In the past few months we’ve had two events occur that really got me thinking about how I need to be prepared for my family in the event of an emergency. The first event that happened was a mild ice storm that turned into a few days of no school for the kids. This wasn’t a major catastrophic event, but it did inconvenience us for a few days. The second, and more terrifying for me, was a tornado. I was at home with our three year old when the bad weather started, and stressed for the next three hours, worrying about whether or not a tornado was going to hit our house. The tornado did happen, but thankfully not in our vicinity.  The tornado did hit approximately 1,000 feet from my husband’s office in Oklahoma City.  

With the ice storm, it wasn’t imminent danger I was concerned with, but rather what necessities did not have in the house to survive for a couple of days. Our neck of the woods is particularly susceptible to ice storms since Oklahoma has wide swings in temperature during much of the year. The first thing I figured out that I needed was something to melt the ice off the driveway so that I could park either in the garage or in our driveway to avoid a potential accident by leaving my car parked in the street. I looked at two stores for ice melt and discovered that I was probably a couple of hours late because they were sold out. I was finally able to get into our driveway with the help of a bucket of sand from my parents’ house, but decided that I would definitely get some ice melt in advance and store it in the garage for future use. The ice storm could have had the potential to be much worse, and it was for some residents since it caused power outages.

The tornado really caused me a huge amount of stress and there were a couple of times I was literally in tears as me and my three year were in the closet with blankets and pillows surrounding us, waiting for the storm to pass. After all the storms had passed and everything returned to normal I really made it a point to make sure we were prepared the next time. I’ll be stocking up on water, as I think this is one of the most important things to have on hand, but I’m also thinking about what kind of alternative cooking method I can use if our electricity or gas are off. Our pantry is almost fully stocked for at least two weeks worth of cooking, but I have never kept powdered milk, so this may be something new we will add just to have on hand for an emergency. I’m actually making a list of what things need to be done in the event of a tornado, because I started panicking and couldn’t remember everything I needed to do. Whatever you do, don’t wait until the emergency happens to get prepared.

Other items that are wise to stock in your pantry are dry goods and snacks, dried fruits, cereals, and other items that can be consumed dry. We’ve considered keeping a small Coleman camping stove for cooking. Survivalists recommend keeping cooking oil and plenty of seasoning around to assist in keeping bland foods tasty. Also recommended are cans of tuna in oil rather than water. This assists in both cooking and keeping things tasty during a power outage.

I’ve compiled this list of suggested items to have on hand to assist in running your household during an outage. The majority of these items are inexpensive to stock in your pantry if you purchase them in advance.  I learned the hard way that during an emergency, the grocery stores will be out of these items and you will be forced to purchase them from convenience stores at a premium.

• Infant formula and diapers
• Bottled Water
• Flashlights and extra batteries
• Battery powered radio
• Dried foods (Granola bars, dried fruit, cereal, chips, etc.)
• Canned meats (Tuna in oil, Chicken, Salmon)
• First Aid kit
• Moist towelettes, hand sanitizer, garbage bags
• Wrenches or pliers to turn off utilities
• Manual can opener & bottle opener
• Sleeping bags and blankets
• Prescription medicines
• Feminine supplies
• Copies of important family documents such as insurance policies, identification, and bank records

The following items would be considered optional, but a good idea for more extended outages:

• Coleman camping stove and required fuel
• Firearms for self defense
• Cash and change
• Gasoline or propane (heating oil in the northeast USA)
• Fire extinguishers
• Maps
• Matches
• Candles
• Generator (please note that these are the source of most disasters caused by human error and are also the most stolen during outages)