What Would You Do? -The County Preparedness Fair

What Would You Do?

This was the title of the preparedness fair in my town last Monday.  And they were able to answer this question with all the booths and info available at the fair.  

Outside of the building there were all sorts of the emergency vehicles, an earthquake simulator from the Great Utah Shake Out,  Be Ready Utah, fire trucks, and rescue vehicles, and free hot dogs and drinks.  Inside there were various retailers, the Red Cross, the gas company, the electric company, and CERT representatives.  There was a lot of information all in one place, but it was exactly what the general public needs to know about for any emergency.  

In Utah we live in an earthquake zone and it was fun to try out the earthquake simulator, provided by the Great Utah Shake Out program, to teach people what to do in an earthquake.  Every year my youngest and I participate in the Great Utah Shake at home, and my kids participate at their schools, so she knows what to do during an earthquake.  The man running the simulator was very impressed with my 6 year old, and that she could answer all his questions.  It was quite entertaining on my part.  He said that in the 3 years that he has run the simulator she was the first child to know what to do in an earthquake.  Proud prepper-mom moment :)

Blood, free backpacks, and stickers is what we found in the kid-zone.  It was set up for kids and they were able to make 72-hour kits and were given a backpack and supplies to assemble into a kit.  We got there 30 minutes after it started and missed getting a backpack....so no picture :(  But I was impressed with the supplies and extras available for free for the kids.  There was also a moulage station.  What is a moulage station you might ask?

This is all make up....NOT REAL!!

Fake wounds!!!  The above picture is from a disaster simulation day at a hospital that my kids were able to participate in.  It was set up for firefighters and other medical crews to practice for the real disaster.  It was pretty realistic.  But at the preparedness fair my youngest was too squeamish to try it.  So I borrowed this picture from a few years ago to share.  I hope it isn't too gross. But I noticed that there was a Boy Scout troop in attendance at the fair and they were LOVING the moulage station!

I also learned a few important things as I walked around to the different booths.

• Signing up for a reverse 911 phone call system is important to know what is going on in my area.  If there was a disaster or other emergency I would get an alert on my phone. I need to sign up!
• I can dial 211 on my phone and get information about all kinds of county programs.  Counseling, law enforcement info, library, government services, etc.  The United Way provides this service in Utah.  
• There is a CERT community where I live.  It was great to chat with them and sign up to be a part of their group. 

 There was plenty of information on earthquakes and I was again impressed by the county that I live in.  They take preparedness seriously and are ready for an emergency. But it also requires the help of the general public to take charge of their families and prepare for a disaster.  I can't put all my eggs in one basket and hope that someone will be there to take care of my family after an earthquake.  So I prepare for emergencies and have supplies and food on hand to keep us safe until help can arrive.  That is the purpose of a preparedness fair like this one, to share the information, and hopefully people will take action for themselves and not just assume that the emergency crews will be there to help them in an emergency.  Because it isn't "if" it happens.....it's "when" it happens....what will you do??

Sometimes You Just Have To Have a Sense of Humor

Today was one of those days where nothing seemed to go just right.  There was quite the thunderstorm going on outside as I was going about my morning routine, when I literally turned the shower on, and the power went out.  No big deal, it should come back on, yeah right, it wasn't in the cards for today.

After about a half hour I decided on plan B.  I needed to get my kindergartener off to afternoon school so we made a simple lunch, and got her already for school.  Her favorite thing to do is watch a show on her ipod while she eats.  (don't judge, she is the youngest and is used to constant noise and chatter from her siblings, and she doesn't find my conversation interesting, so she gets to watch a little something before school) Well, her ipod wasn't charged....of course....so I ran and got my Goal Zero generator.  
 

This is an example of how handy a Goal Zero is when it is fully charged!!

Yup.....it wasn't charged either. So.....she watched a video on my laptop, that was almost dead.  We made it through lunch and now it was time to leave.  

Funny thing when the power goes out....you find many things that are used on a daily basis, without a thought about electricity.  The garage door!!! (and I also learned that not one of us has a house key on our key rings.  If I hadn't been home when the power went out, I would've been locked out of the house.  We just never transferred those keys over when we moved in.)

