Monday, September 11, 2006

What is YOUR family's plan?

On the anniversary of the "9/11" tragedy, I sit here thinking about that question that, undoubtedly, has gone through almost everyone's mind,
"What would WE do if it happened right HERE?"
My dumbfounded answer is, "umm.. I dunno"
We are prepared somewhat in that we do have at least a week's worth supply of food and water. We always have, it's just the way my hasband and I are. We've got a 1st aid kit (yeah..that'll help, right.) 4 flashlights and we have tons of batteries of all sizes. We're prepared with matches, candles, a rope ladder and all the straight forward check list items on the local fire department hand-out. We don't have a generator and hate to think that we actually SHOULD get one but have yet to do so.
We DON'T have an evacuation plan which, sadly, I think we do need. It's said that all families should also have a 'meeting place' in the event that we may be separated. I hate that one too. Horrible thought, but again, necessary.
We live right in the middle between Philly and New York City and there's always news broadcasts about this stuff. Has your news done a special on it?
What I want to know is, do YOU have a family plan? If so, what is it? Have you ever NEEDED to evacuate (We only had to ONCE and it was only for a few hours, thankfully!) What's on your disaster checklist? Are your supplies all stocked? A hard topic, yes, but one that's, sadly, necessary to face.
Tell me about your family's plan in the event of a disaster.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

NO, we do not either..we are an hour outside of Chicago, but I remember thinking will they target the small towns and the schools next? So I know we should have a plan. you reminded me how important it to have a meeting place. So true. Thanks for the reminder.

Going For Greatness said...

Even if you do live in a small area, chances are that you aren't more than 70 miles from a major airport or city. Yep.. I know, it's not at all a plesant thought but one that's, unfortunately, necessary these days.

Cheryl Wray said...

That's actually a really good question. We often feel safer where we are--down south and Birmingham being the closest large town 30 minutes away. But, still, we must all be prepared and ready. You never really know . . . We must do everything we can to keep our families safe.

Kim -today's creative blog said...

WE do have a meeting place in case of a fire. WE have lots of water in jugs. I plan to buy that survial kit from Costco. Vegetarian, life span of something unreal.......50 years and enough food for something like 27 days. All for $100+
We do have air masks and car filters in each car in case Mt St Helens decides to show up her glory.

Debbie said...

Hi Gabi, thanks for the wonderful comments. We do have all the emergency supplies so we are set for a week with no power and no food (because of our location). We have a generator capable of running our entire house and a smaller one for the barn and another small house. We have wells and the horses need water. We have enough water for all the people and dogs and cats, but not horses. But we have a 2.5 acre pond if we ran out of gas for the generator. We do have a plan to leave - to Canada, but we don't have a check list although we carry our passports where-ever we go - just in case. We do know all the horses that are ours and the goat go in the trailer and dogs and cats and the fish and people go in the truck and other vehicle. Leanne and her fiancee are EMTs and have all that gear. The biggest problem is if the roads are in passable. We use to have a great plan before we got Oki because all the other horses are great trail horses. We'd pack them up and we'd head for Canada. However, we sold our other Haflinger to buy Oki so we are one horse short and don't know how we'd move him. He's fragile and spooky. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans!! So to answer your question. We have loose plans for leaving, but couldn't implement them in lets say, an hour. We probably should think more about that!! take care!! XOX

Artful Creations by Tracie said...

Great question Gabi! I, like you, have often THOUGHT about WHAT we would do 'in case of'....we live close to Chicago, not sure close enough if anything were to happen there like a 911 but disaster knows no boundaries.

I agree with Carrie...thank you for reminding us of a 'meeting place'! I'm not sure if my kids would understand that (I'm sure I'm not giving them enough credit). We DO NOT have any type of game plan, however we do have enough food to last for at least a few weeks as well as a first aid kit. Still needing that generator we keep talking about too.

Stonemagick (Samhains) said...

9/11 was definatly unavoidable, its too bad people have to use there brains to now try to think on how to escape any further attacks by the "Hashasins". When there is so many other things one could think about.
I for one am thankful I live in a Canadian city, where the buidling are not close together, and skyscraper are far and few between, I live in London Ontaio, Not much to fly a plane into here.

Stonemagick (Samhains) said...

Toronto is the place to hit, With the CN tower, the subway, the GOtrain and other trains like CN or Steelcar, Toronto also have a very large water front, boats and building, people..Lots of tall building in T.O

Ottawa would also be good as that is where our parliment building are...but london, all we have is the John Labbats colosium.

On a different note, part of me agrees, not with the muslims, but with the fact that this system of things is screwed up, and change is needed, quickly. Befor the planet is too far gone.

The allmighty says:
"Be carful with the world which I have given you, if you distroy it there is no one to come after to fix it"

Anonymous said...

that is a great question to ask and i am sorry to say, we don't have a family plan. we definately need to work on that.

Anonymous said...

Our family doesn't have a plan either and we are only 60 miles south of Los Angeles. It's a reminder that we should pay attention to. I believe that, however, I also believe that I don't want to live my life as a what if possibility. To do that makes those that want us to suffer win. KWIM?

Loreluca said...

Wowsers! A smart question, indeed, but I have never even remotely thought about it. I'll have to talk that one with Brian... We only have a plan in case of tornado, but there's really not much on that alley, either. Thanks for the reminder!

Anonymous said...

We do not have any plan!
I live half an hour of the major airport and have planes -almost- landing in my backyard but I do not have anything.
Flashlights because my girl is afraid in the dark and something for a power brake. I have not enough water to last for a day and not really a food supply, just some things that I need often. The packages are also much smaller in the Netherlands.
Mmmm, maybe I should bring the subject up with my husband.
The only thing is I am on a disaster-list because I work at the municipality. Now that I think about it; they do not have my new phone number...

paris parfait said...

Your post reminds me of living in San Francisco, where we always had an Earthquake Emergency Kit ready. Good idea to be prepared in the event of any kind of emergency, such as a bad storm, etc. With global warming, it's hard to predict what might happen next!

Stonemagick (Samhains) said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Stonemagick (Samhains) said...

I dont have a family plan :) but I know what my countrys plan is:

COMPLAINTANCY - WE as Canadians VOW to sit back Idelly, We vow to only sent the bare minumim reqiured soldiors to battle, only enough to keep allys happy, but never enough to do any real work. We also vow to send the 20 tiger tanks that where scheduled for scrap to the front lines instead.
We also would like to provide a safe haven for Known terrorists and their fundanemtal groups, so they can collect puplic donations in peace. We will also protect them under the Charter of Rights, as New Canadians :) We also promise to let in only our neighbours worst enemys, and then slack on boarder control. We as Canadians Can do no more than that, We are more than happy to allways lend a hand, even if it is limp...

hehehe I couldn't resist...

Anonymous said...

Uuuhhh! No we don't have any! We probably wouldn't make it with stocks that long either! But a good thing to think about. We live about 10 minutes away from a big airbase. You never know! I sure hope not, but like you said, you never know!