What do you mean we should be two-weeks ready?!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• When It Hits The Fan webpage
• How to use bleach to make water safe to drink
• Lane County's 12-Week Guide to Getting Two Weeks Ready
• Oregon Department of Emergency Management's Two Weeks Ready Campaign
• Ready.gov preparedness resources

Listen online or on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

You can find more information, including episodes and show notes, at LaneCountyOR.gov/fan. Sign up to receive emergency alerts at LaneAlerts.org.

The views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of Lane County Government.

Transcript

The transcript is AI generated and lightly edited for glaring errors. Please excuse minor errors.

Introduction

Welcome to When It Hits the Fan, Lane County's favorite podcast for all things emergency preparedness. Whether you're just dipping your toes into the world of emergency preparedness or you've been building bunkers since Y2K, we've got something for you. Hosted by Lane County Emergency Management, this podcast is all about equipping you with the knowledge and resources to be prepared and stay safe, no matter what hits the fan.

Devon

Hi Tiffany, thanks for not blocking all of my calls after the first episode. 

Tiffany

Hey Devon, I'm glad we're back. I am really excited about this topic. 

Devon

I won't lie, it was first on the list when we started kind of sketching out ideas and that is all about how to get two weeks ready. And so I think it's probably good to start with why we say two weeks, when for many years, 72 hours was sort of that golden rule that we, we preached out in the community.

Tiffany

Absolutely. And I don't think 72 hours is obsolete, do you? I think there are still some situations where having a three-day supply makes sense in your car, at your desk, anywhere, where even in a bad event, you think that you'll be moving from a temporary location to a more permanent location. So let's not throw out the 72-hour camp all together.

But we are looking toward encouraging people to prepare for longer. Up to two weeks. You know, I came from the coast. We were already talking four weeks there. It has to do with our hazards being more prolonged, being worse. Just having more that everybody needs to do and really encouraging people to think about what two weeks looks like, even the ice storm.

I know you heard this. The people that thought they were prepared or had sort of rested on that three-day standard found themselves against the wall in terms of supplies that they had on hand. 

Devon

Absolutely. Everyone that I know of who is affected by the storm, myself included, you know, walked away with a list of things that I should have been considering or I wish I would have had on hand. So I think that's really true. 

So not totally throwing out 72 hours, but, to keep the focus on two weeks, what are some of the main categories people should be thinking about when they're considering putting together their two-week kit? And this is really a shelter in place kit, right?

We don't intend for this to be something that you load into the family van and take with you. 

Tiffany

I think that's a great place to start. Certainly loading everything into the car is another consideration, but I think it's also a different conversation. So should we talk about what a shelter in place means? Does everybody know that? 

Devon

Probably not. Good call. 

Tiffany

Yeah. So, shelter in place is a protective action. When something's happened in the community, we see it with wildfire smoke, where we encourage people to stay in their homes, protect themselves from what's outside. It's also an alternative to evacuating from your home. No, I'm not going somewhere else. I'm staying in my home, and I may not be able to leave my home.

So how do I prepare my home for for that period of time? 

Devon

I think Cascadia, the large earthquake that we are all preparing for, is where I first heard of two weeks already, and the way it was explained to me. And I do need and appreciate very clear explanations. but the way it was explained to me is if the big one hits and it affects communities up and down the West Coast from Northern California, upward, where do you think our little community is in the scale of the national response?

Because we will need a national response here to help us stabilize the situation and begin that recovery process. How do you think we compare with Seattle and Portland and San Francisco and some of those other major metropolitan areas with a much higher population? So we have to be prepared in these smaller communities to wait longer. It's so important for thinking of it through that lens that that we may not be the first priority, that we'll just, even if we are, it's going to take some time to get here.

Tiffany

And that what resources we have in place are going to be addressing high level needs around transportation and communication and lifesaving. So that anything that the average resident can do to prepare themselves stands to take less from the overall mission until we get those resources. You know this and I know this, that in a disaster, there is always a period of time at the onset where there are never enough resources.

So when we talk to people about preparing themselves, we're talking about mitigating that two weeks ready also helps you in a shorter period of time to help others. So maybe you only need a five-day supply, but now you've got two weeks and someone that didn't have the, forethought or the ability to plan needs help to. That could be your neighbor, somebody that's visiting your home unexpectedly when something happens.

