Normal according to my plants

I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing with you (I purposefully did not stop by a specific table at the farmer's market this weekend because I know I only have so much time for canning this week)

One of my to-buy items is a life straw. Target sells them. Around here we have access to lots of fresh water, but it's not always clean. As long as we have water and a life straw, we should be good for multiple days.

Figure out what you typically use in 3 days and slowly buy extra. It's an investment and it can be expensive but you don't need it all right this moment. Buy an extra can of beans or a bag of dry beans on a light grocery week or during a sale.

We have an old wind-up radio, no batteries required. This can tune into emergency stations or for us to listen to music. We test it at least once a year (usually prior to a winter storm).

Then, we have blankets, first aid kits, and animal supplies for 1+ week. Again, we procured these slowly. I have lots of blankets and linens from estate sales, they don't need to be new but they need to be warm and clean (or clean-able).

First is, we have canned goods and dry goods that can feed us (and others) for several days. This includes canned and dried beans, several pounds of rice, and frozen protein (beef and chicken mostly). You can stock up slowly, but make sure you rotate through stuff. Rice is a pantry ingredient for us

But I also find it overwhelming to think about preparing for 72+ hours without utilities or access to the outside world. My anxiety is about The Unknown and General Disaster. So I wanted to share how I handle that, maybe it'll be helpful to you...

Living in the north we can have brutal winters, and we're fairly prepared for that. We have a propane grill we could light to cook or boil water. We have lots of blankets. We have salt and a snow blower (which could be started by hand). We've also had some wild wind storms, so we know that.

Also being honest that my speed is more “the person whose front garden can become a charge-your-phone station/hangout” or “person who can report on what’s going on and sift thru and share info quickly” and most likely not the person on your roof