It is never fun to plan for life’s emergencies because it involves letting your mind “go there” for a brief time. "While we cannot plan for every contingency, we can plan for most" (Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley). Draw on past experiences, both personal and from others’, and create a list of the things you think would make life as comfortable as possible during an interruption in services such as power, water and food supply.
To assist you in your efforts, we are including a list of BASIC necessities to keep on hand in case you should need to “shelter in place” during an upcoming natural disaster or state of emergency.
Basic 72 Hour Kit
-Container to hold items (large plastic bin, box or bucket with lid)
-At least 3 water bottles per person per day (more if you use dehydrated meals)
-3 days worth of easily prepared food (like soup, crackers, peanut butter, trail mix, etc.)
Emergency food could be MREs or Dehydrated Meals
-Manual can opener if your food required one
-Paper cups, plates, napkins, utensils
-Wet wipes, hand sanitizer, paper towels
-Clean change of clothes per person
-Blankets
-Copies of personal identification and insurance information
-Flashlights with batteries
-AM/FM radio (write local station numbers on it)
-Baby and/or pet items
-Car cell phone charger and list of contact numbers
-Cash in small bills
-Basic first aid items
-Medications
-Trash bags
Once your initial emergency kit is prepared, add to it. There may be a time when you need to flee your house suddenly. The recent tornado survivors in the heartland had less than 20 minutes to flee their homes for safety. Items like maps, extra gas and money, important documents and more food/water, become necessary when leaving your house. A more complete hygiene kit would be important if you had to leave. In fact, a member of our stake recently pointed out that shelters have separate restrooms and wash areas for men and women. It is necessary to have at least two hygiene kits; one for women and one for men. This will help avoid the problems associated with sharing items like shampoo and toothpaste back and forth in long lines.
Joe, our Stake Emergency Preparedness Specialist, has put together several lists of emergency items. The lists are suggestions and they each build on each other. Start with the most basic list and add to your supplies as circumstances allow. You will find it is easier to go through this process and think through different scenarios ahead of time, by inviting the spirit of the Holy Ghost into your life to help you plan. Pray for answers and then listen and act upon the promptings.
NOTE TO READER (from Joe's lists)
Each of the following “Kits” builds on the previous one. Start with the simplest and work your way forward. Only YOU know your specific individual and family needs so customize your preparedness actions based upon your personal circumstances.
DO NOT feel like you need to run out and get everything on the following lists at once. Start with Step 1 and over time, as your individual means allow, purchase the items you feel are most important first. Once you have everything from Step 1, go to Step 2, then Step 3, etc. Set realistic goals for completion of each Step. For example, most families should be able to complete Step 1, assembly of a 72-Hour Kit, within 3 months.
The lists for these emergency preparedness kits can be found HERE.
......................................................................................................................
Last month's focus was on water storage. Water is essential for life and is therefore a necessary part of both short term (including 72 hour kits) and long term storage. There are informative handouts HERE.
FEMA's website gives information on:
- How Much Water do I Need?
- How Should I Store Water?
- If You are Preparing Your Own Containers of Water
- Filling Water Containers
- Is bottled water safer than tap water?
- How long can bottled water be stored?
- How can I find out if my water system is in compliance and providing safe drinking water, other than contacting the water company?
- How can I get my tap water tested?
- Does boiling water remove minerals?
One option for water filtration is "The Just Water, Bucket Water Filtration System" we purchased as a group order. It has a simple design, is easy to assemble, and we found it to be the best price of its kind. So why purchase a water filter?
- Water is more essential to life than food.
- Water is easily contaminated during a flood or other natural disaster.
- Every household should have a back-up plan for water treatment in case of emergency.
- This .2 ceramic filter, when used along with another purification method such as bleach is an excellent addition to your short-term and longer-term emergency supplies. Once in use, it will last for about six months or 3000 gallons of water. Unused and properly stored, it will last indefinitely as long as it is not dropped and broken.
- According to the Monolithic Website, “In an unforeseen disaster, you could filter water from most ANY source and make it perfectly safe. You could use rainwater, creek water, standing water in culverts, etc.” You should not, however, use pool water.
