Prepping Kit for a Disaster

[ThankYouJack]

I'm not much of a prepper but after hearing stories from Hurricane Helene, I'm thinking having some emergency necessities on hand could be worthwhile.

First simple step is that I hardly ever keep cash at home or on me. But I'm hearing some areas hit by Helene are without internet / cell reception now and some groceries stores are only accepting cash. How much cash is good to store in a home safe?.

2nd thing I'm thinking about is water and food. I'm a camper/backpacker so have different camping stoves and propane to heat food. Should I get some MREs? There's also a small stream by me and I have portable and large water filters. I also have tablets to treat water - although should check where those are and if they expire.

3rd thing is electricity. I'm not ready to buy solar or a generator, but have a lot of battery packs to charge phones and run LED lights. I also have an EV and ICE vehicle so could charge using those at least for some time if worst came to worst.

4th is comfort - I have cold weather sleeping bags so am good there. Also have camping fans but probably would not use unless I was really suffering. I usually don't allow my toilet paper to get too low either. I also have some shower wipes - although the last thing I'd probably be thinking about is smelling good / being clean it could be nice if water is out for an extended period.

5th is transportation - I have a couple cars and bikes so probably good as can be there.

6th is friends & neighbors - I have a pretty good network nearby so feel good about that

Maybe I'm in better shape than I thought (with all the camping stuff) and I don't want to go over the top and turn my house into a bunker, but what do you like to keep on hand -- especially in terms of cash and food?

[livesoft]

We found it helpful to have family that is geographically diversified. For anything longer than about a week, we would drive away. That also means that we are not located where there is a bridge or tree downfall that would prevent us from driving out. Also means we have many ways of driving out.

As for food, one doesn't really need a lot of food nor anything special. So no MREs, no freeze-dried is not needed. Even cooking is not needed. One can just cruise the grocery store shelves and produce section to have your normal things on hand. These are things you would eat anyways. Pro tip: Soy milk is shelf stable, so while it is often sold in the chilled dairy case soy milk is also found where shelf-stable milk is sold for school lunchboxes. Cold cereal is a great breakfast. One could survive on a few boxes of Cheerios for weeks. That and Almond M&Ms.

Can you fish nearby? We can, but we would have to be pretty desperate for that.

Medicine that needs refrigeration may be needed by many, but not our household.

I have also mentioned a number of times that we store our hurricane repair tools and tarp in a 32 gal rubbermaid food grade garbage can. When a storm like Beryl is about to hit landfall, this plastic garbage can comes out of the closet, the items laid out on the floor, and then the container goes into the walk-in shower where it gets filled up with potable water. The lid is used to cover the water so that one can still take showers and keep the water potable. One could have a garbage can for every bathtub/shower in the house. If it is not used, then easily drained and back into the closet. Basically, we never buy bottles of water.

A number of our neighbors have whole-house generators, so we feel we do not need one. I know that many of those generators have failed, so one needs at least 3 friends on the block who have them to practically guarantee one is working. Also I can keep our phones and headlamps charged essentially forever if the sun shines with a little $25 solar panel. Be sure to do this BEFORE there is a true loss of power so you have the skill needed. OTOH, cell phones will stop working when the towers run out of power which they will do when the fuel supply to the tower backup generator is exhausted.

[MJS]

Take a look at the federal Ready site:
https://www.ready.gov/
Do you have Go Bags if you have to evacuate in 30 minutes?
Do you have pets?

[funxional]

One can just cruise the grocery store shelves and produce section to have your normal things on hand.

Are you talking about before a disaster or during? I wouldn't count on having easy access to food from a grocery store in a disaster.

Getting MREs is overkill. If you have a way to cook things like beans and rice can help bridge in a major disaster. Most canned or packaged foods (make sure that you have a can opener) can be eaten cold if you don't have a way to cook.

[SubPar]

I don't consider myself a doomsday kind of guy, but between natural disasters (including COVID) and after watching what went down following George Floyd, my perspective changed on certain things. My wife and I took some proactive measures as a result.

-We keep +/- 25 gallons of drinking water on hand
-Multiple propane tanks on hand for grilling
-Extra gasoline
-We generally overstock certain non-perishables
-Multiple solar-rechargeable battery packs of varying capacities (mine are Jackery)
-We have a preparedness kit with some camping meals, Life Straws/water purification tabs, flares, bivvies/emergency blankets, various lights/lanterns/headlamps, cooking supplies, knife/hatchet, water transportation, tape, radios, survival paracord, fire starting kit, medical supplies, etc. A lot of it is just basic camping supplies, with a few exceptions.

