For those along the path of Sandy, I’m praying for your safety (and sanity). There are some who think my preparedness and stocking up habits are crazy, and I so appreciate your letting me know . . often! 
But please take this opportunity to learn. If you are not prepared, start working on getting prepared. Would you rather be the one in line with frantic other folks buying water, flashlight batteries, canned goods and fighting the crowd hoping to snag a generator? Not me! I’d want to be the one sitting home knitting, hoping to get another pair of socks finished before the end of Soctober!
Vince and I were talking this morning about the people who are so worried about getting their supplies — who are frantically going from one store to another hoping to find what they need and finding empty shelves. He asked me if there’s anything we would need to buy if we were facing that situation and I said “not one thing!”
That’s a good feeling. In the midst of the storm, or in the second week of having no power, would there be things I would find that I don’t have and wish I had? Yes, but would there be anything that would be needed/wanted enough to make me go out into a grocery store crowded with frantic people? Not one thing!
Most of us cannot afford to get totally prepared in one week but you can start small. Start by buying canned goods when they’re on sale. Start by buying a few gallons of water. As you hear the news in the coming days, and as you see the struggles the folks in the path of Hurricane Sandy are facing, be aware of how you can prepare for what may come your way. There’s nothing like peace of mind and my belief is that way too many of us have totally forgotten what “peace of mind” feels like.
We have been preparing for years. This year the hubby bought a 55 gallon drum for water, planning to get another from Costco soon. I have enough food for 6 months for us and all my critters. We have been told ” if ever a earthquake here, be prepared for no assistance up to two weeks! You would be surprised how many people are not prepared for a week.
Lori, I know people who stop at the grocery store each day to get what they’re cooking for dinner so no, I would not be surprised. I surely don’t understand it though. Good for you for being prepared. As Janna says below, life would be a bit difficult without the “luxuries” we’re accustomed to having, but we would survive.
I don’t think you are crazy, taking care of yourself is smart.
I can answer that question too with a “not one thing.” If we were stranded for weeks in a snowstorm it wouldn’t matter one bit–we would not starve nor run out of toilet paper! Life would be a little harder but we would survive!
Good for you! Yes, it wouldn’t be nearly as simple as flipping a switch and having light, or turning on the faucet and having hot water but we would survive, and maybe even have a few blog posts to share about the experience.
Been there too, with the snow storms. The blizzard of 78′. Massachusetts. We were stuck under 6 feet of snow, the national guard dug us out 3 weeks later. Than when stationed in Maine near Bar Harbor, lost power for 2weeks. I remember how cold that was
. The longest time without power here in Oregon has been 3 days.
I’m a little on both sides of this fence: I was a grocery clerk in a market in NJ back during the Bay of Pigs “invasion.” It was scary to see so many shelves completely emptied in our town grocery store. However, in the big tornado of ’79 here in N. Central TX, lots of food, canned and otherwise, were rendered unedible by the force of dust particles borne by the storm. Good to hit a medium and not go crazy.. However, I do pay attention to the weather in our part of TX ALL the time, always looking ahead..
I’m not saying it didn’t happen but we saw what happened in Joplin. I can see cans getting crushed but if canned goods are kept in a secure location, I cannot see dust particles .. force or no force, ruining the cans.
For anyone prepping for anything, please be sure your supplies are stored in as safe an area as possible. If you live where flooding is an issue, hopefully there’s higher ground where your supplies are stored. If you live where tornadoes occur, hopefully you have a safe room where some amount of supplies can be stored.
We all have to use our heads!
I think any of us who have gone through a tornado, ice storm,, hurricane . . whatever . . we never lose touch of the weather forecast.
I’m still agreeing with you Judy. Great job.
