Pandemic or any Nat'l Emergency - how will you prepare?

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marmalady

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Serious subject, all. A congressman today suggested stockpiling canned tuna and powdered milk, tho why he chose those 2, I don't know.

Having lived in a post-hurricaine zone and also in close proximity to NYC after 9/11, we think a lot about emergency preparedness. I thought this would be a good place to combine thoughts on if/how we should prepare our homes and pantries in the event of a bird flu pandemic, or any other disaster situation.

Some things to think about right off the bat are food, water, shelter, security in our homes. How is your pantry stocked - right now - if you were to lose access to the grocery store? What about a water supply? Power supply?

I just ran across the site below, which gave me some 'food for thought' in pantry preparedness:

http://www.planforflu.com/survival_grocery_list

I think there are some good suggestions on the site in general, and a few items in the pantry I'm not sure I would have thought of on my own!

I think everyone should also be aware of the scams that are already out there, or will be soon, offering remedies, 'vaccines', etc. that are obviously of no benefit, or they would be in world-wide use.

Again, a serious subject, but one that needs to be addressed. I'm looking forward to some lively debate and great ideas from all! (and most of all, hope that nothing comes of the bird flu or any disaster!)
 
Our pantry is always full... and we have another collection of canned food and water down under the house in the storage area. Paul has a ton of batteries and other do-dads, just in case too.
 
WOW! What a freaky co-incidence. I'm working on a disaster preparedness flyer for our apartment complex and came here to see if we have anyone who speaks Spanish to help me write up the Spanish version! LOL!

I used to be a volunteer with our local Office of Emergency Services and served as a Disaster Co-ordinator (1992-2000... we came under FEMA in 1998) to this region of our church and education was always as huge chunk of our activities.


I've got my disaster kit packed, complete with 3 day's supply of MRE's. I pray I never have to use it.

God Bless
Raven
 
I'm a stockpiler so I usually have lots of stuff on hand. I think things are a bit different in Canada (or at least here in the West though) we don't have anyone recommending we prepare for a pandemic quite yet. I pray that doesn't ever happen. I think that stocking things like canned ham, tuna and some meats is a good call. I would also stock things like canned peaches, creamed corn so that the veggie/fruit area is also covered a bit. We have a wood burning fireplace and TONS of wood, so if we ever lost power/heat we would be OK there. I'm not sure what else I would put in if I thought we were going to be isolated. Maybe a bunch of flour and other baking staples?
 
I'm not a stockpiler; I buy and use fresh whenever I can. Also, I'm not cooking for a family of 4 or more every day, so using all that dried and canned stuff isn't going to happen quickly. Furthermore, I am likely not going to have power if indeed a disaster comes. Certainly some canned soups and chili, some fish etc, but not huge amounts. However, a case of MREs from the local surplus store might not be a bad investment for a single guy or couple. At least one wouldn't starve while trying to get to safety etc.
 
I hoard food. I think it's from all those years of scraping and scrimping when my kids were small. Now that I can afford it, I keep well stocked so we won't run out.
The only thing I don't have a lot of is bottled water. HB says we have 60 gallons in the hot water heater we can drain off.
That would be a 30 day supply of drinking water for the two of us.
 
We're going to get some water purifying tablets. One thing we do around the start of hurricane season is to wash out and save any 2-liter soda/juice bottles. When we hear of a storm possibly coming our way, we just fill up the bottles. Once the danger is past, they get dumped on the garden, and bottles saved to use again.
 
It's tough to stock when space is limited. We still rent, and there's not a ton of space to stock stuff. Now that I think about it, though, the garage is a disaster from when we moved in. Once we get some decent weather, I'll be in there going through stuff and organizing. Then we'd have some room in containers to put stuff. We usually always have CNS from Campbell's on hand with crackers.

Worst case scenario, I'll go hunt with what I have for firearms.
 
marmalady said:
We're going to get some water purifying tablets. One thing we do around the start of hurricane season is to wash out and save any 2-liter soda/juice bottles. When we hear of a storm possibly coming our way, we just fill up the bottles. Once the danger is past, they get dumped on the garden, and bottles saved to use again.

marm, be careful with water purification tablets. they also end up purifying your intestinal tract, and it could end up making matters worse.

look into a backpacker's pump purifier. the better ones will remove most chemicals and all living organisms to make the water safe.

since i was a kid, i've always stored a few fully equipped backpacks in my basement, ready for use. it happened to be the best way to store my stuff, keeping it all together and ready to go, sans food and water. i've joked with friends about how i could disappear into the mountains on a moments notice with full survival gear if the world ever went to heck, but in the back of my mind i was only half joking.

as far as pantry foods go, we have enough on hand at any time to live for a good month or 2. and i usually keep a dozen or more gallons of water in the basement as well, using it up and replenishing it every few weeks. our tap water has so much chlorine in it we refuse to use it for drinking and cooking, using the bottled water instead.
 