We will also by purchasing a backup generator in the near-term to run the essentials in a power outage, so if anyone has any recommendations, let me know!

EDIT: after reading this back, I definitely sound like a doomsday kind of guy lol

[tashnewbie]

-We have a preparedness kit with some camping meals, Life Straws/water purification tabs, flares, bivvies/emergency blankets, various lights/lanterns/headlamps, cooking supplies, knife/hatchet, water transportation, tape, radios, survival paracord, fire starting kit, medical supplies, etc. A lot of it is just basic camping supplies, with a few exceptions.

What do you mean by "water transportation"?

[SubPar]

-We have a preparedness kit with some camping meals, Life Straws/water purification tabs, flares, bivvies/emergency blankets, various lights/lanterns/headlamps, cooking supplies, knife/hatchet, water transportation, tape, radios, survival paracord, fire starting kit, medical supplies, etc. A lot of it is just basic camping supplies, with a few exceptions.

What do you mean by "water transportation"?

Collapsible water bladder, canteen. Realize that could be misconstrued as a boat of some sort, haha -- perhaps strange phrasing on my part.

One of my closest friends lives in AK, so when I head out to visit him we usually do pretty substantial backpacking trips to places with limited running water. So much of the stuff I bought caters to that type of trip.

[Conch55]

Portable gas generator (4k watt) to keep food from spoiling and can run the internet and charge some things as needed.
Largish oscillating pedestal fan, not AC, but better than nothing.
Full tanks of gas in cars and usually 15+ gallons in containers which will feed the generator for a few days. Decent quality electrical drop cords to run where needed.
Gas grill with a spare propane tank. Small charcoal grill and a bag of charcoal. Small camp stove and propane for it.
Well stocked pantry of non-perishable items. Instant coffee and wine.
Half a case of water but would fill the bathtubs if things look bad enough.

One recommendation if you have not been through a storm/power outage - know how to execute your plan. Where does power need to go and can you get it there. Consolidate food into fewer devices requiring power. Keep the doors closed on the refrigerator or freezer. All common sense stuff but details can get lost in the heat of the moment.

[rob]

Probably not a bad idea... without stepping into full on prep stuff.

- Maybe something to sterilize or boil water without electricity or gas.
- Something to block doors of water? I've seen bags that you can fill with water instead of sand and they looked like a good idea.
- Some large tarps for parts of the roof.
- Some tinned stuff like soup that could be used cold if worst came to worst - we tend to have more of that over the winter periods as we use soup for hot lunch.
- Obviously some drinking water.

[Sandtrap]

1
Depending on your location, your home is your best "life raft" and "survival shelter", don't leave it unless for good reason.
2
Think of concentric rings, like an onion, "in time/duration vs needs": IE: hours, days, weeks, months: for the following.

(ie: "bogle allocations for a self sustaining portfolio of the following:).

Food/water: maintain power for refrigeration (garage freezer/frig, etc).
Cooking: maintain power elec/gas for cooking and hot water
Shelter: Cooling/Heating (depending on climate) Maintain power for heat to prevent pipe and human freeze, cooling etc.
Safety and Security
Medical/Health supplies.needs, RX's, etc.

Preparedness is an ongoing "state of mind" and proactive mentality. It goes beyond making a survival kit or buying cases of MRE's and then moving on forgetfully.
IE: living in Hawaii, there's a constant vulnerability. Tsunami's, tropical storms, dock strikes, etc, etc. Not a generation goes by untouched.

j

[Watty]

Prescription drugs are one thing that may be tricky to prepare for so think how that might work for you. It is not for prepping but we usually order a 90 day supply of most of our prescription drugs by mail a few weeks before we run out.

Something to keep in mind is that most homes have around 50 gallons of water in the hot water heater so you may not need to do much for water.

Our propane BBQ grill has a side burner that we could cook on. We always have a second full propane tank just so that do not run out of fuel when we are doing a normal BBQ.

Costco also sells various emergency food supply kits. As an impulse buy I bought one of those about 10 years ago for less than $100 but it has something like a 25 year shelf life. We also stock up on food when things are on sale so even with our normal pantry we could last a long time.

If we are at home we could easily go for a week or more and here in a suburban location it is hard image a situation where we the roads would be blocked for longer than that here so that we could evacuate if we needed to.

In a "Mad Max" scenario where there is no place to evacuate to having a few months supplies would make little difference in the long run.

[PoppyA]

My friends were just forced to evacuate on foot. Make sure you have a go bag and a list of essentials. Don’t forget to have contact numbers written down.

