How Much Do you have saved in case of Emergencies?

MommyLiberty5013 · October 2015

Nope, not talking about an e-fund. I am talking about emergencies in your locale (city/state/county), but could also be national.

Just following the current events coming out of SC with the floods. But, you can use any natural disaster like tornado, hurricane, earthquake, blizzard, etc.. Or even a terror attack, etc..

In 2012, DH and I began to take very seriously the idea of "prepping." Now, I know what you're thinking because that show "Extreme Preppers" probably comes to mind. That's not what I mean. I mean, just setting money (cash) and resources (water, food, shelter/warmth, first-aid, and misc. materials/supplies) aside in the event of a emergency...just what the Federal Government already asks citizens to do on their own.

Since 2012, DH and I have probably put a few thousand dollars into it. I actually cannot recall the exact amount but I know it's over $3k. But, for us it also involved buying basic camping gear (cold rated sleeping bags and a family-size tent) that we wanted to buy anyways for our family outings.

When I started looking into it and researching the what to buy and WHY to buy it, it was very overwhelming. Now, we have emergency stuff we carry in the diaper bag, in both vehicles, in our home, and we also have 72-hour bags packed for each member of our family. The 72-Hour bag is a pre-packed backpack that stays put and always ready to go in case you have to leave your home. The idea is to be able to sustain yourself with its contents for 72-hours.

Looking at us, you'd never guess we were "preppers," but we are. And, the thing is, we just look at it as a form of PHYSICAL insurance to help our kids, my parents, and any neighbors.

Anybody do this too? Curious about it?

als1982 · October 2015

I keep a large case of drinking water in our basement and a basic first aid kit at home and in both our cars but otherwise, no. In fear is not how I choose to live my life.

hoffse · October 2015

I did this to a larger degree when I lived in an apartment. I was on the fourth floor and tornadoes are a pretty big deal here, so I kept a backpack ready that had my most important papers (passport, insurance docs, etc.), some cash, my most valuable jewelry, etc. Also an old ipod to pass the time while sitting in my safe place. I could also fit my flute in it, which is still my most valuable portable asset.

There were a couple of times when tornadoes got very close, and I was glad to have it ready. I could carry everything in that backpack plus the cat in her carrier and get to a safe place underground in less than 5 minutes.

We bought a house with a basement, so now I keep a waterproof/fireproof safe with that stuff down there. Our basement actually has an interior closet, which is awesome, so we would probably be safe in a tornado here.

In the winter H and I do keep a really heavy blanket and some extra food and water our cars. We know multiple people who have been stranded by snow here because NOBODY can drive as soon as it starts to ice, and we do get at least one round of real ice in Jan/Feb most years. We live on top of a big hill that requires us to cross multiple bridges, so I have 0 faith that we would be able to get home if it ices while we are out. Even walking it would be hard - we are high enough that my ears pop every time we go up or down, and it's pretty heavily wooded. So yeah, we both make sure we could spend the night in our cars if we really had to.

Other than that, I do keep about $500 of our emergency fund in small bills hidden around the house. This is for mass power outages in case card readers/ATMs won't work.

I don't really prepare for apocalyptic type situations, but I do try to prepare for known weather events in our area. My H would like to be more prepared for large-scale things, and it's probably something we should do at some point. The state department does actually recommend having a 72-hour survival kit because that's how long it might take to restore order if we faced a national catastrophe. It's on their website, which is good enough to convince H that it's important.

AprilZ81 · October 2015

I've wanted to get a fireproof/waterproof safe for awhile now, but I haven't done any research.

We have a first aid kit, some flashlights, one sleeping bag and that is about it. We should probably look into being a little more prepared.

MommyLiberty5013 · October 2015

als1982 said:

I keep a large case of drinking water in our basement and a basic first aid kit at home and in both our cars but otherwise, no. In fear is not how I choose to live my life.

Bolded. It's so not how we live our lives either. Our thought is simply this: Better to have and not need, than need and not have. In addition, we have 3 kids to look after. What would we do with them for 3 days snowed-in inside our minivan? They count on us for their basics AND to have enough knowledge and skill to not let the family suffer.

Actually, it's very little about storing up stuff/materials and mostly about knowledge and how-to do things. Knowledge dispels fear and stress.

For example, how many ways do you know to get to your home? Not using major roads and highways (which could be closed in an emergency)? Now, not using your GPS, which could also be down or dysfunctional in an emergency? Do you have a paper detailed street map of your area in your vehicle?

