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Do you sometimes think about the items that will disappear after a disaster in your city? Sometimes we concentrate on water, food, cooking devices, or maybe flashlights and batteries. Maybe other days, bartering items. If you’re like me, I don’t dwell on what I don’t have, I make a plan for the emergency items I need and I write them down. It’s all about planning for what we need. We don’t want to be caught off guard, right?
Today, I thought I would remind everyone of some of the things I believe will surely disappear after the SHTF. We know we have neighbors, family, or friends that have not planned for an emergency. This is really too bad because the rest of us can’t, or will not be able to take care of others.
If they are counting on the government to deliver food and water to their door, good luck with that idea. They may not picture empty grocery store shelves. Yes, they will be empty within 24-36 hours after an unforeseen emergency. Whatever they have in their house this very minute may be all they have for days, weeks, or months.
If you have been following my blog for years, I’m assuming you are prepared, because you get it. I promise this mindset will get you through because you understand what can happen. We can sleep at night because we know we have water, food, and the things we need when the stores are empty. We can cook from scratch and survive, we can do this, my friends.
Today I decided we could help each other by looking at my list of items that will disappear from the grocery stores within hours of a disaster. I’m breaking them into sections. Let’s get started.
Here are some interesting facts about regular fire extinguishers we have at home, in the garage or the car. All fire extinguishers are labeled with certain labels as to which classification of fuel the extinguisher will be effective:
1. Class A Fires: Ordinary combustibles like paper, cloth, wood, rubber, and many plastics
2. Class B Fires: Flammable liquids like oil, and gasoline, charcoal lighter, kerosene
3. Class C Fires: Energized electrical equipment like wiring or motors. Once the electricity to those are turned off the becomes a Class A
4. Class D Fires: Combustible metals like aluminum, magnesium or titanium
Sometimes we need to review these lists over and over again. We may just see one thing we need, other things you may never use or need. We know best what our family needs. Please plan according to your particular needs. We know 99.99% of these items will disappear after a disaster. It is what it is, this is why we prep. We can take care of ourselves. Thanks for being prepared for the unexpected. May God bless this world, Linda
Your list is quite thorough. I would add small personal water filters like the Sawyer Mini or the Lifestraw in case of evacuations. A big filter like the Berkley is not very portable. We have Sawyer Minis for each of us plus spares. They are relatively inexpensive, about $20-22 each. The other item is extra buckets which have many uses.
Hi Liz, thanks for the reminder. I get to typing and sometimes I forget some ideas. Thank you so much! Adding them now. Linda
We give individual straw filters as gifts to our children/grandchildren along with handcranked/batteri/solar flashlight/radios that also have plug in for phone chargers. For the older grandchildren this has encouraged them to start thinking about their own preparedness needs.
Hi Donna, those are great gifts! Great comment! Linda
Hi Donna,
They are excellent gifts. I have gifted Sawyer minis, but the radio is a great idea.
Water purification is so important. I just printed off your list. I am going to be working on stocking medical supplies this month after I inventory what I already have.
Hi Liz, you are so right! We can do this, we will be prepared for the unexpected! Linda
My husband was recently put on a nebulizer. He was able to purchase online a battery operated backup that he carries with him when he goes to town or on longer jaunts. ( our area is undergoing extensive road construction, so it ups travel time significantly…. up to an hour to get to church now.) In a pinch he could use essential oils as a replacement for the treatment vials. We have been building a reserve of both his meds and quality essential oils that could help.
Hi BDN, those battery-operated backups are awesome! Wow, an hour to church!! I love essential oils, they can be used so many things. Linda
Buckets, all types and sizes especially with lids. Wash clothes and towels. Laundry supplies (soap, plunger, tubs, clothesline, clothes pins). Microfiber cloth in lieu of toilet paper. Pool shock. Cardboard boxes. Canning jars and lids, non-electric pressure cooker. Open fire grates and rotisserie. Screen mesh (windows and dehydrator). All hand tools (saws, axes, drills, nails, screws, washers, hammer, screwdriver). Matches and lighters. Lanterns (candle, kerosene and propane). Portable toilet. Solar showers, in fact any thing solar power. Activated carbon and limestone. Sand and gravel. This is just a short list.
Hi Linda, great list!!! I will add to my post when I have time. THANK YOU, Linda
Hi Linda,
You have been very detailed and I thank you for that. I plan to take each section and compare it to what I have. Filling in the gaps will not seem overwhelming if you go step by step. Plus I can add on to the list. Great article. Marcia
Hi Marcia, this is why I decided to break it out in sections. All we have to do is stock up slowly. We can do this, I promise. Linda
Hi Linda,
As always your articles are very good and thorough, however I’m wondering in the event of a big
disaster what do we do [especially people in apartments] with trash build up and human waste.