So two weeks ends up being a good standard to start with, Devon. But then you have to ask yourself, what hazards am I prone to? Where do I live? How isolated am I on a daily basis? Do I live in a rural community? Do I have others that live near me on whom I can rely? And really start answering that question for yourself using two weeks?

That's sort of the starting point. Do I go bigger than two weeks or do I start with that two-week standard? 

Devon

Thank you, Tiffany. And with the understanding that this is all customizable, that what we're talking about today is a good starting place and a good basic plan. Let's dive in and talk about the categories of items people should be thinking of for their two-weeks ready kits.

Let's talk about water, right? That is the most important thing that we can have in any sort of shelter in place or even, some of our go kits, is water. What's the rule of thumb there for people's planning? 

Tiffany

The rule of thumb for water is one gallon per person per day. That does not take into account additional necessary hygiene needs that you may have. It doesn't take into consideration pets. So one gallon per person per day and then some I think is a good rule of thumb. 

Devon

So for a family of four – just for hydration and cooking not for hygiene – we're looking at about 56 gallons, to be a two-week supply. And so that is to help get the scale for folks, ideally, what a two-weeks ready kit should include.

And I know that can take a lot of different forms. Some bottled water you really can't and shouldn't keep indefinitely in the plastic bottles. But what are some other options? 

Tiffany

There's the 100-gallon water storage bucket that is designed for that. You can store the water. You have to change it every year or so. That plastic is designed to store water long term. Bottled, individually bottled water isn't a bad idea, but as you said, it's not designed to stay, it's not safe after a certain amount of time. And there's a sustainability issue. We're going to talk about that across the board with food and water. How do you maintain that? Is it costly?

What do you do at the end of the year if you've got six cases of bottled water? So, looking toward a more sustainable solution, larger containers that are in plastic designed to store for the long term. And then to think about what you're using it for. Are you using it for cooking? Are you using it for disinfecting.

Are you using it for hygiene? And so, here's where you might be able to split out the type of water that you're, that you're storing. Potable water, meaning water that you can consume, versus water that you're using for hygiene. 

Devon

Right. So for me, I do have a larger, I think it's 60-gallon barrel, that is intended for long term storage.

I still have to dump it out every year, and it creates quite the tidal wave in my backyard. But, it's just hose water and so in addition to that I have a, because I am an avid backpacker and I love to go camping, I have a gravity filter that I can pump from that into a filter to make it safe to drink. Right. it's hose water, but it also sits in that barrel. And I did my best to disinfect that barrel before I filled it up. But to be on the safe side, you can also use regular household bleach and add about an eighth of a teaspoon per gallon of water and let it stand. But you have to be careful not to get the bleach that is scented or color safe with additives.

And there's a lot of good information online for how to use bleach safely to sanitize water. 

Tiffany

I think it's a great point. There's a lot of information online about all of this, right? I think I think the lesson in all of it, and it's not me trying to kick it down the road in terms of helping people understand,

but I think our role here is to help people sort of think through their own personal circumstances, find the list online and then think about your day, think about your environment, think about what you need to do to fine-tune that list to meet your needs. 

Devon

And we'll put resources and information in the show notes as well. There are a lot of great resources online, but there's also a lot of real wackadoo stuff.

And so we'll try to help guide people, at least to a starting point where there's really solid information. All right. Once you've planned out for water, I think food is really, you know, the next most important thing. And let's talk about what types of food should be considered and what maybe doesn't work so well. 

Tiffany

Okay. I think the, the biggest advice on this is to try to store food and plan on food that is as close to what you're used to doing on a regular basis as you can.

So we hear a lot about Mountain House. You're a backpacker. You know about the freeze-dried food. It's it it costs, it's expensive. And, and if you've never eaten it before, this is true of anything you're packing for, for a kit. Try it before the very bad day. You may find you don't like freeze-dried food or back to the cost, it may just not, it's just not a sustainable way for people to store food. So, a lot of people, quickly go out and buy canned food and canned storage. That's great if you use it regularly. It doesn't last very long. And so if you're going to use canned food as your food storage, you should be a family or a person that eats canned food on a regular basis.

Otherwise you're not going to eat it or you're not going to think to get it out until the disaster starts. That's me speaking from personal experience. That's what I did ten years ago when I started packing. A suggestion that I like to make to people because when we start talking about cost and just the practicality of it is thinking about just rice and beans. Basic sustenance.

Now you have to think about how you're going to cook it. That's true of all of these things. But those are some, those are some ideas around just basic food, food storage and planning. 