Apple devices contact via satellite article: https://www.tomsguide.com/how-to-send-s ... ges-iPhone

[Watty]

Don’t forget to have contact numbers written down.

That is a very good point. If your cell phone is lost or dead you may not know the phone numbers you need. I am not 100% sure that I could get my wife's phone number right from memory.

[tashnewbie]

-We have a preparedness kit with some camping meals, Life Straws/water purification tabs, flares, bivvies/emergency blankets, various lights/lanterns/headlamps, cooking supplies, knife/hatchet, water transportation, tape, radios, survival paracord, fire starting kit, medical supplies, etc. A lot of it is just basic camping supplies, with a few exceptions.

What do you mean by "water transportation"?

Collapsible water bladder, canteen. Realize that could be misconstrued as a boat of some sort, haha -- perhaps strange phrasing on my part.

One of my closest friends lives in AK, so when I head out to visit him we usually do pretty substantial backpacking trips to places with limited running water. So much of the stuff I bought caters to that type of trip.

Makes sense. The idea of a boat cross my mind but figured that's not what you meant.

[jpelder]

The ready.gov website is very helpful.

The exact hazards vary by your local area. For instance, earthquake zones merit a more "always ready at short notice" kind of action, while hurricane country merits "know the readiness timeline and be able to prepare in adequate time".

My disaster readiness plan, based on growing up on the Gulf Coast and dealing with hurricanes...

We always keep about $200 hidden away in the house. We figure that this will be enough to get gas to leave or food to hold us over after the initial supply runs out. We have a natural gas stove, propane camping stove, and propane and charcoal grills, so we will not have trouble cooking or boiling water if the house is intact. We fill both car's gas tanks a day or two before expected impact. Insurance and similar documents have digital copies on the cloud. We don't live in a flood or mudslide-prone area, so we don't worry much about that (we're near the top of a very gradually-sloping hill). We always have a few days' worth of nonperishable food around, and we'll fill a 7ish gallon water jug to have drinking water just in case. You can fill a bathtub with water for washing and toilet flushing. This is even more important if you have well water, since no electricity=no water. We usually have a decent amount of ice packs and bagged ice in the freezers, but I pack them out before a storm. If we lost power, we'd feast on all the perishables in the fridge and freezer while they last (fridge food would go in out Yeti cooler, freezer food would stay in with minimal opening). We also backpack occasionally, so we have water purification equipment that we could use, and there is a small stream about a mile away that we could draw water from.

A few years back, we had a power outage in the cold on Christmas Eve. I confess that we were pretty ill-prepared for that. Fortunately, the power came back on in about 6 hours. It got down to about 50 degrees in the house, and the kitchen sink's water lines froze. A possible solution to this will be to get our fireplace up and running. Otherwise, we would have had to pack up the cat and migrate to a hotel or something.

[livesoft]

One can just cruise the grocery store shelves and produce section to have your normal things on hand.

Are you talking about before a disaster or during? I wouldn't count on having easy access to food from a grocery store in a disaster.

I'm talking about normal foods that are in my pantry. I realize that some people might go grocery shopping every single day, but we do not. We generally can eat for 7 to 10 days with food that is in the house. For many people, the first few days without power will probably mean they are eating stuff out of their fridges and freezer anyways.

At least around here it is pretty clear that people stock up on beer and bread which are two things we basically never buy.

[psteinx]

In addition to food that's in our pantry & fridge, I keep some basics in a plastic tub (rice & beans & I think some kind of "survival food" type wafer-things I found at Wal-Mart.

But it occurs to me that neither rice nor (dried) beans are easy to prepare.

Would M&Ms (chocolate or peanut) be long lasting (~5+ years), sitting in a ~cool basement? High caloric density, easy to prepare, and a bit of "comfort food" in a catastrophe. Candy coating reduces melting issues. But I'd rather not replace every 1-2 years, so looking for shelf stability.

[livesoft]

But it occurs to me that neither rice nor (dried) beans are easy to prepare.

Would M&Ms (chocolate or peanut) be long lasting (~5+ years), sitting in a ~cool basement? High caloric density, easy to prepare, and a bit of "comfort food" in a catastrophe. Candy coating reduces melting issues. But I'd rather not replace every 1-2 years, so looking for shelf stability.

If you store M&Ms in a freezer, they will be long-lasting. Same for trail mix with those M&Ms along with the nuts.

