Disaster Preparedness (is that a word??) Poll-ish

itskacie

After reading about the earthquake in Japan it got me wondering if we were prepared for a disaster here at home? Do you have a kit at home? What do you have in it? Where to you keep it?

Currently we have a couple jugs of water and some canned goods in a hallway near our garage but no "kit" w/ flashlights and radio and medicines/first aid etc. Do you?

dawnies79

We actually don't have anything...not even water. We really, really should tho!

::Dashes off to make a disaster preparedness kit:::

iHeartHimMore

We need to do this - we have nothing.  I found a good link with a checklist:

https://www.ready.gov/america/getakit/

mwhite5283

We don't and should - thanks for the link Michelle - going there now and printing some stuff out.  We are a center for potential earthquake, etc so I should be more on this than I am.

coribecca

We have one, but I'm not sure exactly what's in it.  DH put it together.  He trains the Community Emergency Response Team, so I trust him to know what he's doing;).

seller8888

We have flashlight, crank radio, first aid, cat food, people food, water and N-95 masks, duct tape tarps etc.. in bins in our garage...I also have some specialized supplies because I am on the Emergency Medical Corps. I still feel like we need to do more though...we don't yet have copies of important documents in the kit nor have we chosen a location to meet if we can't get home and phone service is out. 

MrsH_08

We don't have anything official.  DH always believes in being prepared for anything.  We store our extra non-perishable food on shelves in our garage, and a small freezer with a few items, plus soda/gatorade/bottled water, and cleaning items like paper towels and trash bags. DH has flashlights and fire extinguishers stashed all over the house and garage.  But none of this was put together for emergency reasons and there's no first aid kit, either.

Having grown up in the midwest, we were prepared at.all.times for tornado issues.  Since moving out here, I haven't felt like I'm in quite a disaster-prone area (compared to having guaranteed tornadoes go through our town pretty much every single spring, in the Chicago burbs).

We really should put something together, though!  DH wouldn't be against it, I know.

massagegirly

We do. We have a huge backpack with food, blankets, clothes.... anything we might need. We also have a pair of shoes right next to our bed with flash lights in them. Kiah has her own backpack hanging from her bed post with her own little kit with shoes. But this made me think that I am pretty sure the clothes we have for Kiah and Hailey are to small. We will make sure to get new clothes tonight.

cwhip77

We recently bought this kit from Costco... (hopefully it's ok to post a link since I'm responding to a post):

Costco72HourEmergencyKit

It's a good starter I think, has the basics and it's in a backpack so it's portable if you have to grab and go (although it's HEAVY, like 40 lbs I think).  We definitely need to add to it, like actual food not just bars, a first aid kit, etc.  We also need to get canned food/water for our cats. 

Off the top of my head, two things I didn't think of but I've heard are good to include is cash, especially small bills because power might be out at stores and they may only be taking cash with not much change, and if you wear them a spare pair of glasses in a hard case in case yours break in an earthquake or something.  I'm blind as a bat without my glasses and I'd definitely want a spare!

mishquiche

Ugh, we definitely need to do this ASAP!  Thanks for the link, Michelle.

preston18

When I brought this up to DH, he also threw out there that we need ammo. 

 

Ok, then.

 

I try to always keep the jeep at least 3/4 tank full, always have a spare flat of costco water, and have enough insulin on hand to last me months. We'd be ok with food for a few days. It's the radio, flashlights and cash we need to keep on hand. And apparantly ammo.