Pandemic..In the News Again
Our January Give Away Continues !!!
Did you notice the bird flu was in the news again this week? Just when people (not us or the World Health Organization) were beginning to think only “nuts” thought about a Pandemic, that monster has reared his head again. This week thousands of birds were destroyed in Hong Kong as the bird flu was discovered there again. More than 150 people died in India from the bird flu and Tamiflu has been found to be ineffective on the H1N1 strain of the virus.
As we have seen during recent hurricanes, blizzards, floods, and other emergencies, the grocery store is the first place people head when a crisis occurs. On January 26th we will begin a serious program to accumulate a three month supply of food and drinks for the event of an emergency, including, but on limited to, a pandemic. What do people head for first when they know there is a run on the grocery store? Water, batteries, milk, bread, cheese, fresh fruits and vegetables and meats, approximately, in that order. I for one, love sardines but if you don’t how will you feel when you are finally allowed to enter the store and all you can find are spam and sardines? Seriously, even if the store limits the amount of an item people can purchase the shelves will empty very, very, quickly. Just imagine the scenario…I will give money to each of my children and my spouse and we will all purchase the two loaves of bread, gallon of milk and flat of water the store allows. Since I have four kids and a spouse that means our family will leave with 12 loaves of bread, 6 gallons of milk and 6 cases of water. If everyone did that, and of course they would, how long do your really think it would take before the shelves were barren. I have food storage so I will stay home when the pandemic strikes, build a fire in my fire place and get ready to stay tucked in my home for the 2-3 months it will take for the flu to run it’s course. I want to make sure you can all do the same.
Since we will begin our three month supply of food in a few weeks today we will concentrate on some items that are not food but just as essential. A pandemic will close schools and some, maybe most, businesses. This means your family will all be home all day, every day. Because of this you will use more household supplies than you normally do. This week think batteries.
We have just finished the holiday season and most families have added a few more battery powered items to their household. Do you have batteries for all of those items on hand? Can you fill all your flashlights with batteries? We have talked about power outages during a pandemic. If those were to occur you will need batteries for those flashlights. How will you receive news and communicate during a self quarantine? Do you have batteries on hand for all of those items. Normally batteries last a long time but if your flashlight or radio is on for eight hours a day those batteries will fade fast.
Today look around your home and determine just how prepared your are and replenish your battery stash.
Interesting…just a week ago I went through and put fresh batteries in the lantern and flashlights, and then this week bought an extra pack of each size needed….but was thinking of picking up more as one back up pack is nowhere NEAR enough. I’m bummed that I can’t just run to Costco to grab a bulk pack like I used to – and that we had to give up our batteries for the move anyway. Understandable from the freight company’s perspective, but a costly situation for us since I’d really built a good back stock of them. *sigh*
I started in on our water supply this week as well. Just trying to not “hoard” (ie be buying in bulk when it’s VERY obvious here, where we have only the military stores which aren’t bulk sellers, or to go off base) or totally blow the budget in one fell swoop. Though I do have the urge to just go buy a trunk load of bottled water and batteries and candles lately! LOL @ myself on that one.
For most battery uses we have a solar rechargeable unit – works well here in Florida. But we limit our battery use.
We have a solar/hand crank radio for emergencies. Also, because even in winter, we have a minimum of 10 hours of daylight, we can use oil lamps/lanterns and candles – with a glass chimney or in a tall glass/jar for safety. And of course the light sticks that give a colored glow for about 4 hours.
For flashlights we like the kind you shake to use – but we try not to use them often.
Batteries are expensive, require special disposal and there are better alternatives.
Melonie- Yipee!!Sounds great, quite a challenge when you are living overseas. One tip, don’t leave batteries in anything. Store them separately. While it is rare they can leak or explode I have one that did. Completely destroyed the flashlight. I should dig it out and take a picture. Thanks for the reminder.
Bellen-I love…glow sticks and they are my preferred method of lighting, not expensive, safe for kids. I do not like candles because of the danger and you can’t ever leave them lit at night but I still have flashlights as they provide a different type of light. Yesterday we used one to fix our car window which got stuck in the down position..$350.00 to repair is just not in the budget right now! I have never found a shake style flashlight that works. I have tried several but they always lose power after a few uses and are worthless. I’m glad you found some that work. The consumer reports on them are all negative, so, I like glow sticks.
Our church started talking to us about getting a 3 month supply over a year ago and knowing what the overall plan was for checking on each family during a pandemic. I have been working hard at getting that done. As far as flashlights go, we found the wind up kind at target for $5 at Christmas and I got one for each of our 72 hour kits. I recently took mine on a winter camping trip for 4 days and it worked great. I dont know if those are the same kind that was mentioned (shake up kind), but so far mine have done very well.
We also recently invested in a rechargeable unit and batteries and use them in most of our battery draining things around the house. I do store other batteries as well, however, because I figure if we are ever without power for a extended period of time we will not have a way to recharge them. They do make rechargeable batteries better than they use to by the way. Also, I have a crank flashlight and they are different than the shake kind. I have never tried the shake, but I like the crank.