I suppose I need to cut back on watching the evening news while I prepare dinner. My children have been asking a lot of questions about tornadoes the last month or so. My four year old is particularly concerned about one of them coming inside our house, despite our reassurances that the wind stays outside most of the time.
In our coastal community, hurricane season began
six weeks ago, so I have been taking stock of our supplies. Because we live more than twenty miles from
the coast, we rarely evacuate when a storm comes our way, and although I am not
ruling that out, we prefer to stock what we will need to ride out a storm and
its aftermath. That means water,
non-perishable food, medical supplies, batteries, candles, and plenty of things
for the kids to do.
Also, this year, I prepared “Go bags” with
emergency supplies for each family member.
I asked the children to help me collect everything and make decisions
about their clothes. They actually had fun looking for the toys they
wanted to pack and helping me find all the supplies from around the house.
I read about go
bags on two blogs recently, and realized we needed to be better prepared in the
event of a last minute evacuation.
Jessica over at Life as Mom wrote about her “24 Hour Go Bags” last
fall. Her post is full of helpful hints,
such as color coordinating the family bags and when to buy them on sale. She includes a helpful list of what she
packed in each bag, and what she plans to add as she finds other items on sale. I will do the same below.
Jessica also created a fill in form for family and emergency contact information to place in each child’s bag. I really like that the form conveniently has 2 columns and prefills the second column with the family information (address, parent name, etc.) as you type the first column. In the extra space at the bottom, I wrote that we are Catholic and that my children speak both English and Spanish (she used that space for insurance information).
Bobbi at Revolution of Love wrote about her disaster preparations earlier this year, and included rosaries and other prayer tools in her family bags. Of course, I had to add those items to my own bags!
Jessica also created a fill in form for family and emergency contact information to place in each child’s bag. I really like that the form conveniently has 2 columns and prefills the second column with the family information (address, parent name, etc.) as you type the first column. In the extra space at the bottom, I wrote that we are Catholic and that my children speak both English and Spanish (she used that space for insurance information).
Bobbi at Revolution of Love wrote about her disaster preparations earlier this year, and included rosaries and other prayer tools in her family bags. Of course, I had to add those items to my own bags!
I chose to use some backpacks given to the
children at a local home improvement store during a children’s workshop. We also pick up many similar bags at festivals
around town, so if you are looking for something lightweight, you might not
have to buy anything. The children are
using bright orange bags (easy to spot), mine is black, and my husband is using
our old travel backpack, as he will carry more food and water for the rest of
us.
Go Bags Packing List
1. Clothing and Toiletries. Family color shirt (ours is green), shorts,
socks, underwear. Sunglasses, ponytail
holders (comb in my bag), hand sanitizer, bandages, toothbrush and paste. During the emergency, I will take the bag of
sunscreens I keep in my outing bag and move it to my go bag. My husband will carry anti-bacterial wipes,
regular baby wipes, and toilet seat covers for all of us. I am also going to look for lightweight pants
that we can pack instead of shorts; after a storm, the mosquitoes will be out
in force.
2. Food and Water. Bottled water (2 each), packaged granola
bars, trail mix. As we ride out the
storm, I’ll add other food that will keep for a few days: yogurt and plastic
spoon, bread, cheese sticks, crackers.
3. Emergency contact and money. I
sealed the contact information card, a family portrait (leftover Christmas
photo card), and five dollars in bills and change inside a zip bag. If the children are separated from both of
us, they can make calls and show emergency workers what their parents look
like.
4. Flashlight with batteries. My husband and I each have a crank operated
flashlight that doubles as a radio. The
kids carry mini mag lites.
5. Prayer aids and entertainment. Each of us packed a rosary and prayer
cards. The kids also decided to pack a
small stuffed animal and a small notebook and pen. I am going to look for other small books and
toys to include (such as mini playing cards).
My husband will carry the extra charger for our cell phones.
Here are a couple of pictures that include most of
the bag contents; we will add items as we think about them or find useful
things on sale.
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| child bag contents |
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| adult bag contents |
We will also pack our passports, a printout of our
bank balances, insurance cards, a flash drive with important information, and
more cash in a zip bag that my husband and I will carry, along with extra zip
bags for the cell phones and other items we may grab as we head out.
I think we are ready. In the event a hurricane heads our way, we
will move the go bags from the hall closet to the room we stay in during the
storm, along with raincoats. Everyone
will wear jeans, socks, and tennis shoes so we can be ready to evacuate on the
spot if necessary (if our roof collapses or the house begins to flood).
These go bags are just a brief look at our disaster
preparations; we do so much more to prepare our home when a storm is forecast
for our area. In addition to stocking
pantry foods, we make other food ahead of time, pack the freezers full of ice,
fill the tub with water for the toilets, stock up on propane and charcoal, fill
the vehicle gas tanks, do all the laundry, put candles and matches in every
room, back up the computers, store important papers and photos in plastic on
top shelves, board up the windows, and bring in all the patio furniture and gardening
tools. More details in a later post, if
you are interested.
Linking with: Catholic Bloggers Link up Blitz, The Better Mom, Motivational Monday, Pinterest Party, Welcome Home, Weekly Kids Co-op, We Made That, For the Kids Friday
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