Newbie question - How to prepare in the Midwest?

[cthompsonguy]

I have recently started emergency preparation (currently in the form of a personal BOB, while trying to convince my family to invest in household emergency supplies), and I have a rather basic question... What exactly should I be preparing for in the Midwest?

I live in central Indiana, and in 2008, much of my city was hit by a major flood. Thankfully, my neighborhood was spared, but the city roads were impassible for a week, and many houses downtown are still not habitable. I think that the most common emergency here is tornadoes, but they are extremely localized, and can really only be preped for by building a storm cellar. The only earthquakes we've had in the past few decades were barely strong enough to wake people and caused no property damage, but geologists are predicting a major earthquake that will cause major damage to the entire Midwest. What am I missing, and how should I prepare for them?

My BOB is currently a military-style backpack containing a small amount of emergency rations (I need to get more - What is better, the bricks of emergency rations, or something like MREs?), a couple bottles of water (again, I need to get more - What is generally considered better, bottled water or the sealed bags that I've seen on emergency websites?), two Bowie knives (one full-tang, and one with a hollow handle containing some basic survival supplies), a small first aid kit (with a larger one in my car, right next to the BOB), a flashlight, glowstick, mylar thermal blanket, waterproof matches, whistle with attached compass, Swiss Army knife, hatchet, hand warmers, poncho, pocket pack of tissues, and hard candy to regulate blood sugar. If I can make it back home, I'll pick up my Glock and shotgun.

What am I missing?

[Fr33M@s0n]

Hello from North Dakota,

I started prepping my freshman year of college. I knew I was away from home and I knew I wanted to be prepared. My college preps were basic:
Few days worth of water and food under the bed.
My firearms and ammo stored at my buddy's off-campus apartment.
Standard survival supplies in a mil surplus gear bag including knives, dried foods, cordage, just the standard stuff.

I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. One day I was watching History channel and they made a reference to Zombie Squad so I went online and found this group..forum..club.. population of like-minded individuals.

I got an apartment this past year and that's when I began better prepping. I was at my local PD submitting a background check for my landlady when I came across a rack that had free FEMA books. I grabbed one and used it as morning glory reading material. It has good stuff in it but the best thing I came across is prepping for your area.

Start with your area and work outward in concentric rings.

Ring 1: your home or place of residence. What is the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) for your residence? I.E. Tactical advantages, disadvantages, areas of improvement, dangers such as bad wiring, lead paint, asbestos, threats or opportunities from neighbors if in an apartment, etc.

Ring 2: 1-3 mile radius. Your immediate area. I.E. neighborhood, block. Do a SWOT for this area.

Ring 3: 3-10 mile radius. Your community, suburb. Do another SWOT. Look for things like railroads where hazmat can be spilled, or impair an exit if you need to get out of the area immediately. Look at your routes of transport, areas that could be dangerous.

Ring 4: 10-50 mile radius. Another SWOT.

Ring 5: The greater region. Another SWOT. Look at weather patterns, fault lines, rivers, etc. Escape routes, potential BOLs, possible cache storage.

Now prep for the threats. With a SWOT, the strengths and weaknesses are typically internal to the person, family, or group that is involved. The opportunities and threats are the outside environment. So identify your threats, and prep accordingly.

Start small and work out from your AO identifying these things as you go. You'll get much more familiarized with your surroundings and this can also make for some fun exploring and discovery of your area. Like me, I never knew about the million gallon ammonia storage facility 7 miles north of my location until I got out and found it. I never actually watched the trains come and go from the train yard .8 miles south of me and looked at the placards on the cars to know what they're hauling.

I also like using google maps/earth to find things. I'll spend hours just finding things. Random shit. I found an outdoor unmanned public shooting range this way. It's a good way to find roads less traveled, possible good escape routes. Or to look at your planned route of escape then notice 20 miles down the road there is a low water crossing for heavy rain runoff, or road conditions go from paved to gravel, to minimum maintenance as you get out of town. You can find alternate after alternate routes.

