ISO advice on emergency planning

[Kay Henderson]

As a result of the Angora fire, DH and I have concluded that we need to get our act together with regard to emergency planning. (As you may recall, our house and our neighborhood survived.)

I know that planning will differ somewhat depending upon the type of emergencies likely to happen in an area. Tornadoes and hurricanes are unlikely for us :) ; fire, earthquake, severe winter storm, and possibly flooding are more likely. However, I still think it might be useful to learn what others have done.

Therefore, if you have done some good emergency planning, I'd very much appreciate hearing about it. When DH and I have decent planning in place, I'll share what we have done.

Here is our "to do" list so far:

1. Evaluate insurance. We are underinsured.

2. Document possessions. DH is photographing the blueprints for our house as I type. We have been advised to use our camcorder to make a movie of the house and our possessions, including every drawer and closet. I am also planning to make a written inventory. The pictures of the blueprints (stored digitally), the DVD of the house and my written inventory will join important papers in a safe deposit box away from the house.

3. Figure out a way to save at least some of my favorite recipes. BB members have shared some good ideas on my previous thread.

4. Come up with a prioritized list of things to take when evacuating, depending upon how much warning we have (if any). Consider whether we should have a back-up of stuff on our computers in case we don't have time to unhook and take the towers with us.

5. Evaluate how much ready-to-eat food I should routinely have in the house. If we are housebound for some days (by a severe winter storm, for example), I've got lots in the refrig and freezer, but if we lose electricity for days, it wouldn't very long before it would be unsafe to eat.

6. Work with our property owners' association on evacuation planning. Other than by water, there are only two arterial streets which exit the neighborhood. When the mandatory evacuation order was given (we were out of town), there was a massive traffic tie-up. Many people gave up and went home.

7. Formalize my brothers, who live across the country, as "contact persons" for people trying to find out if we are OK when and if we cannot be reached at home or on my cell. If all three of us are affected, we're in DEEP trouble.

Thanks for your input!

Kay

[slknight]

Kay, I haven't done it yet, but emergency planning is my major goal for the month of July. I have several friends who are also going to do it this month so we are all motivating each other. You've got a really comprehensive list.

The other thing that I was considering doing was putting together a document that details all of our bank accounts, credit cards, passwords, phone numbers, etc. I do all of the bill paying, and in the event that something should happen to me, I thought DH might like to have it all compiled in one place.

[wintersummer]

Kay - I am totally into disaster planning! I remember so well sitting next to a woman at a somewhat formal dinner and doing the normal chit-chat stuff. I asked a casual question and she broke down in tears. Her home had burned to the ground the week before and she lost everything she owned. She told me that she was working on a listing of everything she owned, for insurance purposes, and couldn't begin to think of what was in her home. She told me she lost every single photo of her children and her family. It was so sad.

Here's what I did immediately. We have a lot digital photos, but tons of family photos left over from the old ages. I scanned every single one (maybe about 500) and backed them up in several places: external hard drive (which we store in my husband's office at work) and on CDs (stored in safe deposit box). I did a total inventory of everything in our house, using Excel. I simply walked around the house with the laptop. I even inventoried clothes! But, when it was done, I think I must have about $10,000 worth of clothes (and I'm just a simple jeans and tshirt kind of person - or so I thought). Point is - it just adds up. And, if tragedy strikes, you have to replace your jeans and tshirts and they cost money. Recipes are also on that external hard drive (the one stored at husbands office, but another one here on my desk at home)

I have started a listing of "what to take" should an immediate evacuation be ordered. Not finished it yet, but I'm working on it.

I've put together the emergency medical kit, making sure that we have enough things should we have to stay in house for > week.

I think I probably have enough food to make it about 3-4 weeks (just me and husband). This really became a concern of mine when they started talking about outbreaks of communicable diseases and that the possibility exists that it would be required that we all stay home. I want to eat! Oh, and I have water.

I guess I've just decided that if the house ever burns or if some disaster hits, I want to be as prepared as possible. The preparation gives me comfort.

[stefania4]

If possible, get all your prescriptions filled at a national-chain pharmacy. That way they're all in one place and you don't have to try to remember dosages - it's all on file.

Wear a Med-Alert bracelet if you have a chronic health condition.

Talk to your lawyer about assigning a trusted family member financial power of attorney in the event that you and your DH are unable to make decisions.