My 5 year old found it really fun to help lift the double garage door so the car could get out.  It was a learning experience for her, and a workout for me, because she didn't know that is was possible to lift the door without power.  When we got to school there wasn't any power either.  One of the other moms said that the other 2 towns close by didn't have power as well.  That was when I figured it was going to be awhile before the power came back on.  

For 1 1/2 hours every afternoon I have free time with no children at home.  Usually I vacuum, or clean the kitchen, or run errands, and sometimes you may find me watching a show, in peace and quiet, or catching up on my social media.  But guess whose phone was almost dead? No catching up on social media today, so I swept the kitchen with a broom from the garage.  I REALLY need to purchase a broom that is a designated inside broom.  The floors needed to be cleaned and the vacuum couldn't be used, so I did it the old fashioned way.  I know, a lot of people still use a broom, but I like to vacuum my wood floors, so this was the slower, less convenient way to clean, for me.  

Since my Goal Zero unit wasn't charged I set it up in the backyard with the solar panel to charge.  The sun had come out after the heavy rain storm so I took advantage of it, for about 5 minutes.  I'm not kidding, the clouds rolled in minutes after that solar panel went up.  I didn't want the unit to get wet so I brought it back inside.  It was 2:00 by now and I figured I wasn't going to get power anytime soon so I took a shower. It felt great to be clean, but I have really short hair and it needs to be dried with a hair dryer so I don't scare little kids.  This is where pure genius comes into play.....I towel dried my hair, applied my hair stuff, and then used my round brush and a magazine to dry my hair.  I should maybe patent this idea.....I rolled each section of hair with the brush and fanned it with the magazine.  This is one time I was grateful for thin hair. It actually worked, and minus the cramp in my thumb from fanning, I was excited that I looked like I did my hair today.  I sprayed it with hairspray, and I KID YOU NOT, the power came on the second I walked out of the bathroom. It was pretty funny and I had to laugh it off.  But I really wish I had someone home to take a picture of the magazine hair dryer, it would have made this post so much more interesting.  But I guess I now have a way to do my hair without electricity.  (Maybe I should invest in some curlers of some sort.)

I immediately plugged in my cell phone and my Goal Zero unit so they are charged.  And I learned from experience, again, to have my Goal Zero unit fully charged at all times.  

Utah has been having the craziest weather lately.  Take a look at this photo.

That.right.there.is.a.tornado!!! In Utah!!!  I live in the mountains outside of Salt Lake and I couldn't believe it!  I am from Ohio and grew up with tornado safety, but this caught me off guard.  Thank goodness it never touched the ground because we were in the car and my son was outside at his football game.  Crazy!!!  So now I can add tornado safety to our family emergency preparedness plan.  

But today is now bright and sunny and we have power again.  All 5 of my children got to experience 3 1/2 hours of school with no electricity.  It was a good learning experience.  And I feel calm knowing that my county is prepared for disasters.  I attended my county's preparedness fair just last night, and they really know what they are doing.  I am working on a post so stay tuned!

Reality Preparedness with Barbara Salsbury

Knowledge is power!  I don't think you can ever be done learning and studying.  I love to find new preparedness gadgets and books.  So, when I found out Barbara Salsbury was speaking at Honeyville Grain, I was so excited!!  Barbara is what you would call, an emergency preparedness expert.  She has lived through major earthquakes, family job losses, and has written several books on her experiences.  Click HERE to view her website with all of her information and books. 

Barbara has so much knowledge about how to survive AFTER the disaster, and with her sense of humor, we had a fun class!

 As you cans see by her real Preparedness Basics, Barbara is hilarious!  But she really does know her stuff.  Depending on the type of disaster there will be different ways of cooking, heating, and hunkering down.  If you are staying at your home or packing up and leaving, there will be very different things you will need for each situation.  Evacuating will require backpacks and portable foods and necessities.  Hunkering down will hopefully allow you to use your storage, and in worst case scenario you can live in a tent in the backyard.  It was really interesting to listen to someone who lived through a major earthquake and to know what really happens.  After the initial shock the city was silent, and it was days before help arrived to those that needed it.  Does that sound familiar??  Hurricane Sandy is in that same situation!

The sign in the picture says it all:  "You're really on your own!  It's called responsibility.  There is no knight in shining armour!  What the government (city, state, federal) won't/can't be...."  You need to be prepared for the weeks following a disaster.  No one will be there to help you, but you and your family!! Take her advice seriously and be ready.