Thnis isn't in any way trying to recruit for my church, so take this in the spirit in which it's given.

I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Our church has been suggesting that it's members prepare both a 2 year supply of food and maintain a 36 hour emergency kit for disaster preparedness. And we have been doing it for better than thirty years. That's a good place to find the types of things needed in a disaster, both for the short term, and the long term.

Why keep a 2 year supply? I know of several families that have had to live extended time periods off of their supply due mainly to the loss of jobs, and the difficulty of finding a new means of financial support.

I live in an area of the country that has the least number of natural disasters of record. There are no tornadoes, huricanes, earthquakes, fires, floods, etc. I have the largest and cleanest body of fresh water on the planet almost at my back door. There is plenty of wild-life in the area, as well as vegetable foods that are available year round, even in the snow. So you might ask, why would I need emergency supplies?

Yes I could build a winter-proof shelter. Yes I can find food and water. Yes I could survive off of the land. But if the upper-peninsula were cut of by, say, a severe blizzard that closed the Mackinaw Bridge, closed the state highways (which has happened occasionally), then we would be completely isolated from supply distribution chains. Our stores would quickly run out of goods. Most people don't know how to survive off of the land. Plus, If I have plenty, than I can share some with my neighbors who may not.

Sadly, due to financial stress caused by various life occurances (furnaace broke down last week), and a car that has been sucking money out of me, and helping my children with tuition and books, my resources are stretched further than I'm used to. I need to build back up.

But whether you believe Armegeddon is just around the corner, or if you choose not to worry about anything, preparedness is a wise thing. It only takes one severe windstorm to knock out power for a large city portion. That means that perishables would spoil in the markets, electrical power might be gone for a few days, etc.

Myself, I think this is a valuable topic. And the LDS Church has some wonderful food storage and disaster preparedness regimens already in place, with literature to teach what needs to be in your home. Contact them. We're a freindly bunch who love to share our knowledge.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
Bucky, I did mean those purifying kits, not the tablets - senior moment, lol! Your story about your backpacks reminds me of 'life after 9/11' in Jersey. We lived about 20 miles outside NYC, and between the uncertainty about the terrorists and the anthrax alerts, we had 'go' bags packed and ready, with clothing, water, medical supplies, and toiletries, in case we had to leave in a hurry.

GW, thanks for all the info. You're right, it doesn't have to be 'Armageddon' - a major storm would do it, as we've all learned from the Gulf coast this year. Having been through enough 'disasters', I've learned that you can't rely on things being just as they are. After a snowstorm, you may not be able to get to the store for a week, or maybe you'll have power outages for that time. Not fun in the dead of winter. Delivery trucks won't be able to get through to the stores, and if the stores are without power, they won't be receiving shipments of perishables anyway.
 
marm, i live about the same distance as you did. from a hill up the block from my house, you could see the towers burning that day. :(

goodweed, thank god somebody's prepared, and prepared to help others.

i guess they didn't get to call themselves latter day saints for nothing. :)
 
Bucky, just bein' nosy - we lived in Bridgewater - where are you?

DH worked nights in the City; didn't go in the first night, but the 2nd night, went in via 95 and the GW, then down the West Side highway to the ABC building in mid-town.

We drove up to Washington Rock and saw the towers.

Sort of funny story re the first few days post - my son and I, and his aide (who had lived a very sheltered life!), were sitting out on the deck about a week or so after, when about 6 fighter jets zoomed right over us and broke the sound barrier just as they flew over. Poor woman thought we were being attacked; we had to tell her, 'no, these are the GOOD guys'!
 
my sister lives in bridgewater marm. nice town, nice neighbors. they have a huge house and property, i'd love to move down there.

we're still trying to fix up my mil's old house in garfield so we can sell it. we turned it into a 2 family to move in to take care of her, but now are stuck with an old house with a million things to upgrade or fix before we can move.

been looking in wayne and a little farther west on 80. i grew up in demarest, tho, so i've been in bergen county almost my whole life. (was born in nyc).

did your hubby work in 125 west end, or 7 west 66th? both are only blocks from cbs.
 
He worked at 125 West End; right across the street from the main power company building, where they had snipers on the roof in case of an attack on the power supply; really messed up parking for a 6 block radius around the building!

Garfield's a cute town, too. Have you thought of looking around Bedminster, or further down 206, in Hillsborough? There was a lot of development going on right as we were getting ready to move. We had a 150 year old house in Bwater, on 2 acres of land - it was wildlife central - even had a coyote the last year we were there!
 
I see a lot of talk relative to the Bird Flu about stockpiling water... are there any facts about the bird thing effecting the water supply, or is this a general thing?
 
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