Disaster Plan/Prepardness (Page 2)

Just keep in mind that an disaster plan is not always to prepare you in the case your house is wiped out by the disaster itself.  It's to prepare for the aftermath that can result from a disaster in your area.

I'm going to take a fair guess that there are some Japanese folks who were 5 miles away from the tsunami's damage that would like to have a supply of food, fresh water, gas, and portable electricity right now.

Just because your house goes undamaged in a disaster, it doesn't mean you can go to the grocery store or gas station the next day like nothing happened. 

Hah, it's always dissapointing when the sirens go off and it's dark out.  No chance of watching the funnel cloud come in from the back deck.

This is what I have in my car. Here's what's in it. Notice it's just categorized, not prioritized; some of the most important items are actually at the bottom.

Living on an island on the Ring of Fire in a developing nation means it's a really, really good idea to be prepared.

My home always has at least 2-weeks' supplies in it, plus the animals obviously can take care of themselves (heck, they bring enough for me, too)

EMERGENCY SUPPLY KIT

(I always wear a sports bracelet with my emergency info on it)

Containers

1 large backpack

• 1L hard plastic
• ¼ L hard plastic
• 10 large garbage bags
• 2 plastic bags
• 5 resealable baggies

Nutrition

• 5L potable water
• Water purifying tablets (to 60L)
• 1 can powdered Ensure (40 serves)
• 1.5kg high-quality kitten food

Tools

• 2 shake flashlights
• Utility kitchen-type shears
• Utility knife
• Duct tape
• Rubber bands
• Roll of string
• Super glue
• Weatherproof lighter
• Waterproof matches in container
• compass
• Lightstick

Medical Supplies

• 20 sanitary napkins (multi-purpose)
• 5 face masks
• 5 rolls gauze
• 10p latex gloves
• Leucoplast tape
• Plastic bottle of povidone iodine
• Roll antiseptic wipes
• 1 bottle sanitizing hand gel
• Small pot Vaseline

------

• Paracetamol
• Anti-inflammatories (mefenamic acid)
• Charcoal tablets
• Mylanta tablets
• Immodium
• Benadryl tablets
• Broadspectrum antibiotics
• Antifungal cream
• Sunscreen
• Worm medicine
• Eyedrops
• Insect repellent
• Personal medications (1 mo worth)

Personal Items and Clothing

• 2 sarongs
• 1 lightweight waterproof outfit (longsleeve + hood, pants)
• 1 pair undies, sports bra, socks
• 1 long pants, 1 longsleeve shirt, 1 t-shirt
• Rubber thongs
• Hat (covers neck too)
• Cheap sunglasses
• Toothbrush & paste set

-------

• Cash (Rupiah and U.S. dollars)
• Photocopies of passport, driver’s license, important docs
• Photocopies of relevant pages of (sub)tropical survival handbook
• Local maps
• Photocopies of local-sky star guide pages
• Small bound journal
• Fine permanent marker and pencil

Yanti-

This is very similar to what my bf has on hand at all times....fits nicely in a tupperware bin...one for the home and one for the car. Except add silver, full gas tanks to travel to our "safe place" and a gas masks.

Eye Donna, your bf keeps cat food as nutrition?

I think it's a good idea for one in the home, too, if you have multiple people in a house ... it's just that if I'm home, my car's parked here.

Are these in case an "alt" party breaks out...

Ha ha ha, you people!

Eye Donna and I sure pack a helluva party punch for our short little statures, though.

Let's not forget the gas masks folks! Yanti and I could rock some bad azz masks if we needed to!

What makes this thread even more funny is that he just asked me to pick up another bottle of potassium iodide during my lunch break!

*snerk*

I rarely post on BT anymore and this is the third time I've tried to type a response to this thread. Maybe this mental exercise of "What if ...?" is a way of comforting ourselves that we would be okay if it were us in Japan.

My heart breaks for the people of Japan. I know - it's a feeble expression but I lack the words. Such calamity. I wish I could do something; I hate watching this horror unfold.

To your what if ...

If we had a disaster similar to Japan's, my house would be gone along with all my possessions and stockpiles. There would be nothing in need of protection or to sustain me.

A hurricane is a different matter. We get ample warnings regarding hurricanes, so there's no need for a dash and grab. At the beginning of every hurricane season, I review/replenish my hurricane evacuation kit. I've shrunk it quite a bit over the years. It includes:

• My backpack:

• Essential papers - passport, social security, birth certificate, deed for my house, microchip info/documents on my cats
• A deck of cards
• Laptop
• Foods that don't require preparation - nuts, dried fruits, GU products (Roctane, Chomps), Clif Bars. This year, I'll include Accelerade Hydro (for the protein content). I no longer pack any foods that require preparation, require fuel/energy, pots, plates, utensils, clean-up, etc.

• An overnight bag:

• A few tech shirts
• 2 pairs of blue-jeans
• 2 pairs of shorts
• Panties, socks (plenty - it's my only comfort necessity)
• Comfort clothes to sleep in
• Sneakers
• Heavy duty boots
• heavy duty gloves
• First aid kit and basic toiletries. Baby wipes.
• Two small towels

• A third, smaller pets' needs bag with food/bowls. They have individual cat carriers. Hooded cat litter box (clean, empty, ready to go).
• A case of bottled water.
• Sleeping bag. Blanket for the cats.
• Vehicle is filled with gas whenever a hurricane enters the Gulf and our coast is in NOAA's "cone of probability" within a 5 day window.

I think I should procure a basic water purification system.

I have First Responder training, CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training and Mass Care and Disaster Services (Red Cross) training. There are many ways that I can be of use after a disaster. I can do search and rescue, triage, adult and infant CPR, or simply help distribute water/food. I would put myself to work to help others as quickly as I could.

If I lived in an area similar to Japan, where you might have only 20 minutes warning, I'd probably make the following modifications:

• Keep the backpack (sans documents) in my car, along with a case of water and sleeping bag. Keep vacuum packed dried fruits/nuts so they don't go rancid in the car. Replenish this every 3 months. Include a heavy duty marker to write my name and SS# on my leg or forearm so that my body could be identified if it were recovered. On second thought, maybe have this information tattooed on me in an inconspicuous place like the bottom of my foot or side of my hip.
• Scan my birth certificate and deed and upload it to my google account so that I could access it online in the event I later needed a copy.
• Get a US Passport Card that I could always carry in my wallet.

graceful_dave - 2011-03-15 8:25 AM So Yanti has rubber thongs and Aidana has a safe place. If I have to survive a disaster, I want to survive with them

X2

Thought this was worth a bump.

We still don't have a gen set, we keep talking about it though.

I have enough of about everything to survive anything.  Listen to MadMathemagician on his posts, I second everything he has mentioned.

Has anyone mentioned HAM radios?

I still have so much to do in this area.  I do have the self defense aspect buttoned up pretty well, and my wife is one of those crazy coupon ladies so we have a small grocery store full of food supply in our house.
We also have a wood burning fireplace with plenty of wood so we'll stay plenty warm through any extended power outages in the winter.

My greatest needs:

water purification
first aid supplies

LOL, after Sandy I thought this was worth revisiting.

@JMK there is a small solar powered unit you can get that can be used to charge small items like cameras, cell phones, I-pods and such. We have one I think they run around $100.00 depending on the sun it can take a while to charge a cell phone but it's better than no option at all.

I'll keep it simple and say we have a minimum of 2 years food stores, water and ability to protect family. Triathlon is my hobby, disaster preparedness is my husbands hobby nuf said.

Patsy