Hurricanes, Fires, Blackouts should we have a 72-hour kit or set one up for 7 days? 7 ideas to include in your planning.

  I watch the local animals all the time, I'm out amongst them, they are a real part of my life, I pay attention. That being said I have to wonder what in the heck are the red squirrels up to? Talk about preparing for something these guys are collecting food like they are on steroids. It started in July, a full 1-1/2 month earlier than normal, I first noticed them after my apple tree was stripped of fruit, they normally do that in late August. When they finished with the tree they started hauling Black Walnuts around, everywhere I looked there was a squirrel with a walnut, running full speed to who knows where. That's not the strangest activity they are up to, however, I was on the Levee by a neighbors house and saw what I thought was evidence of the raccoons turning the sod and weeds over looking for grubs, it actually was the squirrels digging holes 6-8 inches in diameter 2-3 inches deep. I started telling my neighbor about it, he cut me off and related an incident that happened to him earlier in the day. He was on the Levee when suddenly he heard a bunch of chattering from a gang of red squirrels, loud and near to him.

Here's three now conspiring against everyone but themselves.
Innocent looking little beasties aren't they? The 4th one is the
ringleader.

Suddenly about six squirrels ran to the ground and faced him chattering, wagging their tails and jumping around, then they attacked! He said that they approached so close he was almost ready to start kicking them away, he didn't, the little beast backed off, he left them to their weirdness. The only thing I can think of is they are preparing for a long cold wet winter, but that's not what the ducks, geese, and mudhens are telling me. (They have yet to show up in the slough) I'm thinking now maybe a mild winter up North and brutal in the Southwest, I'm not sure what's going on with them either. It has started my thinking motor up, I wonder how much preparation I should be doing for this winter which appears to be upon us so soon. This is a Link to the Farmer Almanac's 2017 winter predictions.
  In my neck of the woods, the predominate threats are Electrical interruptions, Wildfire, Flood, Earthquake, Wind Storms and of course the 800-pound gorilla Earthquakes. A fairly large assortment of impending doom and gloom, with Electrical outages being the more common of them all. How much "stuff" do we need to be certain we will survive the first 72 hours of an event? All of the Government Agencies and Private Disaster Responders recommend to have on hand at least enough water and food to last the first 3 days, I have a different opinion. I am an advocate of having a weeks worth of supplies for each person, if you are putting together a 3-day emergency kit, double it. For 7 days one case of pint water bottles is the amount of drinking water needed for one person if there are 4 people in your family you will need 4 cases. One Half of a gallon of water per day per person, just to drink, that does not include food preparation or clean up. More is needed for hygienic demands, it's easy to achieve if it doesn't have to be carried anywhere, one gallon of water weighs 8.34 pounds, 5 gallons nearly 45 pounds, try carrying that for any distance. Well, the reality is we most likely won't have to carry our supplies very far, if evacuation is ordered the 6-day kits are light enough and equipped with enough survival gear to get us to an evacuation point. Even at that, during some events people have been at the "muster" stations overnight as well as for several days, there are supplies at the sites, but they won't have everything you need. FEMA's recommendations of what to include in a kit Link.
  It is estimated approximately 1/3 of us have a kit set up to go, without exception everyone I talk to makes a comment such as "Yeh, I've been thinking of looking into that." When it is needed it is way too late, especially if you are stranded in your house with no utilities. That is when the stockpile of water comes in, it weighs nothing if it doesn't have to be carted around. I have a two person kit set by the door on the levee side, there are two of us, my wife and myself. Setting up a two-person kit is a very good starting point, prepare one, then prepare a second one, later on, you will then have a 6 day kit for two people. When subsidized with supplies in the house, a six-day survival kit will be an adequate supply to get us past the first week. There are many ideas of what should be packed in an emergency kit, FEMA, The Red Cross and others have lists of what should be included in a kit. There are many blogs and websites with extensive lists of what should be included, some list hundreds of items others list the most fundamental supplies. Pre-packaged kits are also available and prove to be a very good starting point, they can be easily added to with each of our individual needs.

A four-person 72-hour emergency kit, this one has an
emergency bucket toilet, it may be a consideration.

  Besides a 72-hour kit, an extremely important component of your emergency agenda must be a very detailed plan. There are templates available online (Link), although some people prefer to create their own. Some of the important issues to address when writing your plans are: (In my opinion)
  1)  Take a photo of your family and your pets, include it in each person's copy of your emergency plan, during an evacuation pets get lost, most never find their owners. A picture of your pet with you makes it easier for people who have seen the animal to recall it, and after seeing the photo will positively ID your pet.
  2)  Include your children in the planning, use some of their suggestions, practice the escape routes, and make sure they are assigned responsibilities during the disaster. Such as you grab this bag and meet us there. When children are included and some of their suggestions are added to the plan, they have "buy-in", they feel ownership and become a very important part of an extremely serious situation.
  3) Set up clothing near your bed every night, items that are easy to slip on and available. In the event of a house fire, we don't want to spend any time looking for something to wear, make it easy on yourself.
  4)  Charge your cell phone every night, leave it in an accessible spot, in fact, plug everything in before going to bed, computer, flashlights, and mobility equipment if someone is disabled.
  5)  Include in your plan an out of state contact number, when separated, family members will call this number and leave a message including where they are, and their physical condition. The local lines will be jammed up, when a busy signal is received people hang up and immediately re-dial, adding to the jam up. The out of area lines are generally clear during a Catastrophic event, use them.
  6)  Be certain to include in the plan instructions on what people should do in the event a Catastrophic event occurs while they are home alone. Go over those instructions often, teenagers are often at home alone, I have found when emergency procedures are practiced that when they are needed the procedures become second nature.
  7)  Place containers of water in your freezer and leave them there, they will freeze and if power is lost they serve two purposes. The cold ice will help to preserve the foods in the freezer section of the refrigerator, then upon melting the water can be used for consumption. It will be perfectly suitable for drinking and cooking needs.

From destruction to complete re-build will take about 2 years.

  That's certainly not an all-inclusive list by a long shot, but it's a few points that I feel are very important, and as usual water access is the highest priority. We have had a bunch of disasters so far this year, most have caused the victims to evacuate for over a one week period. Granted most have gone to rescue stations and temporary accommodations, some will be temporarily housed for as long as 2-3 years. It is my experience when a house burns to the ground it takes about two years until the rebuilt house is ready for occupancy, we should probably incorporate the long period into our planning. Who can I live with while my house is being rebuilt? Is a very relevant question to ask.
  Thanks for reading and sharing, it's time we get prepared, make a plan, build a kit and be ready for any event. I have made a new youtube video, it's a demo on the Guardian Two Person Emergency Kit, I explain briefly each item. Watching the video may give you some ideas on what to pack in your kit. This Link is to the video.
jacquesandkate  emergencykitsplus.com