In 2007 there was a massive snow storm that hit Denver, CO. I was over an hour from our apartment in my Toyota Camry with a coat, fleece headband, and thin gloves. Nothing else. I barely made it home and by the time I made it, the snow in the lot was over 2' deep and I got stuck there. We were snowed in for 3 days. Many people got stranded in their cars, though, and it was 3-4 days before they could be reached. A handful of people died in their cars.

Now, each of our vehicles enables us to live in or near them for 3-4 days.

Really, a whole lot doesn't have to happen for you to lose all of your basic necessities.

Your local grocery store will take less than 12 hours to empty of food. And, you know how violent people get when they want to buy the best and latest gadgets for Christmas - multiply that by everybody in your town trying to stock up on food and water, salt, bleach, etc. at the same time. Violence? Yep. When/if that happens we won't be near the store because we will have what we need already.

Public water can become contaminated very quickly. And, even if you aren't in an area of contamination all it takes for someone who HAS been in contact with contaminated water to get other people sick.

How about toilet use? Without public water, you have NO toilets to refill and therefore flush. At college when Hurricane Isabel hit, we had no water for personal hygiene use. What then? A week of pee and poop piled up in your toilet?

What's your heat source in your home without electricity and even without natural gas?

What's your cooking source? Or source to boil water?

My BFF, dad's is with the State Department. After 9/11 their family (near D.C.) picked an emergency location/town to meet in their state if there were ever another national emergency. We also have a location to get to in the event we have to leave our major city.

I don't really see the point of stating, "I don't live in fear." Neither do I. But, I feel a great sense of responsibility to my family, and kids for our safety and well-being. Plus, I want to be self-reliant. Everything here on MM is about self-reliance.

You can be a sheep, a shepherd, or a wolf.

Mustard76 · October 2015

We keep a couple hundred dollars cash in the gun safe and a case of water and some flashlights in the basement. There are blankets in my car and H's truck. That's about the extent of it.

vlagrl29 · October 2015

uh not enough. I have the basics in my car like an ice scrapper, coat, and starter. We have a safe in the basement with cash in it. Some bottled water in the garage fridge and very little canned goods.

vlagrl29 · October 2015

what stuff do you keep in case of emergency? we do have lots of DH's camping gear in our basement.

MommyLiberty5013 · October 2015

If you want, PM me and I will send you what I made up for the presentation on 2014 for the mom's group. It is based on our own research into the needs of materials and supplies from a variety of websites that focus on the topic. Anything rec we make is on Amazon and is at least rated 4 stars.

It's entitled the 345 plan. 3 months, to cover 4 scenarios (on-the-go, on-the-road, staying put, getting out), in 5 categories (food, water, first-aid, shelter/warmth, and misc. supplies). I have put it into 3 months/12 weeks so people can do like a hard push to accomplish it. But, obviously it can be completed over a longer period of time.

We have a live for the moment culture. So, all this is very opposite to fast-paced, keep your nose in your Smart Phone, "normal." But, if you talk to your grandparents, none of this would sound too strange.

hoffse · October 2015

Yeah you never know when you're going to have that kind of crisis. I was in first or second grade during the "blizzard of '93." The storm hit north GA in March of that year, and we got snowed in for a week with no power. Literally, 7 full days where we couldn't leave the house and had no heat. Thankfully, my parents' house has a wood-burning fireplace, so we were ok but it was still very cold. We ended up eating a lot of frozen food that week - steaks, chicken, etc. that my parents had in the deep freezer. We cooked over the fire in the living room and we slept there in our ski gear to stay warm.

My H was in Katrina and had to evacuate 3 days after moving to school down there for college. For some reason his parents set him up with a local credit union when he moved there, so he had no access to his bank account or any cash when he had to evacuate. He carried his clarinet, laptop, and one change of clothes and that was it. He left everything else he had. He ended up gigging at churches in Nashville to get money for clothes, and thankfully the churches were willing to pay him in cash so that he had immediate funds. He did a lot of thrift shopping at the good will that year. After that experience, he will always insist that we have at least one bank account with a national bank, because he never wants to be locked out of accounts that long again.

I've told this story before, but I work with a girl whose house blew away in the Tuscaloosa tornadoes a few years ago. The only thing left standing was the chimney. She's the one who taught me that a cash emergency fund isn't fully funded until you can afford to pay all of your deductibles simultaneously. They maxed out the deductibles for their house, both cars, and the family health insurance in a single day after that happened. Because of her I also keep a photo log of our most valuable tangible assets for insurance purposes. I remember seeing her walk into a room with a pretty chandelier right after that happened and she said, "Shit, I forgot about light fixtures!" The insurance company made her list everything she and her husband could think of for replacement. So when we moved last year I made a point to take photos of the really valuable stuff. I keep it all on the cloud.

hoffse · October 2015

AprilZ81 said:

I've wanted to get a fireproof/waterproof safe for awhile now, but I haven't done any research.