 Make all crises and disasters more bearable!  Having the visual of a teddy bear will help you think of what things provide comfort for your family.  For one family it may be a generator so movies can be watched, or chocolate/candy for another family.  Know what it is for your family and be prepared.  It may sound silly to have comfort items, but think about the stress and uncertainty if your world was torn apart.  And the only thing that seemed normal was having some chocolate after dinner.  

I learned so much from Barbara and had such a good time!  Are you jealous yet?  Don't worry, you are in luck! If you would like to hear her speak come this Saturday, November 10th at 4:00 pm at Honevyille Grain in Salt Lake City.   1850 S. 389 W.  She will be speaking about having to evacuate your home and all the details that go along with that situation.  In light of recent hurricanes I would highly suggest you get your homes and families prepared, and this class is a great way to begin, or supplement what you already have. 

Preparedness Begins With You!

Images from Hurricane Sandy are everywhere and they are shocking!  The nightly news is filled with victims who are in shock and don't know how they are going to start their lives over again.  My heart goes out to all of these people and I hope some sense of normalcy will come to their lives soon!  

While watching one news story I listened to a woman who lived on the 19th floor of an apartment building and she had to walk down 19 flights of stairs to try and find water.  When she got to her neighborhood store there wasn't any water to buy.  

Gas stations are out of gas!  Cars are lined up for miles waiting because news of more gas was coming, but none has shown up yet.  
 Homes are literally gone in some areas.  One woman walked a mile to finally find what was left of her home among the debris.   

 Each of these stories led to an angry rant from the people in them.  They were yelling at the cameras that the government needed to be there to help them immediately! I couldn't get that out of my mind.  Yes, these people were in shock, but to blame the government for not being there the next morning to fix everything, was not going to solve anything !!  Being prepared will allow you to survive the days and weeks following a disaster.  YOU will be responsible for your own well-being, not someone else or some agency.  The woman who lived on the 19th floor had proper forewarning of the storm, but didn't she think that she would need enough water for a week or so after the storm?  Did she not play the what if game?  What if the power goes out?  How many times will I need to walk up and down 19 flights of stairs?  If the whole city is in chaos will I have enough food and water until there is help on the way? How will I get my dog outside for bathroom breaks? And the questions could go on and on!!  I don't think many of these people asked themselves the basic questions like these, or even thought they would be without power or gas!!  I thought Katrina was a wake-up call, but it obviously didn't wake up too many people in America.  It CAN happen, it CAN happen to you, and YOU need to be prepared!!!!! 

Have a 72-hour kit ready to go! Many people left their homes with nothing but the clothes on their backs!  Keep a car kit in your vehicle!!  If you were working in downtown New York and the subways were flooded, how would you survive until you got home?  These situations can be applied to more than just a hurricane.  I live in earthquake territory and the same applies here too.  My husband and children could very well be at work and school when an earhtquake hits.  They need emergency kits!!  Think ahead, plan ahead, and be prepared!! YOU can do it!!  YOU can help yourself and your family!!  

After watching several news stories I was watching a late night talk show and Jamie Lee Curtis was a guest.  She came out onto the set with a backpack filled with emergency supplies that you should keep under your bed for an emergency situation.  I was so excited that she was promoting this on national television!! Maybe, just maybe, people in America will start to get prepared!!  Watch the video clip below.

For more information:
Before The Disaster Strikes  
Preparedness 101  
Cold Weather Preparedness  
Several posts on preparedness...

Or check out the 72-Hour kit list on the side bar of this blog.

Provident Living Prepares Us For The Future- Ensign Article

I am just now getting around to reading the October Ensign Magazine and I found a great article on living providently.  (The Ensign is a monthly Mormon magazine published by the Church)  The article is titled "Provident Living Prepares Us For The Future", and it explains "that we, as Latter-Day Saints, believe in being prepared and self-reliant."  There are 6 areas of self-reliance that the article mentions that we can all work on to become self-reliant, and I agree with every single one of them.