I don't consider things that I would have to cook "survival food." But I do have several camping stoves and fuel, so I j probably cook for a month. But I'm not going to cook rice and beans. I might have some Minute rice Iit goes stale) and some Santa Fe dehydrated bean flakes which are already cooked and only need hot water added. But I couldn't eat that every day. Granola might be more nutritious and something you eat anyways. Oatmeal of course I eat everyday. One can cold-soak it.

When one is in survival mode, gourmet cooking is probably not what you want to spend your time on.

[psteinx]

But it occurs to me that neither rice nor (dried) beans are easy to prepare.

Would M&Ms (chocolate or peanut) be long lasting (~5+ years), sitting in a ~cool basement? High caloric density, easy to prepare, and a bit of "comfort food" in a catastrophe. Candy coating reduces melting issues. But I'd rather not replace every 1-2 years, so looking for shelf stability.

If you store M&Ms in a freezer, they will be long-lasting. Same for trail mix with those M&Ms along with the nuts.

I don't consider things that I would have to cook "survival food." But I do have several camping stoves and fuel, so I j probably cook for a month. But I'm not going to cook rice and beans. I might have some Minute rice Iit goes stale) and some Santa Fe dehydrated bean flakes which are already cooked and only need hot water added. But I couldn't eat that every day. Granola might be more nutritious and something you eat anyways. Oatmeal of course I eat everyday. One can cold-soak it.

When one is in survival mode, gourmet cooking is probably not what you want to spend your time on.

I'm thinking of foods that can survive for many years, in a Rubbermaid style bin, in a basement (cool, but not a refrigerator/freezer). Not looking for nuclear survival crackers (decades or whatever), but 5+ year edible shelf life (maybe taste is imperfect, but, meh...), minimal prep, tastes good, high caloric density. My understanding is that M&Ms were kinda designed for this around the time of WW2 or something like that, but I'm not sure about shelf stability. Open to other suggestions.

[Doom&Gloom]

[X] One Swiss Army Knife


More seriously:
If I could stay put: I've always kept a larger supply of "stuff" at home than necessary. After the pandemic I ramped up and haven't backed off very much. I'd be ok at home for at least a couple of weeks if necessary.

If I had to leave: I never let my car's gas tank get much less than half full. Range wouldn't be an issue if roads are passable--if they're not passable in at least three directions on short notice, it probably doesn't matter what I have. I could grab everything I need in less than ten minutes so I'm not going to waste a lot of time rotating supplies through a go-bag for a very low probability event. If I haven't had to bug out of any place (except one mandatory evacuation while on vacation) in 70+ years, I'm not going to put in a lot of prep effort.

Plan B is the Blanche DuBois option: Depend upon the kindness of strangers.

[livesoft]

I'm thinking of foods that can survive for many years, in a Rubbermaid style bin, in a basement (cool, but not a refrigerator/freezer).

I would not want to even try to store food for many years to eat during a natural disaster.

I do have a few backpacking meals that have a use by say 2053, but I will use them backpacking. They are too expensive and not particularly nutritious.

For long-term food storage, I think the storage container needs to be absolutely air (oxygen) tight. A Rubbermaid style bin is not gonna do it. Survival meals are often hermitically sealed in cans.

You probably have some old / ancient unopened things in your pantry. They are probably edible, but stale tasting.

[rogue_economist]

I'm not much of a prepper but after hearing stories from Hurricane Helene, I'm thinking having some emergency necessities on hand could be worthwhile.

You are on the right track here. I think Bogleheads tend to be well prepared financially but sometimes fall into the trap of thinking they can always just buy things to solve problems which isn't how disasters work. So thinking more broadly about being prepared is a good mindset.

First simple step is that I hardly ever keep cash at home or on me. But I'm hearing some areas hit by Helene are without internet / cell reception now and some groceries stores are only accepting cash. How much cash is good to store in a home safe?.

You should always have some cash at hand. In a disaster cash is king when no other payment processing is possible. Also individuals you may need to barter services with might only want cash and electronic payments may not be an option.
The amount is definitely a function of your assets, location, needs, etc. However $1k seems like a good base amount. For some people I can see keeping more, but only if you can work out some good storage options. And I would have at least two, preferably more places to keep it. A safe is a target so keeping it all there might be unwise.
Also remember that a variety of denominations is desirable for making change, etc. People may not want $100 bills.

2nd thing I'm thinking about is water and food. I'm a camper/backpacker so have different camping stoves and propane to heat food. Should I get some MREs? There's also a small stream by me and I have portable and large water filters. I also have tablets to treat water - although should check where those are and if they expire.