We have a first aid kit, some flashlights, one sleeping bag and that is about it. We should probably look into being a little more prepared.

Keep an eye out at HD or Lowe's. We got ours on clearance last year for about $20. It's not particularly secure from theft, but it would almost certainly survive fire, and I keep the really important stuff in ziplock bags to double-protect against water.

At minimum, I think it's important to think about known weather events in your area. Tornadoes are common enough here that all of the local HD and Lowes stores actually sell stand-alone safe rooms for houses that don't have basements. Literally, they are this big steel boxes that you can install inside a closet that completely encase you. They look horrible to me, which is why I insisted on a basement.

We also try to keep a fire extinguisher on each level of the house, as well as in the garage. We accidentally set our old mattress on fire last year when we were moving stuff around and it bumped a light bulb. Burned a big hole in the mattress and made the house smell awful. We also bought a water main key so we can shut the water off at the street if need be. We learned the hard way that our house doesn't actually have a main shut-off valve.... or if it does, 3 plumbers have never been able to locate it. Anyway, those keys cost less than $20 at any home improvement store, and one plumber told us every house should have one because house valves corrode.

Xstatic3333 · October 2015

We haven't done much in this area but I'm reading some good ideas here! We do have pretty serious camping gear, including multiple methods of sterilizing water and several ways to cook without gas or electric. I also have pretty serious knowledge of our public water system from work, and I know there are very good backups in place.

The blanket in the car idea is great! I'll implement that ASAP, as we are right in the blizzard zone.

I'm horrible about keeping cash on hand. I'm always that jerk who even forgets when going for group dinners. Keeping a couple of hundred around sounds wise. I could also keep more canned goods/dry goods handy. Honestly though, the severe weather in our area generally comes with plenty of warning, so if we went too far it would be in preparation for very unlikely societal breakdown scenarios.

dragonstarjk · October 2015

We're not overly prepared as far as stashing stuff but I feel that we'd be okay. I mean, we live in a small town in Wyoming, so the chance of any large-scale disaster other than a blizzard or the rare tornado is small.

I keep a blanket, flashlight, granola bars and first aid kit in the trunk of my car at all times, and a coat, boots, and gloves whenever I am going to be on the road. Even in the summer. This is the kind of thing you do when you live in Wyoming .

We own tons of camping gear, warm weather gear, and H is an avid hunter, and we own a truck with 4-wheel drive. Those are the best ways to be prepared around here. I think the only thing that I might want to consider is throwing a case of water in the basement.

We do keep the stuff that is not in our safe deposit box, locked in a fire-proof safe at home.

Edited to add: growing up around here, you're just kind of raised to learn basic survival skills. H actually spends several weeks at a time during hunting season living in the wilderness w/ no electricity, phone service, roads, etc. I feel confident that he could easily take care of us in an emergency situation. I might be screwed if he wasn't there though. LOL.

bmo88 · October 2015

We are not well prepared. We have a mediocre first aid kit, flash lights and a reasonable food store in the freezer (which is electricity dependent). We do have car emergency kits for winter storms.

Honestly, as another PP said, I do not want to live my life in fear. Also, if it is a crazy state of emergency where people are losing their minds, ransacking and it's apocalyptic, I really don't want to live very long and go through that. Sounds a bit fatalistic, but I have no desire to live in an uninhabitable or hostile environment that is geared toward basic survival. Count me out.

abrewer5 · October 2015

bmo88 said:

We are not well prepared. We have a mediocre first aid kit, flash lights and a reasonable food store in the freezer (which is electricity dependent). We do have car emergency kits for winter storms.

Honestly, as another PP said, I do not want to live my life in fear. Also, if it is a crazy state of emergency where people are losing their minds, ransacking and it's apocalyptic, I really don't want to live very long and go through that. Sounds a bit fatalistic, but I have no desire to live in an uninhabitable or hostile environment that is geared toward basic survival. Count me out.

I 100% agree with your last statement. Not completely realistic or related, but H and I just started watching The Walking Dead and after the first episode I said that I'd just kill myself immediately. I know it sounds crazy but I truly think not living would be much better than living like that.

As for the question at hand: H and I are completely unprepared and would be screwed. We have no guns, we don't camp so no camping gear, we grocery shop week to week so not a lot of food storage... Yeah, we would be done within 48 hours. We do have a 4WD truck and kerosene heater so if we went without power for a while in the winter we would be ok with heat. We also have a boat so if things got extremely bad (like apocalyptic with people trying to eat each other) I imagine we'd hop on the boat and set anchor in the middle of the bay to distance ourselves from the crazies. I really have no idea.

