If I had to run out o
f my house today during an emergency, what would I grab and how quickly?
During our recent winter storm unofficially called Uri, many people had to flee their homes that flooded from busted pipes or just to find a warm place somewhere.
If you weren’t fleeing, flushing toilets with melted snow, or weathering the elements indoors without lights or heat, you were lucky. And if you had to dig through snow in the dark to find the main water shutoff valve to your home as your busted pipes gushed like Old Faithful inside, therein is a lesson for all of us.
We should all be able to locate our water main, and where to shut off the power and gas as quickly as possible in any disaster at any time of day.
If a big storm or fire is coming through, we now know we’d better have water saved up, flashlights and batteries. Those flashlights will come in handy when you’re trying to shut off water, gas or electricity in the dark!
For your ready-to grab bag, consider making copies of legal and important documents like home/auto insurance, house/auto titles, bank accounts, credit cards, licenses, passports, and lists of prescription names with numbers, phone numbers, doctors and passwords.
Items for your emergency kit can include:
- prescriptions
- over-the-counter medicines you use
- small water bottles for drinking
- distilled water required for medical equipment
- phone chargers
- a change of clothes and shoes
- extra eyeglasses if possible
- toothbrushes and toothpaste
- jackets
- snacks
- soap, hand sanitizer, wipes and toilet paper
- diapers, bottles and formula
- face masks
- waterproof bags for items like prescriptions and documents.