MRE's are really for field use where you have no access to cooking. For home use they are expensive and not easy to acquire compared to things like canned chili which work just as well. Have stoves to heat food, plenty of canned, dry, dehydrated, etc. shelf stable food. At least a month supply, but again some people may keep more.
For water treatment you probably need a combination of filtration and boiling for sustained use. Camping gear is often not designed for the quantity and duration required for disasters. Tablets are fine, but again are meant to be temporary.

3rd thing is electricity. I'm not ready to buy solar or a generator, but have a lot of battery packs to charge phones and run LED lights. I also have an EV and ICE vehicle so could charge using those at least for some time if worst came to worst.

Generators are pretty cheap these days, Harbor Freight has some pretty good sales on the predator line. Might be worth considering, especially so you can keep refrigeration and freezing running in a disaster. That greatly enhances your food situation and prevents significant loss. When a refrigerator fails and the food rots in it the fridge usually has to be thrown out. That alone would pay for a generator.

I think what you really need to do is a risk consideration of what kind of disasters you may face and what you would need. Look at the historical record, climate, etc. and go from there.

The one other necessity you haven't seemed to consider is security measures, as in the aftermath of a disaster normal law and order isn't always present.

[livesoft]

For water treatment you probably need a combination of filtration and boiling for sustained use. Camping gear is often not designed for the quantity and duration required for disasters. Tablets are fine, but again are meant to be temporary.

Bleach is probably the cheapest way to disinfect water. See the CDC and WHO web sites. I know why "boiling" is suggested by local and state governments, but it is really wasteful of fuel which you may wish to conserve or not have.

[MathWizard]

I grew up in an area with sometimes vicious blizzards.

We always were prepared for a week's long confinement, some of that without power or phone (landline, pre-cellphone).

Food:
My wife and I have enough food to get through at least a
couple of weeks.
Maybe not the food we'd want to be eating, but we would not starve.

We'd eat refrigerated stuff first if needed, then other stuff that would spoil, eg. fruit. Then canned goods.
Honey lasts indefinitely. I have 2-3 weeks of oatmeal, so that will stay good, and we have flour for biscuits/packages.

Cooking:
If electricity is out, the grill can cook some food.

Electricity:
Portable dual fuel gas/propane portable generator.
12.5 gallons of gas on premise. Cars hold 25 gallons each.
350 watt pure sine solar generator with 2 solar panels, 1 100 w
and one 60 w. Mainly to keep Internet up, and to charge phones .

Water:
Small backup supply, 1 day's worth, would fill up tub & water jugs in advance if possible.
30 gallon water heater represents 30 gallons of portable water.
2 rain barrels represent 110 gallons of untreated water.
I have a life straw if boiling is not an option. Iodine purification tablets would also work, as would very small amounts of unscented bleach , which you probably already have.

Communication:
Two VOIP landlines,
3 cellphones
Garmin inreach 2 satellite communicators, charged by USB.
SOS or text message to predefined contacts. Standalone device
or connect via Bluetooth to phone for easy typing of messages .
Location + long+latitude to 4:decimal laced included with the text.
(About $300 for the tiny device plus $12/month safety plan
with annual plan.)

Prescriptions:
This is the worst. We try to get 90 day supplies. Where we can't,
we either get some over the counter substitutes, or we
short ourselves a pill once every couple of weeks, and we get the resupply with a few not yet used up . Over time, we end up with
2 week buffer of pills


Tornadoes come with little warning. I'd probably evacuate for a
hurricane. My car, hybrid, gets over 500 miles on a full tank of gass
on interstates. It doesn't suffer to bad in stop and go traffic.

[livesoft]

The one other necessity you haven't seemed to consider is security measures, as in the aftermath of a disaster normal law and order isn't always present.

I wonder how many stories about lack of security measures in the aftermath of Helene that we will be reading about. I think very few.

[rogue_economist]

The one other necessity you haven't seemed to consider is security measures, as in the aftermath of a disaster normal law and order isn't always present.

I wonder how many stories about lack of security measures in the aftermath of Helene that we will be reading about. I think very few.

There is a great deal the media chooses not to cover for whatever reasons. Those involved may not even bother making a report when its obvious there would be no result from it. Other disasters have certainly shown that this can be an issue, and some disasters are more prone to it than others. Sometimes the disaster itself is a form of social breakdown.

[ladycat]

After hurricane Katrina I decided we need to be prepared for at least 5 days of self-sufficiency. Our area has winter storms with long power outages. Nearby areas may flood. It's unlikely that we would need to evacuate, but we could on short notice. Power outages are the biggest issue for us, but we have always been able to find an open gas station within a few miles.

