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Prepare Your Emergency Kit – Seven Ideas to Organizing Your Emergency Supplies

By Consuelo Meux

Article placed here by Pastor-Genève

If a tornado, hurricane, earthquake, flood or other disaster or emergency struck, would you have the basic emergency supplies you need? This might sound familiar. You have a box with batteries but the good batteries are mixed with the old ones. Somewhere you have a collection of flashlights. However, when you try them out, almost none of them work. The list could go on of things that you probably have for emergency supplies but just need to organize in a safe and easy ways.

But, how do you find and organize materials for an emergency kit for all situation? How do you find emergency supplies for disaster situations so that they are organized and easy to reach when you need them? Use these seven points to get your emergency organizing started in the right direction.

1. Find Everyday Items
Do you worry about your budget when you think about gathering supplies? Take a sigh of relief because supplies for disasters or emergencies do not have to be difficult to find, expensive, or hard to use. In fact, emergency supplies are basically many of the items you use on a regular basis. You might find them in a different form and store them differently in order to protect them. But mostly, you will use the same type of things you use all of the time plus a few specialty items good for emergency situations.

2. Create Several Sets of Supplies
What would happen if you couldn’t reach a set of emergency supplies? Consider creating two sets of emergency supplies. At least create a full set and a partial set to store in another location. If you can’t reach one set, you might be able to get to the other. If both are accessible that just gives you extra supplies and you might be able to share with others who are less prepared.

3. Start Gathering What You Already Have
Don’t start pulling your shopping list together just yet. Start your emergency supply organizing with items you already have around the house. For instance, extra suitcases or backpacks, toiletries, and dry goods items such as paper towels, toilet paper, and garbage bags are probably already in your closets or shelves and only need to be organized into a designated place to be a part of your emergency kit. Use the suitcases or backpacks to store the emergency supplies.

4. Use Those Holiday Extras
During the year and especially during holidays, do you pick up extra holiday napkins, paper plates or utensils that get put away into cabinets and closets? Instead of letting these go to waste, pull them out and organize them into the emergency area. Using a pretty napkin or festive tablecloth during an emergency could be just the treat you need to help bring down the stress levels.

5. Gather Extra Clothes
Would you want a clean pair of socks or shirt during an emergency? Everyone in the family should organize a whole set of clothes for the emergency supply area. Make this a good time for everyone in the family to go through and clean out their closet. While doing this task, each person can gather an extra set of clothes to put in an emergency storage area.

6. Look for Household Supplies
Have you considered the need for sanitation and cleanliness during an emergency? Gather cleaning supplies that you already have on hand and organize them in your emergency supply area. Look in the house and garage for extra cleansers, garbage bags, tools to turn off the main switches in the house, sponges, plastic tarps and other items. Some of these items could be in your garden shed, trunk of the car, back of the shelf, under the kitchen sink, or in a corner in the hall closet.

7. Go Shopping
What happens after you go through every place in the home to find supplies and you need more? Well now it might be time to go shopping. The good news is that you still don’t have to spend a fortune. When you find a product you need that is on sale, buy at least two or the amount recommended according to your family situation or needs. Put the extras in the emergency kit. Look for items in thrift stores, yard sales, consignment shops, grocery outlets, through online stores or sites, or mail order catalogs and even the Army-Navy Surplus Store.

Always think of being prepared and you will start to notice supplies in many new places. When you travel, keep an eye open for discount stores or even souvenir shops and bargain stores in new areas. Before you realize it, you will have emergency supplies organized and ready for an emergency or disaster situation.

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