Confessions of an Organizer – Emergency Preparedness – Peggy W Barnes

Confessions of an Organizer – Emergency Preparedness

(photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net/danilo rizzuti)
I live in Eastern, NC.  We have hurricanes in this area of the world.  So what does one do when one hears that a hurricane is coming?   Get prepared……..the best he/she can.
I have lived in this area for 17 years.  When we first moved here, we met up with two hurricanes our first summer here.  Not my idea of a warm welcome.  Several years later, Hurricane Floyd hit our area and brought with it damaging flood waters.  This hurricane scared me enough to plead with my husband, prior to Floyd’s arrival, to run and get away from our home and not deal with such fury.  After many years and numerous hurricanes and tropical storms,  I have become somewhat complacent.  
Complacency can be a dangerous thing in all areas of life……..especially in preparing for an emergency.  Around here when you hear there is going to be a hurricane you gather up flashlights, batteries, water and bread.  You fire up the generator to ensure it is working.  You begin to cook what you have in the freezer and get your weather radio all ready to go.  Those things are great and helpful but I am talking about real emergency preparedness…….having things in a bag ready to go at a moment’s notice.

Having my things ready for an emergency is actually on MY TO DO LIST!  Yes, I am confessing, once again, that this organizer is not as prepared as she needs to be.  Yes, I have water and an emergency medical kit and some trash bags and duct tape and a few canned goods and some peanut butter!  However, I don’t have my “to go” bag.  What should be in the “to go” bag?  Copies of insurance papers, information about banking accounts, copies of medical history (although thankfully we don’t really have any), copies of birth certificates, identification and cash or traveler’s checks. 
So take a little time this week to make a few copies of some papers, put them in a plastic (waterproof) file and put it with your other emergency kit supplies.  Don’t have any emergency kit supplies together? That’s okay….start today.  Here is a link to the government’s suggestions about what you should gather together.  http://www.ready.gov/basic-disaster-supplies-kit.  It really is easy when, just like any other organizational project, you do a little at a time. 
There are many people who think it is silly to get these things together in one place and be this prepared and it is………until you need it.  An emergency kit is just like insurance of any kind…….you don’t need it until you need it!!!  So start now, while there is no emergency.  It sure can’t hurt to be prepared but it sure could hurt to be unprepared and this organizer does not want to be caught unprepared………not good for business!

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