About three weeks ago on a Sunday night I laid down in my bed with a book to enjoy the end of the weekend.  Unfortunately my stomach was little unsettled and was progressively getting worse.  By the next morning I had full blown flu like symptoms.

A day or two later and a couple of my kids had the same symptoms and within two weeks everyone in the house had caught the bug.  The day after my wife was finally feeling better we got a knock on the door.

A volunteer from the city was passing out fliers instructing all residents of my subdivision to boil all tap water before drinking.  It turns out that somewhere the culinary and irrigation lines had crossed and as a result contamination occurred.

In the end hundreds of people were already sick before the city issued the boiling order.  Within hours the local Wal-Mart and Grocery Stores were completely emptied of all bottled water.

It just so happens that also a few weeks ago, almost 2 million residents of Boston also lost their supply of drinking water due to a large pipe bursting and were issued order to boil all water before drinking.

When you read this, there’s two things you should consider…

It can and likely will happen in your neck of the woods. It may not be bacteria in the water or a bursting pipe that prevents you from using your tap water without boiling, but it might be a hurricane, tornado, earthquake, or some other natural or man made disaster. Whether it’s small town Utah or a major metropolis like Boston we’re all prone to disasters regardless of location.

Once disaster strikes, the time to prepare is past. If you’re not ready before disaster strikes you join the masses who scramble at the last second and scrap like a pack of dogs for a bone that’s already been picked clean.

The challenge with some people is just getting started. A slow and steady approach where you consistently add items to your emergency supply over time can place you and your family on firm ground where you have the peace of mind to face disaster head on.

Take the time to assess where you’re at and identify your weak points and then make the commitment to fill the gaps.  In my case where we were under a boil order a couple of 5- Gallon Stackables and a MSR SweetWater Purifier System works well to help you ride out the storm.