Greetings,

I had a wonderful time on the west coast with all the great folks from the Seattle area. Seattle has challenges, but everyone at the meeting was ready to step up to the plate and get their families preparedfor crisis. One never knows just how a disaster will compound. In fact that was not a term I have ever heard in disaster preparedness classes, but it was one Father dropped into my spirit so I went ahead and used it in the presentation. Wow, does it say it all.

The New Jersey and New York areas are expecting heavy rain and strong winds along the coast and snow inland. This will set back cleanup and recovery because the predicted flooding will undo everything that has been accomplished. In addition there was a 2.0 earthquake Monday.

People are very upset that response teams were not right in place immediately. I watched the news as FEMA and local officials painted very realistic pictures of what to expect and projected reasonable timetables for utility restoration. BUT.... the warnings just were not strong enough.

We need to learn from Sandy's intrusion onto our land. PEOPLE WILL BE ON THEIR OWN FOR A MINIMUM OF 3 DAYS AND UPWARDS TO 5 - 7. If people elect to stay in the area that has been declared ground zero for destruction, they better be expert Preppers. It isn't that agencies don't care or are preferring others, the set-up logistics just take time. No group is sent in until the area is absolutely secure and equipment and stores arrive. People come from far distances to minister aid.

That said, may I urge you to go ahead and get started on that Go-Kit. We may just have to drop forever the 72-hour moniker. From this time forward, it may not ever be appropriate again.

Please get the battery radio and at least 5 gallons of water this week. That is a start!  Hubby bought a few gallons of distilled water for his breathing machine and another 24-pack case. Tomorrow I will be writing the "best by" dates on a dozen bags of canned fruit and veggies. Hope I can get them shelved too, but will probably have to rearrange to accommodate everything.

I will be creating an inventory system thanks to a friend's spread sheet. Just as soon as I get it organized I'll post it on the blog. This is a wonderful time saver! As we are building our store, we need to keep good records from the start.

Remember to dig around your house for a 2 or 3 inch three-ring binder. You probably have one stuffed on a closet shelf. We need to start organizing our preparedness materials.

I'll post more information on water tomorrow. Add a comment about how you are preparing this week.

Linda