Who has an emergency stock?

[Mary Kay]

Do you keep back up stock for emergencies..no not E-cig related stuff but real stuff.
I live in the land of hurricanes, tornados and it's also the capital of lightning strikes in the U.S. When the lights go out..it's not kidding!

I keep extra water in gallon jugs. We have a trash can that isn't used for anything except catching water when the elec. goes out. We keep batteries in rotation, oil lamps and flashlights.
But most of all we keep food canned/bagged/ easy prep for when we can't cook on the stove.

FEMA tells you to prepare for 3 days..yeah right! It took 4 days once for the lights to come on and 10 days the next hurricane.

I also have a ginny for the fridge and a couple of lights, it can also run a tiny A.C. unit in the bedroom.

here's a tip: NOBODY likes Spam!

What do you guys do to stock up in your area?

 

[bestthingever]

Glad to see this question posted, since this is something I think about sometimes, but don't really do anything about. Can't wait to see what everyone says !

 

[Mary Kay]

Best, I would think where you live is pretty much in the path of tornados, huricanes and big storms! At the very least power outages are common.
If it were me, I think a stock of canned goods, like pork and beans, fruits, veggies and any main dishes you can think of. That brown bread in cans is good.
Don't g0 nuts, but add a can or 3 each trip to the grocery store. Please remember if it's something you don't eat now..let's say spaghetti'o's..you won't eat it when the lights go out!
A bag of charcol is good to keep around for cooking on the grill. A set of dollar store pans that can be chucked out afterwards is a good idea.

Keep some extra water around and rotate it.
The best advice I can give someone in an area they may need to evacuate from is to keep your papers in a handy place and in an envelope or folder. Same for your meds...not spread out all over the house. I keep mine in a dollar store plastic bin..If I need to leave, I can dump them in a bag and go.

 

[bestthingever]

Best, I would think where you live is pretty much in the path of tornados, huricanes and big storms! At the very least power outages are common.
If it were me, I think a stock of canned goods, like pork and beans, fruits, veggies and any main dishes you can think of. That brown bread in cans is good.
Don't g0 nuts, but add a can or 3 each trip to the grocery store. Please remember if it's something you don't eat now..let's say spaghetti'o's..you won't eat it when the lights go out!
A bag of charcol is good to keep around for cooking on the grill. A set of dollar store pans that can be chucked out afterwards is a good idea.

Keep some extra water around and rotate it.
The best advice I can give someone in an area they may need to evacuate from is to keep your papers in a handy place and in an envelope or folder. Same for your meds...not spread out all over the house. I keep mine in a dollar store plastic bin..If I need to leave, I can dump them in a bag and go.

MaryKay, you're right about the storms, we get them regularly. My problem is storage, I think. I should probably clear out a shelf in my basement for canned goods, etc. I do keep gallon bottles of water in my chest freezer, but it's mostly to help fill the freezer up. Not sure for how long that water would be safe to drink, if necessary.

 

[MsSki]

I need to get my stock pile back, when we moved the last time i had do away but i normally have a week of living stuff, I stock up as if i would be going camping for a week.
Tara

 

[marg]

And don't forget a manual can opener !!! ;-)

 

[marg]

I have to admit I am pretty low on supplies too. I do have frozen gallon water jugs though. Yikes I need to get to Sam's Club soon

 

[Kimerpuff]

We don't get much in the way of storms that require stocking up here in MN. Blizzards perhaps.. but I have not seen a good one since I was a child in southern MN. Those we are generally aware of before hand.

 

[martha1014]

Here in Northern Louisiana we don't get hurricans only the left over. We do get ice storm which can cause the power to be out a couple of days. Then there is a mass run on the grocery stores to stock up on supplies. I do keep flashlights and candles ready in case of power outage. We are total electric with only a fireplace for emergency heat although we don't keep much wood on hand.

I can't even imagine a hurrican and the effects this would have.

 

[wezzie]

I have a closet upstairs that is only used for hurricane supplies. I stayed for Katrina....only eight days without power! We used the BBQ pit for cooking. I had aluminum containers to cook soup/vegs/etc. Paper plates, towel, bowls, cups and utensils. Granola bars, bread and peanut butter were very helpful. Don't forget to have Gatoraid. Oh, the manual can opener is often overlooked!

Do all laundry ahead of time. Clean, vacuum and realize the house will get very, very humid after the storm when there is no AC.

We live right outside of New Orleans (did not flood during Katrina) so we have life vests that go upstairs as well as an small inflatable boat. The dogs have life vest too. Make sure you have extra supplies for the pets.

Since the water was turned off (!), we used lots of baby wipes to keep clean. Be careful storing drinking water because the plastic containers are not that sturdy and do leak after a short amount of time.. I store them in large plastic storage containers.

I used those small round battery candles on the stairs and around the house at night to see. Stand up battery lamps worked well.

Because so many people left, the sewage system never backed up, but just in case it ever does in the future, I ordered a portable potty with the special chemicals and paper.

I did find that the flies were unbearable and gross, so I bought several flies traps. Another thing I learned was to buy heavy duty garbage bags. The garbage pick up did not start as soon as we had wanted, so you would be amazed how fast your garbage adds up....hense, attracting more huge and nasty flies.

Make sure you have a good first aid kit. Going to the hospital was not that easy. If you venture out after the storm and there is still water in your area, please look out for the
red ants!!! They will link together and float until they find high ground---your legs are high ground and the ant bites are very painful.