Print these maps out, publish your SWOTs, write up a basic plan of action for different emergencies (tornado, earthquake, extended power outages, winter storms, social uprising, eco collapse), gather emergency contact info, decide on rendezvous locations if separated. Put these in a binder, make multiple copies for everyone in the family/group. It always helps to write things out, helps identify strengths and weaknesses in your preps.

Hopefully this helps!

ETA: I have yet to discover a prep for when ZS is not accessible, which is currently the biggest disaster I have had to face in current times, and had to face completely unprepared.

[JustInCase]

Some other things to consider:

Don't get discouraged if your family is not fully on board.

Contact the local Red Cross chapter - they should be able to provide some good basic info for your area.

Contact your local emergency management office - discuss with them about the hazards in your area, the means of warning systems they have etc. They may offer training as well something like the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training etc.

Contact your local amateur radio club (if you are into radio stuff) they are a fairly good asset to know.

Just my adjusted for inflation $0.02 worth.

[TacAir]

Just a thought - you are not prepping for an earthquake or tornado - you are getting ready to deal with the aftermath of the hazard.

Loss of utilities
Loss of domicile
Loss of transportation
and so on.


So - what do you need to live? Water, shelter, food and so on. You don't need bottled water, rinse out and recycle some soda bottles, canned food vs freeze dried and so on.

The least expensive thing you can do now is planning. With a plan in place, you can then purchase what you need to be ready to deal with the aftermath. This doesn't have to be expensive - "needing" a ton of high-cost gear isn't going to be any help if you can't afford it, so give this a bit of thought before you start buying things.

Good luck.

[Towanda]

I live in Michigan, so my weather and other natural conditions aren't too different from the OP's.

I'm mostly preparing for the aftermath of tornadoes, blizzards, and ice storms, since those are the most common disasters around here. Make sure you have food and water. In the event of power loss from a blizzard or ice storm, how will you cook? What will you cook? How will you stay warm? How will you keep your pipes from freezing? How will you clear your driveway if a storm causes a tree to fall across it? Think of the damage such weather can cause, and then prepare to fix/repair/cope with that damage.

Sent via messenger owl.

[cthompsonguy]

Thank you for the advice, everyone. It sounds like I should move my focus away from my BOB and more toward my home? Perhaps invest in a generator and long-term food/water stockpiles, rather than BOB contents?

[duodecima]

Hi and welcome from Central IL! My hazard list should be near identical to yours, with different priorities based on locational stuff (for example, significant flooding is simply less likely in my immediate area). It includes (in vague order) power outages (with or without snowstorms), water shortage/contamination, house fire, tornado, flood, job loss, economic collapse, pandemic, earthquake, chemical leak/hazard, catastrophic nuclear reactor leak. I'm much better prepared for some than others, but I've been really working at it for a bit over a year, so it's a work in progress.

I would still start with a basic "BOB." If you think of it as a "72-hour kit" it makes sense - it still makes sure you've got a change of clothes, food, first aid kit, and water or a way to purify it for 72 hours. This covers all sorts of "shelter in place" aka bug-in situations as well. I would include some basic supplies for being out of your home too - but keep in mind that for a lot of us, in a lot of situations, "bugging out" is likely done with a vehicle (altho it may not be in dire circumstances). Then, you line your 72 hours of water in 2L bottles next to it because you don't want to carry that much!

I agree with Towanda, power out in winter is a big one - generator is great - but if you can't afford one right now (on my list but not happening right now) just think of how else you could keep yourself warm enough (and learn how to drain your pipes before they freeze, just in case...). Also, don't neglect a little sanitation awareness - a 5gal bucket, TP, cat litter, garbage bags, and knowing how to keep sewage from backing into your house are relatively cheap - but this is a more common disaster than earthquakes...

I haven't seen anyone mention cash reserve as a prep - yet it is incredibly useful in a whole host of normal disasters, and prevents some "disasters" as well.

This "sticky" (viewtopic.php?f=6&t=79725) has good intro threads on a lot of topics - the first 2 listed are about how to prioritize and "ladder" your preps. A bit of forethought and planning can make sure your energy and money goes into the most useful places first (or at least try, we've all made our time consuming and expensive boo-boos, me included...)

