Simple Emergency Preparedness Bag (BOB)
What is a Emergency Preparedness Bag or BOB (bug out bag)? It's simple a pack you have packed in case of emergency. For example: Evacuation due to flood or a dam failing, such as was when 200,000 people were evacuated from the Oroville area in February of 2017.
The reason I am writing this article is because my family was involved in the evacuation. I also happened to be in the area visiting when they were evacuated. I was apart of the mass exodus that took a lot of people up to 8 hours. Most people were not prepared, none or very few had gas in cars, no food to tide them over until they got out (most stores and gas stations were closed as they were evacuating as well).
So this begs an answer, are you prepared if an emergency happens?
Now don't get all uppity with me. I'm not one of those doomsday people, thinking the sun's going to explode, or half of the United States is going to drop into the ocean. I DO think that we need to be prepared for all sorts of things though. Job loss, earthquakes, floods, even family needing a place to stay or food to eat. Life is unpredictable, so always be prepared.
So here's some things you can do to be prepared.
#1: Stock 2 to 4 weeks of food in your house.
-I saw all over Facebook people complaining because they did not evacuate, but could not buy food because stores were closed. The evacuation lasted less than 4 days.....
-If preparing in case of job loss, I suggest 2-3 months worth of food. This will help reduce stress of where your next meal comes from during a job search.
#2: Keep vehicles at least half full of gas.
-When we were leaving Yuba City, we stopped at a gas station because one of the vehicles in our 4 car caravan needed gas. The gas station we stopped at was closed and the pumps turned off, because the owner was evacuating as well. The gas station across the street had lines wrapping all the way out to the highway. Moral of the story, keep enough gas in the tank to go about a 100 miles (My car will go 370 miles on a full tank of gas, 185 miles on a 1/2 tank).
#3: Have an emergency plan in place to get all family members to a central location, then decide on the best course of action depending on the situation.
-We all met at my parent's house on the edge of town, packed up necessities in the cars and headed out to higher group. High ground happened to be my house up in the mountains. My married sister went home and packed up her stuff, her kids stuff and met at my parent's house as well. Her husband had to stay in town due to his professional job as an emergency responder.
-After a while, lots of people just pulled over on the side of the road and slept, because every hotel was booked up, traffic wasn't moving, etc. Have a plan!
#4: Have a 72 hour BOB (bug out bag) in your car at all times, per person. As always it will be tailored to your living situation or area, but here are some basics:
-First Aid Kit
-Change of clothes
-Extra Walking Shoes
-Food for 48-72 hours (2-3 days)
-Bottled water
-Lightweight blanket
-Flashlight
-Lighter/Matches
-Personal Hygiene Items (Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Hand Sanitizer, Comb, Hair tie)
-Chap-stick
-Any Essential Medication
-Copies of any important paperwork in water tight baggies (birth certificates, marriage license, land deeds/house deed)
-Personal Protection (knife, etc.)
-Extra cash (Some emergencies, such as earthquake, might knock down power and debit cards would be useless)
-Accessories for pets (Food, water, leash, collar)
-Extra charger or battery for phone
-This 3 in 1 cigarette lighter car adapter
These are just a few tips that I would suggest you look into implementing for you and your family. What else would you add to the list? Feel free to comment below!
-Simply Rachel