I also have a small swimming pool that will be filled with water before the storm. I will use this to flush the toilets. The water in the tubs do not last forever.

A few days after the storm, we put the debris (tree limbs, gutters, etc.) in front of our neighbor's home to make it look like more of us stayed.

This season, we are looking in to a natural gas standby generator. They have dropped in price (yea). We used a gasoline fueled generator for Gustav and while were were very pleased to have powered our fridge and small air conditioner (that was used at night to helped us to sleep), it was difficult and to me a tad bit dangerous. I did not feel comfortable storing large gas cans.

Now, for the really important survival information....I have a Harbor Freight Jumpstarter system with cigarette lighter socket and just bought a briefcase solar panel
from ebay (also has a cigarette socket) so I can recharge my E-cigarettes!!!! I use them when we camp, but lets face it, I need to know that I can still vape!

 

[Mary Kay]

Great info Wezzie! I can add that our small genny let us run the coffee maker for as long as it took to make coffee. Then we put the coffee in a caraffe from Wal-mart (12.00) It keeps coffee hot for at least 8 to 12 hours! Things that heat, like a coffee pot, Microwave or stove take up much more power then things that light or cool.

I am glad that you mentioned the ants..those suckers can live under water for days!

Anywhere can be a storage area. Under a bed, behind a couch, the top shelp of a linen closet, a wicker chest, under stairs or even the sides of your closet. An unused area is over the door of a untility room..add a shelf.

I am telling you my family makes fun of me..but they come calling when things get bad!

 

[wezzie]

My neighbors teased me too, yet after Gustav, they were all at my back patio for dinner!!!

 

[bestthingever]

Excellent information, wezzie. Hopefully, I will remember your tips if/when needed.

I'm glad you mentioned pets. I have lots of them; they're like my children, so I would go without before I neglected their needs. Yet in times of distress it can be easy to forget that you're out of cat food, etc. (Glad my cat can't read, she's watching the monitor as I type, lol).

And I was just reading in an organic gardening magazine that lavender essential oil will take away the sting of fire ant bites, as well as heal them faster. Mosquito bites too.

 

[jj2]

Well, we got the big freezer and the refrig freezer and normally they are full.
We also have a small generator so we can keep them running.

I try to keep the cupboards full so there wouldn’t be a problem with food.

As long as we can use the grill, there’s a way to cook.

Usually we have enough bottled water for a few days---not sure it’s enough for 3 or 4 days though.

I guess you could say we’re okay but could do better


Edit: And yes we have a manual bottle and can opener.

 

[Mary Kay]

You know the hardest habit to break when the lights go out? Flipping the blasted light switch!!! The funniest thing I did when the hurricanes hit was using the camp shower to wash my hair. I filled the shower thingie with water we caught in the trash can (Lord knows there was enough rain!) It heated right up in the sun and I hung it on a hook by the porch. here I was in a bathing suit washing my hair outside..feeling like a nut! We have a pool but the water was none too clean even after pulling out the pine limbs and dipping it.
Mike was making us some scrambled eggs and toast on the BBQ and laughing at me...until he decided his hair could use some freash water too.

 

[Nyxie]

I have totes filled with stuff for hurricanes. I learned quick about hurricanes. I moved here in Aug 2004 after charley and before the second one Ivan? can't remember the name now. My welcome to Fl was go get sandbags at the court house.
We have solar hot water now, so thats nice. I wont run out of hot water unless the sun never comes out at least in theory. We also have a generator waiting.

 

[bestthingever]

The only good thing about hurricanes is that you at least get a little bit of a warning.

 

[Mary Kay]

That is true! But the problem is that the hurricanes have minds of their own. The 2nd one that hit was suposed to go from Miami to Tampa..instead took a right turn at the last minute and hit us. I had already grabbed my G'sons and brought them up here! that was fun, trying to explain why there were no cartoons on.

 

[wezzie]

Don't forget to stock up on meds too! I can't live without my antihistamines! I also like to have extra cash on hand.

We would flip the light switch too.....! These are the things we take for granted. Great idea with the water collection! I can use large plastic storage bins too.

Once I see that a hurricane develops off the coast of Africa, I tend to go into the "alert" mode.

Thanks for the info on lavender essential oil. I rehab orphaned squirrels, so stocking up for them is vital too (no life jackets for them).

 

[Chiqa]

I have a small bit of the survivalist in me. I keep all our emergency and kayaking gear by the door. This includes tents sleeping bags, big first aid kit, therma rest and my Bail out bag( also known as the Oh S*** bag( this bag goes with me all the time, it contains everything from fire starter to saw and emergency blanket). We have water filters in working order and on hand. For a really big scary thing we have a rally point accessible only by boat. I also keep a good supply of things like honey, brown rice dried beans etc on hand. I tend to keep the vehicles filled with gasoline also. in our gear we have a coffee steeper (kayak style) small and light weight. I have 2 very good backpacker stoves, I keep all the fuel bottles filled so they are ready to go at the drop of a hat. I also have on hand instant soup( in the packets) there are times it taste gourmet. Small packets of instant cocoa, A good supply of cliff bars and energy gells as well as dog food set aside. There is a ton more stuff but those are the highlights I can think of ( of course candles) This is just day to day stuff and the way I have the household set up. All of this gear will pack into 2 of our kayaks easily.