The first preparedness challenge in February is to add food and water to your 72-hour kit and make an evacuation list.
Always plan to evacuate on foot to an evacuation shelter (typically a school or church), and hope you get to evacuate in your car. Pray you don’t break your leg and have to lug your kit and two kids in tow. Hopefully you have kind neighbors. Let’s get to work.
Food and Water
- Food and water should last for three days. 72-Hour Kit Food Pack Example.pdf (2022 prices)
- Choose items with a shelf life of at least 6 months to 1 year.
- Try to find items which are lightweight, but have high calories. Stressful situations burn more calories. Each adult should try to get up to 2000 calories per day.
- Include some king of comfort food like hard candy.
- Consider the strong odors of the foods you are storing. Even though it is high in protein, beef jerky can make everything smell horrible.
- It’s impossible for one person to carry three gallons of water in a backpack. Put water you can carry in your kit and keep extra water next to your kit in case you evacuate by car. Store bottles of water in bags to prevent accidental leakage.
- Store your kits inside your home and never in a garage where heat will damage your food.
Emergency Contact List
- Update your emergency contact list every six months.
- I laminate mine to protect it from water damage.
- Yes, these numbers are in your cell phone, but cell phones get damaged during disasters. Be smart.
Family Emergency Communication Plan
- Go to Ready.gov/plan and fill out your communication plan. Print it out. Laminate it or put it in a plastic bag in your kit to protect from water damage.
Family Photo
- Add a current photo is helpful for identification or if someone gets separated.
Cash
- Keep cash in small bills in a waterproof container and well hidden. Perhaps enough for a night in a hotel and some food.
- Consider the fact that Mom and Dad may NOT evacuate together during a disaster.
Create a Grab and Go List
- Print and fill out my Grab and Go List. Prioritize what you would grab now while you are calm and collected. Work on this before the adrenaline rush comes and you can’t remember the name of one of your kids in an emergency.
- This handout will help when you have 5, 15 or 30 minutes to evacuate. Put the most important items in the 5 min. section and so on. If you did this last year, update it.
- Hang a few copies inside cupboard doors in your house. Make sure your teen knows where it is.
Resources:
These tasks may take several weeks to complete. Just do the best you can with the time you have.
Best wishes and look for the good,
Valerie Albrechtsen
The Food Storage Organizer
Purchase my food storage and emergency preparedness items in my Etsy shop.
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