Friday, August 26, 2011

Emergency Preparedness

When I lived in California, I always made sure to have and earthquake emergency kit in the house.  Being in New Jersey now, the only emergency that I felt I needed to be prepared for was a blizzard....and by prepared I mean having lots of cozy blankets, a good supply of hot chocolate, a stack of movies, and of course bread, milk and eggs.  Well slap me sideways if I was proven wrong this past month.  First of all....we had a mini tornado around the beginning of August.  I don't even know if I can call it mini if it can do this to a tree:




Yeah....ripped it right up to the roots.  The hole is easily 10 feet deep.  Sonny and I were watching the storm at the window and it ripped right through our backyard in a cloud of rain.  It was so thick that Hunter said "oh wow....smoke!!"  When it cleared about 3 seconds later we saw the tree.  So nuts!

Then on Wednesday we had an earthquake.  An EARTHQUAKE!!  In NEW JERSEY!!!  What the hell??  I was so not prepared for this.  After the shock of that earthquake (hahaha.....after....shock...get it?), the news started reporting that a hurricane is headed our way....RIGHT OVER NEW JERSEY.  Aw...what the hell?  So instead of being panicked...because really...I can't be....I decided to get prepared.  Even though I'm not in earthquake country, it is clear that mother nature is kicking me in the butt saying  "YO LANI (cuz Mother Nature is all hard and tough like that...yo yo)....you never know what's going to happen...so get yourself and your family prepared!!."    So here I am....early on a Friday morning, along with everyone else around me....going to get supplies. 

When it comes to an emergency kit, it is imperative that you put it in a part of your house that is easily accessible.  For us it would be in the little nook right off of our stairs in the garage.  Also, make sure that you use a use a heavy duty container like a Rubbermaid bin.  Because the storm has not yet arrived and I'm preparing last minute, this is what I chose to put in my emergency, emergency kit:

-Water (enough for a couple days)
-Juice boxes
-Flashlight (and extra batteries)
-Candles and matches
-Can Opener
-Canned foods (fruit, veggies, chili, tuna)
-Crackers (can substitute as bread)
-Squeezable baby foods...get their veggies in
-Single serving fruit cups (so nothing gets wasted or goes bad without refrigeration)
-"Fun" snacks for the kids
-A baby....just kidding...just one who's super curious and cute and doesn't know how to get out of the frame
-A magazine (for moms sanity)
-Starbucks Via Iced Coffee....just because I don't have power doesn't mean I can't have coffee


-Blankets
-Towel
-Extra clothes
-Diapers and wipes
-First Aid kit (kids Tylenol, Aleve, thermometer, band aids...pretty much all the basics)
-A couple toys and books for the kids
-Paper plates and cups
-Dog food
-Swiss Army knife
-Keys
-Wallet with a few dollars cash and insurance cards


I tried to take the best pics I could....but let's be real....this isn't the most interesting thing to photograph.  Although I'm sure most of you out there could make it look gorgeous!  Anyway...because we actually know when this storm is coming...I'm also going to prep some food like making blueberry muffins, pre-popping popcorn, and making a pasta salad with oil based dressing.  I'm also going to make a baked ziti to use up the turkey that's in the fridge (pasta is always good cold....am I the only one?), charge all the cell phones and the dvd player, and change all the batteries in favorite toys.  That way we can have a little fun too when the power goes out, which I will bet you $100,000 it does.  Our power always goes out.
If I had a little more time, I would probably put in a little camping grill with extra propane tanks and a pot to cook on, just in case we can't cook on our stove, copies of all emergency documents either laminated or put in a waterproof bag, copy of keys, and a pay as you go cell phone all charged and ready.  It's also important to go through your kit quarterly to make sure nothing has expired and that all the batteries and things are still in working order.  It's also good to go through when you have young kids to make sure you have the updated sizes in clothing and diapers.   It all seems so excessive...but who knows what could happen!!  Think of it as insurance, because here in little ol' Mount Laurel we've had a tornado, an earthquake, and an impending hurricane, so I can only think that being overly prepared is the best way to be.  Be safe this weekend everyone....and hoping everyone on the coast is OK.  We'll get through this together.

1 comment:

  1. Hope you guys don't get hit too hard! My husband's coastal NC family is coming to stay with us because of the storm :( Stay safe!

    ReplyDelete

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