Disaster Tip of The Week: Prepare to Adapt to Changes In Your Life

Sometimes, life causes us to make changes. One's we didn't really plan for. In the last few years I have had to change my plans and the way I prep. I went from being a Bug-Out person to one of Bugging-in. Let me share the story.

I started “prepping” when I was quite young. Around the age of seven I believe. Back then we would go to the Otsego County fair in upstate NY. My favorite place to go was the area where the Red Cross and Civil Defense were set up. I would collect every piece of paper I could get my little hands on. When I would get home, I would sit and read them for hours.

I always thought I was lucky because living and growing up in Staten Island, NY I was near the City (Manhattan), and went to my grandparent’s place (upstate NY) several times per year.

I grew up learning to shoot, hunt, fish, hike and find my way in the woods. It kinda helps when one of your friends decides when he’s going to not listen, and go this way, and we ended up getting “lost”. I did get us home, but it took a few extra hours. But I digress.

So, back to prepping. At some point I decided to make a Bug-Out-Bag. In it I put extra cloths, food, fishing line, fishing hooks already tied off with line, a trusty knife and a few other items. My intention was to hike the roughly 200 miles to my grandparent’s house in the event I had to get out of dodge.

Big hike for a kid but figuring one of our twenty plus miles hikes a day in the boy scouts it would take me a little less than two weeks to get there. Yeah, I had it all figured out back then.

Fast-forward

Later on in life I had a car taking that trip down to just a few hours.

Alas, my grandparents passed, the property was sold (thought it would always be there), I moved across the Country, got married, had kids.

And here we are today. We have a very nice home in a wonderful area, and I have no where to Bug-Out to. While that will change in the future, bugging out with kids can be difficult, if not downright dangerous depending on where you are.

Plans change, and we must adapt with what life throws at us. Currently my perspective and circumstances have changed to one of bugging-in. Yes, there are events that could happen in which bugging-out would have to happen. However, bugging-in is the best option for us at this time.

We are well stocked – and under the current circumstances, my wife says she will never question why I get at least two of everything. So she says. Time will tell.

Long-term we will go back to the bug-out plan but for the time being hunkering down and staying in place is our only option.

How about you? Are you going to Bug-in or Bug-out? Do you have family? What are your circumstances? Are you a life-long prepper that had to adapt or make changes?

Disaster Tip of The Week: Set Meeting Points to Reunite With Family and Loved Ones

Meeting Points

It's hard to believe I wrote a brief post about this over ten years ago - Have a Designated Meeting Place For Your Family. Today, I'd like to expand on this a bit more.

Odds are when a disaster or other unexpected event occurs you are likely to be at work. Your spouse or significant other will also be at work and your kids, they'll probably be at school. Perhaps you're out shopping or your kids are at the movies. 

Then all of a sudden it happens... A major earthquake, wildfire, tornado or other significant event occurs in your area. Your neighborhood is in ruins. 

You barely get out alive. You have no idea where any of the other members of your family are. But you have a plan. 

At this point, I hope you do have a plan to reunite. If not, pay attention and I will help you create your Family reunification Plan. 

Creating a plan is fairly easy. Before we get to that let's talk some basics. First, decide on how many meeting points you will have. While more is better, you will have to physically go to these meeting points at least daily until you reunite with your family. So, you don't want to have too many. 

Working with families on this I have found five to be the magic number most people are comfortable with. Though I will say you should have at minimum three meeting points with at least one location in a major area of your neighborhood that would still be recognizable even if it sustains major damage. 

The first meeting point you select should be the easiest since it should be located just outside your home. It can be the end of your driveway, by the mailbox, the entrance to your building or some other close by location. 

The second location should be either across the street from where you live, outside neighbors' house or just down the road from your home or building. The main reason for this is the proximity. If for instance, your home was on fire, you can quickly meet up with family members, get a headcount and notify the authorities if someone is missing. 

The third location should be the closest major cross-street closest to your home. This is still close enough to home while being in a safer place should that be required. Also, most busy intersections can be safer than just anywhere and allow other people to see you or your family. 

Once you have these three meeting points selected choose another place nearby in your area that is easy to walk to. It could be the parking lot of a major strip mall, gas station, fast food place or any other easily recognizable location that has traffic and a parking area. 

Once you have selected all of these locations you can start to build out other locations as needed. I would recommend as long as it is within walking distance and it is safe to do so include your kid's school as another location. After that, I would consider adding somewhere in the next neighborhood. 

Once you decide on your meeting points go to your preferred online based mapping system. You can also use the map to help you choose locations. 

Once you decide upon a meeting point, you can dd a pin (or meeting point) onto the map and label it as Meeting Point #1. Continue the process for each meeting point you add and then take a screenshot. 

Once you do this you can print out the Meeting Points and add it to your Emergency Binder and/or give copies to each family member. Make sure they know to go to these meeting points after a disaster. 

One other important item to mention here is that you should set a time during the day when each site will be checked and stick to it. Also, make certain your family knows that they can and should go to a shelter if possible. 

This system also works best when coupled with having an Out of State Contact which you can read about there. 

Disaster Tip of the Week: Setup Predetermined Meet-up Locations for After an Emergency or Disaster

One of the more common things to occur after an emergency or disaster is families becoming separated. This is particularly true after sudden large region disasters like earthquakes, tornadoes, wildfires, and mudslides.

This occurs for a variety of reasons, though most commonly because these events can happen when you and your spouse are at work, and the kids are off at school. Though you can’t prevent things like this from happening to you and your family, you can take steps to speed up reunification with your family.