This post makes me want to prepare for such events better... thank you for the inspiration, although H is going to think I'm nuts when I talk to him about this tonight.

hoffse · October 2015

Well I think we can agree that a zombie apocalypse is unlikely! But freak weather events do happen that knock out power for days or destroy entire communities or make it difficult to leave the house for an extended period of time.

Frankly, anybody who lives in the Southeast should be able to handle a full-on hurricane if you live on the coast or the after-effects of flooding if you don't (short of the monster floods like SC has had recently). I don't know why anybody would buy a house in a valley around here because we get tropical storm-like rain multiple times per year, and the last thing you want is to be living in a basin that is collecting all of that storm water.

Anybody who lives in the top 2/3 of the country should be able to handle a blizzard and shouldn't freeze to death if they are stuck in their vehicles overnight. If you can afford it, having a wood-burning heat source in your house is smart too.

I'm much less worried about terrorism because our military can be mobilized in minutes. H and I got a lot of comments before going to France because "aren't we afraid of the terrorists." No, we aren't - the odds of us being involved in a terrorist attack are extremely low, and terrorism is fully man-made. I'm not going to let the assholes win by being afraid of living my life.

Weather, though.... the US gets at least one big weather event every year or two and sometimes all you can do is wait for it to pass. It's predictable enough that people should prepare for it. It can take FEMA a few days to get everything set up, and they really shouldn't be anybody's sole disaster plan.

maple2 · October 2015

We do have some things saved in case of weather emergencies. I grew up in a place with extreme winters, so I have just always had a car stocked with whatever I might need to survive a while snowed in there. I now live in a place where hurricanes and severe storms are common, Typically a good chunk of people loses power for several days every year. As a result, we do have a good stock of non-perishable food. We also have a lot of camping gear, so we would be okay with cooking and treating water, at least for a short time.

I also think that some of preparation can be about habits and/or skills rather than stocking up. For example, since I grew up with extreme winters, I pretty much never let my car get much less than 1/2 tank of gas because being able to run the car and keep the heat on could be important in a winter storm. We don't have much bottled water on hand, but when there is a storm warning, we fill up the bath tubs with plenty of water for drinking, toilets, etc. for a few days.

simplyelise · October 2015

Meh, we live in an apartment, so we're pretty much screwed in most situations. During the winter, we always do a food run before the storms come. Having a shovel is a pretty important thing, even in the apartments when you have to dig out your vehicle. We've got good first aid kits, flashlights, and usually have some bottled water.

Snow is forecasted, so that's easy. Tornadoes are not always predicted and we are in tornado alley. We're in a second floor of a slab apartment, so we would go into the bathtub with couch cushions to protect us and just hope for the best.

If it was anything more than all this, we'd probably try and get to my sister's house across town. But yeah, I'm never going to worry about more than just the typical weather events.

cbee817 · October 2015

The biggest thing we would need is a generator. We had an ice storm in October 2006 that knocked power out anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks depending on where you lived in the area. We were able to leave our condo (just DH and me at the time) and go to my parents' house about 70 miles away. Our power was back on in 4 days, but my aunt (who lived about 4 miles away from us) didn't have power for 2 weeks.

DH's parents have a generator and they are about 3/4 of a mile away. Worse case, we would bundle up the kids, put them in a sled and walk over there. Having the girls definitely makes me a little nervous about stuff like that- we have some essentials but I think it would be good for us to be better prepared since the winters just seem to be getting worse here.

bridejl · October 2015

All we have is flashlights, first aid kit, case of water bottles and a large candle w/matches in the basement. We also keep blankets in the car. We're not very prepared.

Being better prepared has been in the back of my mind for a while, but I haven't acted on it yet. In our area the events we need to prepare for are blizzards and wind storms/tornadoes. This post is a good reminder that I should make it a higher priority.

formerlyGDaisy09 · October 2015

we do this to some degree...minus stashing a bunch of cash aside. all our important documents, passports, titles to cars, marriage license, etc. are stored in a safety deposit box at the bank. I don't own any valuable jewelry that I don't wear at all times (engagement ring)...or if it's valuable it's for sentimental reasons, not because of actual value (H knows what to grab in the event I'm not home and we have to get out). our pets are the most valuable things in our home, we keep the cat carriers in easy to access places, same with collars and leashes for the dogs. in the event of fire/CO the plan with the cats is to actually take them outside and stick them in the car...and move the car away from the house. Most other types of emergencies we'd be able to get to the cat carriers in the basement quickly.

we always have a case or two of bottled water in the basement (came in handy this spring when the city's water line got contaminated with E. Coli). we're on city water, so we don't generally worry about toilet flushing. My parent's have a well, they keep 5-6 5-gallon buckets in the garage, one of the first things they do when a storm (hurricane/blizzard) is coming is fill the buckets and the bathtub with water so toilets can be flushed.