[Ryder358]

Welcome cthompsonguy!

Thank you for the advice, everyone. It sounds like I should move my focus away from my BOB and more toward my home? Perhaps invest in a generator and long-term food/water stockpiles, rather than BOB contents?

I agree with Towanda, power out in winter is a big one - generator is great - but if you can't afford one right now (on my list but not happening right now) just think of how else you could keep yourself warm enough (and learn how to drain your pipes before they freeze, just in case...)

This might sound crazy, but you don't need to spend hundreds of dollars on a generator! If you have a car get a 800 watt or higher power inverter hooked straight to the car battery with clamps (cig lighter maxes out at 150 watts) to run what you need. Like this one:


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DZLLZY/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i01

$59.99 Use the rest of your money on gas for the car, which will have to idle when powering big loads or run 30 mins every hour or so for small so you don't kill the battery. You can run most fridges if that's ALL you are doing at the time. Remember, they are really big insulated boxes, you only need to run them a little bit here and there, few hours a day at most, don't even need to worry about that until around day 2 or 3 really. When power goes out, hand out the ice-cream and move the milk to the freezer Also a running car is less noticeable than a LOUD generator.

As for heat in the winter, this is on mt list:

Mr. Heater

http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Heater-F232000-Indoor-Safe-Portable/dp/B002G51BZU/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=1SAZUQGIYYEL3&coliid=I28EP74NJN23ZY

$91.99, Safe to use indoors, and can use those little green propane bottles or the bigger ones you normally use for propane BBQ grills.

I came across this and it might help you start prepping in a level headed way (Its easy to go overboard, Ive been guilty of it on occasion ). Its a plan that you can follow to slowly grow your preps and planning. Each week builds on the previous week and starts to tackle a new facet of preparedness. A lot of people fret about how to start prepping and this might be a good start. I've already got a good start in my preps but I may follow along and see how this can help me because I know I'm no where near where I want to be.

http://readynutrition.com/resources/52-weeks-to-preparedness-an-introduction_19072011/

Here is an excerpt from their intro:
"The 52 Weeks to Preparedness™* series is an extension of that challenge. This series will help each of you begin creating a preparedness foundation that you and your family can rely on when unexpected situations present themselves. On this 52 week long journey, each week we will build upon our existing preparedness items as well as focus on a different preparedness layer."

[duodecima]

This might sound crazy, but you don't need to spend hundreds of dollars on a generator! If you have a car get a 800 watt or higher power inverter hooked straight to the car battery with clamps (cig lighter maxes out at 150 watts) to run what you need. Like this one:


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DZLLZY/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i01

$59.99 Use the rest of your money on gas for the car, which will have to idle when powering big loads or run 30 mins every hour or so for small so you don't kill the battery. You can run most fridges if that's ALL you are doing at the time. Remember, they are really big insulated boxes, you only need to run them a little bit here and there, few hours a day at most, don't even need to worry about that until around day 2 or 3 really. When power goes out, hand out the ice-cream and move the milk to the freezer Also a running car is less noticeable than a LOUD generator.

[minor_thread_derail]So, would one of those inverters run the blower on my nice natural gas furnace? *smiles hopefully* Because in your standard winter power outage, I'm still going to have my natural gas, just not the blowers. That keeps my house totally heated like normal and my pipes unfrozen. I'm prepared to deal with the fridge/freezer situation (altho if it's that cold, the fridge is my porch and the freezer is the coolers outside...), it's keeping my pipes unfrozen in a long cold outage that fazes me a little. My house is um, a lot larger than the 200 sq feet that little heater would work for, so just using my own furnace would be sweet. [/minor_thread_derail]

(Sorry OP, just had to ask that!)

[Aim2Maim]

A BoB is something you should definitely have. I live in Central IL so am prepping for the same type of disasters as you. In the event of a destructive tornado or something it is good to have a stocked BoB to grab and go in the basement, if your house is totaled you now have a good amount of gear (change of clothes, hygiene, some food/money, etc) to get you to a hotel and gather your thoughts.