We are prepared similar to SubPar's post with adequate bottled water, non-perishable & canned food (human and pets), fun food (snacks, soda, beer), household supplies, first aid, packable emergency supplies, and home repair supplies. Lists of supplies at ready.gov are a good starting point.

We have a "portable" gas generator (Honda 6500) and run heavy-duty extension cords from the generator to the gas furnace (outdoor utility closet access), and into the house to power two refrigerators/freezers and several small items.

We have 3 small battery backups that are always in use for the computers and house alarm. During a power outage, we plug them into the generator and they can each power several low-wattage items like a radio, lamp with LED bulb, router/modem, and recharge the cell phones & tablets.

We use battery LED lanterns for the bedrooms/bathroom, or going out in the dark to refill the generator.

During our last 2+ day winter electric outage we were self-sufficient with central heating, refrigeration, house alarm, a couple lamps, radio, small tv (on antenna), and internet / home WiFi when the ISP came back online. Our hot water and cooktop are natural gas and are not impacted. If we had an electric cooktop, we'd use the outdoor propane grill.

We always keep about $300 cash in 1, 5, 10, 20s, and a couple rolls of quarters, but have never had to use it.

[hammockhiker]

I'm not much of a prepper but after hearing stories from Hurricane Helene...[snip]... Maybe I'm in better shape than I thought (with all the camping stuff) and I don't want to go over the top and turn my house into a bunker, but what do you like to keep on hand -- especially in terms of cash and food?

One more nugget for consideration: it may not be just you that you're prepping for. As I type this, we are currently hosting my brother-in-law (and his dog). We're lucky and suffered no real damage and less than a day without electricity. He's been without power since Helene blew through and officials in his area estimate another five days before power is restored, maybe. He's a diabetic on insulin with no way to keep his insulin supply refrigerated, doesn't own a generator (wouldn't do any good if he had one; there's no gas left in his county - NONE) so we drove down and got him.

We were fine in terms of being more or less prepared: long shelf life food, a generator, a few extra gallons of gasoline, water filtration and so forth. What we didn't count on was his needs. My parents are hosting other family members who are also from a hard hit area. Those family members have a newborn. None of us around here considered things like dog food and baby formula, because we don't have dogs or babies.

Depending on who's in your extended family and how likely it is that they might end up staying with you for a week or so, you might want to add items you wouldn't normally think about, or at least know where and whether you can get them in a hurry. Good luck.

[PoppyA]

In addition to food that's in our pantry & fridge, I keep some basics in a plastic tub (rice & beans & I think some kind of "survival food" type wafer-things I found at Wal-Mart.

But it occurs to me that neither rice nor (dried) beans are easy to prepare.

Would M&Ms (chocolate or peanut) be long lasting (~5+ years), sitting in a ~cool basement? High caloric density, easy to prepare, and a bit of "comfort food" in a catastrophe. Candy coating reduces melting issues. But I'd rather not replace every 1-2 years, so looking for shelf stability.

The peanut ones will go bad fast. The traditional will last for eons, as will chocolate of any kind. Some might melt!

[Kenkat]

A couple of things I have found useful that I didn’t see mentioned above. I have a Ryobi AC power inverter that converts my 18v Ryobi batteries to 110v AC power. A 2Ah battery will run a 100w equivalent LED lamp for 3-4 hours. I have multiple batteries and just swap them out if they run down. It’s nice to have some “regular” light in an outage.

I also have a 12v to AC power inverter that I can plug into the 12v car outlet and convert it to AC power to recharge batteries (such as the Ryobi ones above), charge a cell phone using the fast charge adapter, etc. Basically uses your car as a generator to provide AC power.

These are more short term items but will get you by for a couple of days; our power was out for about 14 hours with Helene.

[jayjayc]

Multiple fire-starting tools. A few Bic lighters and a flint rod. I save all my dryer lint for easy, free tinder.

[rob]

But it occurs to me that neither rice nor (dried) beans are easy to prepare.

Would M&Ms (chocolate or peanut) be long lasting (~5+ years), sitting in a ~cool basement? High caloric density, easy to prepare, and a bit of "comfort food" in a catastrophe. Candy coating reduces melting issues. But I'd rather not replace every 1-2 years, so looking for shelf stability.

If you store M&Ms in a freezer, they will be long-lasting. Same for trail mix with those M&Ms along with the nuts.

Good idea but... No chance would M&M's survive around here for an emergency - I've never understood why they have "used by" dates as I never get close to it.... Even frozen they taste just fine

[arcticpineapplecorp.]

two words: clean underwear.

[rogue_economist]

Multiple fire-starting tools. A few Bic lighters and a flint rod. I save all my dryer lint for easy, free tinder.

