How to Be Prepared for a Natural Disaster

When my friends come over they always comment on my closet, they say that I am sort of an odd person for having bundles of food vacuum packed in my closet, jugs of water lining my garage, boxes and boxes of military MRE's stacked to the ceiling, and vacuum sealed bags of seeds in a sealed 55 gallon drum aren't what you would find in a typical suburban household, but most households aren't ready for almost any natural disaster.

I didn't used to be so prepared, I used to think that a natural disaster could never effect me, I mean, I am an American, I am invincible, right? Not a chance, nobody is any better than anybody else and nothing will prevent a certain demographic from being effected by natural disaster. When mother nature strikes, she levels the playing field, taking away EVERYTHING in some cases, leaving us only with what we know and what we prepared for.

I was effected by Hurricane Katrina and it showed me how quickly your life can change. Needless to say I moved much more inland but I still prepare for the worst.

Water is the most important resource, without it, the body cannot survive. Our bodies are mostly made up of water. In a natural disaster the water lines can be disrupted and leave a town without water for weeks while workers scramble to fix the lines. In order to be "properly hydrated" the average human being needs 1 gallon of water per day for cooking and drinking. I keep enough for a month's supply for two people, not because I think we will be stranded for a month, but because I know there are people who aren't as prepared as I am, and I'm not about to leave them out to die because they can't get clean water. On top of the potable water I have charcoal water filters and iodine tablets. Some people I know have only iodine tablets because they can keep them in a box out of the way. You can do that, and it will take up significantly less space, but have you tasted iodine treated water? It's pretty nasty, and I wouldn't want to be forced to drink that from day one. If you don't want to keep bottled water I would suggest to AT LEAST get carbon filters to clean your water before resorting to using iodine tablets, you will thank me later. In the long term I would suggest building a large carbon filter using a 55 gallon drum to filter rainwater and store it in rain barrels so that you will always have a backup plan if your source of water dries up. All you need is a 55 gallon drum with powdered charcoal on the bottom, sand on top of that, and pea gravel on top of that, with a coffee filter at the bottom spout to prevent the charcoal from coming out with your water, you will still get some carbon particles in your rainwater but if you let the water sit, the particles will settle to the bottom of your water. Another option is to boil your water, but it takes up an immense amount of energy to do so and will use up your valuable resources such as propane, wood fuel, etc...

Your next most important thing is food. It's what powers your body and gives you energy to live. My first line of defense is MRE's or Meal Ready to Eat, it is essentially an entire days worth of calories in a self contained box and in most cases, heaters are included to provide HOT meals for you. You can order these online or pick them up at a military surplus store if they offer them. They come in over 30 different meals so you won't get fatigued from eating the same thing every day. You can also find survival bars, which are an entire day's worth of calories in a candy bar sized brick of food. You will feel hungry because your stomach is empty, but you will have all the energy you need.

My second line is vacuum packed foods like rice and beans, dehydrated meats and jerkys, food items that can be cooked over a fire in a pressure cooker or a pan to provide food in the longer run, however this method will use up your resources from having to build a fire, unless you are like me and have a solar oven. There are several plans available on how to build one, most of them free.

My solar oven is made from a 5 foot satellite dish lined with CD's along its face so that they reflect the sun's light onto the collection plate where I have a pan or skillet to cook my food. The plate will get red hot because of the massive amount of heat this thing produces so be careful and wear welding goggles and gloves so you wont blind or burn yourself. It works great but it is HUGE and it looks like an eyesore in my backyard, so you may not want to put one up in your yard, but its smart since it only uses the power of the sun to create the heat to cook or generate power. I will do another writeup later on how to build this device and all of it's attachments to power your life in a disaster, but you could just as well look up "parabolic mirror oven" and you will get most of the results I will tell you about.

In the long term food wise I have seeds, if by chance I am stranded in a disaster zone for an extended period of time I can grow my own produce to sustain life. Fast growing plants like bamboo and alfalfa are great to hold you over while your other plants mature. Alfalfa sprouts can grow to maturity in a week in a mason jar and the seeds will keep forever, you can find them at most health food stores. Bamboo stalks are also good because they grow like a weed ensuring that you will have plenty of food in the future, they also provide a great privacy fence and are great for building structures in the event that your house is destroyed.

Last is shelter and electricity, while electricity isn't a "necessity" it can keep your cell phone charged and your laptop running giving you the chance to stay connected to the outside world. Shelter wise I would suggest keeping camping tents, several boxes of nails on hand as well as bailing twine, wire, a good hammer, and a leatherman multitool. This will allow you to attach whats left of your house together and build a temporary shelter. The twine and wire will allow you to affix bamboo shoots [or other un-nailable materials together to build your shelter. As for electricity I would suggest a diesel generator with a 240 gallon tank buried in your backyard [unless you dont mind a giant tank in your backyard] I suggest diesel for two reasons; First, it is more fuel efficient that gasoline, and second, a diesel engine can be run on used motor oil if the oil is heated before it is injected into the engine. Again I will write another article about how to do that at a later date but basically you just wrap 1/4" diameter copper pipe around your exhaust and attach it to your fuel line. The oil flowing through the lines will heat up as it passes over the exhaust and be hot enough when it gets injected into the tank. You can get used motor oil from any auto shop as they have to pay to get it removed.

And that's it! You are prepared for your next natural disaster and you will probably be the town hero with all the help you will be! Good luck, and stay safe.

More to come, I'm MisterInnovation