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Do you have an emergency preparedness plan for your family? It’s not as hard as you think. In fact, here are 5 simple things you can do now.

I turned off the news, because I couldn’t take it anymore.

Yet another story of a terrible thing happening to a perfectly innocent person.

I felt totally helpless.  These people went about their day just like it was any other day.  They couldn’t possibly have known what would happen to them.

How could they prepare for something like that?

Slowly, I began to realize that, while I don’t have control over much (the only thing that helps with that is lots of prayer!), there are some things I can do to be prepared for an emergency.

I got right to work.  I was surprised to find that there are a lot of things you can do right now using what you have on hand.

5 Simple Ways to Start Your Emergency Preparedness Plan Today

These are things you can probably do right now in your own home.  They don’t cost much to do, and won’t take as long as you might think.

1. Water

You can buy bottled water, or just run some from the faucet into pitchers or other food safe bottles.  You can even use a cleaned out milk jug.

The recommended amount to have is at least one gallon per person per day for your chosen length of time.  Choose the longest time you feel able to handle now.  Any preparation at all beats nothing.

Store in a cool place.  Do be sure to change out this water every six months or so.

2.  Learn Something New

These days you can learn just about anything on the internet.  Think about skills that would be valuable if you couldn’t leave your home.

Do you remember your First Aid or CPR skills?  Can you sew a simple patch or button on clothing (and do you have a small sewing kit to use)?

Do you know how to use simple tools?

Everyone could stand to learn something new.

3. Gather Light Sources

Find your flashlights, lanterns, and emergency candles. Keep them in an easy to find place.  If you lose power after dark, you won’t want to be searching for lights.

4.  Make a Contact Plan

Make a plan with family or close friends.  Where would you meet in different emergencies?

Consider a place for disasters like a house fire.  But also think about what you would do in a more wide spread emergency.

During the day, the kids might be at school, a spouse at work, and maybe Mom is at home.

If you couldn’t communicate by phone, where would you meet?  Come up with a secondary place in case the first place wasn’t an option.

It’s also a good idea to have an emergency contact who lives a state or two away.  If you can’t communicate with your family, you might be able to make easier contact with someone away from the emergency area.

5 Ways You Can Plan for an Emergency Today

5.  Make a Home Plan

You might not have the time or money to put your plan into action right now, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start to think about it.

Things to consider:

These things take more thought, time, and money.  But with a general plan in place, you can do these things slowly as life allows.

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Tips your family needs to prepare for emergencies. These are simple, actionable things you can get done RIGHT NOW. Why wait??

Get started on these 5 tasks now and help your family be prepared for an emergency today.

I still can hardly stomach watching the news.  But doing these things has given me a small sense of security.  And that’s certainly worth a day of preparing!

Use these cheap meal ideas and stretch that grocery budget.  (So you can stock up on more emergency foods!)

Easy Large Family Meals

Do you already prep for emergencies?