For Building Safety Month, which was in May, I looked for some books I could read to help me better understand disasters and resiliency. After compiling a list of about four or five books, I started this month on my reading. The first book I read was Under a Flaming Sky, The Great Hinckley Firestorm…
Category: Public Works
Billions of Us – Virtual Solutions for a COVID-19 World
Over the last few weeks the world has been forced to forge a new path as we learn to protect ourselves and each other while trying to keep support services functioning. This first phase has been reactionary. We’ve mainly been figuring out how to establish a home base from which we can accomplish the things…
National Preparedness Month is Here!
We made it – National Preparedness Month is here, and we are prepared! If you followed along, congratulations to you too! Below is a photo of the result of our efforts in our household over the last 20 weeks. As you can see, we ended up buying a regular plastic container I was able to…
Build a Kit – Container – Week 20
This is it – the last week of our preparedness journey. We finally have all our items, and now we need something to put them all in. Because we have such a large number of people in our family, we ended up with eight cases of water and a lot of food in addition to…
Build a Kit – Pet Items – Week 19
Those who have pets understand, someone’s pet is usually a very important member of their family. So during a disaster, pet owners are not only concerned about the well being of themselves and other humans in the household, but also the safety and care of their pets. And like humans, pets also have survival…
Build a Kit – Special Needs – Week 18
It is week 18, and we are really moving towards the finish line on our kit. Only a couple more weeks after this! So today we are trying to figure out what else we need in the kit based on some of the needs special to our home. Anyone with small children would definitely want…
Build a Kit – Miscellaneous Items – Week 17
This is the week we add to our kit all those extra things we think we might need. For me, I have been thinking about adding matches and maybe a change of clothes, feminine supplies, and some soap. I hadn’t really thought about putting a blanket in the kit since it will take up so…
Build a Kit – Medications / Glasses – Week 16
While all items in the kit are important, this week’s addition might be critical for those who rely on medicine to maintain their ability to function. Fortunately for our family, at least right now, we are not in that situation. If we were, I would need to have a conversation with our doctor to see…
Build a Kit – Cell Phone with Charger – Week 15
This is one week I truly don’t have to do anything extra. We already have cell phones and chargers. And if I bought an extra charger to just put in the kit, I know it would only be a matter of time before my family found out and took it. Because we never seem to…
Build a Kit – Local Maps – Week 14
When I first saw local maps on the list of preparedness items, I thought why in the world would I need that? I have lived in my local area for some time and already know the streets and can easily navigate around with no map at all. But then I remembered the stories I heard…