Preparedness month

I completely forgot to mention in my last post that my household manager book is also a part of me participating in national preparedness month.  Many will remember how they felt the morning of 911 as we turned on the tv news or received a phone call from friends and relatives.  Remember the thoughts that went through our minds about what we would do if war had actually come to our homes and neighborhoods.  Well, not just that type preparedness.   

What if someone in California knew they had only 5 minutes to get out of the house because a wild fire was racing toward them?  What if someone in Michigan got news there was going to be an ice storm about to hit their area meaning loss of utilities for at least a week, maybe longer, and they had to go to a shelter?  What if someone near a major river got notice the banks would over flow in a matter of minutes and all houses in the area would be covered with water and they had to go to another city?  What if someone living in Massachusetts got word the main water line to the town had broken so no one would have any water for at least 30 days?  Yes, it did happen someplace in the northeast.  What if here in Kentucky we found out that a hurricane in Louisiana would actually hit here too?  Yup, we did.  It was the wind storm that took out our power for several days.   

No one is immune to natural or man made emergencies.  They can happen anytime, anywhere, and of any kind.  I never believed a hurricane several states away would be any more bothersome here than lots of rain.  The loss of power for over a week was a wake up call.  The disaster of 911; watching the weather channel's "It could happen tomorrow" (shows about natural disasters); and experiencing four natural disasters in a matter of months here in Kentucky really opened my eyes. 

Some may remember our three natural disasters in this area; the ice storm, the flood, and the wind storm but there was also an earthquake here too.  The earthquake did little damage so it's not as memorable.  Many people around here have forgotten all about it.  Several years ago we had a major snow storm and sub-zero temperatures for several days and a 22 inch snowfall that crippled the city.  No one could go anywhere because the city wasn't prepared to rid the streets of all that snow. 

Hmm... suppose you had only five minutes to grab whatever you could and get out of your house?  What would you take?  Suppose you had only enough time to grab 5 items, what would they be?  For me, right this minute, it would be..... 1. medications  2. furkid in his crate 3. household manager book 4. change of clothes 5. photo album

My household manager book is going to have lots of information besides just keeping track of what I want to do around the house.  Its going to also have information in it that I might need if I must evacuate my house.  I read about others having these types of books.  FEMA site was the first that I believe I read.  (you really should visit their site for preparedness information) Then I got to noticing other bloggers were doing this too.  Yup, I'm a little behind other people but it's not too late..... umm... unless something happens before I get it finished.  My new household manager book is going to be much more updated than the notebooks I used to keep so long ago.

Anytime the news tells us we are going to experience a snowfall of more than two inches in this area, the stores are crammed with people grabbing stuff to get prepared.  The shelves are emptied within a matter of hours.  There can be almost riots over stuff.  The same thing happens in other areas when a natural disaster is either about to happen or has just happened. 

On the national news, I saw riots and fights over bottled water where the water main had broke.   The people were fighting over paper dishes, hand sanitizer, and garbage bags.  No water meant no dish washing, no bathing, and no toilet flushing.   I confess, if I suddenly found out I would be without water for a month, I'm not prepared either. I'm gonna change that.

There are only two types of natural emergencies I can think of right now.  One is get the heck out of here right now and the other is hunker down for the duration.  Yes, there are other types of emergencies like loss of job, loss of home, and medical.  Heck, one emergency might be unexpected guests for a few days.  Right now my thoughts are just on natural and man made disasters.  

I'm not going to be one of the thousands of people who rush to the store when a disaster happens.  I'm getting myself prepared.  My major hurdle is going to be...... where am I going to store it?  I have no basement, no garage, no storage shed, no attic.  Umm... I do have a basement.  Sorry.  It's just that I have no way to get into it so I might as well not have one.  If I had a honey, building a stairway to the basement would be the first thing on his honey do list.  I don't have the money to pay to get one built either.  I wish I knew of some church group or volunteer organization that helps with home repairs but I don't.  So, not being able to use the basement is the same as not having one.

Oh well, there is a lot to think about and a lot to do as a part of getting myself prepared.  Right now I think it best if I start working on the next customer quilt.  I have one last question to ask my readers.....

If you had only 5 minutes to grab 5 things to get the heck out of your house, what would you take?  Umm.... make that two questions.  Where would you go?

I really want to know because you might think of something that I haven't.