TEXAS STRONG

Well, the last 10 days was no fun.  So many people suffered who were not prepared and it is just another example on why you shouldn’t rely on someone else to take care of you in any kind of emergency. We should all look at what happened in Texas and make improvements, but upgrading the grid In Texas or throughout the United States is not glamourous and is expensive, therefore, I doubt there will be any significant changes.

For so long, preppers were viewed as a little crazy. People who prepped for a pandemic were openly ridiculed. People who prepped for a grid-down scenario were out of touch with reality…. Yet, we have now faced those two events in less than one year!  Times are changing folk’s and the crazy preppers were just ahead of the curve.  Prepping has never been about separating from society or taking pleasure in someone else’s misery.  What most preppers SEE is the weak links in the chain. We tend to be organized and hard working.  Self-reliant and practical.  We like electricity and the comforts of heat and A/C just as much as the next person, we enjoy clean water running through our faucets and stocked shelves at the grocery store, but what we do recognize are the parts of our modern day living that are vulnerable.  If only one link of any supply chain is disrupted there is a fall-out. 

The number one asset in your arsenal of preps is being able to adapt. If you have been paying attention this past year you know things have yet to return to normal, and I highly doubt they will for a very long time, if ever. We have strained our businesses financially and upset the apple cart on how and where we purchase food and conduct business. I cannot stress this enough- the time to prepare is not during a disaster. The unprepared are the ones either buying everything in the store or they are the ones shaming people on social media because they couldn’t get what they needed because of the hoarders.  Both examples are unprepared people, one just acted faster than the other.

The Texas storm highlights how vulnerable we really are and the importance of being prepared and as we move into hurricane/tornado season, please #checkyourpreps.           

 Here are some tips and idea’s:

1. Assign everyone in the family an area of preps that they are responsible for and that plays into their natural strengths.
2. Store water! Water is the key to life and not having any in the house is just plain crazy. One gallon per day, per person. Also, most toilets take 1.5 gallons to flush, so you need to keep that in mind.
3. Every member of your family should have an emergency pack (yes, even the little ones) It is the first thing in the way of preps you should have if you are just beginning.
4. Store extra food, paper plates and plastic silverware. Basically, look at it like you are camping at home.
5. Were you able to heat your home without power? Or cook food? Make coffee? Look into home generators like Generac, portable generators, firewood, propane, coffee French press, etc.
6. Did you have flashlights and/or lanterns? I personally don’t recommend candles inside unless absolutely necessary. I prefer battery operated and crank lighting for safety reasons. Solar/back-up cell phone chargers are a life saver too!
7. Batteries, extension cords, plastic yard bags, etc. will all come in handy for various reasons as well as cold weather items like pipe insulation and outdoor faucet bibs.
8. Three days of food/supplies should be the minimum for an emergency bag and 3 weeks should be the minimum for a stay-at-home scenario.
9. Last, but not least, plan, prep and adapt. No one will take care of your family better than you!