Apartment living and being prepared what would you do?

[Rhiamon]

What would you do to be prepared for anything if you are a single women with a child who lives in an apartment in the city? As knewly seperated I have lots of closet space that I could keep stuff in but where would you start? What skills would you try and teach yourself?

[Libby]

To start - I'd have the emergency survival kit/box prepped 'just in case' of a real emergency. Enough bottled water, meds, canned food & manual openers, cash, crank radio or battery operated one with extra batteries for an emergency. (dont store batteries in the radio, it will drain it though radio is off)

This site can help you:
Basic emergency kit

Also...as for being prepared at home in your apt - learn to live on less and/or stock your kitchen with basics that you know how to whip into tasty food vs buying processed.

Stock only what you know you'll use - not what you 'think' you will or would like to use.

HTH

[pollypurebred39]

I guess I'd worry first about losing electric for a few days, maybe from an ice storm or a storm with damaging winds. In the cooler months you'd need to be concerned about warmth. I'd get those inexpensive reflective blankets and several warm blankets.

If you did not have a gas range, but electric then food preparation would be of concern also. If you have a balcony, you could use a solar oven, if not then any food would need to be ready to eat.

Assuming your building does not have an electric water pump you should be able to draw water. But keep in mind depending on the type of emergency water may have to be boiled to be safe to drink, no electric, no boiling water. So the ability to purify your water with a filter or bleach.

If electric were to go out for several days you might find yourself in danger if you left your home, so making sure you were safe and sound within your apartment would be imperative. A doorknob stick that prevents the door from being broken into, locks alarms for windows, mace, etc. a wide variety of devices can be found on the internet.

To be able to reach others, or call 911 is imperative. Cell phones can be unreliable in an emergency, remember 911? A land line that has a regular non-electric phone would be a very good idea. You can always call out on that if there is no electric.

You'd need to see in the dark, so some candles, oil lamps, flashlights. I'm in the process of hanging candle lanterns & oil lamps so they stay safely out of the cats reach and accidental knock over. I had loads of flashlights but found the batteries died quickly and we were left without light for several nights once. For youngest son's room, I'm going to hang lanterns with battery operated candles, just to be safe. You may or may not care if others from the outside can tell if you have light. If you care set aside some black trash bags and duct tape to cover your windows.

You'd want to know what's going on outside your door, so a good weather radio that picks up the stations on emergency frequency, not all do.

You'd want something to do too. That is the one thing that kills us when we lose our electric, the boredom. Extra books, crafts, games, puzzles, etc. Boredom can get really bad after awhile.

And toilet paper! can't ever have enough! Medicine & first aid. I'm sure someone else has lots more to add.

[ladykemma2]

140.jpgi would get some lamplight farms oil lamps that hang on the wall. make them part of the decor. an extra bottle of lamp oil.

i have a flashlight and a candle lantern as well. extra batteries. utility candles (ikea)

water

canned food and a can opener. trash bags. plastic utensils and paper plates. (think hurricane preparedness.) you can heat food over a candle.

during the week of hurricane ike i was bored out of my mind. crossword puzzles, puzzles, scrabble?

after you do this i would turn attention to more strorage. i do the mormon/LDS type of storage which involves a years worth of food, and drums of water in the garage. what exactly are you trying to accomplish - what is your goal -would be helpful to know

[Darlene]

Smart lady for taking care of business!
Lots of good ideas already.
~Tool kit, you'll be surprised how much you'll use yours.
~Sewing kit
~Whatever you need for pets. Pets can't usually go to a shelter if that's where you need to go so figure out now what you can do with them so your are not scrambling later.
~Phone list written down of doc, dentist, family and friends, vet etc.
~list of meds & medical conditions, update often
~extra cash and coins

[Imarachne]

Use available space and be frugal with your purchases.

[shoiji]

I have shelves in one closet. It is a small walk-in closet. I keep my stockpile in there.

See if the apartment complex will let you put those stickers on the window to show there is a child living there in case of a fire. I want to get one of the hand crank radio/flashlight since it would be really useful if the power went out.

Do you have a basic toolkit. You could probably find a basic kit at a thirft store or at least separate pieces, hammer, screw driver. You can also pick some up during the holidays or on Fathers day.

You can also buy the sterno cans to help heat up food if you only have electricity. You might want to consider the solar powered chargers for cell phones.

I would set up a plan in case something happens with your child if they are old enough. Have a separate easy to transport container filled with all the important documents you would need if you had to evacuate.

Sounds like you are being very proactive by thinking ahead. One complex I lived in everyone had security stickers on their window. Apparently someone was able to get a bunch. So even if someone did not have a real security system the sticker on the window said they did. Makes you go hmmmmm, huh?

[lisaflex]

what a great thread. useful info. good thoughts! good ideas.

agree w/ lots of water and candles and matches. can opener and canned food as stated. meds are a must. even just plain ol tylenol and advil and motrin and excedrin and cold meds would be helpful.

peanuts for protein

TP is a good one! a tub of generic baby wipes is good also for clean up of any type.

