Cell phone chargers

As I have come to rely on my cell phone more and more, I have felt the need to keep a charger with me at all times.  I keep this little auxiliary battery charged, ready to charge my phone if the power goes off.  I have a different charger port in my car, and my husband has a different auxiliary battery that he keeps in his car.

We certainly learned the wisdom of having these chargers when our power went off for 20 hours.  It is such a comfort to be able to get your email and phone calls when everything else is shut down.

(Of course your phone depends on if your cell phone tower has power, but that is another subject.)

Bio Lite Campstove can charge your phone

 I got one of these stoves, and it works great.  You just light the fuel (twigs, sticks, etc.) and as the stove heats up it creates electricity for the USB port.

Morrisville's emergency notification system

I got this information off of the Town of Morrisville's newsletter.

"Morrisville recently changed its emergency notification system to ReadyWake!  Make sure you register your number at https://wakecounty.onthealert.com/ to be notified in the event of an emergency.  The system will only be used for emergency purposes such as:  drinking water contamination, utility outage, evacuation notice and route, missing person, fires or floods, bomb threat, hostage situation, chemical spill or gas leak or other emergency incidents where rapid and accurate notification is essential for life safety."

You may wonder if any of these scenarios could ever happen here, and if you would need to be notified.  I was interested to see that a train derailment caused 300 people to be evacuated because of possible hazardous chemicals in eastern North Carolina just a couple of days ago:

http://www2.wnct.com/news/2013/feb/04/clean-continues-after-eastern-nc-train-derailment-ar-2995710/

Write down phone numbers

I had a dream the other night, I was lost and I did not have my cell phone and couldn't call anyone because I didn't know anyone's phone number.

I woke up and realized this is really a problem in real life, not just in dreams. My brother lost his cell phone and he was in real trouble, he didn't know any of the phone numbers he needed.

I want to encourage you all to write down all your most important numbers and put a hard copy of them into your glove compartment in your car, in your purse, in your wallet, at your workplace, etc.

There may come a time when your cell phone is lost or stolen or out of power, and you will be very thankful you have phone numbers so you can make a phone call on someone else's phone.

Hurricane articles, part 3

Here is a link to "Survival Lessons Learned from Three Hurricanes" which was posted on "The Survival Mom" blog.

Part 3 of 3:  http://thesurvivalmom.com/2012/07/01/survival-diary-from-3-hurricanes-lessons-learned-part-3-of-3/

Here are things I learned from this article written by Stephen Clay McGehee:

Radios, ice chests, swimming pools, and jugs of chlorine bleach all came in handy.

When he heard the hurricanes were coming, he froze water inside cheap freezer containers in his freezer.  That were free blocks of ice that he didn't have to buy, and blocks of ice take longer to melt than ice cubes.  (I actually keep a few 2-liter pop bottles full of frozen water in my freezer at all times.  They are great to use in ice chests, and when the ice melts,  the water is contained in the bottles and doesn't  get all over your food.)

He gives recommendations for various types of good and not so good gasoline containers.  I agree with him, the nozzle is not as important as just buying a Superfunnel (about $2 each from an auto supply store.  It is a big funnel with a VERY long tube at the bottom, which is small enough to fit in the opening of the gas tank).  You can fill your gas tank much easier by pouring the gasoline from a gas can into the Super Funnel than out of the gas can's long nozzle.  They are never designed right.

August Challenge: Oatmeal Breakfasts, Emergency Communications

August Provident Living Challenge #1:  Breakfasts!  

Buy enough ingredients to make oatmeal 3 times a week for three months.

Make an oatmeal breakfast for your family.  Measure carefully how much everyone eats.  Buy enough of those ingredients to have that food 30 times.  That would be about 3 times a week for 3 months.

Eventually you will want to have food collected for 90 days of breakfasts, with all of the ingredients being shelf-stable.  You don't want your food to go bad if the power goes off!

Most of us would want to have several different menu choices such as cold cereal, hot cereal, pancakes, waffles, etc.  You could plan to have that item once a week, twice a week, or more.   But for this challenge, you will get the prize if you buy enough breakfast ingredients for 30 days.  (Choose some other breakfast menu to buy if you don't like oatmeal.)

Thanks to Laura H. who wrote up the following explanation and put it on her blog.  Go to this link and you can see the photo she took:

http://halehealthyrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/07/oatmeal-for-30-days-for-family-of-6.html 

"Here's a picture, list of ingredients, and cost of preparing oatmeal for my family of 6 for 30 days using food storage. There is actually more cinnamon, brown sugar, or salt than I'd actually use, but I think "planning" visually is much easier this way and keeping track of my inventory to make sure I do indeed have enough food. I have all the supplies as food storage for emergencies, and rotating the ingredients before expiration dates is easy since I use all the ingredients in many other recipes.

