National Preparedness Month

Since it’s hard to determine when, where, or how, a disaster will occur, we believe it’s always best to prepare for the unknown. Since September is national Disaster Preparedness month,

we would like to encourage our readers (and viewers) to make a plan and build a kit! Water is not only an essential part of survival, it’s also a necessary component to your emergency supply kit! Since it’s hard to imagine the type of occurrence your kit would be used for, it’s best to keep a significant amount of water easily available in the event your water supply is contaminated, limited, or unavailable due to a disaster. When preparing your kit, it’s safe to assume that every person in your household would require a minimum of 1 gallon of water per day for at least 3 days. Use each gallon of water for consumption as well as sanitation. Depending on a person’s physical condition, activity, diet and even the climate in which you live, additional water may be required. We recommend using bottled water as opposed to gallons of water because they are lightweight, easily transportable, and limit the amount of waste. It is best to store your emergency kit in a dark, cool temperature space.Creating a solid, quickly accessible, emergency kit could save not only your life, but also the lives of others around you in the event of an emergency. Other items you will want to include in your disaster kit are:

Blankets

Flashlights

Radio with extra batteries

Non-Perishable food items.

Have a plan, make a kit, and always be prepared. For a complete list of items to have on hand in case of an emergency, please visit www.redcross.org or www.ready.gov