Emergency Supply Kit

This pic is copyrighted from thehealthsite.com.

Thanks to Shepard Smith, we now know that we don't have to be afraid of ebola.  Thanks Shepard!  Your firm, authoritative and slightly condescending tone has set me at ease!  

I don't know about you but I don't like to be told how to think and feel.  Ebola scares me. And the government's lack of preparation and control over this issue pisses me off frankly. So when the director of the CDC says that "it's going to get worse before it gets better", I feel the need to take action to protect my family.

I spent the better part of last week going through our Emergency Survival Kit and purchasing supplies.  I have four lists:

1) Detailed Disaster Supply Kit - This is our main supply kit that we keep at home.

2) 72 Hour Kit - This kit contains supplies in backpacks that will get us by for 72 hours.  If we cannot stay in our home, we can carry / wheel our supplies to another location.

3) Emergency Car Kit - In case an emergency occurs when we are away from home, we have supply kits in all our cars.

4) Pandemic Disease Kit - I keep this supply kit with our main supply kit (#1 above) in a separate bag.

In addition to a lot of the medicine and food expiring (it tasted terrible!), we did not have sufficient water supply.  Previously we had been storing water in three of these Aqua-Tainers that I bought at Walmart for $18 each:

Each Aqua-Tainer holds 7 gallons of water.  Typically, a person consumes 3/4 gallons of water/liquids a day.  In an emergency situation, it is recommended that you store at least 1 gallon of water per person per day.  Children, nursing mothers and sick people may need more.  It is also recommended that you store a 2 week supply for each member of your family.  So my family of 5 would need at least 70 gallons of water (5 gallons per day x 14 days) for a 2 week supply.  Our 3 Aqua-Tainers only held 21 gallons of water, which would only last us about 4 days!

We were having problems at our house one day and they had to shut off our water. I don't know if you have ever been stuck in a house with 3 kids and no water before, but it was tough.  You can't use the toilets, wash your hands, brush your teeth, rinse dirty dishes, wash clothes, etc.  Now, every time I have the water running in the sink or let the girls play in the shower or bath tub I'm very aware of the luxury of having clean running water.

So we decided to buy this Augason Farms Emergency Water Storage Tank that holds 55 gallons of water.  It cost $150 (including shipping).

This, combined with our 3 Aqua-Tainers, will provide 2 weeks of water for our family.  I know it seems costly and excessive.  We debated it for quite a while.  We are not Doomsday Preppers (although I'd feel a lot safer if someone in my immediate family was!!!).  We just feel that it is our responsibility to protect our family in a crisis situation.

The lists I created above include supplies that I felt my family needed.  Your family may require less (or more).  To create the lists, I did a bunch of online research and read two online manuals by FEMA:

1. Are You Ready?
2. Basic Preparedness

FEMA also has guides for specific types of emergencies and disasters that affect specific geographic areas (click here for more info).

I have a Pinterest board with helpful articles and blog posts that I have found related to survival kits.  Click here if you'd like to see my board.

The best case scenario is that all this preparation is a big waste of time and money. But I will rest better at night knowing that we are prepared.