[Robyn1007]

Think about where you would go in the event of an evacuation of your neighborhood, city, etc. When I moved to DC not long after 9/11 I created a plan of action on where I would go if something major created a widespread evacuation situation with contact phone numbers of those locations and sent it to my parents. It included stops as far west as Colorado.

Also, don't forget your pets. Make sure you have enough food for them, know where their carriers are etc. Make sure you have a non-electric can opener for canned foods.

[RunnerKim]

We've set up some emergency plans. Not as much as I'd like but a number of things are in place. For us, our number one emergency situation is likely to be an earthquake. Challenge of an earthquake is that there's no advanced warning and we're just as likely to not be at home (and if we are, will our house be intact? - can we even reach our emergency supplies??!)

I've found this web site to be very helpful http://www.72hours.org/ and of course the Red Cross (http://www.redcross.org/services/prepare/0,1082,0_239_,00.html?WT.srch=1&gclid=COLcpenwk40CFSejhgodfFZ9jw) has good tips on making a kit. My office had some really great emergency preparedness speakers come several years ago (pre 9/11) and I learned a lot of really useful information from them. One being the public pay phones are one of the first landlines to come back online and the more commonly known thing that being able to call out of area will be easier than within the affected area.

We have water, non-perishable food and emergency supplies collected in our garage (along with our general camping stuff) for our family and pets (we actually have extra because it's likely my 2 nephews and sister might be with us or able to get to us). The water is a big one - it's a surprising amount to have sitting around. But again with our situation it's not like we could fill up the bath tub in anticipation of a hurricane.

Emergency supplies include pictures of everyone in the family (including pets and my sister and nephews). Copies of important documents. Flashlight, battery-operated radio, landline phone, batteries, emergency blankets, first aid supplies, local map. I used to have a can of formula and some other baby specific stuff too. Oh and some basic entertainment too - deck of cards type thing. I'm pretty sure we've put in some cash (including change).

We have an outside-the-geographic area (I belive it's suppose to be 100 miles) contact person. It's my in-laws but my sister (who lives in the area) would also use them. My parents know to contact DH's parents if they can't get to us. My sister, DH and I all know to call them FIRST if something should happen. Might only get one call through.

Both parents have current pictures of our kids (biggest concern being my youngest who wouldn't be able to identify himself) and knows their current medical history (daily asthma medication). We need to do fingerprints.

DH and I both know the evacuation plan for our kids daycare and know that's where we'll meet up if possible.

We have a safety deposit box with important papers and photos of our household goods.

We also have a document that lists all our financial accounts, insurance information (medical, auto, house, life), who to contact in case of emergency situation (work bosses, family, close friends), basic information about children and pets. Our wishes if we should die etc. It's not a legal document but we've signed it and have given it to both sets of parents. We also have wills.

We also have a small kit in our car. Some water, non-perishable food, batteries, flashlight, 2-way radios, first aid stuff. And i have some things in my office too (mostly a few bottles of water).

When the kids are carrying backpacks I'll have a little bag in there too. A laminated sheet with important phone numbers and money (change) that's only to be used for an emegency.

Kim

Kim

[AzAnne]

I've found this web site to be very helpful http://www.72hours.org/
Kim

Thanks for this link! I thought we were pretty well organized, but neglected to think about some of the items listed.

Guess we've got a bit more to do.

While I would prefer to live in ignorant bliss :o we both realized after Katrina, numerous wildfires and floods that we needed to get supplies and a plan.

And it saddes me to know that we cannot rely on our National Guard or emergency personnel to add and assist in the event of a major disaster. (sorry if i digress)

[gertdog]

Ditto to all of the above! :)

Also, if you have pets, don't forget to think about what you would do with/for them in an emergency.

Our household kit is in a large rubbermaid tub, though our water and food supplies are mostly in the pantry. I followed the Red Cross guidelines in assembling it.

I made a small "go-bag" for DH to keep at work (I work from home)- it contains our list of emergency contact numbers, copies of certain documents, photos of everyone in the family (DH, me, DS, dog), a few granola bars, a small flashlight, and some basic first-aid items. He's already used the flashlight- they had a power outage in his building and no one could find a flashlight anywhere in the office.

Each of our cars has a small kit that includes a map of the area so that if we need to leave by car, we can plot out a route or take alternates as needed.