Best thing to do is make a list starting with water, shelter, fire, food. If you are on a tight budget than look to add your best gear relating to those 4 categories. For instance a good quality water purifier and a nice sleeping bag. The other gear can be replaced as your budget allows. One thing I noticed was your food and knives. Get a good quality fixed blade and multi tool. Leatherman's are excellent multi tools. Knives is pretty much preference but keep in mind that the more $ doesn't always mean the best quality. Ditch the cheesy survival knife, They are not full tang and will break with any real use, also you should get a real compass the ones on the bottom are pretty much worthless.

I think the poster that responded first had the idea about preparing in waves. That is a good idea for your BoB, get your basics and then keep molding it to your needs. The best thing to remember is not getting carried away with all the uber gear and weapons. Get yourself the basics covered and start stocking some food/water supplies and all of your other basics needs. A good quality firearm or 2 for protection and ammo. Good Luck

[Tater Raider]

Thank you for the advice, everyone. It sounds like I should move my focus away from my BOB and more toward my home? Perhaps invest in a generator and long-term food/water stockpiles, rather than BOB contents?

I disagree. Get the Bob done first as it forms the basis of your preps - a 72 hour kit you can take anywhere. Also, it covers you in case of fire, just grab it and go.

Once the Bob is done, home owners or renters insurance. With this you've covered fire and tornado.

Flooding is next on the list because it's most common. 2 weeks of water is a good place to begin.

Unless you are in southern Indiana, I wouldn't pay much mind to NMFZ. You'll feel it but it won't do major damage in central-northern Indiana IMO.

Power outages and severe weather, especially winter weather.

And so on. the more you prep the better you will understand what preps you need. It's weird like that. Also, everyone's needs are a bit different so it's on you to figure out precisely what your needs are but we do provide feedback, as you can see.

Best of luck!

[cthompsonguy]

Thank you for the advice, everyone. It sounds like I should move my focus away from my BOB and more toward my home? Perhaps invest in a generator and long-term food/water stockpiles, rather than BOB contents?

I disagree. Get the Bob done first as it forms the basis of your preps - a 72 hour kit you can take anywhere. Also, it covers you in case of fire, just grab it and go.

My reasoning behind my statement (or question, I guess) was that the BOB is designed to evacuate you from your current unsafe situation and survive the hike to wherever you're heading to survive long-term. But what if you don't have a place that's already prepped for emergencies? Wouldn't it make sense to put effort into preparing your home (or wherever you plan on retreating to, if the situation allows) before getting too involved with the BOB?

Something else I wanted to run past you guys... I've been talking about BOBs with a few former co-workers from a Boy Scout camp (all of us in this group are Eagle Scouts), and one of them made a few suggestions, which I'd like to see if you all agree with.
1) Ditch the matches for a couple of Bic disposable lighters. My concern here is partially because I have actually seen a disposable butane lighter explode because it had been sitting in the sun for too long - this bag is going to be stored in my car, and the Mid-west has been extremely hot this summer.
2) A bag of cotton balls that have already been soaked in Vaseline, as a fire starter or first aid item.
3) Remove almost every bandage from the first aid kit and replace them with a small bottle of super glue - after all, super glue was originally invented as an emergency bandage.

[Ryder358]

I dont know about home owners insurance but my renters insurance is less than $15 a month, great idea. I like you're ideas, you're thinking :

1) Ditch the matches for a couple of Bic disposable lighters. (Mine haven't exploded yet in my trunk and I got the real cheap ones)
2) A bag of cotton balls that have already been soaked in Vaseline, as a fire starter or first aid item.
3) Remove almost every bandage from the first aid kit and replace them with a small bottle of super glue

A good BOB should be useful in the home too. I have a BOB but i think some people pit too much emphasis on it. What disasters/emergencies within the realm of plausible or probitable are going to cause you to seek refuge in the woods and hike long distances? I think most are more likely, if you have to leave home, to land you on a friends couch or hotel, not a cave. With my set-up I have shelter, water/water treatment, fire, food. I also keep 3 days worth of clothes vacuum sealed for me, my wife and daughter. If its a personal disaster like a fire, I still want clean clothes.