Well, one thing you won’t run out of is toilet paper. I saw your stash of it. I guess people can never be too prepraed when these storms are approaching. Here the news is calling it ‘Frankenstorm’. It’s a combination of Hurricane Sandy and a winter storm from the west, expected to be here on Tuesday with a mixture of rain and some freezing stuff. I hope my car makes it through it without snow tires. It’s way too early in the season to be thinking about winter tires. Last winter I didn’t need them on my MINI but we didn’t have hardly any snow. I don’t think we’ll be that lucky this year..
My neighbors all think we wasted our money having a rocker panel installed when we built our house. We went 6 days without power during an ice storm and 2 weeks without power after a hurricane. They can think whatever they want right now, but I am prepared to do either again. I even have a little extra on hand because I know we will have our neighbors coming over and I know I could never turn their kids away if they were cold or hungry.
Judy, I am in awe of your being “ready” if ever necessary. We in NH are going to be spared except for rain and some high winds. However, we are prepared just in case the power goes out and we have plenty of food to eat! I made a table runner for myself between yesterday and today so I would be able to do the hand stitching in case power goes out.
We are fortunate to have a generator and all the essentials we need since we’ve been through terrible weather in the past and I’m sure we’ll have it again in the future!
I”m laughing at the toilet paper comments… that’s the one thing we do seem to run out of all of the time! I’m always borrowing from one bathroom to the other. We could easily go for a few weeks without going to the store… heck, that’s my goal some weeks when I just can’t face the store. We might not be drinking our beverage of choice after a bit, but we’d survive. The worst thing is that we don’t have a generator… I actually don’t know of many people in the city who do.
I am quite jealous of your ability to go so long without needing a store. Someday I’d like to get to your level of self-sufficiency. I was a little more able to weather the storm, so to speak, before moving to Germany, but here I feel I’m less able to do it. I don’t have any places where I can buy bulk anything, for one thing, and my apartment has no fireplace or ability to hook up a generator. Although living in Germany has one benefit that US houses don’t – we have metal “shutter” type things on the outside of our window that you put down with a strap on the inside, and they give you about two inches of space between window and shutter. This keeps your windows from leaking as much cold air if you needed to go without heat for a little bit!
I’m in your camp too Judy. I was brought up by a Depression mother and her motto was always be prepared and depending your yourself, do go looking to others to help you out in an emergency. Of course, she would always help those who were less fortunate too. I’m pretty indpendant in many ways because of her influence. Let’s hope the weather man is wrong on how bad it’s supposed to be.
some might call you crazy….but i call you smart….and prepared. keep it up, Judy
Well, not as prepared as you, but we are prepared for several weeks without help, living here in earthquake country. We have lots of stored water, a whole house generator (propane and NG), food and emergency supplies. We made it through the quake in 94 while working (telephone company, so you had to be there) and figure we can do it again now that we are retired. We anticipate a lot of neighbors needing help.
We, too, are prepared and have always been one to keep a well stocked pantry, etc. Living in the country, running to a store is just not feasible!!! (although there are those who do it!!!) I usually plan our meals for the coming week (or longer) and find this to be a huge cost savings. Great post, Judy!
I’m no spring chicken (what an odd expression — wonder where it originated?) myself, but I am new to the idea of stockpiling. Can you recommend any good resources that tell how to get started? What to buy, how to store it, etc.?
Judy, I frequently wonder how you keep the varmints, bugs, mice, rats or whatever out of your stored stuff?
Very good points. We live in Florida where we have been hit with hurricane problems even when we were not in the pathway. One thing that may seem like such a little thing is, having a manual can opener. Some cans now have the flip top, but many cans still need a good old fashion crank type can opener. Also it may be a good idea to have a box of disposable Exam gloves. They are good to have on hand, but when you may have unsanitary conditions to deal with and no running water, well it’s a good item to keep on hand.
I’m listening to the Philadelphia mayor’s news conference. I think it would be faster just to say what will be open. We are as prepared as we can be. Now it is just waiting and double checking things. I have plenty of hand sewing to do should we lose power.
