Thank you, Dan! I’ll copy over some of what I wrote in the tinned fish thread here:
After the hurricane hit Asheville in 2024, most of the city was without power for around 3 weeks and without potable water closer to 3 months. I believe we had no running water at all for at least a month. The ability to cook food was what determined for many of us whether we would stay put or relocate. Having a gas range, camping stove, propane burner with fuel, or a gas grill was often a game changer. A friend of mine has a grill with in-line natural gas, which was especially helpful, but there were others who made do with charcoal for a while! It was hard enough keeping toilets flushed and preparing basic meals with a functioning stove; it’s hard to imagine getting by with just grilling, especially as most of us sought to avoid opening our fridges and freezers.
After the city got back on its feet, I dedicated some time to building a “go bag” of emergency supplies that we could easily tote with us if we had to leave suddenly. I looked at some examples on Amazon and included lightweight water pouches and high-calorie meal replacement bars and water filtration devices in addition to the usual first aid kit, multi tool, crank radio, etc. I looked at some examples of ready-made kits on Amazon and went from there, along with Red Cross recommendations, etc.
While I hope we never have to live through another disaster, chances are good we will. I hope to be better prepared this time! We have buckets of various sizes with lids that we fill up whenever there’s a chance of a bad storm that could take out power, water, or both. We have squirreled away a lot of boxed water that is good for 10 years, courtesy again of the National Guard.
It was a worthwhile experience in that I learned that in the first 72 hours, it’s crucial for the community/neighbors to come together so that an emergency response can gear up. Don’t expect to hear from the federal government in the first 24 to 48 hrs.!
