Prepared for Evacuation

Jan here, with a post that's going to be a bit different.

The events of the past weeks have made me think about emergencies. How prepared am I if a catastrophe happened here?

Smoke from the Montana fires over the Black Hills
on September 4, 2017
photo by Meg Brummer

We've mentioned pantries a few times here at the Cafe. We relied heavily on ours during the blizzard back in October 2013 (read about that storm here).

I also use my pantry throughout the year - I store what I use and use what I store! You can read about one of my pantry recipes here.

And I encourage you to have a pantry ready, especially as the winter months are approaching. You think you don't have any room? Get creative, and get simple. Do you have a place where you can store a few cans of soup? A box of crackers? That's all you need. Forget about running to the store to fight the crowds for the last loaf of bread!

However, pantries are for when we need to hunker down at home. Snowstorms and events like that keep us at home, either with or without electricity. But what if we would need to evacuate? I can't take my pantry with me, can I?

Well, in a way, I can...

Prepared for Evacuation

I'm sure you've heard that phrase, "when you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail." We've prepared a bag for each of us that we can grab in a hurry if we need to leave the house.

Why would we evacuate? Our biggest danger here in the west are wildfires. We only need to read the headlines to know how dangerous they can be, and if you're in the path of one, you need to get out - without wasting any time.

In other parts of the country and the world, you may face earthquakes, hurricanes or flooding. Or you may live in "tornado alley." In any of those situations, you may not evacuate, but your home may not be livable, either.

One name for these bags are "Bug-Out Bags," and they're always lumped in with articles about the "zombie apocalypse" and "survivalists." But don't let their extreme associates keep you from being prepared!

The rule of thumb for a bug-out bag is to be able to carry enough supplies for 72 hours - or three days. The idea is that by the end of three days, you should be in a place where you're safe, or where you can replenish your supplies.

The first step is to break down your supplies into categories:

- clothes
- food
- heat
- protection from the weather/shelter
- first aid supplies
- a way to keep clean (and healthy)
- water - one gallon per person per day is the recommendation

And finally, something to carry it all.

How do you do all this?

We took our clues from backpackers. There are products made for the situations we were imagining. Freeze-dried foods, backpacking stoves that burn any type of fuel, emergency heat-reflecting blankets, Lifestraws...

What are Lifestraws? I think these are just about the best thing invented in recent years. With this straw, you can safely drink from any water source.

Check them out here - Lifestraw  When you visit their website, you'll see the awesome potential for these straws. Not only for backpacking, they're invaluable in a situation like post-Harvey Texas. And think of the difference they would make in a place where safe water isn't available, like in third-world countries!

We each have one in our bug-out bag so that we don't each have to carry three gallons of water!

If you want more information about building your own bug-out bag, try these links:

Graywolf Survival

Ultimate Bug Out Bag List

You can also buy a pre-packed kit like these

Along with our bug out bags, we keep our camping gear handy. Sleeping bags and a roof over our heads would be welcome, no matter the circumstances.

The final key point is to keep gas in your vehicle. This should be a no-brainer - just get in the habit of always filling your tank whenever it gets down to the half-way point.

One important difference between preparing to evacuate and preparing to hunker down - while we use and replenish our pantry on a weekly basis, we hope we will never use our bug out bags.

But if the worst ever happens, we'll be glad we were ready.

What about you? Can you think of a situation that you would need to be prepared for?


Meanwhile, my dear husband and I went "off the grid" for a week, and headed west. More about our trip next week, but here's a hint of where we went....