Due to kidney failure, I take ten medications daily. You can bet I keep ALL my meds together. I can easily stuff them in a zip-lock bag. That would be more important that (even) my purse. I can live without money or my drivers license, but not without my medications!

I have a medium sized plastic tub where I keep a medical supplies and a few other necessities. I'd grab that for sure!

it's crazy, but we had a plan in ca in case of the "big one", and other than having supplies, we've never discussed it in case of tornado...

Guess I better have one.
Thanks for posting the idea.

I have some files on the "go" bags I'll post tomorrow

I have blankets and pillows and food in my car, more for if I came up upon and accident or emergency. I need to put water in there and keep forgetting.
I would love to see lists of what everybody has "ready to go"
I know I am not prepared as well as I could be.
Good thread!

Trin

Living where I do (SE FL), we are under the gun June thru November. There was a storm (Jeanne) where literally I went to bed at night and she was heading away from us and no threat at all, to waking up in the morning with her headed straight for us to make landfall within 2 days. So we stay pretty much prepared to deal with our storms at a moment's notice.

I have a large plastic tub filled with non-perishables, flashlights, weather radio, baby wipes and powder (feels oh-so-good on your skin when you're hot and sticky and miserable), crosswords, paperback books, and dog food. Throughout the year when I see a good sale on canned goods or snacky things like poptarts, etc I'll pick up a few extras for the emergency tub. I've also vacuum-sealed our important house documents and I make sure I've got at least 1 stub from an electric bill (for proof of residence when the city's on curfew and we're trying to get back to the house).

If we have to leave, the tub is small enough to come with us, but still holds enough that we're good for a week or two until stores get back up and running.

During Hurricane Season I try not to let my gas tank get below half-full just in case there's a run on gas. Half a tank will get us at least out of the storm's eye, if we need to run. We usually stay though, unless it's a cat4 or higher. Frances (I think) or Jeanne (one of the two) was a 4 and it wasn't *that* bad, but bad enough that I don't think I want to ride another one out.

I'll post more as I think of them, but those are my main preparedness tips.

And I agree, great thread! I'm looking forward to learning some new tips!

april

great idea about the electric bill stub and the vacuum sealer. I've got n electric one that I seldom ue and a couple of those new hand operated Ziplock sealers which I do great idea about zipping up those papers

I had to unexpectedly evacuate a few years ago because of the threat of a potential poisonous gas cloud. At that time my two boys were almost 2 yo and almost 4 yo. Dd was only 4 months. Dh was at work. I grabbed a diaper bag that had a few diapers and a change of clothes and my keys. I had the cat in one arm and dd and the diaper bag in the other. We all went out to the vehicle and left.

The most important thing was getting the living creatures -pets and humans- out of there. So many people didn't take their pets or were at work. No one got gassed, but some of the animals didn't get fed for a day or two. We got back home after a few hours, but some people weren't allowed home for four days. Emergency personnel had to take lists of names and try to get in and feed the animals. I don't think they gave out medicine. My advice is to try to take your pets with you so they aren't suffering at home.

I used to be prepared when we lived in SE Florida. We had documents and back up computer files in a plastic box, food and water, and a plastic box with clothes for everyone. We had baby/toddler then, so we had diapers and supplies for them stored away. It was in the attic where it was out of the way, never tempted to "borrow" from the emergency box, yet it took minutes to get to it.

Once there was a hurricane headed our way and we chose to evacuate as I was 7 months pregnant and we had a good place to go (family). Even though we thought were were prepared, it took much longer to get ourselves and house ready than we expected. Yard items secured, windows shuttered/boarded, utilities mains shut off, the list was long. We were glad we had those boxes ready to just throw in the car, or it would have added so much more to our to do list.

In the end, the storm turned sharp, missed up completely, and the whole thing was more like a drill. A good drill, we learned a lot from that.

However, since we moved from a disaster prone area, we have a (false) sense of security and have no plan or preparations. The boxes have long since been dismantled, nothing left of those days.

The horse trailer has a larger dressing room-5 foot short wall, 7 foot long. There is a bed in the gooseneck- along with plastic boxes- canned food, opener, water, toilet paper, towels, soaps, large first-aid kit, i am a nurse and there are things that the 'everyday' person wouldn't put in it. I have IV fluids, lines, needles, large bandages, suture, steri-strips, Betadine, Vet-wrap, pain medications, one bottle of antibiotics, a large bottle of contact lens saline- ummm other stuff. Flashlights, (I want a crank radio), a camp stove, some eating utensils, some tampons a stuff for the periods I no longer need(that's how long the box has been packed), lots of blankets, a large tarp, 2 bales of hay are kept in the trailer, horse supplies, some canned dog food- I can't think of what else now. The horse loads easily- I try to keep the gas tank fairly full, have basic tools under the back seat, flares, gloves.
Your post has reminded me to 'update', toss and replenish supplies. We have little here for threats- no tornadoes, hurricanes, I am far enough away from Yellowstone National that I won't have fire, but 2 years ago the smoke was pretty bad. I guess my worst worry would be
bad people', and I don't know if a person can escape them.

Your area makes a big difference for what you'd need. Around here, we'd need to have 3 different ones, one for spring/fall one for summer and one for winter. Generally speaking though, one item that's noticeably absent from most lists I see is to bring chargers for your cell phone. I keep a charger in my vehicle. During the winter I always have heavy clothes in my vehicle. For pets don't forget food and water for them. You'll last much longer without water than they will. I also keep an address book printout in the vehicle so I have access to names/numbers if needed. Essentially my "go bag" is my vehicle.

We had a major bridge collapse a couple years ago and it was rather interesting to see the prep plans go into action. Granted, in the grand scheme of things it wasn't huge but it took a major artery out of the freeway system in town and people had to find alternative routes. Getting to know your road system can be valuable. I was caught in the snowstorm this past week and had to find alternative routes to get home. I know the roads fairly well but was in an area I'm not overly familiar with and the GPS, well, it helped but my mind did a lot more to guide me through it. Knowing several ways to get to a destination is helpful.

I just picked up some more of the crank flashlights. They were free after rebate and I like them. Really appreciated their value during a power outage a couple years back.

I don't understand the electric bill stub when you have a drivers license or State issued ID card that would be a true ID. What good is the bill stub? Extra eyeglasses, or the like would be helpful. I keep a grooming kit put together for traveling that could be handy, but again it depends on the situation.

To me the important thing isn't so much a box of stuff, but the PLAN. Be aware that you could need certain things and have them available.