I’m pretty fortunate these days in that I have a little extra space to store extra food and a little extra money to stock up.  But it wasn’t always that way.  In fact, when I had kids it was even more important to make sure I prepared for poverty and a dry bank account.

It stands to reason if you have food in the house you may not go to the store as often. You might be able to eat healthier food as well.

Try and have 1-6 months of food stored in your home.

Don’t buy food you don’t normally eat. If your family eats burgers and pizzas regularly, A lock down may not be the time to try that fancy lentil curry recipe you’ve been wanted to try.  Keep it simple. Don’t expect people to be reasonable. Do your best with your wacky family.

Rotate the food you’ve stored up as you eat it.

Disaster food kits are expensive and will probably expire before you need it.
MRE’s are great for a disaster shelter before the kitchen gets set up, not so much for home preparedness.
Dehydrated food may have a place in your disaster kit. Think freeze dried ice cream for someone who wont eat anything but ice cream. Come to think of it, it might be good for us all when under stress.

Stretch your budget while preparing to shelter in place.

Rice*

Surprisingly, When there was three of us we would go thru 50lbs in a couple of years. I don’t want to do the math on this, I’m, not really sure how long it took to use it up, it doesn’t matter because rice doesn’t go bad easily, Uncooked white rice can last indefinitely when stored properly. It’s also the filler for a vegetable and protein meal.  Grab as much rice as you can afford and keep it in a way where it wont get wet in a flood or infested by vermin.

We found these storage bins for $9.97 from Walmart 

I’m not sure how much rice is going for at the local Costco, it’s gotten pricey, but still available at the  dollar more or less store and your local grocery in small bags.

Use up the fresh stuff first after a disaster.
Boil Chicken in salted water until cooked, 45 minutes or so and Pull out the bones. As long as you keep an eye on the pot and don’t let it boil dry or burn it’s hard to mess up. Serve over rice.

Add seasoning and/or vegetables

• Garlic powder or garlic*
• Onion powder or onions*
• Celery
• Bell peppers
• Lemon juice*
• Corn starch* mixed with water and used for thickening
• Canned* or frozen veggies*
• *Dry or *canned beans
• Any vegetable actually, the more veggies you add to more stew you have.
  Cook hamburger in a pan, drain the grease, add beans, tomato sauce and veggies.
  Try Korean army stew.
• Canned fish*
• peanut butter* and jelly*
• oatmeal*
• dry* or shelf stable milk*

Ramen*

Like rice, ramen can make a meal with canned veggies, or use up stuff from the freezer in a power outage. It’s easy to cook as well on a busy school night.

• Pasta*
• Tomato sauce*
• Seasonings*

*look for this at the dollar, more or less store.

Seal up bags with a Use a hair straightener

Use a hair dryer as a vacuum sealer

Note: Don’t try to preserve cooked food this way. Only things dry ingredients you don’t want to get wet in a disaster.

We found these storage bins for $9.97 from Walmart 

CPR + AED Awareness Week (June 1 – 7)

National CPR & AED Awareness Week takes place every year from June 1 – 7. During this week, we recognize the importance of initiating CPR and using an AED as a response to cardiac arrest. More than 350,000 people suffer cardiac arrest annually, but less than 10% survive.

Every second counts when responding to cardiac arrest. If you see someone suddenly collapse, become unresponsive, and stop breathing, call or ask someone to call 9-1-1, send someone for an AED, and begin CPR. Even if you aren’t trained, doing chest compressions (pushing hard and fast in the center of the chest) is better than doing nothing. In many cases, the 9-1-1 operator can talk you through CPR.

