I have a bunch of tools that have become my go-to favorites for emergency preparation. I think of them as my “masters of disasters.” So that you can share them, too, I’ve put them on some bulletin boards on Pinterest. Right now I am working on three bulletin boards: my top picks for emergency supplies…
Category Archives: Automobiles
Prepare for Atlantic Hurricane Season – tips for vacationers
A couple of years ago I spent two wonderful weeks in a beach house in South Carolina during September. Beautiful, warm, Atlantic water, palmetto palms, sea turtles, shrimp and grits for breakfast – and the possibility of hurricanes. North Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st to November 30th, making it coincide with prime vacation…
Vacationing in Earthquake Country? Pack These Tips
Are you planning a trip to earthquake country? Wondering what to do if you experience an earthquake in an unfamiliar place? Here are a few pointers to help you prepare for that unlikely event. Bring some things from your emergency supplies at home. Here a just a few items to tuck into your carry-0n: A…
More Lessons Emerging From New Zealand’s Latest Earthquake
Early Wednesday afternoon local time a devastating 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck New Zealand’s second largest city, Christchurch. The city has been suffering numerous smaller quakes, sometimes called aftershocks, since a major earthquake last September, and I have posted several items from my friend and Christchurch resident Wendy Davie, who has endured every day of it, sometimes…
Learning From OPM (Other People’s Mistakes)
Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself. – Eleanor Roosevelt Whenever I learn of someone who has gone through a tough situation, I’m eager to debrief them so that I can learn things I wouldn’t have thought of on my own. So I was especially happy…
Don't start evacuation with E
What’s wrong with this picture? For years I had been in the habit of running my car until I was driving on fumes, then stopping to put 15.1 gallons in my 15-gallon tank. I did it because it saved time by minimizing the number of gas station stops I had to make. But the odds…
Get out of town!
When should you leave home? In case of fire, mudslide, or rising flood water – whenever there is an immediate threat to your safety – you need to evacuate immediately. After an earthquake, services may be severely disrupted for a week or longer, making evacuation a wise choice. In order to evacuate safely, take these…
In case of emergency, apply ICE
My professional organizing colleague Stephanie Callahan writes from Illinois about a great new service in her state to alert your emergency contacts if you are unable to communicate for yourself. (If you don’t live in Illinois, don’t stop reading yet. There’s something here for everyone.) The Illinois program is called the Emergency Contact Database, and…
Being able to use cash in an emergency: priceless
There’s a “forgotten ingredient” in some preparation plans: cash. In the event of a major disaster such as an earthquake, the financial technology we rely on – ATM machines, credit card processors, electric cash registers, and the like – may not work. Remember to include cash in your emergency preparations. Bills in a variety of…
Where to keep the earthquake kit?
When I moved to California in 1994, one question I had was where, exactly, to keep the earthquake supplies. In fact, I pondered this question for so long that I took years to get around to assembling my supplies. Does this sound familiar? Don’t put it off any longer. Choose a spot and start now…