20 lbs whole or 1 minute oats
7 lbs. brown sugar
16 oz. vanilla
2.25 lbs. raisins
1 lb. salt
cinnamon
water

$33 for all ingredients (items purchased at Sams or Costco)
6 people for 30 meals = $1.10 per meal or .20 per person

-When I prepare oatmeal, I DO NOT cook it. I merely poor in boiling water (or hot milk), salt, and vanilla and let oatmeal sit for 5 minutes to soften oats (this will prevent "gluey" oatmeal). 1 Minute oats get VERY soft with this method and Whole Oats get a more muesli-like texture. Then I sprinkle on desired toppings!"    -Laura H.

August Provident Living Challenge #2:  Emergency Communication. 

Think of the ways you could give information or receive information when the power is out.  Do one of the following:  

Buy a solar powered or windup radio.  

Buy a solar-powering device which will allow you to charge your cell phone.  

Investigate the steps to acquiring a ham radio license.  

Plug an inverter into your car, and use it to power a TV or laptop.  Test whether you have any TV’s which can receive a signal using an antenna instead of cable or satellite.  

Add a black marker and large sheets of paper to each one of your car trunks and to your 72-hour kits.  

Get a home phone which has the handset attached to the base, because those types will usually work when the power is out. 

Discuss with your family where you could leave notes for each other in an emergency situation.  It might be important to choose hiding places where strangers would not see the notes.

Discussion on book "One Second After"

On Food Storage Made Easy http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/, they are having a group discussion about the book "One Second After", by William R. Forstchen.

I read this book last year, and it changed my life. I look at food storage and other emergency preparedness in a completely different way now. Depending on the disaster, we may be struggling to survive for a very, very long time without the modern conveniences to which we are accustomed.

This book is a fictional account of an EMP (electro magnetic pulse) attack. Lest you say "Oh, our enemies will never do that to us", you also have to take into account the fact that this phenomenon can also be caused by large solar flares.

Go to Food Storage Made Easy and read through the comments of the people who have read the book. The comments are fascinating, and really open your eyes to scenarios you may not have considered.

The discussions so far are on 8 topics:

Family Plan and Communications
Actions to take immediately after an attack
Transportation
Food Preparation
Heating and Cooling
Protecting Family and Food
Storing non-food items and medications
Rebuilding Society.

Sept. 9 Communication Plan at Relief Society

You are invited:

Family Communication Plan: Have One Before Disaster Strikes!,
Taught by Phyllis B.
In a disaster will you know how to contact your family? Will they know where you are? Will they know your plans? Will your cell phone work?...

Morrisville Relief Society evening meeting, Thursday Sept. 9, 2010, 7 pm. in the Morrisville building RS room. Guests, and members of the Green Level ward are also invited.


Description:
Your immediate family might not be together when disaster strikes, or may become separated by the event. Your concerned loved ones outside the affected area will want to know of your safety and whereabouts. This class will discuss emergency communication options, including the RedCross Safe and Well Website, that should be part of every family’s emergency preparedness plan.


Bio: Phyllis B. is a member of the Cary I Ward and is currently an Institute teacher. She became a Red Cross volunteer with the Triangle Area Chapter in 2003. Phyllis is currently the Chapter’s Safe and Well Linking Activity Lead, which assists people in areas impacted by a disaster to contact and be reunified with their family members.

She is also a member of a night Disaster Action Team which provides support to families impacted by a house fire. In 2005 she worked in the Wake County shelter and service center for Katrina evacuees. She also deployed for a couple of weeks to the devastated areas of Pass Christian and Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, where she saw disaster devastation first hand.

(Sorry, I don't put last names on this blog. To find out her last name, see ward calendar.)

In Case of Disaster- New Era Oct. 1990

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=b3dc92be7beeb010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=024644f8f206c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

Here is an excerpt from this New Era, Oct. 1990 article:

Had they known then what they know now, the young people of South Carolina and California would have made a few adjustments to prepare for survival.

1. Store water. Many times after a disaster the safety of the water supply is in doubt. Having water on hand can be critically important.

2. Don’t forget food in the freezer. Because the electricity was out and freezers defrosted, many families had more food (for the short term) than they could use. Neighbors got together to barbecue steaks that thawed. Many teenagers said they never ate better than during the disaster.

3. Store batteries for flashlights and radios. It seemed like everyone in the country knew more about what was happening with the disasters than the people involved in them did. A television or radio that ran on batteries was often the only source of news. Flashlights allowed those who had them to read or play games after the sun went down.

4. Have a family plan in case of emergency. Discuss where to meet and what to do in case you are not at home when disaster strikes.

5. Photos and journals can’t be replaced. Make sure they are in a place where they can be grabbed quickly. Even better, make duplicate prints of your favorite family photos and send them to relatives out of state.

6. Additional supplies. Other items good to have in an emergency could include regularly required medicine (such as insulin); a change of clothes (work clothes would be best); a camp stove and fuel; first aid kit; games; bedding or a sleeping bag.

