How do you prepare for storms and natural disasters?

Hi All,
What do you do to get ready to face storms and natural disasters?

The massive hurricane that just came through the southern US, plus the massive forest fire in South America have gotten me thinking about preparedness. We cannot prepare for every possible thing... but at the same time, we don't need to find ourselves facing a storm or evacuation with an almost empty tank of gas and food for less than 2 days. So what do you do to be ready for emergencies before they happen?

I try not to let my vehicle get below 1/2 tank in case I need to go somewhere unexpectedly.
I try to make sure I have some food stored, so I don't need to rush to the store to buy milk and bread an hour before its supposed to hit.
I make sure I have some gas stored for my generator.
I make sure I have a heat source (we're in Maine, so ice storms and blizzards are more likely than hurricanes here).

Great idea for a thread.

1. Having critical spares on hand for homestead equipment. (Known failure parts, backups as possible.)
2. Potable water storage. (I rely on municipal water, I fill carboys if a bad storm is forcasted)
3. Power alternatives (Generators, inverter to use electrical tool batteries to charge phones)
4. Keep a stocked medical cabinet/bag.
5. Alternative communication devices (Handheld CB radio)

We are doing lots of things far too artificially. In sudden crises, like a power cut, water contamination or shop closures, our lives are upended! We all should learn some basic old skills on how to survive if our gadgetry suddenly does not function.

If power goes out, is all your food sitting in the fridge or a freezer? With only some spaghetti and flour in the cupboard... How about learning how people stored food before electricity.

Preserving food without electricity is not hard, but we have largely forgotten those skills with freezers and fridges in every house.

Drying, curing, fermenting and pickling are age-old techniques that don't requite any technology.

Flushing toilets with clean water and pumping that to far-away plants is a pretty new phenomen. Modern outhouses and composting toilets are pretty awesome, especially if you have a garden. No smells and you get composted manure.

We think we need a lot of light fixtures. But actually you can enjoy the evening meal in candlelight, have a glass of wine and a chat by the light of fire. Read a book with a little reading lamp. Enjoy the garden in the dusk or moonlight. Might even see the stars!

You can let your hair dry naturally (guys do it all the time!). Dry laundry on a line. Gosh, even wash laundry by hand! Swipe the floor. Play board games instead of Playstation.

Hobbies can happen at home or close to it. We don't always need to pack the family into a car and drive somewhere to be expensively entertained.

There is a great pleasure in doing things by hand. The value of self-knitted socks! Or a chair you made yourself. Or a pie baked from hearty ingredients at home.

We don't really need huge houses, if we happen to enjoy the company of our spouse and kids. I have always said that the dream house for a toddler is a single room where mom and dad are always within eyesight!

You can downshift a little or a lot. I don't preach.
Myself, I have no utilities. I have no car or electricity, carry my water from the well. Have an outhouse and wood-heated sauna. Grow most of my own food and store it in a root cellar.
Life flows slowly but with a sweetness.

And with all this simple living, the electricity going out or good forbid!! No internet or no water from the tap ...ceases to be a problem.
We are like tube-fed and  machine-ventilated ECMO patients in the hospital. Pull the electricity and she dies.
We could be free souls, working hard but meaningfully. Independent from the grid and plumbing and gas.
Our choice.

Until now, my preparations have been for a "bug in" scenario, based on a 3-day blizzard with no electricity.

In place:
- multiple LED lighting options
- power banks and solar chargers to keep lighting and communications charged
- natural gas BBQ with side burner (supply is independent of electrical grid here)
- natural gas fireplace upstairs (can operate without electricity)
- giant wood pile, portable wood stove systems for cooking, boiling raw water or installation in bsmt. fireplace
- RV generator that can power one circuit at a time (rotating between furnace, fans, freezer, refrigerators, air compressor to blow out water lines)
- neighbours we can call on (and they on us) for mutual help
- food supply and essential med's for two weeks at least

To do:
- install in an old-fashioned outhouse (with my modifications)
- more reliable water source (the generator can't run the deep well pump)
- rotating supply of stabilized fuel for generator

= = = = =

In recent years, some events could make a "bug out" scenario more likely. An oilfield accident would displace us for days (not a big deal). A recent worry is a wildfire, possibly including total loss of our house. Ongoing project -- there is a lot work to do on that front, including "what to grab if you have 15 minutes or less."

