How to Create a Disaster Preparedness Kit: A Collaboration with Clorox Bleach

Compensation was provided by Clorox. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions of Clorox.

I remember walking through Walmart with my husband and two-month-old son and couldn’t help but overhear a woman talking to someone on the phone. She said, “Oh yea, I heard Harvey is on its way, but I don’t think it’s going to be that bad. Everyone over here is freaking out and buying so much stuff.” She sort of smirked.

To this day I still wonder how she faired the storm. I wonder where she lived. Did she flood? Was she stuck with no escape, no food, no supplies? Was she one of the many that needed to be rescued from their homes by boat? I’ll never know, but I will always remember her being so nonchalant about the storm. We were one of the ones stocking up on food and non-perishables because we heard the storm was coming. Even if it wasn’t going to be too harsh at least we would have plenty of food. Our house had never flooded, but the roads around us always do.

Harvey wasn’t so much a strong and damaging storm. The real damage had occurred due to the rain that just kept coming and seemed to never stop! I don’t think anyone could have foreseen just how incredibly severe the floodwaters were going to be. Watching the news was like seeing something from an apocalyptic movie and we were stuck at home. We had decided to ride out the storm and it was too late to leave. I stressed over if this would be the storm that would flood our home. What would we do? How would we get out?

Thankfully the waters only got to about halfway up our driveway. We also lost power for almost 24 hours during which time I was stocking up breast milk in coolers and praying the power would return so I could keep all my son’s milk supply from going to waste. We were lucky compared to thousands of others. Many lost power for days, even weeks. Hundreds needed to be rescued from their homes and several drowned in their cars. It really made me think about how fortunate we were considering we really weren’t ready to face flooding of that magnitude. When the waters finally died down and Houston began recovery efforts I started realizing just how much more we should have done to prepare and what we should have had with us in our disaster preparedness kit.

We had several friends whose homes flooded. One of those friends was just two miles down the road; her home had completely flooded. She and her three sons needed to be rescued by boat. She sent us all a text to see if anyone would be kind enough to come help her rip sheetrock out of her home to prevent mold growth. I had no idea this was something you did after major flooding. We worked hard that day sledgehammering away at walls, ripping sheetrock and drywall out of her home, and spraying the areas down with Clorox Bleach to kill bacteria and mold growth. It also helps to kill E.coli in places where flood water was present and prevents mosquitoes from breeding in treated areas. Everyone down her street was doing the same and all you could see in every yard were huge piles of wet materials, furniture, and debris. All completely ruined.

 

 

Here are some facts from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention regarding disaster preparedness in America:

·       48% of Americans lack emergency supplies for use in the event of a disaster.

·       More than half of parents do not have a designated meeting place in case of a disaster.

·       42% of cell phone owners don’t know their immediate family members’ phone numbers.

When you think about those statistics you start to realize how unprepared we are for emergency situations. That’s why I’m so happy to have partnered with Clorox to help spread the message that we all need to take disaster preparation and recovery seriously. September is National Preparedness Month. Clorox is partnering with The Red Cross and encouraging all Americans to be Red Cross Ready. That means, prepare a kit, make a plan, and be informed.

Every family should have a disaster preparedness kit and plan. After our experience with Harvey we did some major tweaking to our kit and plan. Here is a list of items you should always have included in your kit:

·       Water: Keep one gallon per person, per day (3-day supply for evacuation, 2-week supply for home).

·       Food: Stock up on non-perishable, easy-to-prepare items (3-day supply for evacuation, 2-week supply for home).

·       Clorox® Disinfecting Bleach :  During an emergency, especially after a natural disaster, water may not be potable to drink. A few drops of Disinfecting Bleach can be used to make water potable and can also help clean up mold and fungi from a buildup of excess moisture. 

Here are some specific usage measurements to make water safe to drink:

• All water of uncertain quality should be treated before it is used for drinking, food

preparation, or hygiene:

• Remove suspended particles by filtering or letting particles settle to the bottom.

• Pour off clear water into a clean container.

• Add 8 drops (or 1/8 teaspoon) of Clorox® Disinfecting Bleach to one gallon of

water, or add 1/8 teaspoon of the product to 1.5 gallons of water. Allow the

treated water to stand for 30 minutes. Properly treated water will have a slight

chlorine odor. If not, repeat dosage and allow the water to stand an additional

15 minutes. The treated water can then be made palatable by pouring it

between clean containers several times.

• For cloudy water, use 16 drops per 1 gallon of water, or add 1/4 teaspoon of

this product per 1.5 gallons of water (3 drops to 1 quart). If no chlorine odor is

apparent after 30 minutes, repeat dosage and wait an additional 15 minutes.

·       Flashlight (and extra batteries): Having a flashlight ensures that you’re able to navigate in the dark if the electricity goes out. Always keep extra batteries on hand to power your flashlight and other items that you may need.

·       Deluxe family first aid kit: In case of emergency, first aid supplies are crucial to help keep family members as healthy as possible. Make sure to stock the kit with things like bandages, gauze and antibiotic creams.

·       Multi-purpose tool: Tools with multiple functions can be used for everything from cutting wire to opening bottles.

·       Sanitation and personal hygiene items: Besides keeping Disinfecting Bleach on hand, it’s important to keep things like moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal cleanliness.

·       Medication

·       Copies of documents in waterproof pouch (birth certificates, house title, social security cards)

·       Cell Phone with Chargers

·       Emergency Contact Info

·       Extra Cash

·       Emergency Blanket

·       Maps of the Area

 

 

 

Additions: 

·       Generator (power can be out for days or even weeks) Always have extra gasoline on hand in order to run some sort of power source if the main power goes out.

·       Keep your immediate family phone numbers, police number, fire department, and family practitioner written down and in the waterproof pouch with your other important documents)

·       Extra box fans in order to keep cool with the generator if your power goes out.

·       If you had to leave your home always make sure not to return until authorities have deemed it safe to do so. So many people lost their lives driving into floodwaters with their families during Harvey because they believed they could get back to their homes or were not aware of how high the waters were.

 

I wish we would have known to have a more complete preparedness kit before Harvey. We had a two-month-old baby and things could have been much much worse for our family. It’s never too late to start creating your kit and plan! Never take a storm for granted and always treat natural disasters seriously. It can mean life and death in certain circumstances. Stay informed and be prepared!

Disclaimer:Compensation was provided by Clorox. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions of Clorox. Visit https://rdcrss.org/2lpiBdA to learn more on how you can be prepared.

Disclaimer:

Compensation was provided by Clorox. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions of Clorox.

Surrounding National Disaster Preparedness Month in September, Clorox will support Red Cross initiatives with PR and Social Activations (Be Red Cross Ready and App Downloads)

The Clorox Company is helping people affected by disasters like storms and countless other crises by making a gift to American Red Cross Disaster Relief.