Learn Hands only CPR
First aid and CPR Classes
Where you can buy an AED for your business

Wild fire Season is here. Here is what you can do to BeReady .
Take a look at the defensible space around your home.
Expect public safety power shut offs (PSPS) during extreme fire danger.
Obtain Battery back up for medical and communication devices
Have a couple days (minimum) food and water in the house
Don’t forget your neighbors!
BeReady to evacuate
Consider the needs of large and small farm animals
Keep an eye on the weather Install smoke detectors, Free help may be available or call your local fire department.
Get fire extinguishers and fire smothering blankets
Use generators and heaters properly and with proper ventilation, install Carbon monoxide detectors
Create an evacuation plan in the event of wild fire.
Know alternate routes out of your neighborhood.
Consider wearing dust masks or respirators during and after wild fire
Never leave campfires unattended, properly dispose of cigarettes and matches, and avoid igniting materials in dry conditions
Wildfires spread rapidly in dry conditions, especially when fueled by wind.
Keep vehicles out of dry grass
Avoid target shooting during extreme fire danger

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Grow a garden
Preserve food
Get chickens
Get a Ham radio license
Get whole home battery back up
Electric bike

No one has the perfect family, you maybe the only person willing or able to make decisions in an emergency.  Planning ahead for young people and people with impairments may help to preserve your mental health and make stressful times easier for your dependents.

• Discuss a plan with your dialysis center and plan early for treatment
• Invest in Portable coolers for refrigerated meds
• Make sure you have information for a contact that knows your medical needs (your cell phone maybe unusable or locked up)
• Install emergency lights in rooms

Elderly/Disabled

Some persons may not comprehend what is happening and maybe difficult to evacuate.  Planning ahead is critical for caregivers. Have identifying information and contact info for in case they get separated from their care givers.

• Be aware of shut ins in your neighborhood to avoid isolation
• If you are unable to locate or connect with a loved one or friend who has been impacted by a current disaster event, the American Red Cross can help you locate them if they meet certain criteria.

If you live alone and are disabled

• Contact your local fire department and police department to find out how to give them important information about you, including a recent photo that will help them rescue you.
• Tell people you trust, such as family members, friends, and neighbors, that you have dementia and ask them to check in on you if there is an emergency.
• Talk with your health care provider and paid caregivers about planning for your medical and personal care needs in an emergency.
• Have an evacuation plan for the home

For caregivers

• Stay calm and patient
• Add comfort items to your emergency kit.
• Add extra items to disaster kits such as eye glasses and hearing aids, canes, etc.
• Be prepared to shelter in place if evacuation is not possible
• Ask for help and find people and agencies that can help, provide advocates with your emergency plan

Language, cultural issues

Some people maybe triggered by loud noises and shaking and relive old trauma. They may not have English skills to understand what is going on.

• Create disaster  information in the language of the person. Use pictures. Learn basic words to explain earthquake, tornado, safe, evacuate etc.

Neurodivergent (autism)

If you or family members are neuro divergent and will have trouble coping with emergencies consider finding safe and quiet places mentally and physically. If you are in a shelter with many people you might ask for a quiet place or request medical help. There is no need to “tough it out”.

Children

• The American Red Cross has put together a program called Prepare with Pedro
• Prepare with Pedro is available in many languages, in multiple topics and has Materials available for teachers.
• Look for activities to keep the children occupied during an emergency, stickers, drawing books, etc.  Down load activities for a tablet.
• Consider adding food items to your emergency kit that give comfort while still being marginally nutritious. It’s probably not lentil soup.

 

 

 

Pets and Livestock

If you have large animals you may be living in an area susceptible to wild fire.

Service animals that assist people with disabilities are allowed in Red Cross shelters, but pets are not allowed.

Make sure your pet is chipped and up to date on vaccinations

Focus on defensible space around pens and corrals

You may know the story of the infamous Donner party

The Donner party was a group of pioneers who thru a series of mishaps tried to travel over the Sierra Nevada range just North of Lake Tahoe a bit late in the fall of 1846. Another person had been stranded near a small lake on the pass the year before, so there was already a small cabin there which they sheltered in. Apparently they did not suffer from the cold, but after an arduous journey thru the great basin desert they arrived at the top of mountain to heavy snow and were low on food. Read more about the Donner party

The immigrants were from the Midwest where the winters can be harsh, so they felt they knew how to deal with cold weather, but they were un-prepared to deal with 22.5 feet (6.9 meters) of snow. They also were famers, not hunters skilled at finding food and suspicious of the indigenous people who lived on the land. They were late on the road and decided to push over the mountains from near present day Reno, Nevada. This was a time when people had wagons drawn by oxen (cattle), thin leather shoes and heavy woolen clothes.  Eventually some members of the the group resorted to cannibalism. But not all and not all with the same intentions.