In place:
- multiple bug out locations (family, all services)
- reliable vehicles kept 50% fuelled
- essential med's and documents in known locations

To do:
- scan old photos and physical documents
- big fire safe for documents, data, photos
- off site copies of documents, data, photos
- photography everything (house and outbuildings, and their contents) for insurance

We have about 80 gallons of water in storage. When the well decided to go on strike, we have made that last 5 days, when we needed daily sponge baths. Then we prevailed on the generosity of our neighbors and hooked up a hose to their spigot. In a disaster situation that option isn't there, and those baths can go away. I'd rather have 2 weeks of water. Hmmm ... I really do need to get that well bucket too.

I need to put my small rocket cook stove together.

Sudden emergencies can be scary. House fire, hurricane, blizzard, heart attack. We have some good ideas listed here to be prepared.

One big thing is simply to think about it ahead of time when things are not crazy and scary. I know we don't like to think about bad or scary things, but fear is greater in the unknown. Some families don't talk about what to do in a fire because they don't want to scare the kids. But it is a fact that running through a scenario in your head can make it less scary and easier to deal with if you come across the real thing. They suggest running a drill for your kids so they have gone through the process. Some people suggest shutting the power off on a saturday night... figure out what you miss, and start making plans to have backups or alternatives to those things you miss.

One thing to note, we don't need the house to be 68* F. 55* works with a couple sweaters. So if it's winter, close off most of the house, and fire up that inside propane heater. But sparingly. It will be gone quicker than expected.

Here's a thread by Pearl about how to reduce the space that needs heating.
https://permies.com/t/188138/Tents-space-reducers-heating#1511259

Here's a companion thread.
https://permies.com/t/187318/Adding-Heating-Zones-House#1490669

I find that people often forget that a standard water heater contains water.  

In the past I have filled my bath tub full of water.

Stocked up on good food at the grocery,  Bread, fresh veggies/fresh fruit ...

Our property is on the upper east side of one of the larger hills in the county.   Flooding is not a concern. Tornados have skipped over us.

I have solar. I do realize that in bad weather, the sky will be cloudy. I also have a generator that I am converting to dual fuel.   I also keep 4 deep cell batteries charged in my barn for additional backup.

We have multiple options for heating … Both wood and LP.  Our house was originally wired for radiant electric heat as well. While I tend to heat with wood, I have recently been keeping a 500 gal lp tank filled.  

I have an ample supply of water …26k gal cistern, pond, 150 gallon storage tank.  I keep four 55 gal drums with water for livestock.  I have two 55 gal drums for extra water for the garden.  

I have been homesteading for several decades.  I have no idea how much food we have.  With canning, freezer,  and with my wife’s collection of various kinds of flour I am certain we are secure for more than a year.  

I do keep an extra month of animal feed on hand as well as a 6+ month supply of hay.

My wife and I are both RNs.  Our “first aid kit” would put some small town ERs to shame.

As a homesteader, I keep a stack of 24 pallets on hand.   They are like duck tape and baling wire in emergencies.  I also have enough 6 mil plastic to cover the roof in case a storm does not skip over me.

John F Dean wrote:I find that people often forget that a standard water heater contains water.  

John,
I lived in Herrin when the tornado hit.
My father was really popular on south 22nd because he had a operational chainsaw and a jeep with a winch.

Good point about the water heater.

I don't have a lot of time for side projects, but I am going to try to find time to build a gasifier this rainy season.

Take care,
Jeff

I guess I need to add that I am in earthquake country. While I hesitate to use the word common, during one of the more recent ones my wife woke up and asked me what was going on.  When I told her it was an earthquake, she rolled over and went back to sleep.

Anyway, in the event of a serious earthquake, I expect my cistern and pond to vanish. So, that explains the overkill on the water storage.

I have absorbant "snakes" that can keep a minor flooding issue contained (our more frequent threat is sudden rains that cause overflow in our basement toilet) I also have a submersible pump at hand, and a shopvac. That can take of non-catastrophic but potentially annoying water troubles.

For power outages, I have a 100 W battery and solar panel that can charge phones and a backup battery for our aquarium (which we'd rather not abandon unless we must). We can run an electric pillow for 24 hours on a charge (which can keep one cozy at night in very cold weather, especially if we bundle together). And a solar/crank radio + flashlight.

I always have either plenty of snow in the yard, of a water barrel.

Camping gear completes the kit (sleeping bags rated to freezing temps, propane and wood-burning stoves, water filtration system,  a couple of tents, backpacks, bikes + trailer/panniers for everyone if we need alternate transportation...)

(Last time we had a three day power outage, our neighbour shared his generator for a couple of hours just to maintain our freezer and fridge at safe temps. We kept them closed and didn't lose anything, although we cooked the most sensitive things soon afterwards. In exchange, we shared our space heaters with them since they have younger kids.  It was a great example of how resilience is first and foremost a question of community.)

