Weather Ready

Are you weather ready? With all the storms of rain and snow and ice crossing the entire country right now, it seems a little late to think of this, but let's do it anyway. I read someone's comment that those who were standing in line at the grocery store the day before a storm were buying milk and eggs and bread and perishable things that couldn't be stored. Because of my prep-oriented mind, even if I thought that these things couldn't be stored, I'd have been at the store a week before when the first forecast came along. Or maybe I'd have been there at the beginning of fall, thinking about things I could have on hand if an emergency rose, so that I wouldn't have to worry about it the day before, when shelves empty out before a disastrous storm arrives.

This person's comment got me thinking about what could go on the shelves well in advance. I have some things there already, of course, because I believe in being prepared. Anyone, however, can have a small shelf of emergency food set up.

Milk:

I don't normally use my canned powdered milk, except in a financial emergency or a storm emergency, because the cost is about the same as buying fresh milk. It isn't economical. It doesn't taste the same, though it isn't bad these days, not like ones I tried in the late seventies when we lived on the reservation - though I got used to that taste, and it wasn't really BAD. Just not as tasty. The new generation of instant powdered milks, though, really are pretty good - different taste from fresh, but definitely drinkable. My favorite is the Thrive Life Instant Milk, but it is more expensive than the powdered (not instant) milk from the Bishop's storehouse - about twice as much. I like to have some stored, though, because it mixes so easily with a whip, and if there's no electricity, I can't use my blender.

Another option is canned evaporated milk, which some might not find as tasty, but on sugar cereal, or for cooking, there's no reason it won't work, and in an emergency, it will work for anything. I personally don't mind the taste at all. I dilute it 1 can of water to one can of milk. To make it a little sweeter, one could stir in a spoonful of sweetened condensed milk (which also can be reconstituted to make milk, but really costly!). Or you could put a jar of coffee creamer on the shelf - it keeps forever 'cause it's mostly plastic - but it would improve the taste, perhaps.

Eggs:

Eggs themselves will keep quite a while without refrigeration, so if you have some in the refrigerator when the electricity goes, don't think they are going bad right away! There are people who don't even keep their eggs in the refrigerator, but I wouldn't recommend that for more than a few days if you aren't eating them right away. It's usually fresh eggs, not those which have already been refrigerated from the store.

Every food storage company out there has some form of egg powder. While you can get whole eggs from Thrive Life, Augason Farms, and Emergency Essentials, among others, my preference is the Scrambled Egg Mix from Thrive Life. I think it's just tastier and more fresh-egg-like. The other companies also have one or more scrambled egg varieties.

Whatever you choose, eggs are not a problem. Any of the powdered eggs are fine in cooking or baking.

Bread:

This one's not so hard, either! You don't bake your own bread? Not a problem. Who says bread has to come in sandwich slices? There are biscuit mixes, pancake mixes, and muffin mixes out there to store on the shelf. You can freeze flour tortillas for quite some time and they are fine when thawed. If you want to have actual bread, practice now with a sourdough starter like Herman. It's the only one I've ever used, and it is very forgiving if you forget to feed it, over feed it, or add whole wheat flour - whatever, it just keeps on chugging. Warning: If you start with Herman or another sourdough starter, be prepared to make bread every few days, or have a lot of friends with whom to share the starter! You can make bread, cakes, muffins, and many other bread products with Herman.

Your best bet is to experiment with these things before an emergency and see what your family tolerates best.

How are you going to cook all that? Quickest thing is to have a sterno stove and fuel on that storage shelf. Learn to use Dutch oven cooking and baking with a cast iron pot and charcoal, also stored on your shelf. Many kinds of Franklin and other stoves have a cook-top you can use while you are staying warm. If you are investigating something like that for heat in winter emergencies, make that a priority on your list. Solar ovens are more expensive, but there are also varieties you can make yourself. They might not be as efficient as the experts, but you can use a solar oven even on a cold day, as long as there is any heat from the sun. If you have a propane grill, you can cook and you can bake! Just don't let the propone run low. Keep a spare tank, if you can afford that.

See? You can avoid those lines on the day before a storm, and all the stress that goes with not planning ahead.

Here is Ohio State University's fact sheet on drying fruits and vegetables. This is an informative several-page document to download in .pdf format.

