Project for everyone: Family emergency/ survival kits

[NightWatcher]

We live in very strange and dangerous times. For those of us in the South East, hurricane season is coming. Do you have your family's survival kits ready? Let me just say that this weekend would be a very good time to be sure that you have at least a week's worth of food, water, and supplies in storage in the event of a hurricane or other disaster.
Stange things are afoot in the Middle East and strange things are also going on in Tampa, Fl. Tampa is the home of MacDill Air Base and CENTCOM.
Take this weekend to get a family communication plan in place along with an emergency supply of food, water, and supplies.

[Squatch]

1. Mine consists of a 1st aid kit, a case of MREs, and a 12 gauge shotgun

[libnnc]

22. Where do you get your MREs

That's a damn good idea.

[Squatch]

23. I'm in the Army

So I usually have a few cases laying around.

But, you can buy them on Ebay, etc.

[libnnc]

25. I totally forgot you were in the service. I'm sorry--big brain fart

I'll check out Ebay. Thanks

[Javaman]

29. What is the estimated shelf life of MRE's? nt

[Squatch]

30. Probably a few years.

I've opened after 3 years and they were just fine.

[JNelson6563]

2. You make a good point.

We really are in unpredictable times.

Julie

[Gormy Cuss]

3. San Francisco has a web page with some guidance.

Not that there are any natural disasters looming in the background around here or anything.
;)
http://www.72hours.org/

[Pachamama]

31. An excellent site - even for those that are not in San Francisco...

It's got valuable info and is easy to navigate....

Thanks for posting!

[magellan]

4. Excellent reminder

I need to restock our hurricane kit. For whatever kind of "hurricane" comes.

[EFerrari]

5. I'm good for a month except for bribe money and cigs.

I always seem to filch those things. :)

[Gormy Cuss]

9. For bribes, you'll be all right if your supe flees the country....

speaking of which, I want to start a betting pool on whether Ed Jew and his lawyer/friend Calvin Louie will come back from Hong Kong in early June. ;) I'm thinking no.

[EFerrari]

11. No supe is better than what we've had hear for years.

Fiona Ma couldn't return a call to save her life -- or, to get a vote for that matter.

But that is a wild story about Ed, isn't it?

[chimpymustgo]

6. Thanks. Excellent idea - K and R.

It's no telling what's going to come down - be it weather or war. Best position your family as best you can.

[soothsayer]

7. costco sells these cool buckets full of like 274 meals (a 3 month supply?)

i reckon you need water to make 'em work. and to live of course, lol.

[helderheid]

13. I've been considering buying that

[Donnachaidh]

15. If those are dehydrated be SURE you have CLEAN WATER stored.

I know it sounds stupid, but a neighbor who bought something similar just before an earthquake hit, found himself kind of screwed because he hadn't thought that part out.

[file83]

LOL - I've actually got 2 of those buckets...

...plus about 3 months worth of canned goods.

It feels good knowing that I'll probably never need it, but I do have it (just in case).

[jean]

8. What strange things are going on in Tampa, FL? Thanks for the reminder

about emergency kits.

[yy4me]

10. Please elaborate on the "strange things" for those of us

not near you. Anyone else noticing activity we should know about?

[NightWatcher]

14. this is all second hand info, but

schedules are changing and staff is ramping up for early next week. Usually around holidays people try to squirm out of duty, but this next week more staff are being locked down. This is second hand from an associate in the USAF. I hope that I can say more later. I dont want to seem alarmist.
If anyone else is in Tampa, please let us know if anything looks funny.

[Bluebear]

12. *Excellent* thread. As Katrina taught us, we are on our own, folks. nt

[Donnachaidh]

16. a good starter source -- LAFD earthquake emergency list

This is a good starter site:

http://www.lafd.org/eqfood.htm

[Donnachaidh]

17. another list from the CDC

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/earthquakes/supplies.asp

[merh]

18. Let me just warn you, if you have the plastic gallon containers of

water and you have had them sitting for a year or more, stored off to the side, you may want to check them. Two of mine spouted leaks last weekend and I thought my dogs had kidney problems (they were stored under the benches in the booth seats of my fema trailer). My trailer leans (since Fema leveled it, not before) to one side and the water ran out from under the benches and soaked the carpet.

