Prepare in a Year Month 6: Get Three Weeks Ready
The Washington State Military Department (WSMD) has created a simple one-year guide—Prepare in a Year—to help people tackle one task per month. We will follow it here to help you prepare in one category every thirty days so that you will make progress monthly and feel ready by the end of the year. If you are preparing your family, make sure your family members know what to do as well. If you are preparing your business, make sure your colleagues or employees are up to date.
Our task for June is to Get Three Weeks Ready.
What does this mean? Well, in the event of a large-scale emergency, Bainbridge Islanders are likely to be isolated for at least three weeks. The bridge might be down and the ferry might be out of service. In an earthquake that affects the entire region, there won't be a lot of resources available to us anyway, except for what we can provide locally. What this means is that each household needs to be somewhat self-sufficient.
The task may sound daunting, and the list that follows is comprehensive, but don't let perfection become the enemy of the good. Everything you do is better than doing nothing. Do what you can when you can but keep progressing toward your goal. Every time you go to the store, for example, purchase one or two items for your supplies. Watch for sales on specific items. If you go to a food pantry or qualify for the SNAP program, set aside one or two of the items you get each time for your emergency supplies.
Self-Sufficiency Supplies
Cooking: Camp stoves and grills are great cooking tools when the power is out or when you have to evacuate your home. Keep extra fuel on hand for the stove/grill. Never use an outdoor grill or camp stove indoors. In the event of an earthquake, don't use your fireplace/woodstove until you have been able to have it inspected. Wash dishes the way you would when camping, in a bucket of water.
Food storage: You should have a minimum of three weeks of food for every person and animal in your household.
Your refrigerator food can be used if you're smart about accessing it. When the power goes out, keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed. A full refrigerator will maintain safe temperatures for up to six hours, and a full freezer will maintain safe temperatures for one or two days.
Discard refrigerated foods that warm up past 40°F. Unrefrigerated cooked food will keep slightly longer than unrefrigerated uncooked food, so when you're approaching the 40°F mark, cook your perishable foods.
After four hours of 40°F or warmer, toss meat/fish, cut produce, milk, cream, yogurt, cooked eggs and egg products, soft shredded cheese, and open baby formula. Until you see or smell decay, you can keep hard cheese, butter, vegetables, fruit and fruit juices, and bread.
Before an emergency stock up on nonperishable foods that are canned, bottled, or packaged. If you prefer, buy an emergency food supply from a reputable company; these might last up to seven years. But always test taste before an emergency; you're not going to want to eat food that you dislike.
Make sure your emergency food supply includes some treats for each member of the household.
Rotate out the food before it expires.
Water: Store enough water for each person in the household to have one gallon of water per day for each day of the three weeks. Don't forget water for pets and livestock. Mark the date of purchase on each container of water so you can rotate it out when it's about to expire. Be sure to store the water in a place where it won't be destroyed in an earthquake (e.g., inside heavy duty plastic containers).
Lighting: Have battery-powered lanterns and flashlights on hand plus extra batteries. It's better not to store the batteries inside the flashlights/lanterns as they may leak acid. Consider stocking a few rechargeable solar lights too.
Shelter: A major earthquake may damage your residence and make it unsafe to inhabit. You should have outdoor sheltering supplies on hand including a tent, sleeping bags, rain gear, and emergency heat-trapping blankets, which are easy to store. If you have a van or a camper, you might be able to seek shelter in it.
Sanitation: When the power goes out, you may be able to continue using your plumbing, depending on where you live and what your water source is. Even if you use a well, if it's a gravity-based system, you might be able to flush with buckets of water. Do not use your plumbing after an earthquake, for example, if the pipes might be damaged. If you don't have access to plumbing, create an emergency waste and sanitation station with three 5-gallon buckets with lids, TP, garbage bags, cat litter or sawdust, a water jug with a spigot, hand sanitizer and soap, and paper towels:
Bucket #1: This bucket is for urine. Make a seat out of a pool noodle. When the bucket is full, you can dump it in a flower garden or on grass.
Bucket #2: Line this bucket with two garbage bags and toss some litter into the bottom. Make a seat out of a pool noodle. Any time someone uses the bucket, they should toss more litter on top. Throw all used TP into this bucket only. When the bags are full, store them someplace where rodents and dogs can't access them until they can be disposed of properly post emergency.
Sanitation Station: Place the bucket on the ground next to a table and set the water jug on the edge of the table so the spigot is over the edge. Use hand sanitizer for frequent washings and soap and water for thorough hand washings.
First Aid Supplies: You can purchase an expensive well-stocked first aid kit from My Medic, Adventure Medical Kits, North American Rescue, or the American Red Cross, among many other providers. But you can also build your own. The main things you will be looking for in an emergency are mostly stop-the-bleed items (gauze, tourniquets, dressings, sanitary napkins), temporary splinting (rolled bandages, triangle bandages, and SAM splints), and instant cold packs.
Map Your Neighborhood
Because of our community's Map Your Neighborhood and Disaster Hubs programs, you won't be totally on your own in a disaster. Turn to other people for help if needed. But you don't want to rely on your neighbors or the Disaster Hubs for basic supplies—having those items is your responsibility.Consider working with your neighbors before a disaster to make sure you are all prepared. You might want to share some items or create common sanitation stations, for example. Maybe after an earthquake you will want to set up tents in a common open area in your neighborhood.
Supplies Lists
If you have the money and you want to make this task easy, purchase ready-made kits based on the number of people in your household from Cascadia Quake Kits, one of BP's partners. CQK donates 5 percent of your purchase to Bainbridge Prepares to further our community work.If you'd rather build your own supplies kit, consult our supplies lists to help guide your shopping and gathering.
