can take hours to reach—when we heard a muffled voice calling triumphantly from below; “Found it!”
It turned out the water shut-off was hidden in a crawlspace, tucked away from the finished basement where a century’s worth of old doors and trim lay. My advice is to take the time to find out where your water shut-off is located now, before an emergency, so you won’t be floundering in the dark wondering if you’ll ever find it.
When You Are the Fireman
You should purchase several ABC fire extinguishers for emergencies. Why specifically an ABC model? They use monoammonium phosphate, designed to put out liquid fires, combustible material fires, as well as electrical fires. So cover your bets with an all-inclusive extinguisher.
Remember, your local fire department may not be able to reach you in the case of fire or other emergencies during a full-blown crisis. Landline and cell phone coverage may be down or jammed. With the use of candles, oil lamps, and cooking with an unfamiliar heat source during a power outage, the possibility of fire increases.
If your home has a fire-burning devise such as a woodstove or fireplace you will need chimney fire retardant in case of a chimney fire. If the chimney flu hasn’t been cleaned recently, it should be checked for creosote buildup. Make sure your wood heat stove or wood cook stove has a protective, non-flammable barrier installed behind and under them such as cement board, sheet metal, or ceramic tile.
Keep Your Car Emergency Ready
It is important to keep your gas tank as full as possible for reliable transportation in the event of a crisis. Gas pumps may be inoperable due to power outages, and even when the grid is working, the pumps will soon run out of gasoline. Any auto repairs that have been put off should be addressed as soon as possible. Be sure you have a dependable spare tire and keep a can of Fix-A-Flat or something similar on hand. The donut tires supplied with newer cars are not meant for long drives, and they certainly aren’t designed for the off-road driving you may find yourself having to perform when navigating around stalled cars. Keep extra motor oil, jumper cables, a jack, lug wrench, a basic toolkit, and a battery-run air pump stored in your car. You’ll find a suggested list at the end of this chapter
Keep important documentation accessible: Birth certificates, last will and testament, health insurance documentation, health records, inoculation records, marriage certificate, driver’s license, Social Security documentation, school records, Tax (IRS) paperwork, automobile title, mortgage information, automobile and homeowner’s insurance documentation (proving your policy is current), property tax information, banking and all other financial documentation such as annuities, 401K and other retirement plans, and stocks and bonds.
This is only the most basic of paperwork you will need. From there, you will want to build your own list dependent upon your specific circumstances. Keeping copies of these documents in your car, or the office if you commute to work, is the obvious solution. If you are worried about sensitive information getting into the wrong hands, consider blacking out account numbers with an indelible marking pen and jotting them down on a separate piece of paper that can be tucked away in your wallet. To be doubly certain, you might consider keeping duplicate copies at home, at your workplace, and your getaway destination, if applicable.
Unfortunately, emergencies do not come gift wrapped with instructions before hand, but it’s possible the Internet may experience disruptions. Institutions depend almost exclusively on digitized bytes for their records and you will need proof of your banking information, or that you hold title to your car or home, and you will want to be able to prove insurance coverage on your car and home. Short of that, you may find yourself in enough red tape to ticker tape the next Macy’s Day Parade!
Beat the Bank Crunch
Depending upon the emergency, it is possible banks will be closed for an extended period of time. During such an event, having as much cash on hand as possible will be a saving grace. Services such as grocers and hardware stores may still be open and you may need cash to purchase the goods and services you need. Keep small denominations—no more than $1’s, $5’s, and $10’s in case change for purchases is unavailable. I realize many have invested in gold, which has skyrocketed as the dollar continues its nosedive. But to have only bullion to offer in exchange for something like a loaf of bread when there is no change would be a terrible situation to be in. If you prefer tangible currency that will hold its value, consider keeping at least part of your investments in silver coins. That way the loss, should change be unavailable, will be merely an annoyance.
The amount of cash you will want to have on hand varies with each person’s circumstances. Will you be driving a long distance to a getaway destination? If so, you will need cash for things like tires, snow chains, and sundry goods. But whatever you do, be sure to calculate your gas needs and have that available and stored in a safe place in transportable gas cans. It is almost a certainty that you will not find available gas during an extended trip.
When Communications Fail
When preparing for an emergency, it is wise to make contingency plans in the event communications are down, if only for a short time. EMP pulse from the sun or weaponry can render communication systems inoperable. Telco buildings are not known for overabundant security to protect them. Telecommunications are dependent on the electrical grid and battery backup, satellite, microwave, T-1 lines, and in the case of some cellular providers, are reliant on landline phone companies for switching services to hand off phone calls for their customers. Additionally, it is a common occurrence for landline and cell phone lines to get jammed during an emergency. Because of this, it isn’t prudent to expect your cell or landline phone to be operable during a national or local emergency. So please do not put all your eggs in that basket!
Sheltering in Place
Even when plans are to relocate to an alternate location, you should put aside food, water, and medical supplies, and have a workable solution for cooking and heating at home. If roads are gridlocked or blockaded due to dangerous conditions, travel may be impossible at the onset of a crisis. In the case of climatic disaster, roadways may remain impassable. To have all your preparedness goods in one location, outside walking distance to your home, leaves room for failure and failure in a time of crisis is not an option.
Use What You Have Wisely
If the electrical grid goes down in your area, stretch your food storage by consuming what is in the refrigerator first (with the exception of freezer perishables like ice cream). Consume frozen goods next, making certain to open the refrigerator and freezer as little as possible to avoid warming the interior.
Nature’s Meal Plan
I highly recommend including a book on edible plants with your emergency kit. Most likely, it will never be needed. For such a book to be a necessary, the state of the emergency would have to be of gargantuan proportions; either that, or you finally found the time and money for that dream vacation and Murphy’s Law took a chokehold on your plans. Still, it may be the best $10 you will ever spend if you find yourself stranded. Many books written on edible plants and herbs are zone specific, and if you can locate one for your climate zone, I suggest you buy it. I purchased two such books. My favorite, Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide by Elias & Dykeman, gives a close-up color photograph of the plant or herb. When a poisonous look-alike exists, the reader is warned and is supplied with a detailed description and a photograph of the imposter. It also supplies a state map next to the plant’s photograph, highlighting the area(s) where it grows and a description of where it is likely to be located (example: in moist fertile soil, at the margins of woods, etc…). It advises what time of year to harvest the plant or herb, how to cook it, and its nutritional benefits.
