Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Ever changing world

How ready are you?

Well Monday Afternoon Perth was hit with a thunder storm, tree’s came down onto power lines & homes were flooded... our back gutter bent from the weight of the water & flooded the back patio, thankfully water did not come inside, the storm was short.
But the power went out!
So you say it happens.......I got everyone fed & bathed. The baby has a cold so I got the panadol & thermometer out so I was not hunting in the dark thinking to myself the power will be back on soon.
As it got later and later, I went to get candle holders down from the laundry and hunted for candles. They were covered in dust bunnies resulting in them needing to be washed.... I did have candles but not nearly as many as I thought
One torch worked, the other has a blown globe! “How convenient” I thought
The re-chargeable batteries were in the children’s toys needing charging or in the laundry cupboard NOT CHARDED!
Mmmmmm well my thinking it will not be out long became all night long, it was hot the house was opened for what little breeze there was and mosquitoes.
The baby was up & down all night so I would use the torch to get to his room then lighting a candle to see while I dealt with him, blowing out as I left I thought “how prepared are we!”
A: I can’t leave a candle in his room (fire hazard)
B: I needed to save what candles we had in case this blackout lasted
The food in the fridge ended up being thrown out & I didn’t open the deep freezer out of fear we would lose it all. Thankfully the power was restored to my area midday Tuesday.
Lucky I hadn’t defrosted my deep freeze in a while & that kept everything frozen, but what if it was longer? Why store frozen food if when you need it it’s no good? My vegetable patch will save us if we were in a pinch (maybe)...... but not if it is flooded.... store cupboard food seems to be the way.
My mind went nuts as I sat with a note pad and pencil by candle light I made a list of short & long term things we need to put in place.
I’ve been really observing as different problems come up around Australia of late. Fire, flood, food shortages.... prep for one will do no good in case of another.
So I’m making a few small changes, I was thinking of an easy access container with candles, candle holders, torches, lanterns, fire blanket, can opener etc, easily accessed first aid box, ours was buried in the hallway cupboard under a mound of stuff, (no good in the dark). Less frozen stores more dried foods.
I need to invest in a wind up radio/phone charger.
Well I’m sure I will come up endless changes as I begin changing things, it just made think that I’m not really as prepared as I thought........Are you?

3 comments:

  1. It's not until you have experienced a natural disaster that you take stock of your emergency preparations.
    Fortunately for me, nothing major has happend but i do have 2 storage boxes with torches, extra clothes, blankets, matches etc in it. One in the house and one in the car. I also recommend if you live in the bush, a generator, even if it's a small one. You will appreciate running water in your bathroom lol, but seriously it helps in long term power outages. The only downfall is you need to make sure you have enough fuel on hand at all times.
    Your list will be ever changing and make sure every 6 months you check your supply box.
    Sami Jae

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  2. I like the idea of an emergency box with everything you need in the one place. The issue I always have is that the kids freak out when the lights go out and won't let me leave them to go out find everything we are going to need. having it all ready and in a convenient place like the kitchen would be a great idea. Thanks

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  3. we keep everything in a kitchen drawer - candles, lighters, torches, battery radio, batteries. I grew up in NZ and we were always told to have a "survival kit" in case of earthquake, also including canned food and bottled water. Problem is all these useful things often get used and not put back! The challenge is maintaining the kit once you start it!

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