What foods to have on hand for a natural disaster?

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Aunt Bea

Aunt Bea

Master Chef
Joined
Mar 14, 2011
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Location
near Mount Pilot
I have been watching the news about hurricane Matthew and it got me to thinking about what types of food and how much a person should keep on hand in preparation for a natural disaster.

I would appreciate your thoughts on putting together a three day supply of food and water for each person in your household.

I have been thinking about it from my point of view as a diabetic and it is not as easy as I originally thought it would be.

Thanks, B
 
Thanks!

I've been thinking about it and could only come up with peanut butter and dark chocolate.My mind sorta went blank after chocolate! :ermm::ohmy::LOL:
 
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Our large canned and dried food pantry is in the detached garage, along with several gallon containers of water we keep out there, as we use bottled water for all drinking and cooking. Duh, I just recently thought about adding a manual can opener out there, and a few pots and pans, along with blankets. We have a propane grill with an extra burner along with a extra full tank of propane at all times. Providing we have power, we have two well stocked freezers in the house.
In these parts, our biggest concern is earthquakes.
 
Kayelle said:
Our large canned and dried food pantry is in the detached garage, along with several gallon containers of water we keep out there, as we use bottled water for all drinking and cooking. Duh, I just recently thought about adding a manual can opener out there, and a few pots and pans, along with blankets. We have a propane grill with an extra burner along with a extra full tank of propane at all times. Providing we have power, we have two well stocked freezers in the house.
In these parts, our biggest concern is earthquakes.
Click to expand...

I would definitely need to add some water in case the municipal system went out or became contaminated.

I should probably add a couple packages of shelf stable almond milk, dry cereal, crackers and a few shelf stable meals that I could choke down cold. No way to cook here unless I do it over a candle in a tin can! :ermm::ohmy::LOL:
 
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Aunt Bea, another thing you can do is put bottles of water in the freezer (leave room for expansion) and have a cooler available. Then, if you lose power, you can use the water bottles as ice in the cooler. As it melts, it provides water, and it will help keep perishables cold, hopefully till you can eat them.

Think Italian for food ideas. Preserved meats and cheeses will be fine unrefrigerated for a few days. Add canned beans, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers and Italian dressing. Delish :yum:

Three gallons of water per person per day is recommended.

Make sure the car is full of gas and the tub is full of water. You can use the tub water to flush the toilet, if necessary.

You can get Sterno gel packs wherever camping equipment is sold. It's not great for cooking, but it works for heating up canned food.
 
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Funny, tomorrow marks the 9th anniversary that my husband and I left Hawaii and I have not given a single thought to disasters since.
But, when we did think about the SHTF: water, TP, batteries, propane for the grill and of course our states' most popular food item, SPAM!!! :LOL: actually any dry good or canned food will do... and don't forget the pets too!
We got hit a few times and had to dip into our reserves, which I rotated.
Oh, and more than one can opener is a good idea, seeing as we lost one during Hurricane Iwa, that was one heck of a Thanksgiving, boy. But all of the neighbors checked in on each other, made sure that everyone was okay with whatever they needed and SHARED!!
 
I save 1.75 L liquor bottles, and fill them with water. I store them in the basement, along with my canned goods, Costco spillover, and my power tools (many battery powered). We get tornados here along the river, but we should be good to go if our house flies away.
 
Dawgluver said:
I save 1.75 L liquor bottles, and fill them with water. I store them in the basement, along with my canned goods, Costco spillover, and my power tools (many battery powered). We get tornados here along the river, but we should be good to go if our house flies away.
Click to expand...

HA! Better yet when those liquor bottles are filled with LIQUOR!! :LOL:
 
Kaneohegirlinaz said:
HA! Better yet when those liquor bottles are filled with LIQUOR!! :LOL:
Click to expand...


Oh yeah. You better believe there's some of that down the basement too! What I like about "used" liquor bottles is, they're probably somewhat sterile, having previously contained vodka. The water is a few years old, but will work fine for washing hair, etc.
 
I have lots of bottled water, canned goods, manual can opener, blankets, cat food, batteries, flashlights....I should probably be more prepared than I am, considering it's SoCal. I'm out in the middle of nowhere with no tall buildings, but I really shouldn't be complacent about the damage a good sized earthquake can do.

This big one happened 140 years ago in a little town about 80 miles from here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1872_Lone_Pine_earthquake

Important papers, SS card, and documents are in a ready-to-grab folder in the very front of the file cabinet.

Thanks for the food for thought, Aunt Bea. :)
 
GotGarlic said:
Are there disasters in the desert?
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There sure can be, GG. I guess it depends on your definition of disaster...our biggest concerns here in my desert area are earthquakes, and flash flooding - windstorms are up on that list too though, they can be strong enough to topple 18 wheelers up on the highway.

Not to mention the ongoing droughts and fires. :-(
 
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We have a good friend whose daughter is high up in the military. He gave us an MRE (meals ready to eat) that she gave him. It sounds disgusting, contains spaghetti with meat sauce, crackers, some green apple candy things, and other stuff along with a little sterno-type heat source, all hermetically sealed. Probably enough to feed DH, Beagle, and me for at least three days.

MREs last for years, though they do have expiration dates.
 
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Cheryl J said:
There sure can be, GG. I guess it depends on your definition of disaster...our biggest concerns here in my desert area are earthquakes, and flash flooding - windstorms are up on that list too though, they can be strong enough to topple 18 wheelers up on the highway.

Not to mention the ongoing droughts and fires. :-(
Click to expand...

I was thinking more about Arizona, I guess, since that's where K'girl is. Of course earthquakes and flooding are disasters. Drought, as terrible as it is, doesn't require emergency supplies, though, does it?

There are there fires in the desert? It doesn't seem like there would be enough fuel to burn people out of their homes. My dad lives in the Sierra Nevadas east of Fresno and he's surrounded by dry pines and other vegetation. If I'm wrong, though, please let me know.
 
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