Planning ahead for disaster used to be reserved for a few doomsday prophets, but today most of us recognize the possibility of becoming a victim of disaster. We've seen so many of them in the past few years: tropical storms, typhoons (hurricanes), earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, drought, fuel shortages, terrorist attacks, and so on.  By spending a few days planning, none of us will be taken by surprise when it happens to us.

• First of all, if you've lost power you won't be able to check your computer for recipes, so makes some hard copies of your favorites emergency meals and keep them in your notebook.
• Set up your planner/household notebook/emergency planner with a section just for emergencies (the information will be there whether you've had to evacuate your home or you are in the hospital and your husband suddenly has to take over things). Be sure everyone in your family knows what's in it and where it is.  It's the first thing you should grab (besides kids and pets) on the way out the door.
• Disposable aluminum baking trays, paper plates, paper towels and plastic utensils will make your life much easier if there is a water outage. I know you don't want anyone to know that your fantastic pie crust is actually store-bought, but keep the aluminum pans anyway (even if you have to hide them).
• Rotate your canned and packaged foods every time you shop. Be sure you marked the expiration dates on them.
• Start a garden in pots that you can bring inside - if you plant them in the ground, they'll blow away in a typhoon. Imagine having fresh herbs and vegetables when you can't leave the house!
• Setting up a disaster pantry sounds like a formidable task, and sounds terribly expensive. Planning for it, though, will make it easy - and buying just a little extra at a time will ease the burden on your pocketbook. The main thing to remember is that you should only stock foods that you know will keep, that you know how to prepare, and that your family will eat.  Save condiment packets from fast food restaurants - ketchup, relish, mayonnaise, jelly, soy sauce and hot sauce. Do the same with toothpaste, batteries, shampoo - always buy a new one as soon as you open your stocked one.  If you determine that you need to stock 10 cans of canned meat, then buy 10 cans and as soon as you open one buy another.
• It's a really good idea to test your supplies and foods ahead of time - we "tested" our rations during Typhoon Chata'an (our first typhoon on Guam), so learned how long the candles would burn, how long the flashlight batteries lasted, how long the radio would stay on, how many hours our grill would burn, etc.  It's really important that you know how much of a given item you will need (for example, count out how many aspirin you take a day, then multiply by 21 & be sure to always have that many on hand)
• I've included suggestions for the disaster kit that may seem excessive, such as tents and fire extinguishers - but, after a fire, flood or earthquake you may not be able to stay inside your home. Most survival experts recommend keeping your kits away from your home so that you can get to them if you must evacuate - but we don't have a place besides our house that would hold up to damage
• Always keep your vehicles at least half-full of gasoline, and check oil and other fluids frequently. Always have spare gasoline tanks full (but be sure to use them and refill, as gasoline gets old).
• Keep your cell phones charged, with plenty of time on them. Invest in a car charger for all your chargeable items, including your laptop - it may be your only source of power for quite a while
• Leave a house key hidden somewhere around your home in case you have to leave pets - at least you can notify neighbors or authorities if you can't get back home.
• Think about your laundry and dishes well in advance - if a disaster stuck tomorrow, how many days of clean and ironed clothes do you have? If your water goes out, how many dishes are backed up? If you have to cook outside, how many meals' worth of charcoal and lighter do you have? How long will your flashlight burn? Now is the time to check this, and now is the time to vow never to get behind on the housework!
• Label things like wheelchairs, canes, walkers, strollers, etc. - anything you have in your evacuation list
• Be sure everyone in your family knows where you keep your emergency supplies, medical kit and evacuation lists. Be sure they know where the first-aid manual is.
• Have a communication plan and practice it - have a designated meeting place as well as a designated person to telephone and be sure every family member knows it.
• Be sure to refill prescriptions before they expire, and talk to your physician about keeping an extra set of them in your go-bag
• Take a first-aid course, and a CPR class
• Determine a safe room in your home
• Have an earthquake drill
• Know where you will go if evacuated - if to a shelter, a motel or a friend's home (if the latter two, they should be far enough away that they won't be affected by the emergency) - and know the policies for pets and children, as well as what to bring with you

---- Remember, in many emergencies, your computer will be inaccessible, so a hard copy of any Paradise Organized chapters you find especially helpful is a good thing to have on hand! ----



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