In the winter we keep things like granola bars, cereal, peanut butter, and other non-perashables stocked in case of power outage due to snow/ice. We always have lots of blankets around to deal with that kind of situation too. we are fortunate to be on the same power grid as the two hospitals in town (one is the only T1 level trauma center in the region) so power doesn't generally go down for long. Our next stove will have a propane range, so we'd actually be able to cook/boil water when power is down.

We also have car kits (snow shovel, sand (actually usually a box of cat litter), power bars, water (in opened partially empty bottles so when they freeze they don't explode), blankets, flash lights) in our cars in the winter. In the winter we keep gas tanks on cars no less than half-full.

We're actually part of my parent's emergency plans for hurricanes, or potential terrorist attack or melt-down at the power plant near them. in the event we had some kind of evacuation event, we have several routes we could take to my parent's and several other family members that are options too.

brij2006 · October 2015

Like @dragonstarjk where we live sort of forces you to be prepared. We know basic survival skills (basic to the area, but extreme to "city folk"). In the fall you load your car with items because you can easily get stranded in a snow storm on the country road, and the nearest grocery store is at least 30 minutes away so we always have a pantry full of food.

jtmh2012 · October 2015

The only real threat where we're at is hurricanes and honestly, we're not on the main tracks for them so usually we get passed by and the worst we get is like a week of rain out of the deal. However, the nice thing about hurricanes is that you can see them coming and have time to prepare. The most we do is just to make sure that cars have gas in them and we don't let the pantry get down to bare minimum during hurricane season.

One year we got hit by Isabel as a cat 1. Lost power for a few days, but still had a gas feed to the house.

MommyLiberty5013 · October 2015

hoffse said:

Well I think we can agree that a zombie apocalypse is unlikely! But freak weather events do happen that knock out power for days or destroy entire communities or make it difficult to leave the house for an extended period of time.

Frankly, anybody who lives in the Southeast should be able to handle a full-on hurricane if you live on the coast or the after-effects of flooding if you don't (short of the monster floods like SC has had recently). I don't know why anybody would buy a house in a valley around here because we get tropical storm-like rain multiple times per year, and the last thing you want is to be living in a basin that is collecting all of that storm water.

Anybody who lives in the top 2/3 of the country should be able to handle a blizzard and shouldn't freeze to death if they are stuck in their vehicles overnight. If you can afford it, having a wood-burning heat source in your house is smart too.

I'm much less worried about terrorism because our military can be mobilized in minutes. H and I got a lot of comments before going to France because "aren't we afraid of the terrorists." No, we aren't - the odds of us being involved in a terrorist attack are extremely low, and terrorism is fully man-made. I'm not going to let the assholes win by being afraid of living my life.

Weather, though.... the US gets at least one big weather event every year or two and sometimes all you can do is wait for it to pass. It's predictable enough that people should prepare for it. It can take FEMA a few days to get everything set up, and they really shouldn't be anybody's sole disaster plan.

Yes! Thank you! That's all I mean when I say being "self-reliant."

You wouldn't believe the number of commercial pilots (many are active or retired military) who prep. Many didn't go the military route to learn to fly, but even the civilian pilots do prep. I think it falls into their need to plan and estimate future events (both in the military and while flying). If they have the basics down and done, then they can focus on the tasks at hand to mitigate other situations that arise.

Some PPs mentioned it above - if people have no desire to try and be as comfortable as possible and make an attempt to do "well" in an emergency, then by all means, go belly up. But, most people have some desire to help themselves and others too and all they need is a plan in place, knowledge and some basic supplies. LOL to Zombie Apocalypse...because that is clearly not what we're discussing here.

It seems like the world's weather is getting crazier and crazier. Plus, there are increasing world-wide threats. Think about the scale to which the US was "frozen" after 9/11. The US government is thwarting terror plots all the time. All the time. But, according to some intel experts, they don't have the man power to focus on all the threats. So, that means there are loops in the security in which a terror plot could be a reality. There is a big difference between living and fear and having a healthy dose of reality based on facts. FACTS: weather is crazy and sometimes unpredictable. AND, a portion of the world's Muslim population hates the USA and the West and is set on killing.