 

"Living proveidently reflects our true eternal nature we are "to act for {ourselves} and not to be acted upon" (2 Nephi 2:26).  The Lord wants us to be responsible and independent (see D&C 78:14).  He wants us to live providently because of who we become in the process:  responsible, generous, mature, kind.  For the more self-reliant we are, the better we can help our families and others.  How can we feed the hungry if we ourselves are hungry? How can we impart knowledge if we ourselves lack knowledge? How can we build others' faith if we ourselves lack faith."  

"All of us are responsible to provide for ourselves and our families in both temporal and spiritual ways.  To provide providently, we must practice the princibles of provident living:  joyfully living within our means, being content with what we have, avoiding excess debt, and diligently saving and preparing for rainy-day emergencies."    Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles  (bold text added)

Check out the entire article HERE.

Through His Servants....

Through his servants, the Lord teaches us the pathway to happiness and safety.

I know of nothing of great importance that has happened in the world that the Lord through his prophets has not advised the people of beforehand, so that they have not been left in ignorance of what was to develop, but could plan their lives, if they would, to their advantage...

The case of Noah is in point.  He was commanded of the Lord to build an ark in which the righteous might be preserved from the flood which was to come.  Noah built the ark and preached repentance to his generation for a period of one hundred and twenty years, thus fully warning them. The people, however, were so wicked that they failed to heed the warning.  Having their agency, they chose evil rather than righteousness.  The rains descended, and the floods came, and only Noah and his family of eight souls were saved.  All had been fully warned, but because of their wilfulness and their refusal to repent they were drowned.  {see Moses 8:13-30}

-Teachings of the President of the Church:  George Albert Smith pg.60

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

I want to start off this post by letting you know how much I love my calling. I love gathering information and putting it on this blog for everyone to use. I have been getting compliments lately that I am doing a great job. Now, I am not bragging I only say this because I get these compliments a lot, but I only hear a few comments on what people are getting for their storage and it worries me. (Not that everyone should be telling me what they are buying, but I get comments of "We really should do this" more than people saying "We ARE implementing your ideas".) I know that the monthly newsletters are being read and that others do read the blog. I try really hard to make food storage easy and usable. I am worried that I am getting the information out to you, but that there is no action being taken in getting your food storage done. I really want you all to commit to working on this area of your life.

"The many eruptions, earthquakes, and tidal waves which have occurred...are signs which the Savior declared would foreshadow his second coming, although he said his advent should be as a thief in the night...The wise and prudent will heed the warning and prepare themselves that they be not taken unawares. I testify, that {the Latter-Day Saints}...will be the first to fall beneath the judgments of the Almighty, for his judgments will begin at his own house."
President Joseph F. Smith Quotes taken from Lesson 44 Preparing for the Second Coming of Christ, page 393.

D&C 112:24-26 reads: "Behold, vengeance cometh speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth, a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day of desolation, of weeping, of mourning, and of lamentation; and as a whirlwind it shall come upon all the face of the earth, saith the Lord."
"And upon my house shall it begin and from my house shall it go forth, saith the Lord; First among those among you, saith the Lord, who have professed to know my name and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, saith the Lord."


While talking with my sister this week we were discussing how badly she wants to build her food storage. She is in a situation of living where she will be moving and all of their possessions are in storage. She has all the intentions and the will to have her storage in place, but can't right now. My sister has her 72-hour kits and some other food that she is able to store, but what makes her sad is when she hears people talk about how they should work on their storage but don't. These people are very able and have the resources and space to have a wonderful food storage, but they don't actively work on it.

I know many of you are working on you storage and preparedness and I do see that, but I really want everyone to be prepared. I want to help everyone NOW, so we are prepared for LATER. Please take the time to put aside some food and necessities now when the time is relatively calm. Buy 2 extra items every time you go to the store and you will be amazed at how quickly it ads up. I don't want to seem like I am pointing fingers but this topic has been going through my head all week. I am really just worried for all of you.


MAY GOALS

1. PURCHASE VEGETABLES THAT FIT INTO YOUR 3-MONTH MENU. THINK OF CANNED, DEHYDRATED, FREEZE DRIED, AND FRESH. (185lbs per family is a year supply)
2. PLASTIC BAGS OF ALL SIZES, ALUMINUM FOIL, AND PLASTIC WRAP.

Enjoy the journey!
Enjoy the blessings!
Feel the peace!