Please note that it says drying outdoors is not recommended in Ohio. I would not recommend it much of anywhere these days. However, if you do it anyway, please read what the fact sheet says about freezing or heating the foods to kill insect eggs. (See? You don't really want to do it outdoors, do you?) I recommend a small electric dryer or the oven set on a low temperature. I use 150 for green onions, with the door propped slightly open, for example.

Some foods are steamed before they are dried. Read directions carefully on the chart provided, and read all the preliminary instructions. Please, do not think this is a step to skip. Directions are included for how to make fruit leathers, and some vegetables can be done in a similar way. Even if you don't have a dehydrator, you can still do many foods in your oven with the help of tips from this fact sheet.

If you are going to do fruit leathers, it does say to line cookie sheets with plastic wrap, not wax paper or foil. I would suggest buying a pack of the 14 x 14 teflon coated sheets made for the Excaliber or other square food dehydrators. However, your cookie sheet will be a different size, and this may require some trimming to use. These sheets are made specifically for food dehydration.

Disaster Preparation

I think, with the coming of Tropical Storm/Hurricane Sandy, many people have seen the plus and the minus of disaster preparedness. We can prepare all we want, but if we are in the direct path of such a storm, and our house is lifted from its foundation and moved down the block, it may do us no good. However, if we are prepared and because of such a storm, we are without electricity for a few days to a couple of weeks, the preparedness will save our families from more discomfort and disaster than there must be in such a situation.

In addition, if you and I both prepare, and your house is destroyed, but mine isn't, then I can share with you, and vice versa. We've seen examples of forest fires skipping over several houses and then burning others. Tornadoes do the same. In the case of a storm like Sandy, there were still houses that stood, maybe a little higher and above the flood, or maybe the wind didn't hit the house just right.

Even though I wasn't in the path of Sandy, it caused me to pause and reflect on my stored supplies. I decided I definitely have to have more small propane bottles. I also decided a sterno stove and some cans of fuel are a must. I had been thinking in terms of using my grill and solar cooking, but both of those might be impossible, so a third alternative needs to be available. If it's chilly, and I'm without power for several days, I might need more than the propane I have stored for my heater and lanterns. It doesn't do any good to have 10 cans of oatmeal if I have no way to cook it! I am adding a new recipe today. This one doesn't depend on the shelf-safe long term storage. It's a good meal for any time, but would work well in a Dutch oven over charcoal, too. Note to self: Buy more charcoal and don't store it in the bags.

First Aid Kit

Do you have your 3-day disaster kit ready in case of emergency? Do you know where it is? =) Is there enough for each member of your family?

These are questions I had to think about when I attended two Emergency Preparedness fairs in this last year. I've worked hard on food storage, and I'm doing okay there, though it isn't complete, but there are a lot of other things to think about. A disaster could be a tornado (such as hit in Chattanooga a few months ago) or a flood (which we had in low areas of East Tennessee in the last few months), or maybe a hurricane or earthquake, if you live in areas prone to those things. It could be a forest fire like the one that raged behind my friend's California home in 2007:




The last post I did on this, in May, had very long lists of things that could be helpful. Most of the time, 3 days is the most we have to be away, but sometimes, it will be more. Still, if we are prepared with a 72-hour "bug-out" bag for each family member, we'll be in better shape than most people evacuating. So what should be in it? This is the light version.

I suggest starting with a backpack the size each family member can carry. Mom and Dad may have to carry extras for little ones, but you can figure that part out on your own.

Include:

