Family Emergency Supplies - best checklist?

[silenus]

@Kalhoun

Good gawd. Two gallons of water seems a bit excessive unless you’re trekking across the desert. In Chicago in high summer, I don’t think I’d use more than a half gallon unless I was unable to get to shade.

For mere survival, I think the figure is 2 pints a day. But the seige of Jerusalem (1948) showed that a more accurate figure, for consumption, cooking and basic sanitation to be the 2 gallon/day figure. The thing that takes the longest to restore in a major disaster is safe water. Have plenty.

I live in earthquake and wildfire country, so we prepare like Vunderbob. 2 weeks worth of no-cook food, minimum. Lots of water, and “bug-out” bags for each of us and the cats. In a middle of the night practice run, we were loaded and out the driveway in less than 10 minutes. We also camp a good deal, so the equipment is always packed and ready.

[Kalhoun]

@VunderBob

At the place I was working when Y2K went on, we had a secretary who was a bit of a religious loon, and her preacher was all atwitter about Y2K. Had his whole congregation convinced that it was the apocalypse, or nearly so.

The secretary also went into hole-up mode. New Years came and went without a peep, and she was rather embarrased. That’s when I told her, “Just because it comes from a preacher’s mouth, doesn’t make it Gospel…”

<snort!>

[Nic2004]

We have a home generator and a means to connect directly to the house system (once disconnected from the street).
We keep batteries (D,C,AA,AAA, 9v and dry cell)in racks on the wall with regular rotation with flashlights and bulbs. There are also rechargable batteries with charger to use when the generator is running.
I have five 5 gallon bottles with 3 in normal use and rotation and I fill the others when there is a threat. we will also scrub/sterilize the bath tub and fill it when a storm is imminent. This is mostly used for wash-tub type baths, pets and flushing toilets, even though we typically do not lose water supply, only get a Boil Notice following a storm. I read on another thread the idea of water stoage in the large trash cans by putting a trash/leaf bag in the can before filling.
I have a small window shaker A/C unit to put in the window following the storm for limited running off the generator.
We have a gas powered chain saw, 2 extra chains and an extra blade as well as a two gal. gas/oil jug and 3-4 two-cycle oil additive cans. You may need to clear your driveway to get out or the road for others to get in.
We have five 5 gal. gas jugs which I fill if ther is notice of a storm. Otherwise, I have two of them in use all the time. I also have a small hand pump to remove fuel from our vehicle tanks. We fill them up before hand and use tham as big gas cans. I have run the generator for weeks before.
We fill one gal. milk bottles with water and freeze them before hand. We put one of these in a large cooler chest in the kitchen and keep our milk, water, sodas, and perishable foods (eggs, meats, etc.) there for regular access to keep traffic in and out of the fridge to a minimum.
We have a gas grill that I keep stocked with two 20lb. bottles for cooking and heating water.
And candles. The small voltive types can burn for 8 hours in a tight fitting glass container and this will make it possible to find your way to the bathroom at night with using batteries up. One in the kitchen and one in the bathroom per night.
We have a small portable DVD player that has a battery that last 2 hrs or so. I can recharge it when the generator is running for entertainment during the night, especially while the storm is raging. Helps keep the kids minds form dwelling on the storm outside.
We have lived fairly comfortably for two weeks before with A/C, cold drinks, decent meals, lights and movies.

[Lynn_Bodoni]

My house is rather old, and definitely outdated. The power lines that serve it are also old and outdated. It’s quite likely that a storm will knock out our power for anywhere from a few minutes to several days.

I’ve found that the following are good to have on hand:

A can opener (non-electric!)
Alternate light sources (candles and oil lamps)
A couple of those long candle lighters, we also use them to light the barbecue grill
Canned protein sources (soups, tuna, etc.)
Alternate heating sources, and lots of nice thick blankets
Bleach
Card and board games, things that don’t need a lot of light (I have problems reading by candlelight, gives me a headache)

This isn’t a complete survival list, it’s just our storm preparedness list. It’s meant to last us a couple of days until the power comes back on.

[NurseCarmen]

@Kalhoun

If it turns out to be a threat to humans, holing up in your house for two weeks won’t be the answer.

I don’t think it would be a bad idea. If you do come down with it, would you rather try to find a doctor in your town whan 100,000 people are looking for one, or when 1,000 people are?

August West, your cite seems to contradict your claim. Or at least, make it clear that there isn’t enough known about it at this point.

My point is that there have been several instances of suspected human-to-human transmission of H5N1, in virulent cases where most of the parties involved died or were severely ill. So I’m not sure that Ewald or anyone else can predict for sure at this point exactly what level of virulence is prohibitive for sustained transmission.

In a related category of “stuff they just don’t know yet,” there has been ongoing discussion about the possibility of Tamiflu-resistance in a potentially pandemic strain. Studies of Tamiflu resistance in human flu strains in Japan identified three different mutations in the NA [neuraminidase] gene that conferred resistance to Tamiflu (though not to Relenza). Each mutation also happens to lower the virus’ transmissibility by hobbling its neuraminidase. So, many conclude, a Tamiflu-resistant H5N1 strain probably couldn’t cause a pandemic anyway. But others, like Donis, think that’s wishful thinking – he says these viruses are very resourceful and could just as easily evolve compensatory mutations that make them fit again.

(bolding mine)

[silenus]

@Nic2004

We fill one gal. milk bottles with water and freeze them before hand. We put one of these in a large cooler chest in the kitchen and keep our milk, water, sodas, and perishable foods (eggs, meats, etc.) there for regular access to keep traffic in and out of the fridge to a minimum.

This is a very handy thing to do. We keep several coolers worth of ice in the bottom of the chest freezer at all times. This helps keep things frozen during a short power outage, and guarantees we have enough for impromptu parties as well. Not to mention the addition to out water supply.