Everyone that reads my blog should know by now that I am a bit of a preparedness freak. We live in a day and age where we need to be prepared for anything and everything. I'm hoping that I can encourage my friends who are my readers to do a little preparedness for their homes and vehicles after reading what I have to say.
Disaster #1: Most people can still remember the Derecho storm that passed through the entire state of West Virginia and a few surrounding states 2 summers ago in June. People were without power for upwards of an entire month. Temperatures were in the 100 degree mark at that time. There was a run on gas and water at the stores. My mom was without power for a good week in which I drove out to go get her to stay with us during that time. Fortunately, our electric did not go out during that storm, but all of our neighbors were without electric. Most people that live out here are used to the power outages so they have purchased generators for just that reason. A few years ago we were finally able to afford one so we bought one. We have a whole house generator that comes on when the electric goes off for so many seconds. It runs off of our free gas and I don't have to do anything at all when the electric goes off. The odd thing was we didn't have to use our generator during that storm. One of my neighbors was not prepared for this storm or anything for that matter. She brought down some food from her freezer for me to store for her. She would charge her cell phone at our house because she didn't have a phone charger for her car. She didn't even have a corded phone for her land line in her house either. She had no water. Nothing. She would drive to a friends house who had a pool who also had not electric and she would go swimming all day there and then come home in the evening stopping by to pick up something from the freezer that belonged to her. I could go on but I won't. Do I think she is prepared for another event like this? Not at all. I myself think it is irresponsible of her to not be prepared with the little things. That probably sounds harsh, but why would you want to mooch off of someone else in times of trouble when you don't have to? Did I mention she has 3 kids and a husband and 2 dogs?
Disaster #2: Before that disaster we experienced a little disaster of our own. My father in law had a heart attack and was in the hospital for a few days until the hospital decided they couldn't help him any longer and sent him to another hospital out of state. They decided to move him around 10pm at night and didn't get him on the road until around midnight. There was a storm at that time so they couldn't fly him there. Anyway, we drove to Kentucky at midnight through a storm with my husband's mother. We did not know we were going to be in this position so we didn't have any clothes, medicines, chargers for the kids games, or anything other than I did have a snack bag that I keep in my truck at all times for just in case of an emergency we might need it. That didn't last long though with 5 people. We were 4 days wearing the same clothes. This is still hard to think about as the outcome was my father in law passed away at the hospital, but I did learn a few things that I'll share at the end.
Disaster #3: West Virginia is currently still in a State of Emergency, in my opinion, due to a chemical spill into the public water system that contaminated the water, hot water heaters, pipes in over 300,000 homes. People were told not to use the water except to flush their toilets as it was/is extremely hazardous to your health. People are getting chemical burns on their hands, face, eyes, and their bodies for using this water. I would hate to see what it is doing to the insides of those who drink it. Pregnant women and children are being told to avoid the water altogether. Everyday we are learning more and more about this spill and the news is not good at all. First they say it was this amount of chemical. Then they add an extra chemical to that chemical and then they say it was even more of the two chemicals. At first they said it all happened in a short period of time on that day and now they say it had to be leaking for at least 20 hours! It has been 20 days and people are still using bottled water to wash their dishes, cook with, drink, and wash up with. Not everyone is still doing that, but most are. My mom isn't using the water except to wash her clothes. Schools were shut down for a week. Restaurants were shut down for over a week. Hospitals had to cancel surgeries for a few days. There was a run on the water the first few days and the stores sold out very fast. Being the prepared freak that I am I had 2 cases of bottled water at my house. I also have 5 gallon water jugs that we use to drink because we like the taste of it. I took water to my sister and my mom. My sister had just bought a case the day before and my mom had been storing up water for an emergency such as this. I also took them some paper plates, cups and baby wipes that I had on hand. This disaster is ongoing....
Disaster #3: This isn't happening in my home state of West Virginia, but it is currently happened in the state of Georgia where one of my dearest friends Sandie lives. Georgia is not used to getting snow ever so they are not prepared and equipped to handle such an emergency even with as little as 2 inches of snow. I doubt it if they even keep salt on hand for snow because it just doesn't really happen there. In West Virginia that is a common occurrence. In Georgia there were hundreds of people who were stuck on the highway trying to get home. Sandie's husband was one of those people stuck on the highway with no where to go. He was stuck for over 24 hours trying to make it home. I seen on my local news where they reported that there were many children at school whose parents were unable to get there to pick them up. Those children spent the night at the school last night. This is a big event for them and scary I'm sure.
Disaster #4: With the extreme winter we have been having our temperatures have been as low as 20 below zero these past few days. At my house I've had a reading of -9 below zero. Schools have shut down yet again due to the extreme temperatures. Every county in the state of West Virginia was shut down due to this weather this week! I haven't been out for 10 days now due to the extreme weather conditions and my kids being home from school. There is no need to go out when you don't really need to. I am prepared for this. We have everything we need to survive.
We never know when a disaster will strike so we have got to be prepared for not if it happens, but for when it happens! It will happen! There will be a day and a time when you and your family will be at the mercy of whether or not you prepared for such an event. There are many ways to prepare. Having a nice variety of foods in your pantry and freezer will help to keep you from having to make a trip to the store during a snowstorm.
I like to keep bottled water around for emergencies. Also, some baby wipes are nice to have along with paper plates, plastic cups and disposable forks and spoons in case you can't wash dishes. Those items would apply to most all disasters. I have a few packets of powdered milk in case we run out of milk. Canned soups can be a life safer come dinner time.
When the electric goes off most people don't realize their cordless phones to their landline won't work so you need one of those old fashioned corded phones. I have one of those in my bedroom by my bed. I have the phone number for the power company stored in the emergency list so I can call them in the middle of the night without having to try to find their number. Having them on the speed dial of your cordless phone will be of no use when the electric is off. We don't have cell phone coverage at our house. I try to keep gas for the grill and some extra gas for a vehicle in a gas can. It was several days before you could get to a gas station after the Derecho. I was lucky I had a full tank when it happened and was able to drive over to my moms to rescue her and her dog. I cook with gas so I have a 2 burner electric stovetop unit that I use when our gas is off. I don't have a microwave. I don't want one.
In the winter I always keep a few throw blankets in the backseat of my truck. I keep a small bag with extra gloves and hats in there also. I also have a flashlight in case of an emergency. A snack bag full of a different variety of snacks is a must all year round. I generally do carry a cooler with water and Gatorade especially on long trips and in the summer. Ponchos are a great thing to have around when you are caught in a rainstorm and an umbrella won't do. Since I have long hair I like to keep rubber bands for just in case I need them. Being a lady I keep some of those ladies days things in there also! I now keep chargers for the kids DS games, my husband's cell phone, my daughter's cell phone and the ipad. I even have a few of the toothbrushes that are disposable. Having been stuck in a hospital for 4 days I now have a deck of cards and a few things that could keep us busy while waiting.
In my purse I now carry around a few essentials that helped when we were at the hospital. I have Advil, Rolaids, Chapstick, Zertec, Alavert, band-aids, a swiss army type of knife. I now need to carry around my prescription that I have to take 2 times a day. Tic tacs or some type of candy or gum.
There are many different ways you can prepare for a disaster at your home or for when you are in your vehicle. I hope that you will take some time to evaluate your family's needs and get prepared for the next disaster should you have one at your house.
Angela
1 day ago