Devon

Right? Your, your kit is not the time to get fancy, right? There's no Top Chef competition. It's all about keeping bellies full and having the ability to provide, you know, nutritious and filling food.

I think some of the other things, and I agree with you on the canned food unless you are far more responsible than I am and you, you know, get that Sharpie out to date it and you rotate it regularly, it may not be the best solution, but it is a good option. Protein or fruit bars, dried fruits, non-perishables, like pasteurized powdered milk.

I know you told me about, um, I was calling it space butter, but essentially powdered butter that's available too. And so there are some of those basics that may make more sense and make more financial sense to buy in large quantity and keep fairly indefinitely for materials like that. 

Tiffany

Absolutely. But I'm going to circle back again to and then what's your situation?

Right. Walk through your day. Yes, it's basic sustenance, Devon. But if you're a person with special dietary needs, if you're a person with, just a picky eater, I know old-school parents who are like “they'll just eat what we put in front of them”, but we all know somebody who doesn't eat what is put in front of them.

So to really think about that with intention, also to not wait until the bad day to eat whatever you've stored, if it's not something you're used to eating on a regular basis. If you've decided that legumes and rice are the way you're going to go, then break out the propane, break out the Coleman stove, cook it and and understand what that, what that looks like.

It's like going camping, right? You, you plan the trip, but you always wind up with gaps. Something you forgot, something you didn't think of and this is no different. It's a little like camping at home, depending on the circumstances. Right? 

Devon

Yeah. And depending on what you choose to build your, your food kit, the food portion of your kit with, just like when you go camping – and I'm totally not speaking from personal experience – there's nothing like showing up at your campsite with some canned food and no can opener or a bunch of vegetables you need to cut up and no paring knife. So, may make sense to store some of those very basic essentials with your food  so that you know you'll be able to successfully prepare it.

Tiffany

That's why walking through it so important. 

Devon

What about first aid and hygiene? 

Tiffany

I think there are basic first aid kits out there. And, and walking through the types of just basic injuries, right? Cuts, burns, things like that. But less about what types of injuries and back to two weeks, right? So how many, and how many people are you talking about covering with that first aid kit? So those are the things I would think about with a first aid kit. 

Devon

Yeah. And I think it absolutely makes sense to start with a prepackaged kit. Those typically have the basics like gauze, bandages, aspirin, and then, yeah, kind of doing that math of, well, how many people might I need to, to cover with this for two weeks?

Make, sure if you can, and this gets down to your insurance company and some of that, but if you can get a one month ahead supply of your prescription medications, and always be have 30 days on hand, that's just absolutely critical. And that may require a little work with either your doctor or your insurance company.

And then personalizing it. What our personal hygiene items that are really important? I would want a toothbrush and some floss and maybe some hand sanitizer and some bar soap. So kind of think through how you would keep yourself or your family or the folks that you're looking out for safe.

Tiffany

 Right? It's the basic first aid kit that you can buy off the shelf at Fred Meyer. And then it's you walking through your day. Oh, I need saline solution. I take special medication. These are the types of things that that I encounter every day outside the scope of a basic first aid kit. 

Devon

One other category that I think gets missed a lot when people are talking about preparing a two-week kit, or any kind of kit, are the tools that go into that kit. And it's sort of like the, the catchall for everything we haven't really talked about yet. So what are some things as people are considering their needs in their day? What are some overall things that are probably pretty common for a lot of us? 

Tiffany

Well, I think about walking through your day in a home and what you would need to replace those everyday items.

So, flashlights and can openers, like you mentioned earlier, radios, things that require power and then a power source to ensure that you'll be able to use those things. If you don't have electricity, you may need a camp stove to replace the stove that you usually use. Matches. How do you light a fire? What types of things do you need to walk through your day and perform those tasks that you usually just do in your house without thinking about it?

Devon

Another thing to consider is whether or not you need any tools to potentially shut off your utilities, and that's something that you should work, you know, with your utility company on to understand. They can all be a little bit different. But if there is an earthquake and you have gas, do you know how to turn that off?

If there's an earthquake and pipes burst, do you know how to turn that off? And so making sure you've done the homework and you have that understanding. And if a tool is required to do that, that you know what that is, you have it, you know how to use it. 

Tiffany

That's a great point. And you mentioned family. You know, we haven't talked about preparing kids, but it's, it's a really important piece of all of this.