95% of the time I don't think about this stuff. But, 95% of the time I don't think about my life insurance, my e-fund, or my auto/home insurance. Why is THIS type of insurance acceptable to the "norm" but having a store of physical goods and resources, with plans in place, is considered "living in fear?" Under that line of thinking I should cancel all my policies and spend the e-fund and live day-to-day and pay-check, to pay-check.

julieanne912 · October 2015

dragonstarjk said:

We're not overly prepared as far as stashing stuff but I feel that we'd be okay. I mean, we live in a small town in Wyoming, so the chance of any large-scale disaster other than a blizzard or the rare tornado is small.
I keep a blanket, flashlight, granola bars and first aid kit in the trunk of my car at all times, and a coat, boots, and gloves whenever I am going to be on the road. Even in the summer. This is the kind of thing you do when you live in Wyoming .
We own tons of camping gear, warm weather gear, and H is an avid hunter, and we own a truck with 4-wheel drive. Those are the best ways to be prepared around here. I think the only thing that I might want to consider is throwing a case of water in the basement.
We do keep the stuff that is not in our safe deposit box, locked in a fire-proof safe at home.
Edited to add: growing up around here, you're just kind of raised to learn basic survival skills. H actually spends several weeks at a time during hunting season living in the wilderness w/ no electricity, phone service, roads, etc. I feel confident that he could easily take care of us in an emergency situation. I might be screwed if he wasn't there though. LOL.

This is pretty much us too. Highest likely events would be blizzard or tornado. Also perhaps flooding, but our house is kind of up on a hill area with a river down the hill, so flooding isn't likely. We have tons of camping stuff, H hunts, and I tend to hoard food because I like to buy in bulk when on sale. H has a large dually truck with 4 wheel drive, and my SUV is AWD. H is from Wyoming as well so he was taught from a young age some survival skills. I also grew up camping with a redneck dad so I know a bit as well. I'm also not really sure we'd be in a 'target' area for terrorist attacks... we live about an hour outside of downtown Denver, although we are in oil and gas country, so maybe? In that case I think we'd be dead anyway if they decided to target our area.

We also have a camper with a built-in generator that we could live in should something happen to the house... but obviously if the disaster was a tornado, if the house doesn't survive, the camper wouldn't either. At that point though, we'd leave and go somewhere else safe, we have lots of family and friends that aren't too far away but far enough away in the event of a localized disaster. We could stock and stock in the house for any kind of disaster, but if the disaster is a tornado strong enough to make the house unlivable, chances are our stockpile would be ruined as well.

After reading this though, I should probably equip my car a bit better for a flash winter storm. I work about 16 miles away from my house, and much of my route is back roads (although I could take highways... I just don't because they're awful traffic wise. I feel like I could eventually make my way home, but I know some storms can get so bad that you get a foot of snow in an hour.

abrewer5 · October 2015

MommyLiberty5013 said:

hoffse said:

Well I think we can agree that a zombie apocalypse is unlikely! But freak weather events do happen that knock out power for days or destroy entire communities or make it difficult to leave the house for an extended period of time.

Frankly, anybody who lives in the Southeast should be able to handle a full-on hurricane if you live on the coast or the after-effects of flooding if you don't (short of the monster floods like SC has had recently). I don't know why anybody would buy a house in a valley around here because we get tropical storm-like rain multiple times per year, and the last thing you want is to be living in a basin that is collecting all of that storm water.

Anybody who lives in the top 2/3 of the country should be able to handle a blizzard and shouldn't freeze to death if they are stuck in their vehicles overnight. If you can afford it, having a wood-burning heat source in your house is smart too.

I'm much less worried about terrorism because our military can be mobilized in minutes. H and I got a lot of comments before going to France because "aren't we afraid of the terrorists." No, we aren't - the odds of us being involved in a terrorist attack are extremely low, and terrorism is fully man-made. I'm not going to let the assholes win by being afraid of living my life.

Weather, though.... the US gets at least one big weather event every year or two and sometimes all you can do is wait for it to pass. It's predictable enough that people should prepare for it. It can take FEMA a few days to get everything set up, and they really shouldn't be anybody's sole disaster plan.

Yes! Thank you! That's all I mean when I say being "self-reliant."

You wouldn't believe the number of commercial pilots (many are active or retired military) who prep. Many didn't go the military route to learn to fly, but even the civilian pilots do prep. I think it falls into their need to plan and estimate future events (both in the military and while flying). If they have the basics down and done, then they can focus on the tasks at hand to mitigate other situations that arise.

Some PPs mentioned it above - if people have no desire to try and be as comfortable as possible and make an attempt to do "well" in an emergency, then by all means, go belly up. But, most people have some desire to help themselves and others too and all they need is a plan in place, knowledge and some basic supplies. LOL to Zombie Apocalypse...because that is clearly not what we're discussing here.