We are hurricane territory. My husband keeps the generator working and fuel set aside for that. We also freeze OJ bottles and milk jugs of plain water that can fill space in freezer or fridge between stints with the generator on. We also fill some with water for basic hygenie needs and store them out of the way. We keep our camping stove and BBQ pit in working order and with fuel, as well as stock up firewood as well so cooking is usually not too stressful. (stock up on matches) Lots of fans too. Losing water and power in 90 degree weather and 70-90% humidity, well the fans are indispensible. My husband also make sure we have good screens for our windows so if we need them opened,we can. We try to keep dry staples stocked and I have spent time learning (and still am) about what actually really needs refrigeration vs what can do without.

Another aspect of preparedness is the people you know and have as family and friends, that way if they need to come to your house for safety, or if you need to go there its an option.  Whether that be for evacuational purposes or for a situation where your, or their, power goes out for a few days.

It seems everybody, like me, has a solid plan for sheltering in place. It's a natural extension of the homesteading / permie thing.

But: What if you were forced to evacuate (wildfire, massive flooding, chemical disaster)? To grab your most essential items and get out to save your life? This is the nightmare scenario. Where would you go? What if you had animals?

The one thing in my plan I'd like to plan better is to have essential documents (passports and house deed) in a safer portable waterproof and fireproof pouch. I'd probably be scrambling if I needed to evacuate with those out in a hurry.

One catastrophy I haven't properly planned for is a heat wave + power outage. Reading "Ministry for the Future" then visiting Phoenix for work made me realize how dependant we are on AC and how few alternatives exist to cope with brutal heat.

(Living in Quebec, we have centuries of experience dealing with winter. But there are deaths from heatstroke every year now in my city during heat waves.  Just add a black-out because the power grid gets overwhelmed and it could be catastrophic)

Hi Douglas,

Evacuation is much more of a problem. We have an underground coal mine very near us.  It came in a decade after we purchased the property.  Evacuation notice could be a matter of minutes.

Evacuation concerns are multiple.  My wife has physical disabilities.  We have livestock. We have pets.   If our house is undermined ( it is not yet), the roads will be as well.   Yes, we do have an evacuation bag with meds in it as well as basic supplies. It is woefully inadequate.   Right now, we are much better positioned to shelter in place in all but the most extreme situation.

Good question!

I'm set up to hunker down or bug out.
Got dried goods, about 250 gallons of drinking water in carboys, and another 1200 gallons of rain water (tanks emptied in winter).
Alternative heat sources if the power goes, and camping stoves to cook on. Propane, candles, wood heaters, and a few different camping stoves that have collected through the years - I'd rather use a twig stove if possible (https://www.uberleben.co/products/stoker), but I've got the spirit burners (triangia etc.) too.

Plenty and plenty of clothes for the outdoors in winter, hot water bottles and thermoses. I use these when car camping, too, my thermos holds heat at a near boil for 15 hours. Transfer a little into a hot water bottle, use it to preheat the sleeping bag, and it all makes for very comfortable living. Same thing goes for winter. I live in spartan environments, often staying at places I am building or renovating, and keep the indoor heating only in a few rooms, at about 46°F (8°C) so my gear doesn't freeze.

I've got fishing gear, knives, axes, ropes and tools ready to go.
For bugging out, I've got bikes, a tractor lawn mower (clears snow in winter), boats, sleds, and more.
I totally recommend for anyone to get a Life Straw (lifestraw.com) or something like it, so much cheaper than the old water filters for camping from 20 years ago!

More than any of that though, I think it's about having a mindset of preparedness, and thinking through what to do in different situations. Not believing every conspiracy, or living in fear, but just being prepared and ready if something happens, and know how you deal with stresses when it does.
Deep Survival: True Stories of Miraculous Endurance and Sudden Death, by Laurence Gonzales

We all want to be the ones with a level head when the feces and the fan collide, but it's how we react to adversity in day to day life that indicates how we will do when bigger things happen. Of all the things to keep in good working order, I think your mind is the most important one, so seeking help when you need it, and constantly working on resilience, is a good way to prepare.

I saw an alternative to a tornado shelter.

The idea uses a water tank big enough to hold a family.

Cut an entrance into the water tank, add a door and bury the tank on it side.

There are probably already YouTube doing this though I thought this might be worth a mention.

Kena Landry wrote:resilience is first and foremost a question of community.

This!!

