Basic Needs During a Power Outage

Have you put thought into what you would do if there was an emergency situation in your area?  I live in hurricane land so not only do I think about it, the news stations talk about planning and the papers put out printed booklets each year on the best way to be prepared.  I guess the attitude in this area is, ' An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure'.  This makes perfect sense to me.  So Angie wants to give you ideas on how to be prepared for an emergency situation.  I'm prepared for two weeks of downed power, just in case it takes longer than expected to restore power.  Most people in this area are also prepared to leave their homes if mandated.

Keep in mind, I'm no prepping expert, nor do I feel the world is ending.  I just prepare for an emergency hurricane.  When I lived in the North I prepared for winter storms.  (That was used quite often,)

The BASIC list of items you may need to be semi comfortable during an emergency situation consist of things that address basic human needs.  Instead of keeping things in different spots in the house, I have a bin that can be picked up and moved IF we are told to leave the area.

An easy way to organize a bin is to write down what you would do and need if power was out.

FOOD and WATER
How can you warm up food?  Do you have food that can be eaten cold?  Do you have one gallon of water per person per day?

WARMTH
blankets and a small kerosene heater. (or) use fragrance free candles in a closed room.  Leave a window opened just a bit so the fumes don't disable you.
Clean clothes, shoes and undies

LIGHT
Flashlights (My daughter got me five small ones at WM for 1.00 apiece)
Candles
Batteries for flashlight

MEDICAL
Any medicines taken daily
Bandages
Tape
Antibiotic cream
Scissors
Pain reliever

CASH
Small denominations in case ATMs are down and you can get to a store after the disaster or during recovery period.

These will provide basic needs in an emergency.
If you want to go beyond basic needs it would be good to have string, scissors or small knife, and a tarp.  A tarp can be used to cover holes during a storm to prevent water damage to your home.  It also has a number of other uses such as shelter in an extreme case.

This list only provides the basic human needs to survive a short lived event.  I have watch videos where people go all out.  I do a lot of eye rolling during them.  I used them to glean basic information.  And, of course, for entertainment purposes!