Are you prepared?
All of this winter weather has me thinking. Every part of the country can be/is affected by bad weather. Whether it’s snow storms, ice storms, hurricanes, tornado, earthquake, something can strike all of us.
What kind of bad weather do you get and how prepared are you for it? Maybe we can help someone become prepared or just add something to a list that someone hadn’t thought of.
We get snowstorms, blizzards and ice storms. I’ve been without power for 9 days and without town water for 6 weeks.
The most important thing I did was sit down and make a list. I tried to list all the things we might need in an emergency. Food, water, a way to cook, a way to heat the house, what to do about the pets, etc.
Here is my plan……..
I stockpile! This is the best defense against bad weather I think. And I think it’s also very important to NOT depend on a freezer for your stockpile. That’s not to say that I don’t have two freezers full of stuff because I do, but I make sure to have a stockpile of food items that won’t go bad! I keep canned veggies and fruit, beans, meats, peanut butter, soups, etc. Things that I can easily fix with no power. And of course, you need a hand operated can opener!
I have a gas grill with a side burner that I can use to cook on. I also have a fire pit in my backyard with a cooking grate. I can cook or heat large amounts of water there.
I have water even when the power is out. If need be, I can boil it on a fire to make sure it’s safe for use. I also live near a creek and several ponds and lakes that I can get to if I need to for water. We also keep several gallons of store bought water here.
I try to be sure and not run out of pet food. Sometimes ds doesn’t warn me ahead of time. But I can feed them all food scraps if I need to.
I also keep a first aid kit and plenty of meds on hand. I always have store brand Tylenol and Advil, benadryl, dayquil and nyquil, etc. plus lots of bandaids, first aid cream, etc.
We heat with an outdoor woodstove so if the power is out we have no heat. We have a generator and we keep extra gas on hand for the winter months. I also keep flashlights and batteries, candles and matches/firestarters, etc.
And we have board games, puzzles,books, art supplies, legos, gameboys, etc. to keep everyone occupied.
So, how prepared are you? How long could you make it if you were stranded at home?