Are you ready for ice storms, tornados, hail or other catastrophes?

Punxsutawney Phil was right.  Six more weeks of winter this year.  He’s been predicting the spring weather forecast since 1887 for our nation.  But since his accuracy rate is only 39%, should you really rely on his forecast? The 2014 Farmer’s Almanac predicted a frigid winter with bitter cold and heavy snow.  The two were spot on this year.  And with an 80% accuracy since 1792, The Farmer’s Almanac is definitely the more reliable source.  The problem is that neither predict the exact day for an ice storm, tornado, hail storm, sub-freezing temperatures, blinding thunderstorm, mud slide, forest fire, volcano eruption, earthquake, hurricane or locust swarm.  Whew!  That’s a loooong list.  I put that last one in there to see if you were really reading or just skimming.

So……Are you ready?

Suffice it to say, not every catastrophe will hit your particular home.  This isn’t a Hollywood movie after all.  Thank goodness for that!  Some catastrophes you can see coming from a mile a way, literately.  While some hit quickly without warning.  Either way, there are certain actions you can do to prepare yourself for any disaster.  And, March 2-8 is National Preparedness Week so it’s the perfect time to get started.

So where do you even start?  Use this list below & prepare you & your family for Mother Nature’s reminders of her strength.

1.  Have a Plan    This will probably sound a little déjà vu when you read this or like a distant memory.  In school, we learned to have a family plan for meeting up if separated during a natural disaster.  Maybe the weather hit during the day while at work/school.  Where will your family meet if your home or neighborhood was hit & now not accessible?

•Choose 3 locations in different areas of town.

•Prioritize those locations starting with the one closest to your home.  If you have children in school, that would be a good first location.  You might choose a pre-location for you & your spouse before going to the school.  Take time to think through different scenarios for your family’s routines; travel, sporting events, pets still at home, etc.

2.  Create a Kit    If something happened to your home & the documents inside were destroyed or lost, would you have quick & easy access to your insurance company information, a credit card, internet, a cell phone charger, a change of clothing, light, food, water?  This might sound very Y2Kish but after hearing a colleague’s story of a tornado hitting her home, destroying it, being left with little & not having these items I mentioned for 36 hours, I now see the importance.  Your kit should be multiple kits in different locations.

•Home  A bag with water, snacks, flashlight, extra batteries, cell phone charger battery to charge your cell phone without being plugged in to a power source, shoes, clothes to layer, emergency contact information, identification, credit card & cash.

•Cloud  Emergency contact information, copies of your passport/drivers license.

•Off-Site  This could be a safety deposit box at your bank for cash, credit card & documentation.

•Trunk  Don’t forget to carry emergency items in your trunk in case your are stranded while driving.

◦Winter  Blankets, water, snacks, light (I like headlights as they keep your hands free) games to pass the time.

◦Summer  Water, water, water, snacks, light, games to pass the time.

3.  Utilize Resources  www.ready.gov is a perfect site to learn what to do to be prepared.

I have been in almost every type of disaster.

•Lock down on a military base during a military Coup d’état.  Parents handled this one.

•Tornado/hailstorm during my 13th birthday party.  Only 1 person came to my party.

•Blizzard of 1992 in a Wytheville, VA hotel room for 3 days with my future in-laws while missing college classes.  Stressful to say the least.

•Mexico during 9/11 (they closed the US Embassy & all travel indefinitely.  Pre-international cell phones)

•London during Iceland volcano eruption. Ran out of clean underwear.

•NYC during Superstorm (blizzard/hurricane) Sandy

•Too many ice storms to count but did bust my head open during the 1978 one when I was 8.  Had to have stitches.

What have I learned from all of these events?  Prepare for anything.  It can happen to you.

What have my friends learned?  Well, let’s just say fewer choose to travel with me.

I’m here to help you by disclosing my knowledge of how to organize & be prepared for any situation.  I will show you tips & tricks through posts on the Styled & Organized Living Facebook page, @StyledOrganized on Twitter & the Styled & Organized Living Pinterest page.  Some posts will be simple tools while others will be ideas to consider.   But all will show you how to gain a little more control over your life through organization because Life is Better Organized!