• Towels, blankets and sleeping bags (there are some very compact sizes of things that will work just fine for the blankets and sleeping bags, thanks to the space program)
• Battery powered radio - and batteries for it!  You want one with the NOAA stations which broadcast updates from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.  redcrossstore.org has a good one for about $35
• Sanitary supplies - I suggest wet ones or baby wipes.  Toilet paper and female needs should be included, too.
• Paperwork - photocopies, not originals, of passports, insurance papers and legal papers, including in-case-of legal papers
• Extra cash - about $150-200, but don't have it all in twenties!  Have a lot of small bills and at least $5 in change.  People aren't going to give change in an emergency!  Leave this cash in your kit at all times, in a hidden pocket or maybe in a box of bandaids.
• Water - you're going to need a gallon per person per day, and you can't carry that.  Have at least one 20 oz. bottle in your backpack, but have a 24-pack of bottles you can grab if you have to evacuate in your car, and maybe a water-filtration system if you are lucky enough to be where there is water that could be cleaned that way.
• First-aid kit - check the red cross store again, or other preparedness centers.  Don't forget any medications you have to take every day.  For safety, keep at least a week's supply and change it every year.  Don't forget contact lenses!
• Clothing - this could be old clothes you planned to donate, but be sure there are extra socks and comfortable shoes.  Foot injuries are the most common injuries in disasters!
• Food - Non-perishable items and lightweight, things that can be eaten without cooking, i.e., energy bars, pop-top canned foods, high-nutrition drinks in boxes.  Check your local dollar store for inexpensive snacks and things that would provide energy and nutrition, both.  Don't forget the family pet!
• Maps of your area - that smartphone will run out of energy, or the system could be unavailable!
• Clorox wipes - great for disinfecting surfaces
• Necessities such as flashlights (and I suggest the small wind-up flashlights - a few seconds of turning gets you an hour of light! about $5) matches, one of those all-purpose Winchester or Leatherman tools with knives, saws, pliers, etc. that pull out, sunscreen, extra car and house keys, travel cell phone charger - car and wall, if possible.

There are other things you could pack, too, but there's only so much you can carry. I hope this gets you started on at least a basic kit. This is all a process, not an event. You aren't going to complete everything in one day. Get things together as you can, and whatever you have gathered is better than if you gathered nothing!

In case you don't have to evacuate, but there are other issues, find out where your gas, electric and water shut-offs are to the house. Have the proper tools available for getting those shut off. It could save your life and/or your house.

Bug-Out Bag

The Anderson County Preparedness Fair on Saturday got me to thinking about a lot of things. You know how you hear something and think it's important? And then you hear it again from another source, and you think, "Yeah, yeah, I have to do that?" And you may hear it a third and a fourth and a fifth time? Well, I guess Saturday was the final nudge for me.

I am prepared for many things, but not for some of the most important things. I haven't made copies of important documents and stored them in a safe place or three. I haven't made my 72-hour bug-out bag. I haven't stored enough water. I still need to find out . . . blah, blah, blah.

I thought maybe it would help me get on the ball if I share with you some of the essential steps in disaster preparedness. Just this morning I was thinking, "What if everyone who was evacuated to wherever it was they put people in New Orleans - the football stadium? I don't remember now, but what if every person had a backpack to grab and it had two bottles of water and food for 3 days and all the other things that should be in a 72-hour bag? Can you imagine how different an experience that would have been for people?

There are hurricanes, hopefully NOT like Katrina, tornadoes (Birmingham, Chattanooga, Joplin, MO, 2011), fires (SoCal), floods (Mississippi River!) and all kinds of other natural disasters, where we may have only a short prep time, and then it's too late to think about all the things you need to take, because it's a maximum stress time! So, today's topic is 72-hour bug-out bags. This is Step One.

There are a lot of things you can stuff into a backpack (look at the thrift store for those!), particularly with the aid of modern discoveries. I have a sleeping bag in my tiny survival kit (that's about 6 x 8 inches and 4 inches deep and would help me for about 24-hours) - and it fits in a box 1" deep and about 4 x 5 inches. There's also a blanket in a mylar bag that's about 4 inches square, flat and weighing almost nothing. I have a flashlight with a winder on it - no batteries needed. 1 minute of winding is an hour of light and you can wind it over and over and over. It cost $5 and is about 2 inches wide and 4 inches long.

So, here's a list from the LDS church about some basics to put in your kit, for EACH person. Read the footnotes!

