Lessons Learned After the Storm - Be Prepared



I think that the goal for most homesteaders is to become self reliant and self sufficient. Part of that involves being prepared for bad things that might happen. When I was growing up on the farm and if there was some sort of emergency, you had better know what to do because help from the professionals was some time in coming. Response time from the fire department was at least 15 minutes. Much longer for Law Enforcement to arrive, and even longer than that for an ambulance. Either you knew what to do, and did it, or you ran the risk of a bad situation getting a lot worse. That is one of the many reasons why I wrote my blog about "Thunderstorms - Have a Plan."

While now days the response time is faster, it still takes some time before help arrives. In the case of the tornado outbreak here in the Midwest this past weekend, some people still haven't received any kind of help because help isn't available simply because of the overwhelming area size that was affected. Which also shows that it isn't just people living in the rural areas that need a plan. Suburban and urban dwellers also need a plan because help will probably not be around for awhile after a disaster.

I have several friends that was involved in this past weekend's tornado outbreak here in the mid-west. Thankfully all of them are okay but their homes were destroyed. When I talked to them last evening, a couple of them shared with me some lessons that they had learned through that experience  that I wanted to pass onto others. (They will be listed in no particular order.)

• Don't light that match right away following a natural disaster. One of my friends was telling me that right after the tornado had passed, her neighbor came out of their basement and lit a cigarette. Unbeknown to the smoker, there was a gas leak that had resulted from the tornado right next to where he was standing  . Since gas and fire doesn't mix well, the result made a bad situation even worse. Lesson Learned: After a natural disaster, wait until an all clear is given from the fire department or utility company before starting any kind of fire or lighting a candle either inside or outside.
• Pay attention to alerts. Considering the size and amount of damage that was done by the tornados, it is a miracle that more people weren't killed. There were few casualties  in part because people paid attention to warnings, the sirens, and took cover from the approaching storm.
• Digitize your pictures and documents  and keep a copy of them at an offsite location. After Sunday's storms, documents and pictures from Washington, IL are being found over 100 miles away. There are so many being found, that a Facebook page has been set up to help people recover their documents and pictures. The best thing to do to prevent that from that happening to you, is put all of your pictures and important documents on a flash drive, and give it to a trusted friend or relative for safe keeping. These pictures should include pictures of your household items for insurance purposes as well as up-to-date pictures of your family members.
• Put on your shoes before a storm such as a tornado hits. Another one of my friends was telling me that she didn't take the time to put on her shoes when the siren sounded. She just ran for their safe room. Her home was completely destroyed in the storm and her shoes were no where to be found. When she came out of the safe room she stepped on some broken glass which cut up the bottoms of her feet. 
• Have an out of state person that you can use as a contact person. That way you only need to make one phone call so that family and friends can find out what happened to you. This keeps the stress level down for your loved ones and also frees up phone lines for emergency personal.
• If your home has been destroyed or damaged in a natural disaster, when you come out of your shelter, use your cell phone to take a picture of your house and the surrounding area. Chances are all trees, sign posts, any identifying land marks will be gone. The roads/streets will be covered with debris and it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for you to locate where your home was. The picture will allow you to find your way back to your home. Return home only after authorities say it is safe to do so.
•  Have a bag packed  at all times in case you have to seek shelter in an emergency. There are tons of books out there that deal with what to put in these bags, so I won't cover that topic. But I will say that those who were involved with this past weekend's tornados that had a bag packed for emergency such as this, now have change of clothing, clean socks, prescription medicine, food, water, toiletries, etc. which makes a tough situation a little easier. Don't forget to pack something for your animals. They are depending on you to care for them during a disaster. This would include leashes as well as muzzles for your dog(s).
• Be careful of downed power lines and other hazards. Several people were injured after the tornados were gone because they didn't see the hazards laying around.
• Continue to listen to your radio after a disaster to keep informed of what is happening and any alerts or special instructions that might be given.
• Use a permanent black magic marker to leave a written message on the debris of your home to let the authorities/friends/family know that you are okay and where you are going

I hope that no one will ever have the occasion to have to use any of this information, but it is good to know these things from other people's experience, rather than having to learn them first hand yourself. Thanks for reading and visiting my blog. :-)




***Picture of tornado used is from a public domain library at http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/torscans.htm

Thunderstorms - Have a plan

The weather is crazy this time of year. My area of the country saw our first snow fall earlier this week with the temperatures in the teens for the day's high. This coming weekend, the temperature is suppose to be in the 60's. When there is that much drastic change in the weather in such a short period of time, you just know that there will be severe storms. And that is exactly what is suppose to happen. There are already severe thunderstorm warnings out (along with a chance for a tornado) for my area for this Sunday afternoon and evening.

