There are many lists online for items to have on hand in case of an emergency, such as a power outage, severe weather situation, or other emergency that would prevent you from leaving your home. Most of the emergency stock pile lists include some sort of nonperishable food items, water, flashlights and batteries or candles, and a first aid kit. I have started to build my emergency stock pile, with items such as canned food, dried beans and rice, jars of peanut butter, bottled water, and flashlights and batteries. My stockpile seems a little low so far. Do you have an emergency stock pile in your house? What do you have stashed away in case of an emergency?
Our emergency procedure is to have a bag of clothes for all members of the family ready if needed. We have can foods along with a can opener, candles with matches, flashlights with batteries and blankets ready if we have an emergency.
My parents have been doing this for years and it has become second nature in many way. I usually have lots of cans of soup and packets of noodles that don't go out of date. The same for pasta, rice and also jars of sauces, as long as you have room. We also have cans of beans, which are easy to eat and a couple of flasks that always have hot water in them too as an emergency.
Our cupboard is actually a food cabinet containing canned goods and sachets like soup and noodles. It is our supplies that backs up as emergency supplies also. For the power, we have 2 rechargeable lamps aside from the 3 flashlights (torch). And in case of power outage for a week or so, we have the spare LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) tank and the charcoal for roasting. Maybe water will be out main problem if our stock of 3 bottles are consumed, that's 5-gallon bottles.
We have water and power rations from time to time where I live, with water rations being severe. So we always have a huge supply of water standing and also buy several 5 litre bottled water for cooking and drinking as I've now learnt that stored water from the tap spoils! We also have a lot of candles, non-perishables such as pasta, rice and canned food. We have snacks like energy bars and crisps, too. I hate that a lot of this stuff is not healthy, but it really comes in handy when we unexpectedly have a power cut.
I do yes and although its something I've got into the habit of doing - after having spent the majority of my life living in areas prone to flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes - I do think that having emergency stocks of everything you need to tide you through - just in case of a disaster or inclement weather - is the sensible thing to do - regardless of whether or not such situations are expected. In fact for me - as I live in an earthquake prone, fairly remote mountainous region where weather patterns can change almost overnight - without much warning and we often land being totally cut off when the weather gets bad - for many days at time and we also have to be permanently prepared for the many - very frequent power and water cuts that we experience on a regular basis throughout the year - that usually last a lot longer than just a couple of hours - having stocks of everything I need for every possible eventuality - is absolutely essential. I would however just say - that if building an emergency stock pile - its always wise to regularly check that everything is in usable condition and particularly expiration dates - not only of food items but also those in the first aid kit.
I always keep canned soup, canned vegetables, juice boxes, batteries, flashlights, candles, extra blankets in case of an emergency. My husband just put in the wiring for a generator if we needed one. The last time we had a bad storm was in 1998. The power went out for 3 days in the winter. It was a bad ice storm. We used a fondue set to heat up soup, extra blankets for sleeping and wore our winter coats and hats in the house. We had flashlights and candles to use when it got dark.
To an extent, I suppose. We have lots of extra blankets, we always have tons of canned stuff (mainly because we don't eat it that often, but we keep buying, for some reason), there are plenty of candles in one of the closets, at least enough for several days, and there's a well-stocked first aid kit in the bathroom. I don't know that we'd be able to last more than, say, a week without having to restock, but we'd be good for a while. It helps that we're in an urban area anyway, so we could quickly run and stock up on food if the power went out. (Assuming the stores nearby would still sell food at that point, mind.)
I have pretty much what you have but I also keep emergency laundry detergent, along with a few frozen things that can be thawed and eaten without heating. A generator is a good idea and I have a hard time keeping up with candles. The last time I had a neighborhood blackout, I lit a pair of dinner candles meant for a romantic evening.
I have clothing, blankets, a first aid kit, hand sanitizer, some candles and matches, a camping stove and some single use barbecue trays as well, some water, canned foods (including canned fish, beans, fruit and vegetables), jars of sauce, pasta, rice and energy bars. I was talking to a friend about this not so long ago and they recommended glowsticks as an additional thing to pack, because you can use a connector to keep it around your wrist and not have to hold it as a light, and it makes it a little more fun for kids. While it's not really an essential, it's something I've considered adding to mine, I must say.
We don't do that in our household for some reason. I think it's because everything is close by and emergencies thankfully don't come by that often, though now that I'm reminded of it I'm thinking we really should start piling something. The thing is that if we stock food I usually would just eat it all so it's much better to just keep enough in storage. I really think I should find some solutions to start a stockpile now though.