If there are children in the family, it relates to a few things we've already talked about. One is if you have pets and children in the family, getting kids involved in planning for pets is a really, it's a really good approach to both, well, planning for your pets, but also empowering children to, to make their own plans and to have their own agency.

In terms of planning for a disaster, you'll be planning for the family and food, but what do you what can kids do for themselves to pack for that very bad day in terms of food and water and the things we're talking about, but also comfort items? 

Devon

Yeah, I've had the chance to help present at Safety Town a couple of times, and we're, of course, you know, very careful in how we talk about this type of thing with the kids there, but they can be surprisingly pragmatic once you sort of give them the basic outline, you know, they may want to throw their favorites stuffy in or something like that, but they very quickly shift to: I'm going to be hungry, I'm going to be thirsty. And so that's always eye opening and a good reminder of how resilient a lot of kids can be when engaging with these topics. Before we wrap up for today, what is your go to comfort item in your two-weeks ready kit? 

Tiffany

I have two things in my comfort kit. They are photographs of, a bunch of photographs, that I've cut down and put in a little Altoids tin. And I have a little notebook that I've written the lyrics to songs in because I can't remember the words to songs anymore, but there are some that I really like to sing. 

Devon

Ooh, I like that. I'm going to steal your photos in an Altoids tin idea. Mine is peanut butter. That's my comfort food item. If it’s not in my kit, it’s going to be an extra bad two weeks. 

Tiffany

Well, and it's like two, it, it takes care of two things at once. 

Devon

Yeah. It's got to be the crunchy kind. So I think I would like to acknowledge though, that frankly, it's not possible for everyone in our community to get to where they're two-weeks ready.

It's just not it's expensive. It takes a lot of storage room, right? Not everybody has the physical space, even when they get creative with, you know, bins under the bed or cans of water behind the couch. It's just not achievable for everyone. And so our hope is that everybody does what they can within their resources that they have.

Tiffany

Thanks, Devon. That's such a good point. It's not feasible for everyone to prepare for a disaster, and I don't want it to seem daunting because we've set this two-week standard. It is something to shoot for. But I think if someone's even able to start with that three-day piece, it starts to take hold. And I have a couple of ideas around this.

I think the first idea is that it doesn't have to happen overnight. And will you post in the chat the link to that resource that we have at the county that tells people how they can prepare for two weeks over a period of 12 weeks? So in 12 weeks you do one thing every week. Buy this, do this, and at the end of 12 weeks you're ready.

So I think that's a great place to start, is to realize that it doesn't have to happen all at once. Also that it doesn't have to be cost prohibitive. You don't have to go out and buy new things and buy all the things. I used to do preparedness events with Girl and Boy Scout troops. We'd start by going to Goodwill, looking at things they had around their home, eventually going to the Dollar Tree and it doesn't have to be expensive.

In fact, if you're talking about a kit that you're taking out of your home, you might have a lot of what you already need in the house. But Ready.gov, FEMA's sponsored website, is a classic site. It has a lot of needs, and in a number of different languages. But maybe the thing I'm most excited about is the new be two-weeks ready program that was just started by the Oregon Office of Emergency Management.

It just dropped on their website, and it really breaks down preparedness in a meaningful way. All the things we've talked about today, your emergency plan, what are you going to plan for water, waste hygiene, shelter? It breaks it down in terms of sections but also cost. And I'm really impressed with how comprehensive this program is. It really meets people where they're at and addresses the preparedness for anyone in the community.

Devon

So I really appreciate the conversation. Again, I will put some resources for all of this in the show notes, and then I'm really looking forward to the next discussion when you will get to talk with Sheriff Harrold about wildfire evacuation. So we'll get to hear from him on how he makes those decisions, who he works with, sort of what that whole process looks like. Because I know in the heat of the moment, it's not always clear to residents, and they're rightfully more focused on just kind of getting what they need and getting out. So it'll be a good conversation. 

Tiffany

I look forward to that. 

Closing

When It Hits The Fan is brought to you by Lane County Emergency Management and co-hosted by Lane County Emergency Manager Tiffany Brown and Public Information Officer Devon Ashbridge. Music is by the Love Gems. Many thanks to our listeners and guests. We are so glad you're here to help us create a more prepared community. You can find more information, including episodes and show notes, at LaneCountyOR.gov/fan. 

Sign up to receive emergency alerts at LaneAlerts.org. The views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of Lane County government.