You have probably all seen the news reports of flooding here in metro Atlanta in recent days. We were incredibly lucky not to be personally affected, and luckily our friends and family are all safe. Unfortunately, a few friends have had some basement flooding, and my heart goes out to them, but all in all, my loved ones and I have been very lucky. Here are some images of the flooding:
John Spink, ajc.com
John Spink, ajc.com
The first photo was taken not far from our apartment. Unfortunately, some of the neighborhoods in our area got flooded when Peachtree Creek and the Chattahoochee River flooded. Our apartment sits right next to the river, so we are very lucky that we are on a high hill, and that there is very good drainage in our area. The Chattahoochee is just a block away from us, and its depth was at 26 feet, when flooding begins at just 14. The park that sits next to our neighborhood was completely underwater, even up to the rooftop on the building that houses restrooms.
The second photo was taken in a nearby county, where a creek washed over a bridge so forcefully that it took out the entire bridge. Something like this could be devastating to a community, if it happened in many places at once.
So, in light of the recent flooding here in Atlanta, including the scary photos above, I have finally decided it’s time for us to get on our game about these things. We can no longer just put off those essential items for “another day.” So today I’m going to test ourselves to see how prepared we are for an emergency, whether it’s a natural disaster, inclement weather, or a terrorist attack. I printed out the lists a few years ago, but never quite got around to putting the kit together. So that will be one of our projects this weekend. I’m going to store it in a plastic container under the bed or maybe in the bottom of the pantry.
The website Ready.gov has a list of what you should have in your kit to prepare yourself for a disaster. I went through the list and checked our house to make sure we had the suggested items on hand.
One gallon of water per person per day for at least three days is suggested for drinking and cleaning. As I have discovered this afternoon when I had to boil a few gallons of water to store in the fridge for drinking water, we do not have this on hand. In this area, we have failed! I need to get lots of water to cover us and the pets for at least 3 days.
A three-day supply of non-perishable food is suggested. We currently have this on hand, but this fluctuates a lot, and I’m not sure that we would have it on hand when we are getting close to needing a trip to the grocery store.
A battery powered radio or weather radio is on the list, and we unfortunately do not have this at home. I’ve picked out an amazing Eton emergency radio that fulfills the need to hand-crank if the batteries run out. It has an AM band, and an FM, it comes on automatically with NOAA weather alerts (if set to), runs on batteries or hand-cranking. It can also charge cell phones, you just have to send away for the correct adapter for your brand of phone. And, it’s my favorite color, so I can’t go wrong there, right?
A few years ago, when I was working at Target, I got great deals when things went on clearance. One of those great deals was on Mag-Lites. I got 3 of them on clearance for about 75% off one year after the holidays, since the flashlights were considered a “gift item” for Christmas. So we do have a few flashlights, but we do not have the suggested extra batteries for them. (Well, we may have them in the house, but I cannot find them. If I can’t find them in the daytime with electricity, imagine how much trouble I’d have in the dark!) So batteries definitely go on the list of items to pick up at the store.
A first aid kit is suggested. We have all the makings of a first aid kit, but they are not concentrated in one location, we have some in the medicine cabinet, some under the sink, and some in the linen closet. This is definitely something we should work on, since we might need to grab and go in an emergency, and not go searching for the band-aids and gauze throughout the apartment. As an added bonus, this is something I’ve been wanting to tackle for awhile now, for safety and aesthetic reasons. I saw a first aid kit in the “Good Things” section of Martha Stewart Living awhile back, where an old lunchbox was re-purposed for a first aid kit. It was the perfect size to hold the essentials, and looked good too! I would just have to add a label to make it clear in case of an emergency.
A whistle to signal for help is one of the items on the list, and this is something we do not have at home. I think we used to have a whistle, but I might have put it in a goodwill box. So this goes on the list.
Dust masks, plastic sheeting, and duct tape are suggested to help create a shelter if you must stay in one spot and quarantine yourself from outside air. This is something we definitely do not have. We have a giant plastic bag for protecting a mattress during a move in the closet, but it is very thin, and would not help us very much. We don’t have dust masks either. We probably have some duct tape lying around, but I couldn’t put my hand on it quickly.
Personal sanitation items, such as moist towelettes, garbage bags, and plastic ties are suggested. We have some moist towelettes in my car (for cleaning up after trips to the dog park) we have garbage bags, and we have zip ties with our tools. Yay, we finally passed a section! But we lose points for having it all spread out.
A wrench or pliers to turn off utilities is on the list. We have both a wrench and pliers, but we do not have access to our utility shut-off, since it is in a locked cabinet. We rent an apartment, and that part is apparently off-limits to us. I should probably research alternate methods of shutting off the utilities.
A can opener is listed to open canned food included in the kit. We have the green Zyliss manual can opener shown above (which we love), but we should probably get a second one to keep with the kit.
A map or, preferably, a book of maps of the local area is on the list. Unfortunately, we do not have this on hand. We probably rely just a little too heavily on Shawn’s iPhone with its GPS capabilities. In a disaster, it’s possible that the phone wouldn’t work, so we cannot rely on that alone. We have a 2009 road atlas of the U.S., but it does not have enough detail to enable us to navigate our local area with ease. We also have a hand-held GPS unit that runs on batteries and satellites that may come in handy if we need to navigate, but we would need the GPS coordinates of our final destination.
Also suggested are cell phones with chargers. We have that on hand, and Shawn’s phone fulfills this requirement, but my phone will no longer charge from the wall, I have to charge it in my car, so we get points off in this category. (Hopefully that will be solved soon, when I get the iPhone for myself! I can’t wait for that wonderful day to arrive.)
Pet food and extra water for your pets. We have two furry members of our family, so this is especially important for us. We usually have a few weeks of food on hand, since we buy in bulk and neither of our pets are heavy eaters, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to set some aside for an emergency.
The other items suggested are as follows:
- Important family documents such as copies of insurance policies, identification and bank account records in a waterproof, portable container
- Cash or traveler’s checks and change
- Emergency reference material such as a first aid book or information from www.ready.gov
- 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 and plastic utensils, paper towels
- Paper and pencil
We have most of the above items on hand, but we are lacking in certain areas, like matches in a waterproof container, and a waterproof container for our important documents. It looks like we have a long way to go, but there’s nothing like being prepared in case the worst hits.
I have to give complete credit to John and Sherry from Young House Love for this post. They, along with the recent natural disaster in my area, have inspired me to prepare my family for a disaster. Thanks so much for the inspiration, guys! So here’s my challenge to all of you: check your home to see if you have the supplies on hand. I know it seems a little silly to some people, because it did to me before this disaster hit our area, and I realized we were completely unprepared. Thankfully, we have a second chance, and I can get our kit ready in case anything else comes our way. So what about you, are you prepared?
