Natural Disaster Preparation

I'm sure everyone has been through at least one natural disaster in their life. They are very common events that can devastate a community. Where you live will dictate what natural disaster you should prepare for. Luckily most of the preparations are the same. The main difference is whether you can stay in your home or not. Lets take a tornado for instance. If you live in a mobile home you may want to seek shelter elsewhere, however if you have a basement or storm shelter you may decide to stay. A flood, on the other hand, is a different story. A basement is not a good place to be in a flood so evacuation is the best option. For an ice storm or blizzard it would be better to stay put and wait it out. The most common thing you will have to deal with if you stay in your home is lack of power. No lights, no gas for heat or cooking, and no water. This could last hours, days or even weeks. Taking the time to prepare now will make things much more tolerable in that event. There are simple things you can do to prepare for this. First you need some sort of lighting. Flashlights, candles, lantern or even having a generator will work. Then you need some sort of heat. Kerosene heater or a wood stove would work. Often times if you have natural gas it will still be available even in a power outage. I prefer cooking with gas and having a gas water heater so that helps. Next you need food and water. I suggest at least a weeks worth of food in your home at all times, but recommend 2 weeks worth. Water can be stored easily in plastic containers or jugs. The recommendation for water is 1 gallon of water per person per day. A great water source that is always available is in your hot water heater. Most water heaters have 30 gallons of water in them at all times so that would sustain a family of 3 for ten days. I have only listed the basic items required to get through a natural disaster. These items should be a part of your preparation along with an evacuation plan. As I said most disasters require similar planning except the decision to stay or leave.