Oh My Goodness, poor Japan. Where do you start to help? What do you give and to whom? I have so much respect for the Japanese and friends who are Japanese it is painful to think of what they are going through.
After we’ve donated to the Japanese Red Cross and called to make sure our friends are alright, all we can do is look to ourselves and do what we can to make sure we’re prepared.
In this area, the advice pops up every time the earth rumbles or the water covers. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t follow.
Do you know that most of you have a Portable Self Contained Disaster Unit? Some of you have more than one, while others have Units that come with a bed and microwave. Your PSCDU is your car, the Unit with bed and microwave is your RV. If something happens to your home and you need quick shelter, where better? It even has a built in furnace (heater) and air conditioner!
Make sure you keep a supply of water in your car trunk, food bars, change of clothes, blankets and pillow. The blankets and pillows can be in one of those “suck the air out” bags so they don’t take out much room. There are additional items you need it your emergency kit. You can either buy a back pack and stock your own (I’ve included a link to FEMA’s site for suggestions: http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/), or buy commercial. It’s just important to have one.
Excuses abound for not preparing. I know because I’ve used them:
- The stuff I put in will get old and I won’t remember to change them
- It’s to expensive
- I don’t have time
- I don’t have room in my trunk
- I won’t put the right stuff in
For the procrastinator, any of these will work. I just don’t think an excuse will keep you warm or your family comfortably sheltered when an emergency hits.
Just start. Assign each family member a short list of items to find. Go on a scavenger hunt around the house. The first one back with a completed list gets ice cream. Put the items in a bag and put the bag in the car. There, you’ve started!