Good Morning Fellow Boortribbers and welcome to the Froggy Bottom Cafe.
I would like to take this day to urge everyone to think strongly about preparing for disaster or emergencies.
I hope everyone realizes by now that disaster can strike anywhere at any time and everyone in this country should begin now to prepare for any emergency that may arise.
I have posted a diary on Village Blue with more complete preparations for disaster info, but here I will just talk about an Emergency backpack, for each member of a family to be picked up and run with on a moments notice.
These are items I suggest should go into such a pack, but this is just a starting point, everyone will have different needs.
Flashlights and batteries
Small battery radio
boy scout camping stoves, the ones the size of a large saucer, that unscrews and becomes a burner
Fuel for the stove
Water, count on enough for 3 days
Medicine that is required, plus aspirin type meds, and pepto bismal
As big a first aid kit as you have room for
small sewing kit/stratight pins, needles, tweezers, scissors
Folding knife
Boy scout cooking set
Boy scout handbook
Copies of ID’s and important papers
Maps
Important phone numbers
Your personal disaster plan, meet up spots for your family, etc.
Water purification tablets (can be purchased in drug store)
Change of clothes and sturdy shoes
Underware
Feminine Sanitary Supplies
Personal hygene items
Plastic Bags of assorted sizes
Rain Poncho
Soap, solid and liquid
Roll of toilet paper
Ball of rope,
Large safety pins (these can be used for many different purposes, in worst case senario can be used in building a makeshift structure.)
Sheet of plastic, such as a painters type
Foil blankets (can be found in sports store or boy scouts stores)
Can/bottle opener
Tablet
Felt tip pens
Dried food such as top ramen, or other backpacking type food, that can be easily made in small camp stove (BTW I once made fried bread over one of those camp stoves and boy scout cook set.)
Trail mix, raisens, crackers, your favorites
Deck of cards
Compass
First aid book
Matches
For children add, crayons, small games, coloring books, or whatever your kids like.
After watching the disaster in NO, I would now suggest a small hatchet.
The redcrosssite has kits already prepared and for sale, prices vary, but it can also give you more ideas for what you might want include in your packs.
Military surplus site is here
That’s about all I can think of now, so if you have any items to add, please suggest in comments.
Please, please take this seriously and start now to do this preparation. I personally am preparing mine in memory of all those who perished and to all those whose lives will forever be changed as a result of this disaster.
People have mentioned how Bootribbers might want to have a way of getting in contact with other in case of emergencies, so if each one of you would reach out to another boomer that you feel a kinship with, we might be able to have a whole chain of contact.
{Update: janet Strange reminded me of the Katrina~People Finder site where you can sign up to help enter data on a searchable data bank. This is a real chance for us computer nuts to help, especially for those who cannot easily do work outside of the home to help.}
Have a great Labor Day!