Virginia
Hi Virginia, everyone will have this problem. I have a paragraph about this in my book. We will have to dig a hole 3 feet deep to bury it and several hundred feet away from any water source. We will have to burn our trash away from any building. Yes, we need to stock a lot of 33-gallon bags. LOTS of them. We can do this, Linda
Linda, what an excellent list. One thing I’ve thought of while watching news about natural disasters our nation seems to have (in increasing numbers) is that, many folks think, “I have most of these things already”, especially the medical supply list. What they don’t realize is that injuries/illnesses will Increase after a disaster. For example, I may have a big unopened tube of Neosporin now, which I haven’t had to use since I bought it a year ago…how long would that last if people around me had minor injuries? (Same for most of the things on your list.) Yet, having just one more tube could mean the difference, maybe even between life and death.
I’ve always kept ‘extras’ but recently I went to my emergency pack of med supplies for allergy tablets (I was out, needed one badly): Gone! Checked other basics. Also Gone! My kids had been grabbing stuff from this supply, hadn’t told me that not only were things gone from the bathroom pantry but also the extras! Lol, I guess they were unknowingly rotating my supplies.
Hi Wendy, I love your comment, they have unknowingly rotated my supplies! I know what you mean when we only have one partially used tube of Neosporin. Oh, and the allergy tablets, off to the store we go. We really will go through a lot of supplies when a disaster hits. If everyone in the neighborhood would stock up we would be better off. My concern is for those who store nothing. Yikes! Linda
Hi Linda,
Ranch and feed stores are a great place to get a lot of medical supplies, and at much lower prices than at regular stores. The veterinary equivalents will work just fine. Coban (for people) is ridiculously expensive. Vet-Wrap is the same stuff for a lot less.
Ranch and feed stores (at least in my area) often also carry fish antibiotics. Interestingly, they are in the same dosages as for people and manufactured at the same plant and look just the same. (You can read more about this in Dr. Joseph Alton’s book “Alton’s Antibiotics and Infectious Disease: The Layman’s Guide to Available Antibacterials in Austere Settings.”) While they are more expensive than getting from overseas pharmacies, you don’t have to worry about a “paper trail.”
And there are a lot more antibiotics that prepared people should be storing. These really can’t be manufactured easily post-collapse, and there are some conditions they treat for which there is no known natural alternative treatment and which have a very high mortality rate without the antibiotic.
Jennifer
PrepSchoolDaily (dot blogspot dot com)
Hi Jennifer, great tip! I’m going to go check out our ranch ad feed stores. I still need to order Dr. Alton’s new book. Thanks for the reminder. Linda
Wow Linda, you really put a lot of time and effort into this post, and it is awesome. I have been prepping as some people call it for a few years, but you have several items on this list i never thought of.
Great work as usual, hope all is well…
Hi Hearl, life is so good, thank you, my friend! Thank you for your kind words, they mean so much to me. Linda
Great list. If someone needs a little push, give them a copy of “Lights Out” by Ted Koppel.
Hi Janet, I totally agree with you on that book! I love it!! Linda
I love the list breakdown. That being said, there are a few things on the list that, while they will certainly disappear from the shelves, I am not going to worry about. For example, Milk, Chocolate milk, Hamburger buns, Hot dog buns, Tortillas, Dinner rolls, Biscuits, Frozen waffles, Frozen pancakes, Frozen foil dinners, Bread, Peanut butter (I store PB2). I can make all of these things from scratch and the PB2 only requires a bit of preparation for sandwiches. I still do need to work on some of the categories, though to be as thoroughly prepared as I can – living in an apartment!! I won’t be storing lumber and that sort of thing. I just don’t have the room. I also need to be cognizant of the ability to store more than the basics due to space but I will still do well on the preps I have and will store in the very near future.
Hi Leanne, You are so prepared already my friend. My point is letting people think about all the items that will be gone after a major disaster or a major grid down. Our country needs to be prepared for more than they are right now. Some of us get it, others do not. May God bless them, they will need it. Linda
I have lived without many things in my 73 years but I’m making this statement right now: I will NOT be without coffee & toilet paper! Lol I am going to print your list & pass it on to grown grandchildren. It’s so had to get them to leave their normalcy bias behind. Thanks so much; love hearing from you.
Hi Linda, oh my gosh, I forgot to make a personal hygiene list. I just added it. LOL! Thanks for your wonderful comment! Linda
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I’m Linda Loosli. I’m the owner and editor of Food Storage Moms. I’m so happy you’ve found us. Our goal at Food Storage Moms is to help “one family at a time.”
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