[Deenie7]

Hey, another Midwesterner (suburban Chicago) here - I found the Ladder Prepping, aka Eating an Elephant thread to be a good starting point. It talks about building up your efforts slowly so you have a little bit of everything done and work up from there.

[Tater Raider]

I dont know about home owners insurance but my renters insurance is less than $15 a month, great idea. I like you're ideas, you're thinking :

1) Ditch the matches for a couple of Bic disposable lighters. (Mine haven't exploded yet in my trunk and I got the real cheap ones)
2) A bag of cotton balls that have already been soaked in Vaseline, as a fire starter or first aid item.
3) Remove almost every bandage from the first aid kit and replace them with a small bottle of super glue

A good BOB should be useful in the home too.

^^^ This. ^^^

BOB doubles, in home, as the 72 hour kit. Also, and I cannot stress this enough, insurance is a vital prep as the odds of sociatal collapse are small, very small, compared to the odds of something causing damage to or loss of your home and/or its contents.

[none1]

You don't need a BOL (bug out location) to make a BOB useful. Most common "disaster" in the USA" that causes folks to not be able to be at home? House fire. A 72 hour BOB works great at a hotel too ... or a distant relative or friend. If your house is unlivable FOR ANY reason, throw the BOB in your car and you have a better chance of not ending up as a refugee.

Even if you house is fine, power outages happen .. the BOB / 72 hour kit can still be your friend, as you'll need food and water for the first three days of a power outage.

So, BOB first IMO.

THEN, some extra food and water IN your house, NOT spoilable. Cans, spam, freeze dried camping food, MREs, spegehtti and saucec, rice, whatever. Add a little to your pantry till you have 2 weeks of calories set up. SOME FOLKS are already there, you CAN get calories from all the potatoe chips people "store" in their houses ....

Read up some here, get some knowledge. Can you turn your water main off, and use your hot water heater for a bunch more drinking water? How can you keep from not freezing if there's no power / heat in your house? Got any extra comforters .......

Start low tech, see what you already got. Add generators and stuff as you learn / figure out how to best incorporate them into your plans.

GL, and welcome to ZS!

[Deenie7]

Regarding spoilage - for anything perishable (and sometimes that means a best-used-by date 3 years in the future, I still count that!) that's part of my "oh shit" storage, I keep a reminder list of stuff that will expire with the date marked a month or two in advance so I'll know to use it up (when able) and/or replace it, ahead of time.

Depending on your tech level/how much tech you want to involve, you can do anything from just write it on a special calendar dedicated to that sort of thing, make a spreadsheet so you can sort by expiration date, or on a smartphone you could use a reminder-type app, create a list with your perishable items on it, and set specific reminders for each item.

[none1]

Regarding spoilage - for anything perishable (and sometimes that means a best-used-by date 3 years in the future, I still count that!) that's part of my "oh shit" storage, I keep a reminder list of stuff that will expire with the date marked a month or two in advance so I'll know to use it up (when able) and/or replace it, ahead of time.

Depending on your tech level/how much tech you want to involve, you can do anything from just write it on a special calendar dedicated to that sort of thing, make a spreadsheet so you can sort by expiration date, or on a smartphone you could use a reminder-type app, create a list with your perishable items on it, and set specific reminders for each item.

Wow, that is great organization! I usually just eat everything, if I do it soon enough, that usually prevents it from spoiling .... I DID find out the hard way that Ramen Noodles do go bad ... they are very cheap, and you can always buy more. I do NOT recommend buying 4 cases of 36 packs just because they're on sale and you can eat them if an emergency happens ..... and if you do, make sure to note when they expire!!

