September Is Preparedness Month

Imagine you are tucked away in your bed, sound asleep, and sometime after midnight, you hear a very loud banging on the door and someone yelling, "POLICE!"? You've never had any legal issues, except maybe one speeding ticket in your life.  You slowly drag yourself out of the bed and before you answer the door you inquire as to who it is...you can never be too careful now a days. You do notice blue lights flashing around the house through your windows, so you are pretty sure it really is the police. You open the door to see what the problem is. He tells you that you have to leave right away, that there has been a kidnapping in the neighborhood. You notice the SWAT team running to their spots. You ask if you can get dressed, and the officer says, "NO! Just get your shoes and go!" So you grab your shoes and head to your car in your PJ's, and drive off. OR.....do you have an 72 hour emergency kit? If you do, then you can grab that along with your shoes and head out. You will be set for three days...food, clothing, and whatever else you need during that time.

This story seems a bit extreme, but it really happened to my parents, and they live in a pretty nice neighborhood.  These type things can happen anywhere. Would you and your family be prepared?

September is Preparedness Month. September is also a good month to get a couple of very nice bags that you can use for many things, including your 72 Hour Emergency Preparedness Kit. The Super Organizing Utility Tote and the Organizing Utility Tote are both half price with any $35 order from Thirty-One Gifts.  Thirty One also has other things that could help you get your kit together, including the About Town Blanket. Hey! you could purchase the About Town Blanket for $40, then get your Super Organizing Utility Tote for half price. What a deal!!! So let me take you on a tour of this bag.

Large mesh pockets on both sides...

Here's the other side.

Two big pockets on this side....

And three on the other side. I put my juice bottles in them. The pockets are so large I could fit two juice bottles in each, and you can't even see them, lol

I added the Pocket-A-Tote for small things. As you see I could not fit the water into the bag, but you need a gallon of water per day per person. I'm not sure there is a bag that will fit THREE gallons of water AND all your other stuff. It would also be very heavy. So, I figured I would keep our bags and the water together, then we would just have to grab the bags and water and go.

Inside my bag, I have all my food for three days and a jacket, sweat pants, tshirt, two pair of clean socks and three days of undies.  I can handle not changing my clothes for three days, but my socks and undies, well gotta change those!

The food I have are things like protein bars and shakes, fruit, juice, water, squeeze cheese and crackers, tuna and cracker kit, trail mix, nuts, mints, gum...stuff like that. Something that is easy to fix, yet will keep you going and also something that you will eat. Remember too, you should change this out every six months. I plan to change in October (winter stuff) and then again in April (for summer clothing). This will also keep you food and medication, etc fresh.

I hope this helps. Everyone person in your family should have one of these. I grew up and have lived in other areas that are prone to hurricanes. Many people have to evacuate. This is the type of thing each individual in the household needs to survive for three days. It usually takes three days for any supplies to get to a disaster area, so you really need to be self sufficient for AT LEAST three days. If you have any other questions about the types of disasters in your area and how to put together your family's 72 hour survival kit, just visit the Red Cross web site. Our local Red Cross people are so nice and ready to help you out with any questions you might have.

Thirty One has all kinds of bags to help you get organized, so head on over to my website at https://www.mythirtyone.com/TerryJeanetteCarter/

And...if you are in the Madisonville, KY area today, come on over to my house between 1 and 3 and I can show you what I got that can help you get organized. The Red Cross gave me all kinds of handouts on emergency info I would love to share with you!