Originally Posted by gramarraine
We have a large supply of food items that we have stored for a long time. We rotate these items by using them and then replenishing the supply. When we grocery shop we buy almost everything by the case and then when that case is nearly gone buy another case. We also store large amounts of dryed items such as wheat, rice and beans. These items will stay good for many years. We grow a garden each year and I have relearned how to bottle the things we grow. We have a generator and have it set up so we can turn all of our power in the house off and totally us the generator. It is very nice when we have a power outage. We do try and keep it full of gas and ready to go at a moments notice. I know we don't have everything we need for a disaster but I feel we are getting more prepared all the time. We have heard the warnings and know the time will come when we will be glad for what we have. We don't have a grocery store where we live and the closest one is 5 miles away. Not a long way but if we should have an earth quake we probably wouldn't be able to get there. It is comforting to know we could survive for a while with the things we have stored.
We had a hurricane a few years back. We live in the city limits and still had no power for 8 days. We have a gas hot water tank and a gas grill. Our shower was open to anyone that wanted to use it. Everyday our street had a cookout we used up everything in our frigs. then the freezers. We came together and helped each other. If we got word that ice was available we shared with each other. We cut the trees off the street & helped put tarps on the roofs of our homes. Never underestimate your neighbors and friends in a time of need.
Look at Japan the people are helping each other - not waiting for handouts. Japan will be up & running long before New Orleans was.