Over the years we've had a few big storms but luckily our home was always spared from damage and our power rarely went out for more than a few hours. That being said we never really prepared ourselves for a major disaster and every time the weather reporter on the local news would start warning of an upcoming storm I would always start to panic and would rush to the store for a few items. After seeing the devastation that Hurricane Sandy caused I decided it was finally time to create and emergency/disaster kit for our family. While indulging in my favorite past-time, browsing Pinterest, I found a link to a emergency kit that was created by a Pediatrician. Being that I have two young children I figured her kit had to cover all the most important things to keep our family healthy and safe.
I set out immediately by getting my husband, the eternal optimist, on board. The author warned that this kit cost upward of $350 which was a little hard for him to swallow. But thankfully he humored me and gave me his blessing. Happy wife, happy life....right?! I got to work that very day because I knew that if I let any time pass I would lose the worry and it wouldn't get done. I compiled a list of all the things we would need, wrote out lists of what to get and where and then headed to the store. I was able to get most of the things I needed at Costco, Target, Sports Authority, and the local grocery store. There are only a few items left on my list that I will have to pick up the next time I go to Home Depot (duct tape, and plastic sheeting). After unpacking all my loot I started loading everything into plastic totes.
I made sure to note expiration dates for everything in the kit so I could refresh items as needed.
I even went as far as to organize my totes so the items that are going to expire first are on top so that I can easily find them and replace them with new items when needed.
It did cause me some anxiety to spend so much time thinking about a worst case scenario, but as items went into the totes, my worry started to melt away. It feels really good knowing that if something terrible did happen, we would be as ready as possible.
I pray that we will never have to use this kit, but in the event that we do I hope that my planning will not only help our family but may assist others as well. I highly suggest everyone create a kit for their family. Stay safe!
We started working on ours last weekend. I was pretty much in a bad mood all day from thinking about awful scenarios! :( BUT, it will be good to be prepared if needed!
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