Scenario 1 - The Weather Disaster

I have decided to journal today about the least frightening scenario that I personally could think of and logically prepare myself to handle in the event it happened. So here goes, and adapt your planning to your unique situations.

You wake up in the morning to three feet of unexpected snow. The roads are frozen and impassable, and your local news station is advising everyone to stay at home if at all possible. The announcer also says that it may take two or three days to have the roads and highways safe and passable. The closest grocery store is at least 10 miles away. Your freezer has two pounds of ground beef, a bag of frozen chicken wings, two boxes of chopped spinach, a half gallon of chocolate ice cream, and one frozen dinner entrée. The refrigerator is in even worse condition. The fridge contains three eggs, an out of date container of orange juice, a partial gallon of milk, a full jar of mayonnaise, a plastic container of last night’s leftovers, and two take-out containers from a Chinese restaurant. The pantry has two cans of corn, a cake mix, six packages of hamburger helper for tuna, and two cans of cat food. There is an exotic array of unopened containers of spices, and a single box of spaghetti. And you haven’t been grocery shopping in two weeks. You were supposed to have shopped for groceries later this afternoon.

What are your priorities in this scenario? First of all, I would be questioning the reliability of the roads being passable in two to three days. In areas that are accustomed to road clearing, this estimate might be feasible. Now in Georgia, forget it. Not only will it take forever to get the roads clear, there is always the likelihood that there will be no electricity because of trees falling on power lines. There is a good possibility if there is no electricity, there is no heat and no warm food.

In this case, there are several major competing priorities. Food and heat. If you have gas for heating and cooking, you are down to one problem…food.

With the available food detailed in my little scenario, I figure I can come up with some kind of concoction using the ground beef, spinach, corn and one package of hamburger helper for tuna. The bag of frozen chicken wings can be boiled for the meat, combined with some eggs, milk and another package of hamburger helper. I can scramble eggs and use some of the ground beef. There is always the frozen dinner entrée, and maybe what ever is in the take out containers. And I can make a nice cake for either dessert or snacking. The cat food is going to be divided up to last for several days….for the cat. But still, I could only come up with four very simple meals. Don’t know about you, but I am accustomed to three squares a day. Note: this planning is just what I could come up with for just one person. No special needs individuals, such the elderly or a picky child.

This scenario is a very realistic for where I live. The threat of snow brings my city of sissies rushing to the store to buy “milk and bread.” No thought to maybe buying some cereal, meat, veggies, you know the stuff that sustains the body for a couple of days. Particularly bothersome, is the failure to remember that if it snows and it is windy, the power lines will come down, and electricity will be out for days.

My approach to solving my preparedness situation is to buy items that when put together can make a complete meal. Maybe something like tuna fish, noodles or macaroni, cream of mushroom soup, some milk, some cheddar cheese. I plan to always keep these on hand. Another meal might be ground beef, spaghetti sauce, pasta, some parmesan cheese. Hey, another complete meal. Keep an extra box or two of cereal in the pantry and rotate to keep the contents fresh.

Hamburger meat can be prepared with a variety of veggies (onions, green pepper etc), frozen, and thawed to make spaghetti sauce, taco filling, and a variety of Tex-Mex casseroles.

Did you know that grated/shredded cheese can be frozen? That you can freeze milk? I have frozen both, thawed both, and consumed both. Works well, and problem solved. Don’t forget to have something you can throw together for snacks, like a cake mix or cookies. And don’t forget to store some extra pet food too.

Lack of electricity presents two major problems. Being cold is no fun, and in some places down right deadly. Most things I would prefer to eat in the middle of a storm emergency need to be hot. I am lucky in this regard because I can cook with either electricity or gas. I also have a fireplace for heat. Heating with my fireplace will be costly if I use its natural gas. My house is well insulated, and if I had to I could sort of camp out in the family room and kitchen to consolidate my heating and cooking. I am looking to getting some wood so that I can stay warm more cheaply. Note to self, what does it cost to have a chimney swept? Do they still have chimney sweeps?

Well, this is my first attempt to plan for a simple weather emergency. I am woefully unprepared at this moment. It is nearly the middle of August and I need to get busy with planning for a weather emergency. First order of priority is my meal planning, and then finding some cheap hard wood for keeping warm. I am working on putting together a couple of meal-in-a-kits to have stored and ready break out of storage if I need throw together in a bad storm. See ya, next time.