It seems like the world's weather is getting crazier and crazier. Plus, there are increasing world-wide threats. Think about the scale to which the US was "frozen" after 9/11. The US government is thwarting terror plots all the time. All the time. But, according to some intel experts, they don't have the man power to focus on all the threats. So, that means there are loops in the security in which a terror plot could be a reality. There is a big difference between living and fear and having a healthy dose of reality based on facts. FACTS: weather is crazy and sometimes unpredictable. AND, a portion of the world's Muslim population hates the USA and the West and is set on killing.

95% of the time I don't think about this stuff. But, 95% of the time I don't think about my life insurance, my e-fund, or my auto/home insurance. Why is THIS type of insurance acceptable to the "norm" but having a store of physical goods and resources, with plans in place, is considered "living in fear?" Under that line of thinking I should cancel all my policies and spend the e-fund and live day-to-day and pay-check, to pay-check.

I totally get what you're saying and I agree that it's better to prepared. The zombie reference was more in a joking way (which is why I said not realistic or relatable)...

I think for the most part we have time to prepare for natural disasters in our country. At least in my region we know when a hurricane or blizzard will hit and we'll likely be without power and need to stock up on candles, batteries, kerosene, food, etc. Generally I'm within walking distance of my house, work or someone I knows house at all times unless I'm on travel so as far as being stranded in a car goes I don't think that would last long. But I also think this is why we take our need to be prepared for granted because the majority of the time we know when it's coming, we may not always have that luxury so you're right we (as a country) should prepare better.

short+sassy · October 2015

SITB
As many of you know, I live in NOLA and I was living here for Hurricane Katrina as well...though I evacuated. I've evacuated for 5 (6?) hurricanes since I moved here about 16 years ago.
Don't need to worry about snowstorms, though!
I definitely, definitely, definitely stay prepped and ready for a major storm or hurricane or for having to evacuate for one. Though much of what I do is not needed for the entire year, just for hurricane season.
I have a fire-proof safe I keep cash in...and I bulk up on my cash during the season. I keep my important documents there at all times. Because, yes, it might be awhile until you have access to your bank account. Plus it costs boatloads of money to evacuate and suddenly have to spend money on gas, food, and hotels that I normally wouldn't be spending.
Although not quite as much a crisis because banking was available but, when I came back from Katrina three months later, I still needed to always carry more cash for a few months. There weren't many stores open and most of them didn't take credit cards because phone lines and internet lines were still down in some areas.
For hurricane season, I keep 36 gallons of bottled water (6 boxes of six from Sam's). And, if evacuation order is not called but a storm is headed in, we also fill up the bath tub. I keep my car gassed up to at least 1/2 at ALL TIMES. And the second it looks like a storm might be headed our way, I visit the gas station every day to keep it at full. Because, if an evacuation order is called, stations run out of gas with a quickness.
I keep a lot of non-perishable, canned foods on hand. Tuna with packets of mayo is one of my favorite staples.
I should be better about keeping my car a bit more stocked with non-perishable food items and a blanket, just in case I get stuck somewhere for a long period of time.
I keep multiple flashlights at the house, including one that has a crank and is also a radio.
Sorry to go on a tangent, but there is just no way words can describe how devastating Hurricane Katrina was. I mean, my H (b/f at the time) evacuated...expecting to come back in a few days like usual...and couldn't come back for three months. And we were even some of the luckiest ones. Our house didn't flood...though it was 6 weeks before we even knew what had happened to it.
Then, we return to our city that looks nothing like what we left. It looks like a war zone. What was once a bustling city has no people walking around, no cars driving around. There are TWO-story houses with giant gaping holes in the roofs where the occupants had hacked there way out of the attic with an axe to escape the flood waters.
For everyone who lived here during that time, it is like there is an invisible line drawn down your life. The "before Katrina"/"after Katrina" line.
Now to end on a funnier note and go back to the topic. There was an evacuation called a couple years after Katrina. And one of the radio stations was having people call in about what they were buying to prepare for the storm. Of course, there were lots of responses about bottled water and batteries, etc.
Then one woman called in and said, "I'm only buying beer and cigarettes...(dramatic pause)...because if I have beer and cigarettes, I can trade for whatever else I need!"

CuriousKiddosMama · October 2015

The biggest thing in my area is hurricanes and those are forecasted so we don't do too much to be honest.
We have a decent amount of $ on hand at all times and my pantry/ deep freezer would probably feed my block for a week. We have a gas stove and have never been without that before so we can cook as long as we have matches to start it.
The only thing I ever go buy when we hear a hurricane is moving into the gulf is a couple extra flats of water, and maybe some pop tarts or easy ready to eat food. We don't have a generator, but I know several neighbors who do so if it was too ungodly hot out we could crash with them for a couple hours.

csuave · October 2015

We live in an area that doesn't have weather disasters.

