Last few years have been full of tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes and cyclones which caused a lot of destruction and loss of lives. The news of these disasters and their nature makes us feel that natural disasters cannot be prevented but we can at least prepare ourselves for better survival when such incidents occur as the best way to endure a natural disaster is to prepare for the same. When these disasters occur, there is a lot of buzz about preparing ourselves for future disasters. But it is seen that due to our preoccupations, we tend to delay it. We would like to enumerate strategies as to how you can prepare yourself for these disasters.
Complexity Level: moderate
Time required: 5 hours
Resources required:
- Floor plan of the house
- Bucket or a bag to pack the supplies in
- Stock of non perishable food
- Can opener
- Pet food and supplies if you have a pet
- Sleeping bag / blanket for a person each and one change of clothing
- A first-aid kit
- Radio which run on batteries, extra batteries, flash light and utility knife. Avoid candles
- Personal care provisions like tooth brush, tooth paste and toilet paper etc.
- Radio which is battery-powered, batteries and flashlight
- Blankets
- Fire extinguisher
- First-aid kit
- Packaged water and packaged foods
- Pump and tire repair kit
Instructions:
1: Create/develop an emergency plan:
- Have a meeting with all the family members and discuss the need and requirement of an emergency plan. Brainstorm and discuss how they will react and respond during the disaster.
- Find spots in the home which will be safe for disaster. Put emergency contact numbers near the phone and explain the utility of 911 number to the children.
- Decide on few people whom the family members will contact if they get separated. Also, decide 2 places near the house where you all can meet during emergencies. It will be very useful if everyone of the house takes first aid class.
- Floor plan of the house needs to be drawn and escape routes needs to be marked. Keep all the family’s important papers and documents in a box which is fire proof and also water proof, so that you can take it along during emergency.
2: Create a disaster supplies kit:
- Always store in your home supplies that can last for at least 3 days. Accumulate all the supplies that you feel you will need during any unforeseen evacuation of the house during disasters and prepare a disaster supplies kit.
- You need to pack the supplies in a bucket or a bag, which you can easily grab and walk out of the house in hurry. You can consider including the disaster supplies kit.
3: Car emergency supplies kit:
- Put the car supplies in a bag, as if your car does not start or cannot be used, you will be able to carry the bag along with you. Consider the following to include in your car emergency supplies kit.
a) Radio which is battery-powered, batteries and flashlight.
b) Blankets
c) Fire extinguisher
d) First-aid kit
e) Packaged water and un spoil able foods.
f) Pump and tire repair kit
Frequently asked questions:
1. When should I plan for disaster management?
Disasters are unforeseen and unpredictable; you will never know when they will emerge. Those can also happen just now while you are reading this article. So you should start planning for disaster management right now.
2. Who will plan for disaster management for my family and home?
You can make a disaster management plan for your family and home. It is a simple plan, which can be achieved by organizing things.
Quick tips:
1. A checklist of items that you would like to take along should ensure that you do not leave behind any important thing.
2. Keep a box of medicines handy and keep rotating them so that you don’t have any expired medicine in the box.
3. Dress in layers, this will facilitate you to add on or remove as per the weather.
4. Flashlights having multiple LEDs are very dependable, so buy an LED flashlight.
5. Rehearse the emergency plan made by you and your family.
Things to watch out for:
1. Do not forget cash.
2. The emergency kit should be kept in a place where you can easily grab it, if you have to hurriedly leave.
3. Get your generator installed correctly.
4. Turn off the main switch when you plug the generator to your house power supply.
5. Generator should be kept outside the home so that carbon monoxide is not released in the house.
6. Stand in open during an earthquake and do not stand near buildings and poles.
