Putting Together An Emergency Kit

I'm slightly embarrassed to admit this, but putting together an emergency kit has been on my to do list for several years now.  It always sounded like a good idea, but I just never got around to doing it.  That is until now.  

Adam and I now have an emergency kit waiting for us in our basement.  The main purpose of the emergency kit is to have some necessary supplies handy in case of a natural disaster, like a tornado.  Since we live in the midwest, we encounter quite a few severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings.  Whenever the sirens went off, we would run around the house collecting things we thought we might need before we would go take cover in the basement.  This was obviously not the safest thing to do.  It will be much better now that we have a ready-made kit waiting for us in the basement, especially since we'll soon have to worry about getting not only ourselves and Jazzy to the basement, but our twins too.

(As soon as I started taking photos of the emergency kit, Jazzy ran over to help model.  She's such a silly girl!)  

We created a list of items that would come in handy if we were to be stuck in the basement for a lengthy period of time.  There were tons of items we could have added, but we decided to only put the bare necessities in our kit.    

Here's what we deemed necessary: 

Water- Obviously bottled water will come in handy if we are stuck in the basement for any length of time. It will also be handy in case our city's water supply gets contaminated.

Snacks- No one likes to be stuck with hangry people!

Jazzy's Food- We can't leave out poor Jazzy.  

Leash & Harness- If we consider the worst case scenario and our house is completely destroyed, we wanted a way to keep track of Jazzy.
  
Flashlight, Lantern, Candle & Matches- Our basement is very dark and we don't want to be without light in case the power goes out.  We also took the batteries out of our flashlight and lantern.  We've found the batteries drain quicker if they are left in their devices.  

Blanket- This can be used to cover up if we get cold, a place for the babies to lay down or a way to protect our heads in case of flying debris.  

First Aid Kit- You can buy first aid kits that are pre-made, but I just put together a few supplies using what we had on hand.  

Whistle- Should we become trapped in our basement, having a whistle will be a handy way to alert people to our whereabouts.  

Diapers & Wipes- Since we have our babies coming, these will be necessary if we are in our basement for long.  

Cash- It's always a good idea to have some cash on hand in case we need to buy something and are unable to use credit cards.  I just tucked some cash in the first aid kit.    

Deck of Cards- This isn't exactly a necessity, but could come in handy if Adam and I get bored.   

Like I said above, there are plenty more items that we could put in our Emergency Kit.  But these are a good group of items that would get us through a lengthy time period spent in our basement or be handy if our home were to be destroyed.  I don't lay awake at night worrying about our home being destroyed, but knowing we have an Emergency Kit does give me just a little more piece of mind.  

I put a reminder in my phone for next July to check on the items in our Emergency Kit.  I'll make sure the water and snacks haven't expired and that the batteries still work.  I can also make sure we have the current diaper sizes.       

Click here if you would like to print out your own Emergency Kit Label.