Emergency Preparedness , Natural Disasters , Survival Kit -

Are You Really Ready for Disaster?

If you were to ask 10 people this question I imagine you might get 10 different answers depending on what emergency preparedness means to that person. Take me for example. I definitely have enough emergency food storage to keep my little family fed for at least three months. I even have a bucket of dehydrated milk stowed away specifically for my toddler. That’s all well and good, but I know I don’t have enough water stored to last that long, and eating powdered milk might very well be worse than drinking it.I also have a well stocked survival kit that has everything from a portable stove and hand crank flashlight/radio to a durable multi-tool and small generator, but I know I don’t have fuel at any given moment to last me more than a week or so.Come to think of it, when I renewed my homeowners insurance last year I decided to pass on earthquake coverage for my 110 year old house that sits just a few miles off the Wasatch Fault. Anyone who lives in my hometown knows that seismologists have been saying for years that a notably sized earthquake in Salt Lake City is long overdue. It’s little details like these that tend to make a person wonder just how prepared they really are. Regardless of how diligent I think I’m being, there is always something that pops up when I’m adding to my inventory that I know would get me one step closer to preparedness nirvana.Is anyone really 100% prepared? It’s a question relative to your perception about just how bad things could potentially get. Despite hollow predictions and all the publicity around predicted dates of rapture like the one that was supposed to occur last Saturday, the reality of life on this planet is that destructive events can occur at any given moment anywhere in the world. It happens every year.So what can you think of that you’re overlooking, neglecting or choosing to put off when it comes to being prepared? Look at everything you’ve done with a critical eye--the things we tend to overlook could be more important than we realize. ---Jared Matkin---Jared Matkin is a Salt Lake City based freelance writer and outdoor enthusiast who is continually on the lookout for innovative and usable products designed to help improve the way we live.

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