The first step would be to set up predetermined meet-up locations with your family. I recommend that you choose at least three locations, but probably no more than five maybe six locations since someone will have to check each location until everyone is reunited again.

Doing this is quite simple and starting with your first location which I recommend be either the sidewalk or at the end of your driveway in front of your home or apartment. This makes meeting up after an emergency or disaster fairly quickly, especially if everyone is nearby when something happens.

Since this location is the easiest, but also not always practical after an event the second location should also be close by such as across the street from your home or at a designated neighbor’s house.

The third location can be the nearest corner to your home or other location, but I would suggest that you choose an exact cross street location to make things easier. You should also keep it close to home in a familiar place incase street signs are unreadable or missing after the event.

Any additional locations should be at a specific location that is easy to find both geographically or by what is at the location. An example would be the Lowe’s parking lot on Friendly Street and Lovely Place. Well, you get the idea.

If you have school age children you should also check with your school to see what the school has planned in case of a large event. All schools should have such plans in place and they will not release the children to go off on their own. A parent may have to come and pick up the child, or they may go to another school or shelter. I suggest you find out now so you won’t be “surprised” when it happens.

To make your location planning easier, I found a website called Safety Maps that you can use to set up predetermined meet-up locations for after an emergency. It is a free tool set up these locations and lets you include instructions. Just go to Free Planning Map to get started creating yours.

If you have family that works more than an hour’s drive from where you live it may not be practical to meet-up immediately following an event. In that case, I recommend you set up a family crisis communications plan, and I will be doing a post on that for next weeks tip.

Disaster Tip of the Week: Always Be Prepared for Anything, Even When Having The Time of Your Life

The Recent tragedy of the Costa Concordia cruise ship off the coast of Italy this weekend reminded me of how important it is to be prepared. Prepared for anything, at anytime, even when having the time of your life while on vacation.

The last thing most of us are thinking about when we go on vacation, attend a wedding, a sporting event, or even to the movies is what we would do when tragedy strikes (WTSHTF). Let's face it, it's not usually top of mind for most people in any case. But, there are things you can and should do that may save the lives of those closest to you, and maybe even your own.

What are these things you should do? I am glad you asked:

• Whenever you go somewhere unfamiliar or to an event with a large group of people, always know where ALL the exits are, and the closest one to where you are.

• Look around, get to know your surroundings - the closest exit may not always be the best choice if everyone else is headed the same way. Think about how you would make your escape from the venue should trouble arise.

• When you're on a plane, ship or even at a meeting where they are giving safety information, stop and listen. 

• Follow your Gut. Know when you should follow direction, and more importantly if your gut is telling you to ignore direction, when you should listen. During 9/11 the announcement told people in the second tower struck told people to turn around and go back to work. Not all of those who did so, made it out. Also, even though others may have some training around you, you never know how someone will react in an emergency, until of course it happens. 

• If you're in a high-rise, or on an upper floor know where all the stairways are. Are there connectors and breaks? If one was blocked, how would you get out? What if all the stair where blocked, is there another way out? Through a wall? Can you move the debris?

This is not a complete and exhaustive list, nor is it meant to be. Adapt to your situation, think ahead and if you practice doing this often enough you'll find you can do it just by taking a quick glance around the room.

Disaster Tip of the Week: Choosing Your Bug-Out-Location

Last week I talked about the first steps on deciding on what to include in your Bug-Out-Bag (BOB). As I mentioned one of the most important things about deciding on what to put into your BOB is how far away or how long it will take you to get to your Bug-Out-Location.

How you choose your Bug-Out-Location will depend on a number of factors, such as:

• Can you afford to purchase your own location
• Do you have a trusted group of people that can purchase a location together
• Is it easy for you to get to
• Can you get there if you had to walk
•  Is it safe from the same or other potential hazards

If you’re lucky enough that you can afford to purchase your own location or to get in on one with some other people you will want to look for a location that is preferably in a different region from your main living location. The best site will be property you can purchase that also has access to water, hunting, wood, and enough space to grow your own food. Also take into consideration the security of the location as well.

If others can find it or know where it is, and you have supplies stocked up there is the chance that they could be gone before you get there or even worse taken over and occupied.

Again, consider how long it would take for you to get to the location. If you’re traveling alone and have the knowhow to survive the more remote and further away you can make your location. If you have a family that you need to take care of you MUST consider locating your Bug-Out-Location closer and will likely have to make it more accessible.

What if you’re not lucky enough to be able to afford your own property? The first thing I would do is find a relative or even a friend who lives either in a remote rural location. At the very least find a relative or friend that lives outside of the region in which you live that will not be impacted by the same event that would cause you to leave and seek shelter.

Once you choose the relative or friend, talk to them about your plans, and as a start offer to set them up at your location if something should happen to cause them the need to leave their location. Once you agree to work together in this respect, you can work together to get supplies and set up your Bug-Out-Location.

Another option you have especially if you live in an urban environment is to know where evacuation points and evacuation shelters will be during an emergency. Typically they will be in large schools, but not always. If you must, get involved with your community, or call your local Emergency Operations Center and ask them where the shelters are and which you should report to if a disaster occurs.

Know where these locations will be, and devise a plan to get to the shelter or evacuation points. If you’re in a situation where you need to utilize this option make sure you’re one of the people who get there early. Getting to them early is particularly important if the plan is to use these shelters as a staging point to get people onto other methods of transportation to relocate them out of the area. Make sure you’re on that bus, train or other means of getting out.

As a last resort you can always use the option of Bugging-In which is when you choose to stay put and wait out any event. Not the best option especially in a fire or flood situation and you’ll be taking your life into your own hands.