The trilogy of survival Self-Reliance, Self-awareness, and personal responsibility will see us through any emergency.

"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail"

Ben Franklin

Hurricane Lane has dumped 3-4 feet of rainfall, the third highest recorded since 1950, at one time this past weekend the entire island was under flash flood warnings. The government is recommending residents keep two weeks of water, food, and other supplies on hand. I advocate keeping one week versus the 72 hour supply recommended by FEMA and most other disaster preparedness government entities. Two weeks is a reasonable supply, one week is ample for a short event and three days is enough to keep a person supplied during an evacuation.  (Follow this Link to read about record-breaking rain in Hawaii)

The amount of supplies is the most difficult question to answer, it differs whether the catastrophe is a shelter in place, evacuation, or if being forced to shelter in place is in a partially destroyed house. In the aftermath of a rapidly moving wildfire, residents who have lost everything most likely did not have enough time to grab anything before fleeing. Tornadoes are much the same many times' entire towns are destroyed, and when people emerge from their shelters they realize everything is lost. There are also those disasters that sheltering in place is in order, often the homes that provide shelter are damaged, but they still have usable food and liquids.

Anyone of us could be on that roof one day.

Our pantries, refrigerators, and freezers have salvageable food we are able to add to the stored supply we have set up. When a major disaster wrecks its havoc one of the predictable after effects is power outages, making it essential we survey our supplies quickly. I look in our pantry's contents, dried noodles, (women call it pasta, men call it noodles, go figure), oatmeal, various dry cereal and numerous cans of assorted preserved foods. Many of the items will last a long time, rice, beans, dehydrated fruit, honey, oatmeal, and pasta to name a few. Other foods must be kept refrigerated below 40 degrees F (4.44 C), inside a refrigerator or kept on ice. Butter, margarine, hard cheese, raw fruits, and dairy all must be kept cold.

Seafood cooked or raw, meats, poultry, milk, cream, yogurt and soft cheese when kept below 40 F longer than 2 hours should be disposed of without a thought. Pies made of dairy products such as custard, chiffon or cheese should likewise be disposed of. Fresh eggs, egg substitutes, processed lunch meat, prepared pizza, hotdogs creamy dressing and cream-filled pastries are subjects for disposal as well. Becoming ill during an emergency situation is not an attractive state, it is prudent to arbitrarily dispose of any at-risk foods, keeping only those that we know for a fact do pose a threat to us. It appears as if there may not be many foods that would be salvageable after such an event, but there are some things we can do now to prepare. (This Link will lead you to FEMA's planning templates)

Water is a big part of any survival plan, we each need a minimum of 1/2 gallon per day for drinking purposes only, and depending upon how hot the temperature is we may require more. Water may be stored in the freezer in containers made for just that purpose, they lay flat on the bottom of the freezer under the frozen food. The frozen water will extend the life of the food in the freezer, how long depends upon how often the door is opened allowing the cold air to tumble out. A dial thermometer is the best way to keep track of the internal temperature, simply lay it on top of the food and check it only when the door is open to retrieve supplies. One case of 24 pints of bottled water will supply one person for a one week period, drinking water only, sanitation needs demand more. As the water in the freezer thaws, it is then available for drinking, cooking, and hygienic purposes. Drink water that has been stored for emergency needs, it should not be assumed our water supplies are safe especially after a flood, fire, or hurricane. Flood water should never be used for any purpose, after walking in it we need to shower and change clothes as soon as possible.

Most pantries have somethings in them we can use after the event.

The food in our homes will supply us for several days, the oatmeal, pasta, granola, and canned foods will suffice after making sure it is safe. Only in certain circumstances will we be able to rely on our pantries, we should all have a 7-day survival kit on the handset up next to our exits. During our planning not adding the house supplies in our emergency food and water supply is prudent, we have no idea in advance what catastrophe we may face.

Regardless of the supplies we store, a means of boiling water and cooking must be paid attention to. Camp stoves, Bar-B-Ques. and open fires will all serve well. A vessel to boil water in, and utensils to cook with, are all important to include in our planning. Some people invest in a sanitary station consisting of a tent enclosure, portable toilet, and a shower are generally the highlights of the stations.

It is unfortunate that during the past three years we have witnessed terrible tragedies at ever increasing strengths and duration. Whether out West dealing with wildfires and smoke, the Midwest with Tornadoes, the North with blizzards, and the eastern seaboard dealing with deluges of unimaginable size, we all need to become more self-reliant. My goal is to be as self-reliant as possible for my family first, then to also have enough supplies on hand to be able to assist my neighbors when the need arises. Being self-aware of my limitations with preparedness, and my ability to deal with emergency situations is an important aspect as well. In order to be a successful survivor is knowing what we are and are not capable of and what we need help with. Taking responsibility for ourselves is the final of my personal trilogy, I am responsible for making sure my family and neighbors survive what we may have to endure.
( Follow this Link to a typical survival kit)

The Hawaiian authorities were advising people to gather 7 days of supplies during the Hurricane, showing packed grocery, hardware, and water stores on TV that were packed with people waiting in unbelievably long lines. It is best for us to prepare or supplies well before any event takes place, it enables us to avoid price gouging and long lines. Emergency kits are available commercially, custom made for our special needs, or many people put their own together, whichever way we choose will suffice.

Thanks for reading and sharing my blog. Give some thought to what natural or man-made disasters you may be faced with and if you have not yet start planning now. As thinly stretched as the first responders are the response times are sure to increase. If that time extends into many days, which we have already witnessed during the heavy onslaught of three Hurricanes, in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico last year a week-long emergency is becoming the norm. The old sing-song "Prepare for the worst and hope for the best", is very good advice during these storms, wildfires, and the flooded world we occupy.  Thanks again and certainly consider preparing yourself and family to survive for one week at least, or as Hawaii is now recommending 14 days.

jacquesandkate  EmergencyKitsPlus.com