SIDE NOTE .... I see a lot of Chicago peeps in here, even though the thread is titled "midwest". In case someone doesn't know, Chicago has an awesome ZS chapter ..... just sayin'

[Deenie7]

Just trying to stay organized and avoid wasting money. I set up a list in the iOS app Todo, called "BOB Expirations (2 mo early)" so I know there's a little lead time to eat the food/use the item/reorder. Then I just added the name of each item, and set a pop-up reminder for 5 pm (no particular reason) on a Saturday two months ahead of the expiration for that item. For instance, on December 15 this year, my first reminder will go off, telling me that (2 months later) my FAK's tube of triple antibiotic will expire. So when I see that, I'll put it on my shopping list.

I've also got them listed in an Excel spreadsheet that I use as my BOB inventory, with expiration dates. I double-check that when I check the contents, and print out a hard copy.

For my home storage, some of it is food I'd eat all the time anyway (beans, pasta, oil, rice) and some of it isn't (dehydrated entrees) so I want to make sure I'm rotating food properly. I don't have a whole ton of food stashed right now, but I think it's at least a month's worth, and a couple weeks' worth of water.

[Boondock]

Something else I wanted to run past you guys... 1) Ditch the matches for a couple of Bic disposable lighters. My concern here is partially because I have actually seen a disposable butane lighter explode because it had been sitting in the sun for too long - this bag is going to be stored in my car, and the Mid-west has been extremely hot this summer. 2) A bag of cotton balls that have already been soaked in Vaseline, as a fire starter or first aid item. 3) Remove almost every bandage from the first aid kit and replace them with a small bottle of super glue - after all, super glue was originally invented as an emergency bandage.

1. Add the Bics and keep the matches--more than one way to start a fire.
2. Yup. PJ soaked cotton balls are great for starting a fire.
3. Please, do not toss all the bandaids and use Super Glue to seal a wound. Please don't.

[Deenie7]

3. Please, do not toss all the bandaids and use Super Glue to seal a wound. Please don't.

Yup. Having cut into the side of my thumb right next to the nail (and stopped by it, just a nick into the flesh there) a couple months ago, I can agree with this. It took a few days of the thumb being wrapped up tight in a bandaid before it would stop dripping blood when the bandaid was removed, but was fine with a bandaid cinched in place. Just try to get Super Glue to adhere over that. And then when I used the bottle of liquid bandage after that, you'd be surprised how easily that stuff does come off even dry, unbroken skin. I say keep a selection of bandaids, and use real Super Glue rather than liquid bandage.

It was a stupid kitchen accident, went just deep enough to bleed for days but not quite big enough to warrant the ER and stitches... though by the 3rd day I was starting to second-guess that decision.

[cthompsonguy]

This might sound crazy, but you don't need to spend hundreds of dollars on a generator! If you have a car get a 800 watt or higher power inverter hooked straight to the car battery with clamps (cig lighter maxes out at 150 watts) to run what you need. Like this one:


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DZLLZY/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i01

As for heat in the winter, this is on mt list:

Mr. Heater

http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Heater-F232000-Indoor-Safe-Portable/dp/B002G51BZU/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=1SAZUQGIYYEL3&coliid=I28EP74NJN23ZY

$91.99, Safe to use indoors, and can use those little green propane bottles or the bigger ones you normally use for propane BBQ grills.

About that inverter... How reliable is it? Have you used it? Can it supply enough power to run a chest freezer, fridge, and A/C? Maybe it would be best to just run one of those items a third of the time each? If this works well, it's a great idea - it basically means that my household always has 3 generators at home.

And the heater... How can it be safe to use indoors? If it runs by burning propane in some way, wouldn't it produce carbon monoxide? That would suggest that some form of outside ventilation is needed, which would greatly reduce the functionality of a heater in the winter. I've read too many articles about campers who decided to use something like that in their tent and died of carbon monoxide poisoning overnight. Is that just because it was too small of an area to use it, or is there really that much of a difference between the two units?
EDIT: I saw something about an automatic turnoff if it "detects low oxygen levels". Is that what makes it "indoor safe"? Just how low of an oxygen level does it need before it turns itself off? If that detection piece fails, are you submitting yourself to carbon monoxide poisoning without even realizing it?