We were told to "Watch." Since we know something's coming lets be prepared. I would like to share a few ideas for getting our homes prepared.

First: Designate a chain of command of who will be in charge when emergencies occur. Having more than one person trying to bring order just creates more confusion. For Example: The father is normally to give direction in an emergency. In his absence, the mother. In her absence, the oldest child, etc. Prayerfully, children will never have to lead. (Communal living would really benefit as you would have more people to depend on of like mind, but thats another story).

Second: Gather all your emergency supplies to one area in the house, easily accessible in an emergency. You should be able to feel your way to them in the dark easily, without obstructions. (See end for examples of emergency supplies).

Third: Familiarize yourself and your family with the emergency products and exactly where they are. This will help bring a feeling of comfort in an emergency situation.

Fourth: HAVE A PLAN. Plan what you will do in different types of emergencies. This cannot be overstressed. You cut down on so much panic and confusion when everyone knows exactly what to do. Here is an example of an emergency plan:

In Emergency Situation:

1. Adults gather all children in their immediate vicinity and come to central meeting place.

2. Await further instructions from Designated Leader.

3. If you are Designated Leader, turn on tv and find out the nature of the emergency. Know situation thoroughly and be able to relay the information accurately. Know every fact and detail for sure before making a decision on what to do. After all, as leader you are now responsible for the lives of others.Also, how you approach the situation will set the tone for the others. Now is not the time for joking and laughing, but a serious attitude.

If Lights Go Out

1. Immediately secure light source (i.e. flashlight). One should be everyplace you can afford it to be, primarily next to your bed, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, etc.

If Weather Related

1. Determine what tools will be needed in the emergency and secure them (What you might need in a hurricane, tornado, thunderstorms, flooding, earthquakes, you name it you should already have them in your home, if not already assembled in the central meeting place).

2. Always sit away from windows.

3. Do not have all doors closed (Depending upon situation). This will allow air pressure to build up and possibly break out windows or doors.

If Non-Weather Related

1. Follow lead of Designated Leader.

Fifth: Have your family go on unplanned, surprise runs of emergency procedure. Don't expect yourself or others to automatically remember everything you planned without doing it several times and every so often for touch up. This helps to settle children as well; they won't be as scared if the lights go out suddenly because they've been in the situation before and they will be more trained to quietly follow directions (helps tremendously). For example, turn off all electricity in the house from the circuit breaker box. Your family should see the lights go out and go right into the emergency routine. Look for speed of getting to meeting place, orderliness and quietness, speed of taking out supplies and setting up, remembering whole procedure, etc.

Also, THROUGHOUT THE DAY, FREQUENTLY CHECK THE NEWS to see what's going on. As we all know, things can change in the blink of an eye. We don't want to be walking around unaware of news that can potentially put us in a bad situation, especially if we can avoid it.

Needed Emergency Supplies

-Long Burning Candles

-Oil Lamps and Oil

-Matches

-Flashlights

-Batteries (lots of batteries!)

-Shortwave radio with more than one source of power (adapter, battery,solar, and hand-crank, for example)

-First Aid Kits (more than one)

-Food. This can take the form of MRE's(Meals Ready to Eat, pre-cooked food in waterproof pouches with long shelf life, used in the military), canned goods, dry goods, etc.

-Water. You can buy it in gallons or better yet fill up larger 30 gallon barrels, 5 or 7 gallon storage containers, etc. Since we don't know what's to come (biological attacks, poisiong of local water supply), you can never have enough water.

-Cookware. Compact folding stainless steel pot and skillet, small burners that run on fuel, etc

-Emergency toilet (just a five gallon bucket with a plastic toilet seat on top). Also buy some heavy duty garbage bags to line it with. This and other supplies may be purchased in the outdoor sporting good department of Target and like stores.

-Toilet paper, paper towels, baby wipes, Sanitary Pads, etc.

The Time Is Upon Us!!!

AnaYah