Well its 7 PM and still quiet here….. We have been very
spoiled in our area here in NJ, no major storms or loss of power for years. Have done some stocking up and pre cooking, nothing compared to most people. Just hope and pray there is not too much damage.
Guess I’ll learn some new lesssons in the next few days.
I always laugh at the people who are out there scurrying around to stock up on things. I can’t ever imagine being that short of anything that we’d have to wait to the last minute. I think we are a lot like you and Vince though. We stock up when things are on sale, we always have candles and flashlights (and extra batteries) and we always have toilet paper. Our house came with a freezer when we bought it and it’s always stocked. I cook a lot and have things prepared ahead and we were both raised to be self sufficient.
We expect the storm to hit our area hard, but we feel prepared. We went to church last night and people were lined up at gas stations and running frantically into the supermarket.
I am also one who has been accused of “over-preparing” but when we were without power and stranded in our home for over a week, we did exceptionally well! I cooked on the wood stove and ran the generator periodically for the well pump. After the storm, my adult son said “Mom, I will never again think you are crazy for trying to be prepared!”
My goodness you all have it tough!! I have never in my forty-something years been more than a few hours without power … So I’m woefully unprepared for any emergency, I think if I’d had a few bad experiences I’d be more focussed
After stocking up on water, can goods, bread milk, cold cuts, guess what I am out of……butter! LOL
We’re expecting the worst to hit tonight around 8 PM
This is the east coast we are used to being stranded without electricity for days. Being stocked up is not the problem with this storm. There is not a thing I need for this storm the problem is the flooding. If we are evacuated from our homes because they are under water there is not much we will be able to do with all the supplies stocked at our home.
But thank you for thinking of us. And please keep the chicken posts coming. I keep showing my husband in hopes that he will break down and let me get some.
DM, that’s kinda like saying you’re not going to save money for retirement because you may die early!
No one can be prepared for 100% of what comes your way and with the “frankenstorm”, that’s probably one of those events. Hopefully, even if you do have to evacuate, your home will not be uninhabitable and when you return, you may be without power for days and those supplies will come in handy.
Good luck to you and your family!
No I think you misunderstood. I am stocked up. I am always stocked up because in the winter we get hit with blizzards all the time. WE have gas for the generator. Cases of water and plenty of food that does not have to be cooked. I am just saying that with this storm we are worried about having to leave our home and will not be able to take all that we have stocked up. While we will be able to fit in some with a family of five plus pets there is only so much room in a car. I sure wish we could send you some of our rain. It is sad that there are some areas that need it so bad then another area is devestated by it. Thank you though for keeping us all in your thoughts! Oh and as a side note am I the only one that has a hard time reading what I am typing when it shows up in cursive like this?LOL
I’m not as prepared as I’d like to be (need alternative heat sourc – but wood fireplace or alternative heat source not possible here in this apartment house at present). Still – I DO have an alternative cooking source – charcoal briquets that I can use for cooking – in my deep cast iron fry pan(chicken fryer) (dutch ovens will do the same – theyre cast iron and therefore ok. DON’T try this with enamel ANYTHING or you will burn off the paint and release toxic fumes!) Other than that – have been preparing/prepared fairly well for emergencies. Anyway – the charcoal was the ONLY really needed item – the other 3 items I bought were regularly used and out of them items (including out of the spares!)
Interesting thing – I looked outside a few minutes ago – to see my greenhouse go sailing past my window. So – out in the yuck to take the thing apart, hopefully keeping all wing nuts, bolts, etc. and tossing the whole soggy thing down into the cellar! (Now to the cellar to straighten the soggy mess up!)
Good point. I have about 6 months downstairs, and continually add more. Some things I have more than six months, of course. =)
I have a question on the freezers. Do you have generators? We have some stuff, food, pet food, water, Keeping cold stuff good is the big thing.
I have a question on the freezers. Do you have generators? We have some stuff, food, pet food, water, Keeping cold stuff good is the big thing.