April's Emergency Prep. Goals

This month we are focusing on Earthquake preparedness for our Emergency Prep. Our goals this month are as follows:

*Buy at least one gallon of bleach and store it with your food storage. Bleach was one of the main items needed in Haiti after the earthquake. It can be used as a cleaner, a purifier, and many other ways in an emergency. Please make sure to store it safely as it is highly hazardous to children!

*Learn where your emergency shut off valves are for electricity, gas, and water. My electricity was on my main breaker. My gas was near my water heater. There was one valve for the water heater and one valve for the furnace. This may be slightly different if you have a kitchen that runs off gas as well. There is also a main gas shut off near the meter on the outside of your house. You will have to have a gas company rep turn it back on if you use this one so the inside ones are easier unless you are smelling gas. My shut off for water was in the basement on one of the walls.

***as a side note*** if you practice shutting the gas off on your furnace you will have to re-light the pilot. OR take cold showers till you figure it out like I did!!!

*Know how to shut them off quickly in an emergency.

*Check to see if your water heater is secure from tipping over. I think Ivory does secure them. Ours was. But make sure and if it isn't---SECURE IT! The water heater is a great way to have emergency water storage.

*Remember to fill those barrels if you haven't already!!! An empty barrel won't do any good. The remaining water barrels are now at Mindy's house so please pick them up asap!