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Are You Prepared for a Disaster?

Are you ready for a Disaster or emergency? September is National Preparedness Month. What would you do if a tornado, hurricane or even an earthquake threatened your home or business?

Just a few years ago, we experienced several events within a short period of time. Earthquake in Virginia?  What in the world? Well, the epicenter is was only about 15 miles from my home! I remember that day like it was yesterday…I was getting my hair cut at the Downtown Salon in Fredericksburg, Virginia. And we were not prepared. I remember watching the floor literally move under our feet! And then everyone standing under the door frame of the bathroom until it passed. The drive home to access the damage was pretty frightening. Well…lesson learned!

So, what should you do to be prepared for a disaster? I thought that I would share with you the list from the FEMA website. This is just a list of “recommended” items. You may need to add specific items to your list, based on your family’s individual needs.

Let’s start with The Basic Disaster Supplies Kit. This includes:

• Water, one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation
• Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food
• Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• First aid kit
• Whistle to signal for help
• Dust mask to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
• Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
• Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
• Manual can opener for food
• Local maps
• Cell phone with chargers, inverter or solar charger

Once you have gathered the supplies for a basic emergency kit, you may want to consider adding the following items:

• Prescription medications and glasses
• Infant formula and diapers
• Pet food and extra water for your pet
• Cash or traveler’s checks and change
• Important family documents such as copies of insurance policies, identification and bank account records in a waterproof, portable container. You can use the Emergency Financial First Aid Kit – EFFAK (PDF-977Kb) developed by Operation Hope, FEMA and Citizen Corps to help you organize your information.                         ***Life-in-Case is a great product for this information!
• Emergency reference material such as a first aid book or free information from the FEMA web site.
• Sleeping bag or warm blanket for each person. Consider additional bedding if you live in a cold-weather climate.
• Complete change of clothing including a long sleeved shirt, long pants and sturdy shoes. Consider additional clothing if you live in a cold-weather climate.
• Household chlorine bleach and medicine dropper – When diluted, nine parts water to one part bleach, bleach can be used as a disinfectant. Or in an emergency, you can use it to treat water by using 16 drops of regular household liquid bleach per gallon of water. Do not use scented, color safe or bleaches with added cleaners.
• Fire extinguisher
• Matches in a waterproof container
• Feminine supplies and personal hygiene items
• Mess kits, paper cups, plates, paper towels and plastic utensils
• Paper and pencil

  

• Books, games, puzzles or other activities for children

And, my personal Emergency Preparedness Kit will include my Young Living 9 Essential Oils. (Valor, Peppermint, Lemon, Purification, Thieves, Frankincense, Lavender, Peace & Calming and Pan Away).

And, lastly, don’t forget that when all of your information is stored in the Cloud you will be able to access it from any electronic device when you use Mobillogic. Talk about making life easy!

My wish is that we never need to be prepared for a natural disaster. However, when it happens…it is too late to think about everything mentioned. So, be prepared and stay safe!