Are YOU Ready?

Remember on New Year's Eve 1999 when everyone who had hoarded supplies for the Y2K apocalypse woke up the next day disappointed that the world *didn't* end?

They remained fodder for jokes for a long time.  Poor things.

But, they did bring the concept of disaster preparedness from out of the backwoods militant groups to the mainstream. 

They do have a point.  Now, I'm not saying everyone should stock up on firearms, tin foil hats and zombie-prevention kits like some of the more crazy zealous out there, but I do think it's a good idea to have at least some plan in place for an emergency, whether it's as little as making sure you have working flashlight batteries in the house at all times or three days supply of fresh water.

Last week I had a dream that Husband and I were the only survivors of an apocalyptic event that was so real and intense that I've been thinking about it for days.  In my dream, we were OK for awhile as long as we could raid the grocery stores for food, but when that food ran out or spoiled, then what? 

Obviously we'll never have to experience anything this catastrophic (right?  please say "right")  but it got me thinking about smaller-magnitude emergencies that we should be prepared for.

Case in point: 

• 4 years ago an ice storm knocked out power for days.  We had only a small amount of candles for light, no working batteries for flashlights, and if we hadn't of had an older gas range that didn't require electric pilot ignition, we would have froze because that oven was our only source of heat for days.
• 2 years ago a tornado ripped through town and while we didn't have any damage, power was again knocked out for a couple of days.  As it was spring we didn't have to worry about freezing, but once again we were caught short handed on the small things, like batteries and food that didn't have to be cooked before eating.

It's the little things that get ya, ya know?

For me, as an asthmatic, if I had to go a couple of days without medicine it could be a life or death situation.  Do I have backup?  Nope.  Not yet anyway.

I've run across a couple of sites that give information on how to gather emergency supplies, from small stuff like having an emergency kit in your car to the big stuff like if you wanted to build your own fortress (to protect you from the zombies, of course).

Safely Gathered In

The Place With No Name

The second link is to a site a guy in New Orleans created based on his own family's experience during Katrina.  Quite the read, and worth the time.

No matter where you live, you should take the time to assemble even a small stockpile of emergency supplies, and have an emergency plan worked out with your family.   Especially if you live in an area that is prone to weather disasters. 

Everyone always thinks "Oh, nothing will ever happen to us." 

Those are the people the zombies will go for first.  Mark my words.

Do you keep emergency supplies on hand?