Having your own home and family prepared for the worst is one thing, but things are so much easier as a community. I've been impressed by the people helping in the aftermath of the recent storms in the US, and forest fires in Colombia - churches and farmers working together to do what is necessary to support the whole community with protection, clean up, food and other forms of help.


source

What can be done to help build these community connections in advance? Do you know who your neighbours are and what resources they have or might need? If you need to leave your house due to disaster, where would you shelter in the community? Local shops are a lifeline, but only exist if people use them. Community centres and sports facilities are often used in times of disaster, schools and churches are other options. Maybe central facilities of a community shelter with electricity, and a form of communication that works in the case of mobile phone network failure could be organised.

Brilliant quote!

A friend of mine has crisis preparation for her municipality and region as her actual job, and she and her husband have a 20 acre farm. She has actively engaged the surrounding villages in crisis preparedness, making people aware of where to go in different scenarios. Also, they all learn together, and they've opened up their farm for others to help out and share the yields. This works kind of like a Master Gardener program, in that they learn from those who know the most.

It has already helped them during a huge drought in 2018, with massive wildfires in the area. People knew where to go and how to help each other, and I absolutely agree that this is the way forward - individualism will only get you so far, and building community you can count on is indeed resilience. Great point!

Nancy Reading wrote:

Kena Landry wrote:resilience is first and foremost a question of community.

This!!

Having your own home and family prepared for the worst is one thing, but things are so much easier as a community. I've been impressed by the people helping in the aftermath of the recent storms in the US, and forest fires in Colombia - churches and farmers working together to do what is necessary to support the whole community with protection, clean up, food and other forms of help.


source

What can be done to help build these community connections in advance? Do you know who your neighbours are and what resources they have or might need? If you need to leave your house due to disaster, where would you shelter in the community? Local shops are a lifeline, but only exist if people use them. Community centres and sports facilities are often used in times of disaster, schools and churches are other options. Maybe central facilities of a community shelter with electricity, and a form of communication that works in the case of mobile phone network failure could be organised.

If these things haven’t been mentioned:
Several thick tarps, larger is better.
A good stapelgun that the weakest hands in the house can use. That may mean a cordless electric, which will need to be charged. A thick tarp is instant coverage for a hole, broken window, etc, when paired with a good staple gun. In any kind of wind, that’s a teo person job.
A charged, cordless electric impact driver and a selection of screws with a matching set of bits for the screw heads. IMHO, Torx is best because you can get the screws back out, unlike phillips. A newer impact driver will have a light on it, makes a BIG difference. An impact driver lets you easily do temp repair jobs/barricades/ with the American lego- a 2x4.
A roll of thick contractor bags. These serve as minitarps, field toilets, waterproof containers, body bags, whatever you need. You won’t find the kind you want if you are filling them with poo ,etc, at the grocery store.
A bottle of high quality vitamins. You won’t be eating, sleeping or relaxing normally. You’ve got to keep your energy up.
Bleach is not the best water purifier available, but it is cheap, effective, and has many uses.

One of the things they taught us is that during an emergency, local communication will be chaos.  It's much more likely to get a line out of town than to people in the same town/province/state as you.  

It also really really sucks when fighting for life and livelihood, we have to deal with all the people trying to get in touch to see if we are okay.  Of course we aren't okay.  Our town has been flattened and there is nothing you can do about it from where you are, please call back later.  

To that end, having a designated contact person outside the area that
a) all the people in the disaster can call to check in to say we are okay or communicate that "bob is waiting at the school, sally is at the farm" kind of thing so we can find each other.
b) all the family outside the disaster can call to check up on what we need.

For the events my family has been in or helped give aid to, the Red Cross is often the first on the scene.  It's important to register with them if it's a really big thing as they are often the only communication between family inside and outside the disaster.  Their big thing is connecting people together and first aid.

After that, it's been the Salvation Army giving food and blankets, etc.  

Then the local and then the bigger government aid.  Then the other charities.  

And thanks to this thread, my essential documents (deeds and will, marriage and birth certificates, passports and house insurance info) are in a fire and watersafe pouch that we can take out quickly in case of evacuation. I just need to add a few important photos (a recent photo of each kid and one wedding photo)

I should have done this long ago...

Loving this thread! Just wanted to add that we keep our essential documents in the freezer of our fridge. A fire proof box!