[BlissMommy]

What great advice everyone is giving.

[TheresaRHPS]

Great ideas so far. Here's a few additional things I'd try to do:

If you are away from home and especially if you're separated from your child when something would happen, designate a "safe zone" to meet up at.

Make sure you and your child know how to use the public transportation in your area, and have a basic knowledge of how to move around...and out of...the city if need be. One thing my dad always taught me was to get to know ALL the alternate routes. A small city map in your child's backpack and one in your purse may be a good idea. Highlight the best route to get to your safe zone.

If they seem friendly enough, get to know your neighbors as much as possible, and keep good relations with them. They can help watch your apartment for you when you're away, share information and resources, etc.

Even if you have a great building super, get a tool kit and learn basic repair and maintenance. Look over your apartment and take note of anything that needs repaired or is headed that way, and get it taken care of. Also look your apartment over for ways to improve security...and get those taken care of within the rules of your building. I'd also learn and master at least basic sewing skills, with or without a machine. Even the ability to mend a popped off button, or a seam tear can be a great help. If you're not already certified, look into CPR/1st aid classes.

Keep a little bit of cash handy in a well-hidden place. I like to keep about $50-$100 in small bills, plus a few rolls of quarters. Some people keep considerably more, lol.

When building a stockpile of supplies, such as food, emergency items, and HBA, don't be afraid to get creative. If you run out of space in your closet, use under the bed, under furniture, etc.

[Rhiamon]

Thanks everyone great ideas stuff I hadn't even thought of.
I guess because it is just me and my daughter I worry about our saftey if something should happen for sure. We are on the third floor so I am not worried about people come in that way.
I have lived through the ice storm, and the major black out but there was always someone to help out. The ice storm we lived in the country so my moms friends came and got us ( I was 17) and took us to there house because they had a woodstove. The black out same thing.
But now I have no one to come and get us close by, and what if the people who could could not make it to us. So I am trying to prepare for every possiblity I can think of. Power outages, ice storms, tornados, earthquakes, pandimcs etc. My ex never let me stock pile, or prepare for anything because he never thought anything would happen that he wouldn't be able to take care of.
I am making lists and going to start picking things up. To start with tools

[Lady_V]

Well, I am a 'brick dweller' too... just because you are in the city doesn't mean you shouldn't learn other skills... there may be a time and need to evacuate the city.

Old Man calls me his Pioneer City Chick... I know how to fish, clean and cook it as well. I can sew by hand, knit, crochet, have a cookbook from the 1800's when electricity wasn't even a thought. Know how to navigate by using only a map. Have bags on the ready in case we need to leave here AND a variety of places to go to depending on the reason we need to leave the condo.

Basically... learn for and prepare for the worst case scenario, what would you have to do if a, b, or c happened? Like I tell everyone, I am an optimistic pessimist... Prepared for the worst and always hoping for the best.

Learn EVERYTHING - learning doesn't take up ANY physical space and it is the most valuable possession you can have.

[brook]

please be sure to put up.... birthday candles, even if you just use one children love the getting to blow it out. Learn to bake a cake from scratch... try depression cake recipes where no eggs are used. No bake cookies are good!

you can bake in a dutch oven on a coleman stove! you can bake in a BBQ too! try learning solar cooking.

store things for the holidays.. christmas, easter, valentines day, birthday.. little gifts you can give your daughter. Not sure her age.. but buy for any age.. coloring books, colored pencils, crayons, jewelery, hair ribbons. Store books to read and to read to her. Jacks, Pick up sticks, marbles... even little things will create such great memories for her.

If you knit or crochet or sew... try the Mary Frances books
do them now for gifts, start with the cooking book it is the first in the series... The Mary Frances Sewing Book

Store easy to prepare foods, things you can open and eat and if not heated still tastes good... 3 months is a good start (chili, canned fruit, jams and etc.)

Learn to can! if you have ever thought about raising livestock for meat... you can raise rabbits in cages in an apartment, butcher in the bathroom. Learn to grow vegetables in containers... tomatoes are great in containers.

As a single woman... learn valuable skills! skills you can trade for your life and the life of your child. You may need to organize your apartment building and others!

put together a book of recipes using what you think others will have in their cupboards. find recipes to feed 25+ - 100+ one never knows when these skills will be needed at the local feeding centers.

[PrairieGirl]

What a timely thread!

I'm in a similar situation except my little one is 1.5 years old.

I haven't read the whole thread just yet but so far, I've gotten some great ideas on how to prep my apartment...just in case!

Thanks y'all!

[sunshine]

Just an FYI -- if the power is out, and you have no heat. . . place quilts or warm blankets over the table to make a "tent" - layer sleeping bags on the floor of the "tent" and stay in it. If you have a large dog, keep them with you for warmth too.