Create an emergency preparedness plan.

Having grown up in Missouri, with a dad who was a kid from the projects of south St Louis in the 1950s and 60s and then joined the US Marine Corps, then was a St Louis County Police Officer, (before he quit running from God and answered the call to be a Pastor/Guest Minister/Teacher). My dad had an emergency box for the car. Batteries for the flashlight, 3 or 4 blankets, snacks, a lighter, wide strips of cardboard, jumper cables (always), small tool kit, shop towels (rags), rock salt, shovels, and extra work gloves.

In the basement, there would be similar but we had jars of water and a battery operated transistor radio. There were also blankets and snacks, flashlights and batteries, as well as a few old board games and some cards.

When I was a military wife in the 1980s, we lived in California. Every month, there was an NCO wives meeting and they were in charge of making sure the wives to check and make sure their earthquake and ore fire boxes were up to date. I laughed at having a box in the car for earthquakes, but less than 2 years after we left, that is when the really big earthquake hit the bridges between Oakland and San Francisco. It damaged other things as well, but most people remember see the bridge collapsing and trapping so many in their cars.

In 2017, a really bad hurricane hit the Texas Gulf Coast. The small coastal towns evacuated to the next larger city that was not coastal, San Antonio. My daughter was VERY pregnant and has a very bad habit of driving her car until it’s empty. We all do it, but she still scared me. I usually keep a 2 gallon and a 5 gallon gas can in my garage, for the lawn guy, wasps that never seem to go away, and in the event of an emergency. (I put fuel stabilizer in them) all of San Antonio had run out of gas. Some stations were price gouging and got in big trouble. My son in love called to tell me he and my daughter were both low on gas and with the baby due any day could he borrow the 5 gallon can of gas. I gave him both and immediately ordered more gas cans from Amazon. I needed to prepare for kid emergencies too.

In 2021, Texas had a huge cold snap and ice storm. The state of high humidity, high temps, a large coast and beautiful mountains was frozen. Just about everyone in the state lost water and power. It was rolling brown-outs, to rolling blackouts and then it couldn’t come back. The grid for the entire state was a mess! I had 5 days of no power and temps in the teens. My son and his husband did not have power or water. My daughter and her husband had water and power – so we all piled in with them, 3 extra adults and 2 extra dogs. I had a generator but not enough strength to start it. We brought it, gas cans, extra blankets and stuff from my freezer, and extra toilet paper and a case of water. We spent 3 days at her house, going back and forth to our own houses to check on pipes, water, power etc. and I quickly realized my kids didn’t listen to anything I had said their whole lives and did not have cash. No power, means credit card machines will not work and neither do gas pumps or cash registers. Having small bills helps and the person at the register will be grateful for a calm person with a couple of 5s instead of 20s and 50s.

After that debacle, I bought my kids and myself some of that stuff like MREs (Meals Ready To Eat – IYKYK). I gave them each a 5 gallon gas can and fuel stabilizer. I bought a bunch of those cheap fleece blankets from WalMart and gave them enough for 2 per person and a couple extra. I gave everyone a bunch of those Mylar space blankets, a first aid kit, work gloves, a tarp, clothesline, collapsible pet bowls, a Life Straw, and a folding shovel. They all laughed at me.

Until they didn’t.

The tarps have been used many times over. So have the gas cans. My daughter thought it was silly that when we had to drive to St Louis, Mo in January, when the entire country was in the grip of the extreme cold and dangerous negative temps, that I brought blankets, hot hat and hot feet pouches, electric hand warmers, and a shovel. Getting gas in Kansas at 2 AM she didn’t fuss about them. Driving thru overturned cars and trucks, and jackknifed 18 wheelers at 3 AM she was grateful that Mom tends to over pack.

I don’t want to be caught in a weird situation and not be prepared. I carry a bag in my car that has a first aid kit, a Life Straw, a folding shovel, a machete, $100 in small bills, rope, Mylar blanket, blankets, lighter, snacks, Mylar bags of water (no dangerous chemicals like a bottle), flares, glow sticks, gloves, an index card of phone numbers, a solar charger for my phone and an adapter for the cigarette lighter in the car (I no one calls it that anymore) so I can plug in a laptop, a charger cord, for a small portable heater (also in the bag).

Overall, my emergency plan to be pragmatic. I live in an area of the country with somewhat mild temps but can have drastic highs and lows and snow. I may not need to use what I have in my car, or in my pantry, but it’s like insurance – better to have it and not need it than to not have it and need it! 😉 I put my trust in Jesus, but I put legs on my prayers and I use the common sense He gave me. I don’t put myself (willingly) where it could be dangerous, I am very respectful of weather while driving and often suggest to others to slow down on snow and ice, and to be sure they heard me, I say it loudly and in a clear tone. 😎

My in the event of an emergency, my plan is to always make sure that I can take care of the kids first, even tho they are adults. I want to be sure we are all safe, have things we can eat, and we are out of harms way. If you have a backpack, a box, or a storage tub of “extra” for “in case of an emergency” does not make you a doomsday prepper. It means you want to be safe and have basic needs met in the event of wildfires, earthquakes, thunderstorms, snowstorms, tornados, hurricanes, cicadas, zombies, or aliens.

And don’t buy up all the good toilet paper, save some fore the rest of us!