We used to live in Cincinnati when we were younger and I always thought it was interesting that there would be a run on the grocery stores before a big snow storm. People would snatch up all the bread and milk. I always thought it was funny, I always wondered what exactly people were going to be using the bread and milk for if they were snowed in, make french toast? Mr Chiots and I now live in NE Ohio and we have a few winter storms each year that make it difficult for us to get out. We live in a rural area, so the roads around us are not on the top of the list for clearing. It’s not that we get snowed in for weeks and can’t go anywhere, but every now and then we choose to stay home for a few days while things clear up rather than risk heading out.
It’s nice to know that we could be snowed in for weeks and still be fine because we have; a freezer full of venison, vegetables & fruit, a pantry full of home canned goods, homegrown potatoes, and a nice stash of rice, wheat berries, and other staples. No running out to the store to be prepared for such an occasion. Truth be told we could probably survive for almost a year on the supplies we have squirreled away in the basement pantry.
If you live in a cold climate it’s always good to be prepared for cold weather related events, keep some extra food on hand and emergency heat source. If you live in an area with other natural disasters it’s wise to keep some grab and go emergency supplies so you can evacuate quickly and have the supplies you need, like: food, water filter, first aid kit, blankets, clothing, etc. Chances are you’ll never need your emergency supplies, but it sure provides peace of mind knowing you are ready!
Do you keep food and emergency supplies on hand for such occasions? How long do you think you could last on the food in your home?
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Water filter. Good one. Never thought of that. I think I’d last about 5 minutes in a disaster.
I estimate we’ve got 2 weeks worth of water, but if that’s not a problem, we’ve got 3 months worth of staples.
Here in NC I participate in the run on bread, milk, and bath tissue when a storm is forecast. We have electic heat and no back-up source. The bread is for cold cut sandwiches in case the power goes out. I would love to have a fireplace or wood heater, but we’ve managed okay in the 16 years we’ve lived in this house.
The run on milk and bread is not that strange if you think about it. If the forecast indicates that we will be snowed in on Tuesday and possibly Wednesday, that means that everyone who would normally buy milk on Monday is getting milk, but also everyone who would get it on Tuesday and Wednesday also buys it on Monday. The store probably doesn’t have more than a few days’ supply of milk on hand at any given time.
That makes sense I guess, it just always struck me as funny that it was bread and milk.
We have a portable propane heater than we can use in case of emergency, it’s currently in the garage, but we bring it in should anything happen. Having our electric go out for a day during the winter has happened before. Usually I just bake bread and then if it doesn’t come back on by nightfall we bring in the heater.
Our stove is electric, too, so no baking bread if the power is out.
Milk and cereal is a good thing to have if you don’t have a way to cook.
Once during an extended power outage, I dug out the little campstove.
I use to keep dry milk on hand, but fresh is so superior in flavor. Lately when I’ve checked the prices, the dry milk costs just as much as the fresh, and since we don’t use the dry on a regular basis, I couldn’t justify paying just as much for it.
I actually keep a fair amount of canned organic coconut milk and coconut cream in a jar (which you can use to make coconut milk) so I’d just use that if I ran out of milk. We get our milk from a local farm and they have backup power, so electric doesn’t affect our milk (unless we can’t get b/c of the weather).
I grew up in SW Ontario so I *know* winter storms. I’ve never understood the run on bread/milk before a storm, but then I keep a well stocked pantry/freezer/kitchen as you do. I might run out of milk, but that’s hardly the end of the world and I’ve always got dried milk if I really need it. Bread, I bake myself.
I live in NE PA now and the only ongoing weather related problem I’d have would be heat/water. We’re on a well and have electric heat so if the power goes we’re in trouble. We can’t afford a back-up generator and don’t have a fireplace, though we do have car batteries, a kerosene heater (electric starter) and hubby’s an electrical engineer so we’d rig up something. We also always have 4/all-wheel drive on our vehicles.
As I get older I realize more and more how much it annoys me to depend on things outside of my control for my day-to-day life. We’re hoping to move soon (job hunting sucks right now) and when we do having a house with a woodstove is among our top priorities.
As for how long we’d last one the food we have squirrelled away? I’d say we could manage a month, maybe two. I’d run out of the meds that keep me alive before we ran out of food.
I keep saying I’m going to figure out a way to hook an exercise bike up to generate power in case of an outage, so I can just make my teenagers burn some energy and keep the heat pump going. 🙂
I always used to think that when I was on the treadmill.
We’re used to winter storms from the Midwest (as I watch more snow fall while we’re here), but when we moved to California we made sure to acquire the start of an earthquake kit. We asked some coworkers if any of them had earthquake kits and they all said no, which made us more determined to have one since no one else would have supplies to share.
We live in an apartment with limited storage space, but we also live in an urban area so there are additional resources within a walkable distance. Considering how often we have to turn on our heat, I’m not too worried so long as we have a stash of water.