Now that Sandy is tearing up the Eastern seaboard, I decided to go

[No Elephants]

to the FEMA website to see what I should do to prepare for an emergency.

Bottom line: I recommend going first to ready.gov.

From the things suggested there and your own common sense, make your own list of basic disaster supplies that will take care of the needs of you and yours for about three days.

Then, make sure you putting those supplies together, including a first aid kit. (Google for the contents of a basic first aid kit. No doubt suggestions for contents are somewhere online.) (You will already have a lot of the stuff on hand, like bleach, for example, so it's a question of consolidating, maybe having small sizes of things.)

See how much you can have ready to grab and go, in case staying in your own home is not a possibility. Maybe a couple of duffels?

If you don't have room for that--some of us do live in city apartments and condos with no pole barns!--at least try to store stuff so that so you can grab things quickly, either to stay in place or to seek shelter elsewhere.

In that case, have a checklist handy in a waterproof container, so you don't forget anything when the time comes to throw everything together.

Call your city or town hall to find out where you would get instructions, routes, emergency shelter, etc. Make a family plan for an emergency situation.

After you have done that, then browse the ready.gov website and see if there are any more suggestions you can use to be even better prepared to take care of yourself and your loved ones.

And then go and browse the FEMA website and consider longer range things suggested at that website, like maybe making one of the rooms in your home a safe room.

Meanwhile, my beloved DU2ers, stay as safe, dry and warm as possible. And make taking care of the physical and emotional well being of yourself and your loved ones a priority every day.

:grouphug:

[Divine Discontent]

1. thx NE, good advice n/t

:yourock:

[No Elephants]

2. Thanks, DD.

I am so grateful for DU 2 after DU 3.

If not for that, I never would have gotten to know some great DUers like you.

[bikebloke]

3. Important Documents

I keep important documents like birth certificate, passport etc wrapped in plastic also in my grab bag. In case the building goes.

[No Elephants]

5. Good point, BB. IIRC, ready.gov did suggest that, in a pdf doc.

I hate dealing with pdf or I would have gone ahead and posted some of the "most emergency" of the suggestions.

I have had leaks from above and should really keep all my important papers in Tupperware or metal.

(I can replace a lot, with some trouble and fees, but I think I would really miss my birth cert. with my newborn footprints.

[Enthusiast]

4. Thank you, No Elephants....nt

[No Elephants]

6. You're welcome.

[Leopolds Ghost]

7. I delayed getting back on DU and was afraid I'd lose power but the promised once-in-a-lifetime storm

Did not materialize here. A bunch of our trees died anyway due to heavy rain, g*&dammit.

So I actually didn't get on Monday or Tuesday partly because I was afraid the weather would
pick up and knock off my connection

[No Elephants]

8. Consider yourself lucky. Boston did not get as badly as the Jersey shore or NY.

I confess to some survivor's guilt over that.