Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to think about what you would take from
Speaker 1: your home in an emergency. You really never know when
Speaker 1: you might have to leave somewhere quickly, so in general,
Speaker 1: it's good to be prepared. Being prepared could make a
Speaker 1: very stressful situation just a little bit less awful. Like
Speaker 1: many people, I've been horrified watching the wildfires in Los
Speaker 1: Angeles earlier this year. Normal residential areas just went up
Speaker 1: in flames. In many cases, people had a short bit
Speaker 1: of warning before they needed to evacuate. Now, if you
Speaker 1: only have a minute or two in an emergency situation,
Speaker 1: you obviously I just need to get out with your
Speaker 1: people and pets. But in some cases people had a
Speaker 1: slightly longer window or had an evacuation alert before it
Speaker 1: turned into an order. Even if you just have a
Speaker 1: short time, having a bag of stuff ready to go
Speaker 1: means that your first few days away from your home
Speaker 1: could feel slightly more comfortable. So I've been asking myself
Speaker 1: this lately, what would I take? It might be wise
Speaker 1: to take a minute or two to ask yourself this question. Too,
Speaker 1: what would you take among other things. I've realized that
Speaker 1: it would be good to have a little gas in
Speaker 1: the car, best not to let it get toward empty.
Speaker 1: It's good to have a little cash as well. So
Speaker 1: many of our payments are electronic these days, but in disasters,
Speaker 1: power networks could be down, and in that case cash
Speaker 1: would be helpful. There are, of course, the basic human needs,
Speaker 1: like water. Keeping. Some bottled water in the trunk or
Speaker 1: in a bag near the door might make the first
Speaker 1: few hours of evacuation before getting to a more stable
Speaker 1: place more doable. Same with some non perishable food like
Speaker 1: granola bars and pet food if you're taking a pet,
Speaker 1: especially with kids. Having food, which would include formula and
Speaker 1: baby food if you've got little ones, could be the
Speaker 1: difference between being miserable or being okay. If anyone in
Speaker 1: your family needs regular medications, you'd want to grab those
Speaker 1: because it could be challenging to get a prescription filled
Speaker 1: at a new pharmacy quickly, particularly if your doctor is
Speaker 1: in the same disaster zone that you are. With a
Speaker 1: bit of warning, it would be wise to grab important documents.
Speaker 1: Most things can be replaced, but of course it's easier
Speaker 1: not to If you have a place with your passports
Speaker 1: and birth certificates, social security cards, a marriage license, or
Speaker 1: any insurance documents or property records, and you have the
Speaker 1: ability to grab these quickly and put them in something safe,
Speaker 1: waterproof to come with you. That could be helpful if
Speaker 1: you couldn't get back to your home for a while.
Speaker 1: Then there are the other things I mean, I guess
Speaker 1: most of us would want a change of clothes. We
Speaker 1: might want a flashlight or maybe a lighter. Some bandages
Speaker 1: or a small first aid kit could be helpful. Grabbing
Speaker 1: toothbrushes and other hygiene items could make the first few
Speaker 1: days more comfortable. You'd want your phone and charger, of course,
Speaker 1: and perhaps you'd want some sentimental things. What would those be.
Speaker 1: The point of this is not to put all sentimental
Speaker 1: things in a bag ready to go right now, But
Speaker 1: by thinking about all of this, we might be able
Speaker 1: to identify those things that would be hardest to replace.
Speaker 1: Most photos from the last decade or so probably have
Speaker 1: a digital backup. But if you start thinking about what
Speaker 1: you would take in a disaster, you might realize the
Speaker 1: wisdom of creating a digital backup of other things, like
Speaker 1: historic family photos. It's not quite the same as having
Speaker 1: the original print, but you could reprint something and maybe
Speaker 1: recreate things. It's good to take pictures of children's artwork
Speaker 1: that you enjoy seeing, or if you have handwritten letters
Speaker 1: from long gone relatives, you could take pictures or scan
Speaker 1: those too. And when you think about what you'd need
Speaker 1: an emergency, you make sure you know where those things are.
Speaker 1: After all, if you had thirty minutes to leave, you
Speaker 1: wouldn't want to spend that precious time hunting around for
Speaker 1: people's birth certificates. But when you know exactly where they are,
Speaker 1: you won't have to hunt, and as a bonus, you
Speaker 1: will be able to find these things more readily in
Speaker 1: non emergency situations. I was glad I knew where my
Speaker 1: five year old's birth certificate was recently when we needed
Speaker 1: to get him a passport and register him for kindergarten.
Speaker 1: In any case, most people will never have an evacuation situation,
Speaker 1: but I think it helps to at least think through
Speaker 1: what you would take in an emergency and how accessible
Speaker 1: these things are. That way, when an evacuation order comes in,
Speaker 1: you might be able to find these things in a
Speaker 1: situation where it will be harder to think in the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,
Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.