I’m in North Carolina, and despite the fact that I live 2 hours from the coast, we still face hurricane dangers. Hurricane Ian came through a couple of weeks ago and our area was hit with flooding, high winds and power outages. This got me thinking about the best ways to be prepared in an emergency. I thought maybe it would be helpful to share some ideas with y’all.
When the world turned upside down in 2020 I became much more prepared for unexpected happenings. I have all of the items on the list below with the exception of one. Emergencies are never pleasant but they are a little easier to handle when you’re prepared and have a plan in place.
Bottled Water for drinking
I would recommend having enough water for each person in your family to have at least 64oz of drinking water daily for 7-10 days. You may want to add extra if you prefer cooking with bottled water or using it to brush your teeth.
Water for other stuff
This amount will vary depending on your situation. We live in the country and when we lose power, we also lose water because we are on well/septic. We need extra water to flush the toilet, cook, brush teeth, wash bodies etc. You can rinse out old milk jugs and fill them with tap water. For our family of four we figured maybe 12-15 gallons to cover the week to 10 day time frame.
Generator
The ideal situation is to have a whole house system. However, those are pretty pricey. We have a generator that can be hooked up to the electric panel that runs everything but the heating/air. (we have electric heat) We have not hooked it up yet however, so at this time we have to run extension cords. The last time we lost power we hooked up our refrigerator, freezers and the TV. Unfortunately, we haven’t taken the time to figure out how to hook up our well.
Canned/Shelf food
It’s a good idea to have a small storage area available for extra food to be used in an emergency like canned goods, pasta, peanut butter, crackers, cereal, dried fruit, pasta sauce, protein bars, granola bars, dried milk, canned juices, rice, beans and nuts.
MRE’s
Meals Ready to Eat are also helpful to have on hand. Depending on how and where you store them, they can last up to 20yrs if stored in the proper temp. Stored in temps of 75 degrees, they can last 3-5 years. I found ours on Amazon. If it gets close to the expiration date and you haven’t used it yet, you can take it on your next camping trip.
Flashlights
In my experience, at a minimum, you should have 1 flashlight and 1 lantern per person. And back up batteries for them as well. When we lose power we enjoy having a flashlight to navigate the house at night and a lantern to leave in the room. Lanterns are a lot better to use for reading, board games etc. as they act more as lamps, illuminating the room.
Emergency Radio with NOAA
This is one of those items that we have had for nearly 3 years but have never had to use. However, I feel better knowing we have it stored away just in case. This water resistant radio can charge a phone, it can be used as a flashlight, it has a solar panel and a crank as well as AAA batteries.
Ham Radio/LR Walkie
Have you considered how you will communicate if cell phones don’t work and travel isn’t possible? Having a Ham radio enables you to reach the outside world. This particular model works as a walkie talkie as well and is great for family outings. From the reviews it appears that this radio works up to a mile or two with the antennae. You can purchase a high quality antennae and increase your mileage significantly.
Camp Stove/Firepit
This is handy for cooking during extended power outages. You can buy a camp stove and keep it stowed away, or you can use a backyard fire pit. We have a fire pit and you can make just about anything you’d want to eat with the proper cookware. I blogged on cooking over a fire a couple of weeks ago. The one must have item, in my opinion, is a mountain pie iron. You can make breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert with that single cooking tool.
First Aid Kit
I have two elementary age kids and my husband tends to get hurt a lot (lol), so I have lots of first aid materials at home. And if you have ever read my blog before, you know I am all about natural solutions. Here are a list of items that I use:
* Aches/Pain: Deep Blue, Frankincense
* Headaches: Peppermint, Frankincense
* Allergies/antihistamine: The trifecta! Lavender, Lemon, Peppermint
* Bug bites: Lavender, Tea Tree, Frankincense
* Burns: Lavender, Frankincense, Tea Tree
* Cuts/bruises: Tea Tree, Lavender, Frankincense, Helichrysum
* Stop Bleeding: Lemon
* Hand sanitizer: On Guard, Tea Tree
* Sinus inhaler – Breathe
* Sore throat/colds – On Guard
* Stress/Sleep – Serenity
* Water purification – Lemon
Whistle
I have to be honest, until my daughter joined Girl Scouts, it never crossed my mind to add a whistle to our list of emergency supplies. I completed an outdoor training course in order to assist her troop and part of the training was on using a whistle if you get lost in the woods. Emergency whistles are great in survival situations, natural disaster situations, crime prevention, scaring animals and/or any other potential threats. A loud blast from a whistle is an excellent signal for help.
Extra Batteries
It’s helpful to have extra batteries of all sizes on hand. Especially batteries for your lanterns, flashlights and radio. We have a battery box that we keep full at all times. For instance, If my kids need 4AA batteries for a toy, I will replace them right away. There is nothing worse than being faced with an emergency and having no way to power your supplies.
I encourage every person reading this to either use my list or make your own. Start preparing today. That way, when the unexpected strikes, you will be prepared.
