'd be trapped for days or even a single day, plus they're more common in rural areas.

Same here. We get winter storms, the occasional hurricane, and a very rare tornado, but none of those things has ever resulted in us being trapped in our home for more than a few hours and I've lived in this area for all of my 55 years. A couple of times when the power was out for an extended period or when our AC or heater died, we packed a bag and headed to a local hotel that had power. Even during a bad winter storm, we were still able to dig the car out and get to a hotel.

[msomnipotent]

I store some things but I don't want to have a lot and then have a tornado blow my stash all over town. I'm also not willing to manage the upkeep of a lot of equipment. I feel put upon just making sure the chain saw and generator work when I put the lawn mower to bed for the season. I have a dual fuel generator, a few kerosene heaters and fuel, some puzzle books, pencils, a weather radio with a crank to charge phones, some water, and our camping gear. I have been through tainted city water twice. I can tell you that if a city doesn't have safe water, you will spend a lot of your time driving around other towns looking for a supermarket with water in stock. I live near train tracks and have had a shelter in place order after an accident. We have been stuck in our house for 2 days during a severe winter storm. I'm sure my vehicle can plow through a lot of snow, but I'm not willing to risk my life with all the other clowns on the road.

[greenskeeper]

My work has everything to be self-sustained for 1 month. I'd probably be there working anyways if a real disaster ever hit, and the family would be able to stay there as well.

[james.hendrickson]

My work has everything to be self-sustained for 1 month. I'd probably be there working anyways if a real disaster ever hit, and the family would be able to stay there as well.

Do you work for the DoD?

[bjl584]

We have tons of canned food, dry goods, water, lots of camping gear like blankets, sleeping bags, flashlights, etc. I have firearms, 2 way radios, and plenty of fuel oil and kerosene.

The next thing that I'm going to get is a generator.

[james.hendrickson]

We have tons of canned food, dry goods, water, lots of camping gear like blankets, sleeping bags, flashlights, etc. I have firearms, 2 way radios, and plenty of fuel oil and kerosene.

The next thing that I'm going to get is a generator.

Same. We have:

1. Firearms
2. Camping gear (stoves, sleeping bags, etc.)
3. Water supplies
4. Food supplies

Around here the major risk is a large earthquake. Oregon is next to a BIG subduction zone (check out the map below).

A while back I had a job doing risk assessment for the Coast Guard, and most of the subject matter experts I spoke about the chances of a major earthquake in the Pacific Northwest look the risk very seriously. In a worst case scenario all the infrastructure from the Oregon Coast to Interstate 5 would be completely wiped out, resting in a 50% loss of economic output for up to a decade. The probability of it happening in any given year is pretty low (I think it was 1 in 600), but its enough to make one want to have a plan.