• Food and Water
  (A three day supply of food and water, per person, when no refrigeration or cooking is available)
  
  Protein/Granola Bars
  Trail Mix/Dried Fruit
  Crackers/Cereals (for munching)
  Canned Tuna, Beans, Turkey, Beef, Vienna Sausages, etc. *
  Canned Juice (Juice boxes will work if they don't get smashed.)
  Candy/Gum ** and ***
  Water (1 Gallon/4 Liters Per Person)
  
  You may substitute light-weight freeze-dried foods, such as GO foods for the cans. Of course, you will need more water if you do that! Maybe a combination would be best. Peanut butter is a good thing to have along, too. Don't forget some eating utensils! I saved some from take out food when I was eating it at home.
• Bedding and Clothing
  
  Change of Clothing (short and long sleeved shirts, pants, jackets, socks, etc.)
  Undergarments
  Rain Coat/Poncho
  Blankets and Emergency "space" blankets
  Cloth Sheet
  Plastic Sheet

To be split and divided among family backpacks:

• Fuel and Light
  
  Battery Lighting (Flashlights, Lamps, etc.) Don't forget batteries!****
  Extra Batteries
  Flares
  Candles
  Lighter
  Water-Proof Matches
• Equipment
  
  Can Opener
  Dishes/Utensils
  Shovel
  Radio (with batteries!)
  Pen and Paper
  Axe
  Pocket Knife (A Winchester multi-purpose one is great!)
  Rope (small and flexible, such as parachute cord)
  Duct Tape
  Maps & compass
  Pepper spray (protection)
  A plan, emergency phone numbers, etc.
• Personal Supplies and Medication
  
  First Aid Kit and Supplies
  Toiletries (roll of toilet paper- remove the center tube to easily flatten into a zip-lock bag, feminine hygiene, folding brush, etc.)
  Cleaning Supplies (mini hand sanitizer, unscented soap, shampoo, dish soap, etc.
  Immunizations Up-to Date
  Medication (Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, children's medication etc.)
  Prescription Medication (for 7 days)
• Personal Documents and Money (Have a lot of SMALL bills and coins! People won't have change or give it.)
  (Place these items in a water-proof container!)
  
  Scriptures
  Genealogy Records
  Patriarchal Blessing
  Legal Documents (Birth/Marriage Certificates, Wills, Passports, Contracts, etc)
  Vaccination Papers
  Insurance Policies
  Cash
  Credit Card
  Pre-Paid Phone Cards
• Miscellaneous
  
  Bag(s) to put 72 Hour Kit items in (such as duffel bags or back packs, which work great) Make sure you can lift/carry it!
  Infant Needs, elderly needs, disabled needs (as applicable)

If you are thinking that is a lot to fit into a backpack, you are right! However, a family wouldn't need all of those things in *every* backpack. Most families I know keep the backpacks in the trunk of the car. Yes, it takes up space, but when you want to grab and go, you don't want to look for it! Think about how scattered your mind can be in an emergency. If you keep it in the back of the car, you may want a small Sterlite or Rubbermaid drawer to store some of the things.

Some families keep them in the garage, near the door, so they can just grab and go. My advice is to practice the evacuation procedure often with your family, just like you do fire drills, so that each person knows what their responsibility is, and can carry it out easily.

At a very minimum, have the food, water, and clothing, then important papers copied and inserted in a pocket of the backpack. Have something to sustain you physically and emotionally and spiritually, in case you lose everything else. Be sure to check your backpack every six months, and rotate foods in and out.

If you have siblings, each of you should copy all important papers and photographs and exchange them, so someone would have copies of those precious moments such as first birthday parties. With digital cameras these days, a life-time of pictures can go on just a few CDs for safe keeping. Maybe you'll want a copy in a safe-deposit box, too. If you have no siblings, then exchange with a good friend.

Now, if you think that is all overwhelming, imagine how you will feel if you have to evacuate and you've not prepared anything!

You can compare this list to the Homeland Security backpacks and see which you'd rather have if you have to leave your home in a hurry.

Or watch this video of a man who puts his in a medium pilot suitcase. list and video

Footnotes:
*Pop-top cans are not as strong as regular cans and may explode in heat. Just be sure you have a small can opener - the kind my dad used to carry in his pocket always worked, was about an inch square, and weighs nothing. Finding one at a store may be tricky, but have a small one of some kind.
**Be sure your candy is in a snack baggie of its own. Jolly Rancher and some others may melt and you don't want a sticky mess.
***Mint flavored gum can, with time, make everything taste like mint, so wrap it in extra foil and then in a baggie to minimize the effect, or have a gum with little or no flavor.
****I like the crank one better, BUT it is limited lighting.