Personally Prepare for an Emergency

Regardless of where you live, there is always a threat of a natural disaster affecting you. Some areas are more prone to a natural disaster, such as the mid-west of the United States being prone to tornadoes or California being likely to experience an earthquake, but any area in the United States may experience a flood, severe storm, etc. that may cause damage and endanger lives. The best thing to do when a natural disaster threatens your home is to have disaster preparedness, meaning you have done the necessary actions to help your chances of survival and increased chances of minimizing damage done.

Having natural disaster preparedness means that you are prepared to experience any affect of a natural disaster, whether it is direct or indirect. Your house may not be hit by a severe storm or tornado, but your electricity and/or water may be cut off by it for a long period of time. A flood may not affect your home, but it can contaminate drinking water from your faucet. In any case, there is no such thing as being overly-prepared in disaster preparedness. It is better to be safe than sorry.

Set Priorities:
The first thing you should do when performing natural disaster preparedness is to identify priorities. What is most important to you? For everyone, the essentials should first be identified; this includes, in order: water, food, and shelter. Shelter is important, but not as important as food, and food is important, but not as important as water. Make sure that all of the most important items are stocked first in your natural disaster preparedness.

Bottles of water should be stocked first and foremost, as they are proven to have an indefinite shelf life, meaning they are good for as long as they are unopened. Water should be plentiful, but not too much, because if you need to move from one place to another, you may be leaving a vast majority of it behind. About three gallons of water per person is ideal to have in disaster preparedness.

Food items should be also stored, but since natural disaster relief may take some time, items requiring refrigeration should not be used in disaster preparedness. Dry foods and canned foods are usually the best choice, as long as they do not require cooking or a great deal of preparation before they are ready to be eaten. Food that is low or has no salt is ideal as well, as this will help conserve water (salt will dehydrate your body).

Shelter is important because it provides a place that is warm (or cool) and safe for people during a natural disaster. If evacuation is not mandatory during a crisis (especially in the case of a flood), then staying in your home is probably the best solution for natural disaster preparedness. If a home is not available, a car is good for one or two people to seek refuge in.