I have suffered power outages for various reasons. The longest one was probably 12 hours. As a result I made sure to have more candles and keep them accessible. I always have cereal and canned food anyway. I used to have a gas fireplace and hope to install one in this house sometime. It was great when my furnace went out one year.

I have a blanket and reflective triangle/safety kit in my car.

When we were dating and getting serious I made an effort to memorize H's phone number. I actually have very few phone numbers memorized and should probably do a couple more.

hoffse · October 2015

@short+sassy, I hear you on the Katrina thing. It affected H in a really serious way even though he had just moved there for college. He was 17 at the time and suddenly displaced, didn't know if he was going to be able to ever go back, whether he could go to college anymore, etc.

He went down once they reopened the city to help with some of the cleanup efforts. I came down a couple months later, and he took me into the 9th ward. It was like a war zone but completely empty. Easily the eeriest thing I've ever seen, with some houses that had been washed into other ones and powerlines that had snapped - not fallen, but snapped. I remember seeing the water line on the overpass... it was a couple stories high. And the crazy thing was it was completely abandoned. I have a long-distance photo of H walking around this destroyed neighborhood, and he's this tiny, single person in the shot. We were there for a couple hours and never saw another person.

His school reopened for the spring semester, but FEMA was still running the show. They had red beans and rice almost every day in the dining hall. He basically lived off of food rations for an entire semester, and he still can't eat it.

If Katrina taught us anything it's that some problems are bigger than the government can handle. Being even moderately self-reliant gives you a leg up and frees up resources for people who are injured or need real help.

short+sassy · October 2015

hoffse said:

@short+sassy, I hear you on the Katrina thing. It affected H in a really serious way even though he had just moved there for college. He was 17 at the time and suddenly displaced, didn't know if he was going to be able to ever go back, whether he could go to college anymore, etc.

He went down once they reopened the city to help with some of the cleanup efforts. I came down a couple months later, and he took me into the 9th ward. It was like a war zone but completely empty. Easily the eeriest thing I've ever seen, with some houses that had been washed into other ones and powerlines that had snapped - not fallen, but snapped. I remember seeing the water line on the overpass... it was a couple stories high. And the crazy thing was it was completely abandoned. I have a long-distance photo of H walking around this destroyed neighborhood, and he's this tiny, single person in the shot. We were there for a couple hours and never saw another person.

His school reopened for the spring semester, but FEMA was still running the show. They had red beans and rice almost every day in the dining hall. He basically lived off of food rations for an entire semester, and he still can't eat it.

If Katrina taught us anything it's that some problems are bigger than the government can handle. Being even moderately self-reliant gives you a leg up and frees up resources for people who are injured or need real help.

That is a really excellent point and a lesson I also learned. We had a car to leave, we didn't have a lot of money...but we had enough to stay in hotels instead of shelters. Ironically, I had renter's insurance which would cover my hotel stay for the first two weeks. Except, it was two months before they would return my incessant calls and two months longer before I received my check. Money I could have really used at the time! Not one month after I had already come back, lol.

And just like the churches who offered cash work to your H, I still strongly remember the companies and people who were so kind and caring during our journey. Just to name few,

--The Winfrey Hotel in Birmingham who charged NOLA/MS residents half the normal rate, plus threw together an impromptu afternoon reception with free food and drinks for us.

--The family that bought us breakfast at Waffle House when they found out we were from NOLA. We thanked them and insisted it wasn't necessary, but they insisted it would give them pleasure to be able to do something for us.

--Payless Shoe Source...of all weird things...who was the ONLY store (or felt like it) that had trained their employees on how to remove the sales tax for purchases made with a Red Cross credit card. Plus 30% off for LA/MS residents. I know it sounds minor, but after giving up on asking to have taxes removed because everywhere else either couldn't do it or it was a long drawn out process...to have a store just do what they were supposed to automatically without my even having to ask was glorious.

--Miami Healthcare clinic that allowed me to see a doctor and have lab work done for free and then sold me my sorely needed medication at a very discounted rate.

OOOHHHH!!! And this reminds me. Another "must grab" important papers are your mortgage (the main pages) or rental agreement and a couple utility bills. Basically, proof of your residence/where you live. There were a few times I needed that documentation while we were displaced. And, if we had returned to the city before it had been opened back up, we also would have needed to prove we lived there.

How Much Do you have saved in case of Emergencies?

Re: How Much Do you have saved in case of Emergencies?

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