Emergency Preparedness

Luis and I have been very interested in Emergency preparedness lately. A few months ago we had some extra cash and decided to invest in some emergency supplies. It was really fun. We now have what I consider 72-hour kits on steroids :) It has all the normal stuff like clothes and food, but also stuff like knives, fire starters, water filters, mini-shovel, foil blankets, etc. Cool, huh!? Luis had a great idea to buy hiking backpacks as our 72-hr kits... because if there was ever an emergency and we had no transportation it would be easier to have these packs on to walk... especially if we need our arms to carry kids or something. So I am really happy with how they have turned out. We have filled them out and tested them... I am strong enough surprisingly!

We also bought a weeks supply of packaged, just add water food from the Wise Company. It all fits in that one little bucket. We also bought blue containers and we have 21 gallons of water stored. Plus I am filling up empty juice and soda bottles with water... it can be purified later or used for flushing toilets.

All this happened months ago, but we are hoping we can devote some of our tax return to emergency preparedness also. We have a few things we've been waiting on. So, I was wondering just how much food is really needed for a years supply. (If we don't do the prepackaged way... cuz that's really expensive to buy at once!) I found a neat calculator at this website. http://lds.about.com/library/bl/faq/blcalculator.htm and I was shocked at what it told me! For 2 adults and 2 kids, here are a few of the MANY items it recommends for 1 year and the quantities! Flour: 74 lbs. Rice: 150 lbs. Oats: 74 lbs. Dry Beans: 90 lbs. Wheat: 450 lbs. Sugar: 120 lbs. Honey: 8 lbs. Water: 56 gallons. CRAZY! RIGHT??? It's kind of intimidating... but I am going to have some fun Sam's club shopping! The only problem now is SPACE to store it! I welcome suggestions! Under my bed is the most likely option once my small laundry room fills up! Anyways, it's been fun getting this together and honestly I feel much more at ease even with the little bit of preparation we have done! I can't imagine what it feels like to actually have a years supply of food. Wish me luck.