Prepping, once again...

"Actually, it is a miracle that more people did not perish. Two feet of rain in two days on a flood plain like Louisiana is beyond my comprehension."

I think I wrote my first article on prepping after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. To watch the aftermath of that storm on TV, was like watching a Hollywood produced disaster movie. Only this was for real. People were dying. Dead bodies were showing up on live TV, floating in the water. Some lying on the street.

Many people almost died in their own homes because they could not get a glass of potable water to drink. And that went on for days. Even though was inundated by water, that flood water was nothing more than a witches brew of every germ imaginable. No, for a city who has lived on the edge of hurricanes every season, I am amazed on how little preparation there was.

When Katrina hit, the coordination between Federal, State and Local was nothing less than a "cluster". This week's historic rain storm had a better followup by first responders than Hurricane Katrina had. The press reported over 30,000 residents had been rescued. That is an incredible number. However, when you consider the Red Cross said this storm was the biggest disaster since Super Storm Sandy, I guess we can see why that number was so high. Actually, it is a miracle more people did not perish. Two feet of rain in two days on a flood plain like Louisiana is beyond my comprehension.

The bottom line is this - I don't care where you live in this country, you are not immune from some kind of man made or natural disaster. The one take away we should have all learned from both Hurricane Katrina and Super Storm Sandy is this - help is not coming any time soon.

Thus, in the event of a disaster, how are you fixed? Do you have any water in the house outside of the kitchen tap? If power goes out, so does the tap. Every house should have enough potable water stored to supply each person living in that house for at least a week. Better if it were a month.

I have said this many times before in articles like this I have written. In the event of an emergency, your house becomes your store. Most grocery stores keep only one to two days supply of food on hand. In the event of an emergency, stores will empty out fast.

Consider storing things besides food also. Medications, toilet paper, other paper products, and so on. Try to keep from 5 to 15 gallons of fresh gasoline out in the garage. If we suffer a wide spread power outage, pumps at the gas stations will not work either.

One more thing. If (like with the fires in California) you need to leave your house quickly, have a "bug out" plan. In other words, if you have to load up the car in a hurry, know what and how much to take. Have totes set aside (and labeled) that can be loaded into your vehicle in minutes (if need be). 

Finally, every house should have an "E Plan" (emergency plan), which includes all your prepping. No two "E Plans" are alike. Take some time in putting one together. Make sure the entire family knows about it. And what to do if a dire situation is rapidly unfolding in your community. Having an "E Plan" and practicing proper prepping can make the difference between becoming a statistic or being a survivor.