We had a power outage for about a week awhile back, and thanks to our Generac, a 500 gallon propane tank, and solar panels with batteries, we were fine.  Our closest neighbor kept her fridge and aquarium running thanks to an exterior outlet my guy added to the generator circuits so she could plug in an extention cord, and while she drove to her boyfriend's house to stay through that particular outage (he had power,) they rewired her well pump so she could run it off our generator too, if needed in the future.  We did not run our electric hot water heater or oven or cooktop off the generator, but were able to get by just fine with a plug-in kettle, our toaster oven, and a one burner hot plate.  We also have a Sun Oven which works really well.  Costco's baby wipes kept us clean and smelling decent, along with washing up in cold water.  If it had been winter we'd have cooked and heated water on the woodstove, and been fine for home heat.  We stockpile firewood at least a year's worth in advance.   If it had been deep summer we'd have run a few fans and been fine there too.  We have a clothesline, laundry tub/sink, washboard, manual wringer, and a hand-agitator.  I also have a pull-out wooden drying rack mounted over the bath tub in case I need to dry things in cold or wet weather.   We have rainwater catchment for plant watering and a non-electric distiller for emergency purification.  

I bought two sets of cheap rechargeable walkie-talkies so we can keep in touch on our property and/or with nearby neighbors if cell service goes down.  Our solar panels will keep comms running as well as keeping our basic necessities going in a longer outage or grid-down scenario.

I've ground-tied our small chicken coop to keep it from being blown over by high winds.  Our larger one will stay put under its own weight through most anything.  Our house roof has been replaced with a standing seam metal one, so no shingle damage issues.

We have lots of sprouting seeds so can have nutritious fresh greens any time of year without grow lights or anything other than clean water.  Also #10 cans of spirulina/chlorella tablets for vitamins, trace minerals, and energy.   Meals and individual meats, eggs, dairy, veggies and fruits I've freeze dried and vaccuum sealed myself.  We're in pretty good shape for sheltering in place short or long term, and can share with our close neighbor in exchange for her youthful energy to help with physical labor.    

What I really need to work on are our bug-out plans.  I have a fireproof document pouch, but need to organize my documents better so I can just grab and go.  We have some water, life straws, food and supplies we could load quickly into our cargo van, and even an inflatable mattress, camp toilet, and small solar generator with panel.  But with turkeys and chickens who are not easy to catch during daylight; and dogs and new cats who don't all get along well together yet, we really don't have a good current plan to evacuate all of us quickly and safely.  If we can't drive, we have bicycles, but no cargo trailers for them.  My almost 70 year old partner is too disabled to walk more than a half mile or so on even terrain, and would be unable to carry anything or move quickly.  So if we can't drive or at least bike on smooth roads (he has a three wheeler with a back rest and full seat) then we're out of luck to evacuate together.  I could hike out myself with the dogs on leashes (they have harnesses with side bags for their own food and water,) and maybe carry two cats in their carriers with shoulder straps, plus a backpack with only the most basic supplies, but that would be it.  Everyone else would be on their own if roads were blocked.   So unless there was a toxic chemical spill nearby or a raging wildfire, we would shelter in place together even if our home was severely damaged.  Luckily fire and flood are not huge risks here.  We do however have railroad tracks within 2 miles of us to the north and to the east.   After what happened in Ohio, it seems that a chemical spill is not as far-fetched as I once thought.  So thanks to this thread, I will revisit our evacuation options and get better prepared for a vehicle bug-out situation!

Donna Lynn wrote: But with turkeys and chickens who are not easy to catch during daylight; and dogs and new cats who don't all get along well together yet, we really don't have a good current plan to evacuate all of us quickly and safely.  

I have read that animals are incredibly good at getting  to safety if you let them free to do so. You might not get them back after, but at least they'd have a fighting chance if there is an unexpected immediate evacuation order.

My Muscovy ducks only get access to chicken feed at bedtime. Food is a great motivator for them. It wouldn't be exactly easy to corral them at an unexpected time, but if you can find something the chickens and turkeys consider a "treat" and mostly save it for emergencies, that would qualify as "preparedness"! You still would require sufficient portable infrastructure to actually evacuate them. We have a lot of dog crates we've mostly been given, but I still don't think there's enough of them to seriously evacuate all our animals. This is certainly something we need to ponder.

If you use an electric water pump, tee it off to a pitcher pump with a shut off valve. When the power is down, you can just hand pump. I'll post a pic when the flood waters recede and we can get back in our house (speaking of disaster preparedness).
It's also a good idea to keep a go bag and other necessities in an out-building in case something happens to the main house. When ours is complete, it will have everything needed for camping on our property (or elsewhere), first aid, important documents, cash and a couple months worth of food. All in easy to grab, water tight containers.