This Sunday we celebrate Easter, the Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. This past weekend we were able to attend the Mesa AZ USA Temple Easter Pageant. What a marvelous spiritual experience it was; to witness the birth, life, teachings, Crucifixion and Resurrections of Jesus Christ. I testify to all of you that He lives, He really does live! The Resurrection and the Atonement gives us hope. It gives us an opportunity to repent and strive to keep the commandments of God. It gives us the wonderful blessing of being with our Savior Jesus Christ, our Heavenly Father and our family for eternity. May each of us take the time this week to reflect upon His life, His
teachings and what the Resurrection and the Atonement means to us personally. May each of
us teach our children and grandchildren that Easter is not about Easter
Bunnies, Easter candy and the Easter Egg Hunt, it is about the
Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. Click here to learn more on Mormon.org about His birth, His life, His death and His Resurrection. This past weekend my husband and I took a road trip to Arizona to visit with our son's family. On the way there I noticed a billboard that said, "Winging it is not a plan". As I thought about that, of course, I likened it to Emergency Preparedness.
Many people have the idea that if a disaster hits, or another type of emergency situation, there will be others to help them, the local and federal government (like FEMA), their church, their neighbors, their family and friends. They will worry about it when it hits. As many of us have witnessed as the disasters of the last few years have happened and we have witness on television news channels, on the radio and in the newspapers, it takes days, weeks, months before help arrives. We need to be able to take care of our own family with drinking water, food, shelter, emergency cooking equipment, sanitation, medical needs, etc.We all need to set emergency preparation goals and work towards them daily. It takes planning, not winging it!I also noticed on EmergencyEssentials.com they have a great article posted on their blog on the same subject, "Setting Preparedness Goals".
Personal Experience...
What do you get when you take the 10 freeway in Indio, California USA, the Coachella Music Festival (the biggest one in the world), 250,000 people all leaving at the same time getting onto the 10 freeway (most of them headed towards the Los Angeles, California USA area) and you find yourself in the middle of it just as you approached the area? A major traffic jam!!! It took us 3 hours to go about 30-50 miles at 15-20 miles an hour with no way to get off the 10 freeway until after Moreno Valley, California USA when we finally hit the 215/60 freeway interchange. As we were driving home from Arizona my husband said, "Imagine if there was a disaster and all these people were trying to get to a safer place. What a nightmare it would be!"
Have we ever thought what it would be like, or experienced this type oftraffic, maybe you have, if there was a disaster and we had to evacuate all at the same time? Would you be prepared with your 72 Hour Individual Emergency Preparedness Backpacks (or Bug Out Bags) and Family Emergency Bag? Would you have enough gas in your car(s)? Do you have an evacuation plan? Some things to think about! Check out the postings on the right side of this posting under "Postings" for information regarding these matters.
Weekly Assignment: Emergency Cleaning Bucket
Have you ever thought about needing emergency cleaning supplies? For the next few weeks we are going to work on setting up an Emergency Cleaning Bucket. Each week we will add 1-3 items. Most of these items can be found for a dollar each at a discount store (99 Cent Store, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Family Dollar, etc.). You want to purchase small-medium bottles so all of it will fit in one bucket. Watch the video on the March 16th posting on how to fit everything into the bucket. As we add each item place it into the bucket. Mark the bucket with a permanent marker--Emergency Cleaning Bucket. You can keep this in your garage or home storage shed.
This week add the
following items: (All this items can be found at discount stores like the 99 Cent Store, the Dollar Tree, etc.)
1) Can of spray air freshener
2) Insect repellent spray
3) 5 scrubber pads
4) Cleaning brush
Note: Next week we will finish up the Emergency Cleaning Bucket. Remember: If you missed any of the items we have added you can go back to the March 16th posting for the entire list and video and follow through until now.
April Monthly Assignment: Shelter
Each family will need
some type of shelter in case you cannot stay in your home after a disaster
and/or damage to your home. We also keep a small tent (3 person), and a
large tarp with # 3-5 below, in our truck in case we might need shelter
if a disaster strikes while away from home.
This month add the
following to your Emergency Supplies:
1) Tent to
accommodate the size of your family (or several small to medium size
ones)
2) Large tarps
(2-4)
3) 100 feet of
rope
4) Duct
tape
5) Clothes pens or
heave clips
6) Hammer with
nails
Numbers 2-6 will help you to construct a shelter. Keep
all these items together in your garage or home storage shed.
Click here to
read more information about shelter or go to the right of this blog under
"Postings". The Boy Scout Handbook and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints Young Woman Camp Manual also has some treat tips on constructing
different types of shelters.
I find Big 5 in Southern California USA have great
sales prices on tents this time of year and after the summer. Other sporting
goods stores and department stores with a sporting goods department will too.
There are also great companies and Amazon.com on the Internet.
Important: If
you have never put a tent together and purchase one put it together before you
need it to make sure you know how and all the pieces are there and working
properly.
Emergency Preparedness Ideas:
How is your vegetable gardening doing? In most areas of the United States there is still time to plant your Summer vegetable garden. Do you remember a few weeks ago when I posted about how to plant some vegetables in Miracle Grow Potting Soil? We have green onions in one and Romaine lettuce in the other one. Here is a picture of how ours is doing...
Note: To see how to plant vegetables in Miracle Grow Potting Soil click here and scroll down to the information.
Why Won't My Vegetable Garden Grow?
Here is a great blog posting from EmergencyEssentials.com on "Why Won't My Garden Grow? 5 Mistakes You May Be Making"
Spring Cleaning your Emergency Preparedness Supplies
This is a great time of year to get out and go through all your emergency preparedness supplies...
1) Check your 72 Hour Individual Emergency Preparedness Backpacks to make sure everything is alright, replace any expired or almost expired food items and medications, and check the clothing to make sure they still fits.
2) Organize all your emergency supplies in like groups, shelter, cooking equipment, sanitation, lighting, etc. Check or any items that need replace, replenished or repaired. Keep them in your garage or home storage shed together.
3) Inventory your food storage. Rotate any items that need used, replace any food items that need replaced.
4) Inventory and replace or add any medical emergency supplies you need to your Family Emergency Medical Kit and First-aid kit(s).
5) Make an emergency preparedness notebook of where everything is and when you last inventoried those items. Example: Shelter, in the garage on the right side. Food storage, in the hall closest, under the bed (what is stored there). Etc.
6) Go over your Family Emergency Preparedness Plan and make goals to acquire items you still need and a date to accomplish it by.
Being prepared will bring peace of mind!
Comments:
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are welcome! We all learn from each other. Thank you for your comments.
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