Food and Water Storage For Emergency Or Disaster Preparedness
Disruptions in the food supply can be caused by a number of factors:
Unemployment
Economic downturn
Erratic weather-Natural disasters
Contamination of food supplies
Quarantines
Disruptions in transportation
Social unrest
Acts of terrorism
Preparing for a disaster will reduce fear, anxiety, and losses. This
means having your own food, water, and other supplies in sufficient
quantities to last for an extended period of time. If you dont prepare
beforehand, you may be dependent solely on relief organizations and the
government. In a major emergency, it may be as long as 9 days before
emergency services can reach you. A recent example is New Orleans
residents after Hurricane Katrina.
Start with a minimum of three days of emergency food and water. Add
to your inventory as your budget and space to store items permits.
Food Storage Guidelines
Water is more essential than food in sustaining life. Store a
minimum of seven gallons of water per person for drinking and food
preparation. Store an additional seven gallons per person of the same
quality water for bathing, brushing teeth, and dish-washing. Use heavy
plastic containers with tight-fitting lids. Metal containers, which may
corrode, tend to give water an unpleasant taste.
If you have any doubt as to the bacterial safety of stored water,
you may purify it by boiling vigorously for one to two minutes or by
adding chlorine bleach (5 percent sodium hypochlorite solution).
Generally, half a teaspoon of bleach will purify five gallons of clear
water, and one teaspoon will purify five gallons of cloudy water. If
you store it away from sunlight in clean containers, and if it is safe
bacterially at the time of storage, water will remain pure indefinitely.
Mistakes to Avoid
No single food storage plan will work for everyone. Each familys
needs differ. The most important thing is to start storing just a few
items today and add a little more each month.