The devastation in Japan after a double tragedy of both earthquake and tsunami has forced me to focus on my own preparedness for disaster. Today I looked through my emergency kit, pulling out the food and batteries in order to add fresh cans and packages.
My kit was put together about ten years ago after all the chatter surrounding the Y2K scare. But in reality, I knew the most likely disaster I would ever face wasn’t a computer network meltdown but rather a massive earthquake like that experienced this week in Japan.
We should all have an emergency kit. Mine is contained in a set of tightly closed plastic trash cans, kept in a somewhat sheltered part of my back yard. It’s meant to supply 2 adults, two dogs and 1 cat for one – two weeks depending on the scale of the disaster.
Here are the contents of my kit:
- 2 pairs jeans, 2 pairs sweat pants, 6 t-shirts, 2 jackets, 6 pairs socks, two baseball caps, 2 pairs sneakers, 6 pairs underwear, 1 plastic poncho.
- 1 tent, 1 large tarp, 1 double sleeping bag, 2 air pillows, rope, paper, pens, scissors, matches, butane lighter, 2 flashlights, radio, batteries, camping pots/pans, eating & cooking utensils, plastic cups & plates, 2 mini camp stoves, 2 cans butane, 1 can opener, 2 empty detergent barrels, 1 box plastic kitchen garbage bags, 3 rolls toilet paper, two candles, 1 bottle multi-use soap, two towels.
- Bandages, gauze, Neosporen, Ibuprofen tablets, Ace bandages, anti-bacterial towelettes, dust masks, vise grip wrench
- 10 gallons bottled water, 2 cans each of carrots, potatoes, green beans, chickpeas, spinach, baked beans, oranges, corn, canned turkey, canned Spam, canned tuna, beef stew. 12 cans Ensure, 6 pack of V8, 3 cans dog food, 3 cans cat food, 1 can peanuts.
Today I pulled all the food and batteries out from the kit and have started the replacement process. Though it’s unlikely my home or school will ever be destroyed by a tsunami, it is possible my house could be made unsafe by a major quake. Hopefully, I’m reasonably prepared should a major disaster strike.