As my family and I start preparing for the forecasted storms, I thought that I would share our plan with you. While this plan is flexible and changes as the circumstances change, this is pretty much what we do for a threat of a thunderstorm/tornado.

ALERT – Possible Upcoming Storm

• Monitor weather stations, local radio and t.v.
• Charge cell phones, tablets, etc.
• Fill up vehicles with gas.
• Walk around the outside of the house to make sure no tree limbs or branches could fall onto the house or power lines.

ALERT – Watch - Approaching Storm

• Monitor weather stations, local radio, NOAA and t.v. stations to follow the approaching storm.
• Start to monitor police/fire scanner and our local community neighborhood watch radios.
• Get out local and county maps so we can pin point exactly where the storm is at and where it is heading to.
• Check flashlights, batteries, candles, matches, anything battery operated. Also test run generators to make sure they run ok. Check fuel, oil, etc in generators. Make sure all generators have the appropriate lengths of extension chords right next to them.
• Check first aid kits to make sure they are in order and easily accessible.
• Unplug computers and other small appliances.
•  Secure any outside furniture, Cover grills, and wood stacks.
• Walk dogs so they can take care of “business” before the storm hits rather than them needing to go out during the storm.
• Check all windows to make sure they are closed.
• Call family members (if they are away from home) to make sure they are alerted to the upcoming storm.
• Make sure all animals are sheltered.
  

ALERT – Warning – Storm has struck

• Continue to monitor all radios. Go to basement if warranted.
• If hail is present, close blinds to prevent window glass from flying across room if broken by the hail.
• Stay inside the home during the storm.
• Use only cordless phones, tablets for internet access and communications.

ALERT – Storm over

• Make sure all family members and neighbors are okay
• Check both inside and outside the home and neighbor's homes to see if there is any property damage.
• Assist in any neighborhood cleanup if needed.
• If power was lost during the storm, wait 5-10 minutes after the power is restored before plugging in any computers or small appliances. This prevents any power surges from destroying them.

Knowing what to do, before, during, and after is a very important thing. It is so important that it could mean a matter of life and death. If you don't already have a plan, take some time today to make one to fit your family and your needs. Thanks for reading and visiting my blog....and stay safe. :-)

***Image used in this blog is from a public domain image library at http://all-free-download.com/free-photos/thunderstorm_205561.html 

Have a Plan!!! For Pete's Sake's Have a Plan!!!

I was woke up this morning at 2:19 a.m. by the sound of my cell phone ringing. It was one of my daughters calling me to tell me that their home had caught on fire around midnight. The fire department had come and put out the fire. Thankfully, she, her darling hubs, and their children were okay  basically that was only because they had a fire escape plan that they had practiced and practiced as a family.  However enough structural damage had been done that they were not allowed to stay in their home. They were needing a place to go so she was calling me to let me know that they were implementing the second part of their fire preparedness plan that they had set up with us a long time ago in case of such of an event.

After she had hung up, my darling hubs and I put into action our part of that plan. By the time they had arrived at our home, we had beds set up and made, extra blankets put out, hot coco keeping warm on the stove, and other little things in place to help make stressful time a little less stressful and to help calm down the grandchildren. They had a plan for in case of a  fire. The fire happened and because of their plan, they didn't have to wonder where or what they were going to do.

My point in writing all of that is that I want to encourage you if you haven't done so already, have a plan for emergencies. It doesn't have to be an EOTWAWKI (End Of The World As We Know It) event, as some people are planning for, but you do need to have a plan for stuff that can really happen to you.

Fires can happen, and they do. Tornadoes or hurricanes can happen, and they do. Blizzards or electrical storms can happen, and they do. Unemployment can happen, and it does. Long term illness or injury can happen, and they do. Economic collapses can happen, and chances are pretty great that it will happen in this country sooner than later. But a lot of people don't have a plan for emergencies such as those and when the unthinkable happens, they are lost at what to do.

What is your plan in case of fire? Natural disaster? Sickness or injury? And so on. I would encourage you today to sit down with your loved ones today and start figuring out your plan.

Thanks for reading and visiting my blog.

**Some places online to start your research to develop your plan(s) are:

• American Red Cross Emergency Preparedness
• FEMA
• Center for Disease Control
• LDS Preparedness Manual
• WikiHow

Community



This morning, I was reading online about a group of neighbors in Illinois, that gathered together to help harvest the fields for a widow of one of their neighbors. This brought back a lot of memories for me from my childhood in a small farming community in Indiana.