7. Cash and gas may come in handy. With power out, banks were closed, automatic tellers didn’t work, and service stations could not pump fuel. Usually it only takes a couple of days for generators to be brought in to get these services functioning again, but in the meantime, those with money and gasoline have purchasing power and mobility.

Hurricane: Communication, Evacuation

If a hurricane hits here, and we have no electricity, how are we going to be able to communicate with the outside world?

No electricity = no computer. (unless you have a generator or inverter.)

We won’t have our computers to see the internet.



And whats worse, we won’t have our computerized lists of friends, family, ward lists, hospitals, or any other information. Before the hurricane hits, you need to print off all your important phone numbers and address lists.

Email your friends and family with your tentative plans. If there is a chance you will be evacuating, email or call and tell your friends and family so they will know. You might not be able to tell them later.

Pay your bills online ahead of time.

No electricity=no cell phone.
Your cell phone’s battery will go dead eventually. You need to get all your phone numbers off of it, in case you can use someone else’s home phone with a cord.

Charge cell phone ahead of time or plug it into an inverter.
Be aware that if the cell phone towers are blown down in the storm, you won’t have any coverage even if it is charged.




Cord phones usually work when the power is out. If the cell phone towers are down, you will be happy if you have one of these dinosaurs, a home phone with a cord (not a cordless phone). These don’t need any electricity to work.




How can we get information when the power is out? There will be no electricity to power a TV or radio.
It is important to buy a radio that uses batteries or some other source of power. This one has a solar panel on the top and a crank on the back, and cost about $15.

Plug a TV into the car inverter.
If you have a small TV that is new enough to use digital signals, buy an antenna for it and plug it into the inverter in the car. We loved our little TV during Fran, I went out to the car and watched it many times during the day we had no power.

Become a HAM radio operator. If you really want to know what is going on, train to become a Ham operator and buy a short wave radio. We have many people in the stake who can help you with this.

If you have to evacuate: You won’t have a computer to print out Google maps, so be sure you have some good maps, or print them from the internet ahead of time. You might need alternate routes. Also, be aware that the roads may be completely jammed.

Have a full tank of gas and plenty of food.

If you go to a Red Cross shelter, they will provide you with the bare minimum. It is much better to bring all your own necessities of life.

After the hurricane passes, what things do you need to be aware of?




A great number of the deaths in hurricanes come from drowning. Do not drive on roads that are covered with water. Several inches can float a car and sweep you away.

Signs may be blown down. After Hurricane Hugo, my friend drove from here to Florida, and she said there wasn’t a single road sign left in South Carolina. You’ll need to know how to get where you are going.

Boredom will set in. You might be without power for days. Its good to have some entertainment for the kids, they will be bonkers without the TV and computer.

Final comments:
Please know that when disaster strikes, you will be thankful for ANYTHING that you did to prepare. Even basic preparations can relieve suffering and save lives.

The Lord has lovingly commanded us to “prepare every needful thing” (see D&C 109:8) so that, should adversity come, we can care for ourselves and our neighbors and support bishops as they care for others.

"We encourage members world-wide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings.
"We ask that you be wise as you store food and water and build your savings.

—The First Presidency, All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Home Storage, Feb. 2007, 1

By following the prophet and apostles, and preparing for adversity, we will be blessed and we can bless others.
It is time to prepare.

(End of Relief Society presentation on Hurricane Preparation for Morrisville Ward, Aug. 5, 2010)

Texting

I just read a really good book, Survival: How a Culture of Preparedness Can Save You and Your Family From Disasters by Lt. General Russel L. Honore' (U.S. Army, retired). He was the commander of Joint Task Force- Katrina, the officer on the ground in charge of all active-duty military forces sent to Louisiana and Mississippi.

At the end of every chapter he gave ten- to- twenty "Lessons Learned for Building a Culture of Preparedness."

One of the tips that I got from the book was to teach myself to send and receive text messages on my cell phone.

"Text messages were still working for many people even though the cell towers were down. There were a few cell towers out there somewhere with just a hint of life in them. They had enough power to enable people to send text messages.

Anyone who has a cell phone needs to know how to send text messages in the event of an emergency. A text message is a burst transmission and uses only a fraction of a signal whereas a voice call will eat up a lot of bandwidth.

It is especially important for the elderly or the disabled who live in areas prone to hurricane, floods, earthquakes, or wildfires to have a cell phone and be able to send text messages. Learning that simple skill could mean the difference between life and death. " page 117

"Shortly after our arrival in New Orleans, my headquarters in Atlanta began receiving text messages from people trapped in their homes...These people would send a text message to a friend who would forward it to the Times-Picayune, which would then send the message on to First Army headquarters. The message would be sent from there to the Coast Guard search-and-rescue officials with information about where these people were... " page 116.

(Not from the book) I was also thinking about communicating in a disaster where there are no cell towers left. I am really proud of my friend Patti, who just got her Ham Radio license. I am definitely planning to take that training someday and get my license too.