If you keep supplies, you need to check them often to be sure that the containers are holding up.

[Horse with no Name]

26. On the same line

There is a boat factory that is behind us. They have been doing tons of burning. I had 50 gallons of unpotable water stored in the garage in laundry soap containers.
I went to check on things and the rats from the burning fields have chewed into them and drank the water.
So just a reminder to check on things from time to time.
:hi:

[goclark]

19. This is an xcellent Link for Emergencies

http://www.72hours.org/first_aid.html

[Gregorian]

20. I've got duct tape. What else would one need?

I'm joking, in case anyone wonders.

And don't be angry with my reply. In a way I'm not joking at all.

[Javaman]

28. Edible duct tape is the secret. Invent that and you rule the world. nt

[1monster]

21. A week's worth? During the summer that four hurricanes hit Florida,

we were out of power for something like twenty-one days.

My suggestion is to add a generator to you list of survival kits, and at least two five-gallon cans of gas. Put a little Stabil in it and if you don't need it by the end of the hurricane, you can fill up your car's gas tank.

You will be grateful for the fact that you can plug in your refrigerator/freeer and not lose hundred of dollars worth of food AND that you can keep perishable food on hand.

If you have an electric pump supplying your water supply, you might want to invest in a manual over ride or lots of bottled water long before a tropical storm/hurricane is headed in your general direction.

Governor Crist has declared the first week of June as tax free for hurricane supplies, so if you live in Florida, you might want to stock up on batteries, lamp oil, etc. during that period.

[BluePatriot]

24. Also - make a car kit

It can come in handy for a variety of situations, even just running out of gas, having a mechanical breakdown, or an unexpected overnight at a friend's house. It doesn't have to be expensive. I got the backpack for it 75 percent off at Target and the clothes/coat/blanket was old stuff I wanted to get rid of anyway. Petty cash and change can be added and forgotten (I have $15ish I think...may want to add more as that used to be enough for a tank of gas...bleh...) However, un-stylish as it may be, it will function perfectly well in an emergency.

I have in addition to a prepackaged emergency car kit (w/tools, jumper cables, etc): a change of presentable clothes to be worn in layers, a pair of broken-in closed toe shoes and socks, some cash in small bills, an old coat, a fleece throw and Space Blanket, and various high calorie foods that will keep in a car trunk (bottled water, granola bars, peanuts, hard candies, ramen, vitamins, plasticware and napkins) Plus, stuff to do -- playing cards, pen and paper, and old book. A flashlight. Rope, A poncho, a tarp. Water bottle. Matches. Few year old atlas filched from work. Etc.

YMMV up north, this is a southern car kit, so cold is not factored in. Actually, I need to rotate the food. There are great lists on the internet for this kind of stuff. I think the biggest thing people forget is adding comfort items and things to do. Do throw in fave hard candies and a book. Fighting stress is important to survival.

[Sweet Freedom]

27. Keep your gas tank filled

I know, I know, but if you need to leave town, you'll need gas in the car.

Four days before Rita hit Texas, it took me four hours to get home from work (25 miles). I stopped at 6 different gas stations and all were out of gas. I couldn't get gas until the next week. (Fortunately, I was stocked with essentials.)

[DU GrovelBot]

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[bobbolink]

33. This is a project for *everyone*?

You sure about that?

Homeless people participate....HOW?


Do you only include in "everyone" people who are just like you?

[bobbolink]

35. You didn't want to reply that you weren't thinking of poor and homeless people, eh?

[conscious evolution]

34. Phone links

Something I was taught in LA was to have everyone in the family memorize an out of state phone # of a friend or relative.This was so that if we were in seperate locations when a big quake hit everyone could call in to let the others know you are allright and to serve as a communication link.
The important thing is the person to call should be out of state.It was explained to me that in many disasters it is easier to make long distance calls than local calls.

[Ghost in the Machine]

36. 2 person survival kit...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=213x3263