Hopefully, you have read the first post and decided maybe getting prepared for the unexpected would be a good idea. Every family needs to put together a 72-hour Go-Kit. This kit will provide the basic necessities if you must evacuate your home.

72-hour Emergency Kits

Store your kit close to the front door if possible. You can use sturdy backpacks (mark with each person’s name) or a lock-tight plastic bin (one with wheels would be great) or both. Lay all supplies out, divide among backpacks if those are your containers, type up inventories, print out, put in plastic clear baggies, and tape to the lid or put in backpack pockets. On the outside with a marker, write the date you packed the kit. On your calendar write a check and recycle date 6 months in the future that coincides with a season change.

Clothing: 1 change of clothes, shoes, extra socks, appropriate outerwear, sturdy rain poncho

Hygiene: hand towel, wet-wipes, hand sanitizer, tooth brush and paste, comb or brush, insect repellant, sun screen, feminine supplies, diapers for toddlers and infants, extra underwear for pre-schoolers, 1 roll of toilet paper

Water: 3 gallons each (more is better), some should be individual bottles, water purification tablets, Clorox, or filtration equipment.

Food: 3 to 5 days ready-to-eat food with pop-tops. Mess kit or disposable bowls, cups, utensils

Light: flashlight (2 sets of batteries kept separate), 2 light sticks, water-proof matches or lighter

Warmth and Shelter: a silver foil emergency blanket, 2 hand warmers, a heavy plastic drop cloth, several black trash bags, a few gallon and quart Zip-lock bags

First Aid: small kits for each backpack, well-stocked family kit, medicines, assorted safety pins

Contact list: Identification and contact lists for each person (put in baggie, pin inside a pocket)

Documents and cash: $100 in small bills per person, copies of important documents like birth certificates, SS cards, wills, insurance cards, vehicle information (color, make, license), flash drive with important business, personal, medical information, household inventories or photos

Communication: solar, hand-crank, or battery radio (extra batteries), phone charger

Tools: Swiss army knife or multi-tool, hatchet or ax, mattock, folding shovel,  2 pairs leather-palmed work gloves, good duct tape, utility knife. In winter add a bag of sand, de-Icer

Cooking: camp stove and fuel, nesting pots, metal cooking utensils, good folding knife, can opener, heavy-duty aluminum foil, bucket, lantern, dish soap, steel wool soap pads, fire starter

Shelter: Tarp, ground cover, rope, tent if you have it, bedrolls or blankets

Pet supplies: food and water, bowls, harnesses and leashes, vet records