Remember these 7 P's in an Evacuation Emergency

Remember these 7 P's in an Evacuation Emergency

Dear Friends,
The fires in Arizona and New Mexico are really heavy this year.  One has started north of us that we can see the heavy plume of smoke and if we go up higher we can see an entire mountain top range in flames.  For us, thankfully, it is not going in our direction, but it is moving VERY close to other towns and people are being evacuated.  It saddens my heart that there are people losing everything they own.  What saddens my heart even more is to know that some of these fires have been man made.  If nature created them that is one thing, but when it is careless human caused that makes me oh so sad and angry.

We can't control nature and its tragic effects of nature can happen to all of us anywhere.  Mike and I were born and raised in Kansas, tornado alley.  We lived in Florida the year hurricane Katrina came through.  We weren't affected by Katrina, but that year 4 hurricanes came into the gulf and we were hit by hurricane Charley and we watched the water rise into our living room and saw pieces of our home blow down the street.  (We should have evacuated but didn't)  I think it is good to be prepared for at home emergencies such as when we experience a layoff.  We need to be prepared with our finances and have some money in reserve.  It is also good to have extra food in our pantry and meals in our freezer.  When we lived in Florida we purchased a small generator.  This way, should we lose electricity for extended periods of time we could keep the refrigerator and freezer running as well as have minimal lighting in the home. 

Then there are times when evacuation is necessary.  I hope and pray it never happens to anyone of us  If it should, just keep these 7 P's in the back of your mind so that you can recall them and grab the true necessities before leaving home.

1. People
   
2. Pets
   
3. Personal Computer
   
4. Prescriptions
   
5. Paperwork
   
6. Pictures
   
7. Phone (cell phone)
   

With regards to your personal computer.  One thing you should consider having on it is an inventory of your home's contents.  Pictures are beneficial  to an insurance company.  As a side note, should you ever lose all the food in your refrigerator and freezer due to losing electricity for a long time, take a picture of the inside and it's contents before cleaning it up.  Then you can prove that you had expensive rib eye steak and delicious mahi-mahi  in the freezer that spoiled.  In our home I have all our photo albums in one area.  If necessary, I could grab them quickly and wouldn't be running all around the house to gather them.  Our important paper work is in a small fire safe.  I could just grab it and know that I have things like birth certificates, car and house titles, baptism certificates, social security cards and more.  Prescriptions should also be kept in one place.  I keep all of mine in a basket in our pantry.  If needed, I could just grab the basket and go.

So as you can see, organization is a key in emergency preparedness.  I hope you never need to evacuate, but if you should, I pray you and your family and pets would be safe and that you could quickly grab these 7P's and get out.

Blessings and may God's grace keep us and our loved ones safe,
Nancy