If you haven't organised your in-home survival kit, you need to get on with it.
Now that we’re all fully aware of the randomness of natural disasters, it’s a good time to review some of the basics to do with safe water and nutritionally adequate food for your disaster kit.
Your first priority is water: we can survive much longer without food than without this precious substance. You’re advised to store at least three days’ supply of water for every member of the household. That’s a minimum of three litres per person per day; some advise five litres. Assume around two litres of that (per person per day) will be for drinking; the remainder for cooking and personal hygiene. Of course, more is better and some experts recommend you keep a two-week supply. The reality is you don’t know how many people could be staying, whether your neighbours will be able to access their supplies or whether they will have supplies to start with.
You can store drinking water in clear soft-drink bottles, as long as they’ve been thoroughly cleaned. Using a dropper, add five drops of unscented household bleach per litre of water (or half a teaspoon for 10 litres) and fill each bottle with tap water until it just overflows. Then cap the bottles and store them in a cool dark place, remembering to check the water at least every six months. If it’s not clear, replace it. It pays to mark the bottles or keep a note of when their time is up.
If water is suspect for drinking, the best way to make it safe is by boiling it for at least a minute. Stored boiled water needs to be reboiled if it’s not used within 24 hours. Other options are water-purifying tablets or bleach, used as above. However, you need to wait 30 minutes before drinking water treated with bleach.
Familiar food is a comfort and the nearer you can replicate your normal foods in times of crisis the better off you’ll be. You will also be more likely to get all the nutrition you need to keep physically and emotionally strong. For the less creative, some simple one-pot recipes will be a useful addition to your kit.
You will eat the perishable food before the packaged foods and cans you have stored in readiness. Work on the assumption that you need to be self-sufficient for at least three days, and possibly longer. In your planning include food, formula and drinks for babies and small children and anyone with special dietary needs.
Cereals and grains provide carbo-hydrates, fibre, vitamins and minerals. Even if you normally breakfast on toast, cereal in your kit is advisable. For other meals a quick-cook option like couscous, bulgur wheat or noodles can complement your supplies of rice and pasta. Dairy products provide protein, calcium and vitamins, so powdered or UHT milk (whether cows’ milk or calcium-fortified soy milk) is a must for when the perishables have been used up.
Once you’ve eaten your supply of meat from the fridge or freezer and run out of eggs, you’ll be grateful for canned fish and chicken or shelf-stable tofu to add protein to your meals. People accustomed to using chickpeas, lentils and other canned legumes will have less trouble throwing together a balanced meal. If you’re not confident using these, it may pay to track down a few recipes; you might find you like them, and they’re good for you, too. Nuts and seeds also add protein to a meal, as well as great flavour and texture.
Canned fruits, fruit juices and dried fruit mean you can easily get your two or more fruit serves each day. For an ideal meal, a quarter is carbohydrate, a quarter is protein and half is non-starchy vegetables. Although they may not normally be your first choice, a surprising array of dried and canned vegetables is available. Time to stock up.
There’s plenty of information on the internet to help us get through a disaster, but preparation is vital. Now is good. For the time-challenged, survival kits can be bought online. Our excuses are rapidly disappearing.