You might want to actually test the dryer lint. I did once and it was not as effective as people are made to believe. Lots of hair, synthetics, etc. seem to make it only moderately flammable. It also burns with a noxious odor.

Last time I was camping and couldn't get anything to light in the damp environment I wiped out a pan with a paper towel that had some steaks cooked in it the night before, that worked far better than lint with the grease on it.

[jayjayc]

Multiple fire-starting tools. A few Bic lighters and a flint rod. I save all my dryer lint for easy, free tinder.

You might want to actually test the dryer lint. I did once and it was not as effective as people are made to believe. Lots of hair, synthetics, etc. seem to make it only moderately flammable. It also burns with a noxious odor.

Last time I was camping and couldn't get anything to light in the damp environment I wiped out a pan with a paper towel that had some steaks cooked in it the night before, that worked far better than lint with the grease on it.

Good to know. I mainly save the lint for campfires so no big deal if it doesn't work. Now I know not to depend on it. Thanks.

[MrNarwhal]

One can just cruise the grocery store shelves and produce section to have your normal things on hand.

Are you talking about before a disaster or during? I wouldn't count on having easy access to food from a grocery store in a disaster.

I'm talking about normal foods that are in my pantry. I realize that some people might go grocery shopping every single day, but we do not. We generally can eat for 7 to 10 days with food that is in the house. For many people, the first few days without power will probably mean they are eating stuff out of their fridges and freezer anyways.

What if the emergency scenario happens on the day before you would have gone grocery shopping?

[jayjayc]

The one other necessity you haven't seemed to consider is security measures, as in the aftermath of a disaster normal law and order isn't always present.

I wonder how many stories about lack of security measures in the aftermath of Helene that we will be reading about. I think very few.

There is a great deal the media chooses not to cover for whatever reasons. Those involved may not even bother making a report when its obvious there would be no result from it. Other disasters have certainly shown that this can be an issue, and some disasters are more prone to it than others. Sometimes the disaster itself is a form of social breakdown.

This was true in my experience. Have a plan and tools to protect your family and your resources.

[ThankYouJack]

Thanks all, good info. I'm also hearing reports of grocery stores being closed due to no power, but people scalping things outside them like selling water bottles for $6. A couple hundred bucks will go quick at those prices.

I'll be a bit more prepared but also wondering about something that impacts a large region of people with no notification - say a cyber attack on the power grid. No power for a while would cause lots of chaos. There's only so much you can do and so much is not worth worrying about, but good to be somewhat prepared.

[livesoft]

Thanks all, good info. I'm also hearing reports of grocery stores being closed due to no power, but people scalping things outside them like selling water bottles for $6. A couple hundred bucks will go quick at those prices.

Move to Texas. H-E-B "hardened" most all of their stores so they would have power even when public utilities failed. During Beryl, H-E-B even set up places for unprepared folks to charge their electronics.

But I think if one has to go to a grocery store during a natural disaster, then one didn't prepare well.

[il0kin]

2000 watt generator is equivalent to a 15 amp circuit, just FYI.

I have a 2000 watt generator which, in summer can run my fridge and deep freeze, and in winter can run the blower motor for my natural gas furnace via a transfer switch (installed by an electrician). Pipes freezing is a potential concern here during winter storms, so it’s best to not take chances.

The rest has been mostly covered, but the transfer switch is an important part of electrical preparation I have not yet seen discussed here. You cannot just “plug in” a furnace (air handler, really) like normal appliances, they are hard wired to the panel.

[hudson]

I'm not much of a prepper but after hearing stories from Hurricane Helene, I'm thinking having some emergency necessities on hand could be worthwhile.

First simple step is that I hardly ever keep cash at home or on me. But I'm hearing some areas hit by Helene are without internet / cell reception now and some groceries stores are only accepting cash. How much cash is good to store in a home safe?.

2nd thing I'm thinking about is water and food. I'm a camper/backpacker so have different camping stoves and propane to heat food. Should I get some MREs? There's also a small stream by me and I have portable and large water filters. I also have tablets to treat water - although should check where those are and if they expire.

3rd thing is electricity. I'm not ready to buy solar or a generator, but have a lot of battery packs to charge phones and run LED lights. I also have an EV and ICE vehicle so could charge using those at least for some time if worst came to worst.

4th is comfort - I have cold weather sleeping bags so am good there. Also have camping fans but probably would not use unless I was really suffering. I usually don't allow my toilet paper to get too low either. I also have some shower wipes - although the last thing I'd probably be thinking about is smelling good / being clean it could be nice if water is out for an extended period.