On more than one occasion, I remember my Dad hooking up the combine or corn picker to the tractor (this was in the days when the combines and pickers were separate machines and needed to be used with a tractor) to go to help a neighbor who had been injured, sick, or to help bring in a neighbor's "final harvest." Often times, the farmers that were helping to harvest, had left their own fields with crops still in them in order to help. 

The women in the community would bring in pot luck meals so the men wouldn't have to leave the fields until the harvest was finished. It was a time for helping without any thought of repayment. It was time of remembering, of caring, of showing love to your neighbor in a very practical way.

The next spring the men would gather once again and plant the crops using their own seed, machinery, and other resources, to plant the fields so that the widow would have an income for that year. If there were livestock, they would also help with that...as a community so that no one person had to do it alone.

That is real  community. That is loving your neighbor as yourself. That is truly helping others by giving a hand up not a hand out. And this is how it needs to be once again in our country...neighbor helping neighbor.

To read the article mentioned above, click here.

Thanks for reading and visiting my blog.


**Photo used in today's blog is from a public domain site http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=20044&picture=sunset-on-the-farm.

Preparing for a Winter Storm

Because of my darling hubs job, whenever there is any kind of a weather or other “event” in our area, he is called into work and it falls on me to take care of the home. A winter storm is one of those times. Today is one of those days, so I thought that I would share what I do to prepare for a winter storm. 

Before there is a storm:

• Check around the outside of the home to make sure there are no tree limbs that could fall onto your home during a storm.
• Make sure the gutters are clean and free of any yard debris to keep them from clogging up and flooding.

Things that are good to have on hand:

• Snow shovels and ice scrapers. I have found that having more than one shovel is a very wise thing to have. There has been a number of times when I have been shoveling snow and the shovel has broken on me. So having a back-up shovel just in case is a good thing.
• Salt. This is for if sprinkling on the sidewalk and steps to melt the ice or packed down snow.
• Food and Water. Have enough non-perishable food to last you and your family for at least 3 days. More food is even better to have. Same with water. You will need at least 3 gallons of water, per day, for each person for drinking, hygiene, food preparation, etc. In an emergency, you can melt snow and use that for non-potable water. Or, you can use a filter to use the melted snow. Another way to purify the snow is melt it and let get to a rolling boil for five minutes. You also can use eight drops of non-scented bleach that has 6 percent chlorine to one gallon of water. Make sure you have food and water back for your pets as well.
• Prescriptions and other medication. The last thing you want to do is run out of medication during a snow storm.
• Baby products. Diapers, formula, etc.
• Battery  operated radio, NOAA radio, flashlights, extra batteries, candles, matches, solar or battery cell phone charger,
• Camping stove, grill, or equipment needed for a candle stove.
• Blankets and warm clothing
• Something to entertain the kids and yourself with. This can be as simple as a book, cards, board games. It can also mean a laptop computer, hand held video games, a portable dvd player, and so forth.
• Have a back up heat source. This can be wood, solar, wind power, or even kerosene. If you use a kerosene heater please make sure you place it in a well ventilated room. Fireplaces are good if the temperature remains above 20 degrees F. If temps are lower than that, you may lose more heat up the chimney than will go into the room and your room can actually become colder rather than warmer. Also remember that gas furnaces will not work during a power outage as they need electricity to run the fans.

Winter Storm Watch/Warning Issued:

• Stay calm!!!! It seems like every time there is a winter storm warning people start to freak out about it. They run to the store and grab anything they can. Then they get on facebook, or some other social media, and become hysterical about it. While you need to be prepared, common sense preparation and precautions, will make the winter storm more of a nuisance than anything else.
• Check on locations of family members and notify them of upcoming storm.
• Check all your supplies. If needed, gather them into one place so you will know exactly where they are at.
• Start charging all electronic, battery operated devices.
• Monitor NOAA radio to keep up to date on the approaching storm.

During the storm:

• Stay inside and enjoy life. :-)
• Continue to monitor your NOAA radio for storm updates.

After the storm:

• Check to make sure that there is not to much snow on the roof of your house or that there is any other kind of damage.
• Check around with the neighbors, especially with the elderly to make sure everyone is okay and not in need of any help.
• Be careful to prevent frostbite or hypothermia while shoveling. Take your time and take frequent breaks. Drink lots of fluids and keep warm.

Thanks for reading.