There are many theories and stories on what went wrong.  Studying the story of the Donner party may help to enlighten us to survival problem solving. But they might have benefited to have Tiffany Stanton in their party. Tiffany is a med student who went on a three day trip in the mountains in April 2025 and got caught in a snow avalanche. Despite being injured, cold and alone she survived by knowing what to forage and by trying to find her way out.  Here is the SFgate story. A Georgia woman spent three weeks lost in winter in the sierras

What can we learn from Tiffany to survive?

Know what is edible. Tiffany survived by eating wild leeks.  Other than some some snow blindness she did pretty well and found an unlocked cabin where she was rescued. There is one account that someone, probably a native American, left a bunch of wild onions on the door step of the Donner party cabin.  This means the local tribes knew the immigrants were up there and were hungry.

I wasn’t initially sure I’ve be able to survive

But learning that pine tree bark and needles make a nice tea, that I can chew grass and eat dandelions makes me more confident. I understand the Donner party did have pine tree tea, as well as dogs, pack animals and leather which they ate.  One group of people did try to walk out and resorted to murdering their Indian guides and consuming them. The Breen family who were Irish immigrants did not loose any of their members and did not resort to cannibalism.  There are stories that the last man left at the lake camp may have become deranged and cannibalized the other survivors.

Know what to eat if lost in the wilderness:

If there is snow on the ground, you might find edible plants at a lower elevation.
If it is very hot and dry you might look for shady spots or springs

• Leeks/onions
• Miners lettuce
• Cattail hearts
• Early berries
• Pine nuts
• Grass (chew and spit out)
• Dandelions
• Clover
• Desert plants that contain water
• Small birds and mammals
• Insects, snails, crustaceans

Before you hike, learn how to BeReady if something goes wrong

• Tell someone where you are going, have a plan for when they should be concerned
• Wear clothes and food wear that are appropriate for the conditions
• Download maps of the area you will be hiking in so that you can use GPS in your cell phone if you have no signal. Conserve battery power
• Carry light snacks, water and a purification stick or bottle, extra clothes, fire starting tools, survival blanket even on short hikes and a carry a whistle.
• Carry Bear Spray  for wild animals and for the human kind.
• Know what is can be foraged in the area you will be in, Never eat, or let your kids eat, something you cannot identify with one hundred percent certainty, and never eat wild mushrooms without expert training and knowledge.
  
• If you don’t have a clear direction of were to go to find help, stay put.
• Build a smokey signal fire if possible
• If you decide to find your way out be aware of direction and the motion of the sun. Follow streams to find civilization
• If you travel, leave evidence and trail markers to show you were there
• Seek shelter at night, it can get cold at higher elevations and in the desert
• Travel during the coolest part of the day in the desert
• Stay optimistic, stay calm and don’t give up!

 

 

If your car goes into water—especially deep water—time is critical. Here’s what you should do immediately to increase your chances of survival:

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GET OUT FAST

You have 30–60 seconds before the car may be fully submerged.

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Step-by-Step:

1. Stay calm and act quickly. Panic wastes precious time.

2. Unbuckle your seatbelt immediately. Do the same for passengers, especially children. Get them out first.

3. Forget your phone or belongings. Every second counts.

4. Don’t open the door—it’s nearly impossible due to water pressure and will flood the cabin faster.

5. Roll down or break the window:

   • Electric windows usually still work for up to a minute.

   • If windows won’t open, break the side window (not the windshield—it’s too strong).

   • Use:

     • A window-breaking tool keep one in the car where both driver and passenger sides may easy reach it.

     • A hard object UPDATE: I’ve seen video where a ball bat and the head rest do not break the window. Use a window breaking tool.

     • You will not be able to break the wind shield, you may be able to kick it out. It’s not the time to find out.

6. Escape through the window. Push out and swim up to the surface.

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For Children:

• Unbuckle them in reverse order (oldest first, so they can help themselves).

• Push them out of the window ahead of you.

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If the Car Is Already Submerged:

• Try to equalize pressure by letting water in gradually until it’s nearly full.

• Then open the door and escape—this is very difficult but sometimes the only option if windows are jammed.