Disaster Dry Run
We often don’t think about the challenges we will face when a disaster strikes. We may think about the basics, but not realize what we will need specifically. The area where I live in encountered a severe winter storm that knocked out power for several hours, right before dinner time. While we were prepared, we realized a few things.
While we have the GE Krypton lantern and used it, we could have used a couple more. The lantern worked great while we were all sitting at the dinner table eating, but when our kids wanted to read books and play games in different rooms, we realized what a pain it was to hold a flashlight the whole time. I also will get a headlamp so that I can see better to do tasks like wash dishes and change a baby’s poopy diaper without trying to hold a flashlight at the same time.
Due to the conditions of the storm as well as several car accidents, it took my husband over two hours to drive the 12 miles from his office to our home. While I knew where all the emergency supplies were and how to use them, my husband was stranded in his car. He has a basic kit, but he has started carpooling recently and has 2 additional people in his car. I realized that I needed to add some water, emergency blankets, and survival food bars so that if they were trapped, there would be enough for everyone.
My husband and his co-workers made a stop at our house to use the restroom before attempting to head home. I realized that we need to be almost overly prepared, so that if we had to care for additional people that it wouldn’t be a huge drain on our resources. By having an extra 72-hour kit, some additional water, and extra flashlights, we would be able to assist people who were caught unprepared.
Consider doing a disaster dry run. Shut off the power, don’t use any faucets or the toilet. By doing this for even a few hours, you may learn that you need more entertainment items like a deck of cards and some board games or that the batteries you have for your flashlight are the wrong size. By practicing your preparedness skills, you will discover any problems before the real things occurs.
