A Little Emergency Advice...from Your Family

Hi. We’re your family. Think of us as almost as important as your dog, cat or horse. You know, the whole family concept? And, thinking ahead to the next storm or earthquake: What have you done for us lately? Food? Water? Family plan? It’s all basic and vital and the time to it together is...well, right now.

Let’s put it this way. Don’t bother preparing for emergencies if you are so clueless you think....

Preparedness Advice for Your Family 

Food

...Thriftway and IGA will never run out of food when the Island gets cut off. Seriously? Do you think they make cans of beans in the back room? All this stuff comes from off island. Stock up, at least 10 days of food. Not just for an earthquake but think big windstorm or three foot snow drifts blocking the roads. It’s happened right here on Vashon...more than once over the years.

Water

... You have one of those magic water wells. With magic water lines that never break. And a magic well pump that runs forever without electricity. Store some water for drinking and washing up. And learn how to treat water to make it safe. Or maybe you won’t mind drinking from the same mud puddles as raccoons and other critters. Tasty! And a recipe for getting very, very sick.

Plan

...Our cell phones will work and everyone will just find each other. Right. everything always works perfectly in an emergency. Not. We may all be in different places when disaster strikes. Make a plan for the whole family to get in touch when things aren’t going so well. Have a couple of meet points everyone knows. Check in with an out of state relative or family friend.

Car Kit

...We’ll all be together at home when the emergency happens. Are you kidding me? We barely even eat dinner together, what with the quilting club meetings and soccer and all that stuff. Put together a backpack go kit of food, water, spare meds and other emergency needs and stow it in your vehicle.

Meds

...I’ll be able to get to the pharmacy, no matter what. No matter if the ferries aren’t running. No matter if the roads are blocked with trees or snow. It’s a bad feeling to get down to “empty” on medication (or food). So, plan to have extra medication on hand...especially for critical prescriptions. (Depending on your insurance coverage, you may need help from your pharmacist or health care provider. And keep some in the go kit you keep in the car as well as your household emergency stash.

Kids

...Kids are resilient and tough and they’ll be just fine. Not really, right? Kids need special help in an emergency, not easy to provide when you may need some special care yourself! Make a Kid Kit: games, clothing, diapers, favorite non-perishable foods and meds. Essential stuff and comforting stuff.

Info

...It’s better not to know how bad things are. Sure, you can do the head in the sand thing. But then you won’t know what roads are open, when the ferries are back running, how soon the power will be back on, where you can get shelter and fuel and food. Tune into Voice of Vashon’s emergency alert service on 1650AM, Voice of Vashon’s Facebook page and the VashonALL email list. You do have a battery operated radio or crank radio, right? (Don’t forget, the best portable battery operated radio you own is probably the one in your car.)

Stash

...You’ll gather what you need after the emergency happens. See, they call it an emergency because everything turns to chaos when it happens. It’s a crisis, right? So everyone loses their wits, running around like their hair’s on fire. That’s not a great time to remember and then find everything you need. Make a family emergency stash right now.
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