5th is transportation - I have a couple cars and bikes so probably good as can be there.

6th is friends & neighbors - I have a pretty good network nearby so feel good about that

Maybe I'm in better shape than I thought (with all the camping stuff) and I don't want to go over the top and turn my house into a bunker, but what do you like to keep on hand -- especially in terms of cash and food?

A personal locator beacon or an iPhone that can text by satellite if there's no cell signal.
Using an iPhone with satellite messaging in Asheville: https://bgr.com/tech/apples-iphone-sate ... -flooding/

[mrsbetsy]

I think this is location specific. Where I am in CA, I am concerned more about earthquakes and fires than I am about flooding and cold weather.

We've had an earthquake kit since we got here and went through the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

We have cash in a fireproof safe. Although likely not really fireproof, it is open up, grab and go. Do not put ammo in there - ever. One of the worst things for the search and rescue folks dealing with the fires was the ammo going off unexpectantly. Don't do that to them; it's dangerous. Have your ammo in your go-bag. Don't leave it behind.
We have 3 weeks of food including things like canned soup, canned tuna, jerky, trail mix, lentils and lots and lots of water.
Camping equipment and propane - sleeping bags, etc.
Lots of charged bricks for cell phone. Dewalt chargers for the car that can charge laptops.
Solar generators provided free from our county for seniors.

Thinking about a skiff so we can get to the river if needed.

[livesoft]

What if the emergency scenario happens on the day before you would have gone grocery shopping?

Let's game this out. Start with a list of emergency scenarios that pop up the day before you go grocery shopping AND where you do not have to abandon your house.

[windaar]

For news, updates, being informed, definitely an AM radio with extra batteries for when power and internet go out. At night an AM radio can easily tune in stations near and far, and major cities hundreds of miles away.

[mith]

To add to the other helpful tips and shared resources, I recommend The Disaster Ready Home book. It takes a practical step-by-step approach. You can do more to prepare, but this book will give you a good guide on what to do and how to do it.
https://www.creekstewart.com/pocket-gui ... ready-home

[livesoft]

For news, updates, being informed, definitely an AM radio with extra batteries for when power and internet go out. At night an AM radio can easily tune in stations near and far, and major cities hundreds of miles away.

I must write that I have been disappointed with radio. For us it has been practically useless. The main reason is that the news one needs in a disaster is incredibly local as in:
Which nearby stores have power? Which nearby places have ice? Which nearby gas stations are open and have gas? Is the bridge over the creek 3 miles away still up? Where can I find cell service? Is McDonald's giving out free food like the last time? What's the backup like over on the highway? The Smiths are giving out water from their well if you need. The hospital has plenty of electricity. And so on ....

But radio tells you about FEMA dropping water bottles off in the center of town 50 miles away where no one lives because that's where all the media and reporters are.

My spouse is a member of our Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). She has a 2-way radio to communicate, but has never had to use it. We have multiband radio including AM, but have never found it useful in an emergency. I have.satellite communicator (Garmin inReach has been mentioned on this thread) that can give me very good weather reports at my location, but I should already know the weather extremely well for hurricanes, thunderstorms, wildfires well before they affect me.

In our neighborhood, people post intelligence they have gathered at the local mailboxes and get this: Neighbors meet and talk to each other to share information. I'm sure people in western NC are doing the something similar.

[LaurenRose]

I live in an area of the Northeast where the known disasters are a rare tornado or the less rare, blizzard.

Since tornados here are so rare, I only do very minimal planning - but for blizzards, not sure except to keep canned food and bottled water on hand. Back up cellphone charger charged.

Bldg maintenance would have to deal with any power outage, presumably they could get here by snowmobile, if things got really bad.

I do have very thick wool gloves and one of those heavy duty snowsuits and face masks, in case we lose power and temps drop....theoretically I would put all those on, get under the covers and just wait.

There is no go bag during a blizzard?

[MrNarwhal]

What if the emergency scenario happens on the day before you would have gone grocery shopping?

Let's game this out. Start with a list of emergency scenarios that pop up the day before you go grocery shopping AND where you do not have to abandon your house.

Earthquake. I live in Minnesota now so I don't worry about it, but if I still lived in an active seismic zone I would keep additional non-perishable food on hand beyond regular grocery shopping once per week.

[Mr. Rumples]

A good whistle. Yelling gets tiring and it harder to pinpoint.

[sc9182]

What if air gets unbreathable ? Lots and Lots of oxygen (may be you should tell your insurer ) and appropriate masks.
Samurai sword