Evacuation folder

The devastation of the fires in Victoria has really made me think about our vulnerability here. The current death toll stands at 173 with 750 houses lost. It's shocking, scary and indescribable.

Our house is on the outer suburbs of our town. While we're not surrounded by trees, the bush isn't too far away. Seeing how quickly and ferociously the fire has swept through Victoria has spurred me to think about what would happen here.

Basically our fire plan is to get out - we wouldn't want to stay with the house if at all possible. We do need to talk about what to do if we were forced to stay and where we would go if we did evacuate (in case we were separated).

I've started to make up a fire evacuation folder that could be grabbed on the way out of the door. Currently it has our insurance policies, DVDs with our digital photos, and keys to our safe. I want to include bank account, superannuation, credit card details, addresses & phone nos of loved ones. I'll have a list of stuff to grab if there is time (in order of importance).

I think I should also have an emergency box (first aid kit, torches, radio etc) & go bag with snacks, water, change of clothes etc.

Do you have something like this in place? What do you have in yours?

More on stockpiling

In the last post I wrote on stockpiling for emergencies, I said that governments were suggesting a 10 week stockpile, but then couldn't find a link to back that up. Sara over the Simple Savings site has just found something everyone should read.

Here's an excerpt from an article in The Medical Journal of Australia - full article here

"Abstract

• Influenza pandemics are a real risk and are best managed by self-isolation and social distancing to reduce the risk of infection and spread.

• Such isolation depends on availability of food of adequate quantity and quality.

• Australia has one of the most concentrated food supplies of any country, making rapid food depletion more likely in a crisis.

• Food stockpiling by both authorities and citizens is an important safety precaution that should be given greater media coverage.

• Food and nutrition guidelines are provided for survival rations in the event of a pandemic or other catastrophe."

"The Australian Government and the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) have been planning for such a scenario for several years and have advanced plans in place (Russell Neal, AFGC, Canberra, ACT, personal communication). Nonetheless, the logistics and practicalities of household food stockpiling should be given greater media coverage. Australia has one of the most concentrated food supplies of any country, being dominated by two large supermarket chains. These organisations operate with such efficiency that their logistic chains hold only a few weeks’ supplies (Russell Neal, AFGC, personal communication). If the supply chain shuts down, or if there is no delivery from central stores, supermarkets’ stocks will be depleted within 2–4 weeks (Clare Buchanan, Public Relations Officer, Woolworths Pty Ltd, Sydney, NSW, personal communication). If domestic stockpiling begins at this late stage, then depletion will be accelerated.

Food supplies in the home will need to last as long as it takes for vaccine development and production. For ordinary seasonal influenza vaccines, there is a lag of 6 months or more after a new virus strain has first been discovered until a new vaccine is available for distribution. For weather-related catastrophes, food stockpiles might be required for much longer. A destabilised global climate, where small changes in atmospheric and ocean circulations have major consequences for temperature, rainfall, wind and storm patterns, may precipitate food stockpile dependence for several years.4 While long-term food stockpiling could be considered a governmental responsibility, we suggest that home stockpiling of food to last about 3 months might be done by individual households. This would allow a window of time for governments to put emergency action plans and food deliveries in place."

Dare I say - food for thought??!

Prepare for the worst but then hope for the best

My quest to live a frugal, simple life has been fuelled partly by wanting to live a slower life, partly to afford our life on one income, and partly because it feels right to take care of the resources we have. I have to admit though that the consequences of how we've been squandering the earth's resources hadn't really hit home to me. I guess I've always just felt that we haven't gone too far yet and that we can turn it around without it affecting me personally. I've read about Peak Oil, rising prices, looming food shortages but it hasn't really sunk in.

Until this week.

I have no idea what changed. There must've been some trigger but I can't pinpoint it. It must've started by Monday because I bought a few extra things in the grocery shop and stashed them away. I started reading a long series of posts on the Simple Savings site about the subject that I've been avoiding since December. I've been reading stuff that has shaken me out of my naivety and shouted in my face "this could happen - wake up!". We could have food rationing, we could have regular power outages. Is it possible? Absolutely. Is it likely? I have no idea, and I think very few people could put their hand up and say for certain one way or the other.

I'm sure by now I have 2 distinct groups of readers - those that are nodding their heads and saying "Finally! What took you so long?!" and those that are looking at me like I've just stepped out of the loony bin. (Actually maybe 3 - the ones that have just stopped reading, but I'm not sure you can class them as readers anymore!!)

So my mind has been in a spin for the last few days taking it all in. I've felt rather disconnected from what else is going on in the world, but strangely enough it hasn't frightened or depressed me. Maybe I'm basically an optimistic realist - I'm going to prepare for the worst but hope like hell for the best. I'm going to start actively working on building a stockpile - just building it up slowly. I'm not panicking, but I *am* thinking about alternatives far more carefully. At the moment, we'd have enough food to last for a couple of weeks - providing we didn't lose power. Cooking would be a real issue if we didn't have power - everything in our house is electric. We have a gas BBQ but not much gas left at this current moment in time. We grow so used to just flicking a switch and having power, or turning on the tap to have water.

I also found out that Governments are warning people that they should have a 10 week stockpile at home in case of a pandemic. To me, that's like saying "Run for the hills, we're scared but we can't tell you why! Consider this your warning."

This article - The Waking up Syndrome - talks about the stages of realisation. I've been at Stage 2 (Semi-consciousness) for quite a while and have just hit Stage 3 (The moment of realization) and Stage 4 (The Point of No Return).

And let's face it - even if the worst never happens, as long as the stockpile is rotated properly, the stuff isn't wasted - it's there if a job loss occurs, in case power is lost for a couple of days after a big storm (not so far fetched!), in case of illness or even if unexpected people drop around for dinner!

I'd be interested in your thoughts - as long as they're politely put. But whatever you do - please do not bring up the fact that people prepared for Y2K and it "never" happened. I was one of the huge number of IT workers who slaved away testing, replacing and fixing to make sure Y2K "didn't happen"!! (Yes, it's a sore point lol!)

Sorry if this post is a bit disjointed - it's how my mind feels atm.