Emergency planning

What Most of Us Don’t Think About When Staying in a Hotel Room

May 28, 2020 / 2 Comments

When I used to travel on business, as a woman and alone, it often crossed my mind what I would do in an emergency situation, especially hotel room safety. Hotels are generally safe for women travellers, but I always took precautions to learn about the surrounding neighborhood. Once when I was in Baltimore staying at a beautiful waterfront hotel, we were warned to not go out alone after dark. Naturally, I took that advice to heart! While there’s no need …

What Most of Us Don’t Think About When Staying in a Hotel Room Read More »

If the heat goes out in your house, how will you stay warm? By trying to heat the whole place? Try picking one room and following these tips instead. - The Survival Mom

Don’t Freeze to Death in Your Own Home? Learn How to Live in Just One Room

May 30, 2020 / 9 Comments

Most of us live in new or new-ish homes with large, spacious rooms. Even if your kitchen is small by today’s standards, your great-grandmother would have loved it! If you’ve ever been in a home built in the early 1900s or earlier, you know how tiny every room was in comparison with today’s homes. Well, it turns out that when an emergency hits and there is no power or you need a new furnace, those tiny rooms can be your …

Don’t Freeze to Death in Your Own Home? Learn How to Live in Just One Room Read More »

Everything You Need To Know About Preparing For A House Fire

May 28, 2020 / 1 Comment

“It’s all just things”, we say, until it’s our things that have gone up in smoke. A house fire can occur at any time and often happens with little or no warning. Electrical wiring, cooking grease, lightning strikes, candles, dryers, cars, chemicals, wildfires, a neighbor’s house fire or toys left on lamps can all cause a fire to start. While many fires are preventable, there are plenty that are not.   Did you know that during 2010-2014, roughly one of …

Everything You Need To Know About Preparing For A House Fire Read More »

Do’s & Don’ts for comforting someone who has just lost everything

May 28, 2020 / 12 Comments

Everything was lost. Ruined by tainted flood water, with no hope of salvage. I drove by my friend’s beautiful home that Hurricane Harvey had ravaged and stared at what was left, piled high outside on his front yard. It wasn’t my own personal loss, and yet, I felt very deep sorrow all the same. I wasn’t there when a convoy of dump trucks arrived to unceremoniously load up ruined carpet, furniture, flooring, toys, and mementos and drive away, as though …

Do’s & Don’ts for comforting someone who has just lost everything Read More »

A Four Seasons Emergency Plan: Autumn Survival

May 30, 2020 / 7 Comments

  September is National Preparedness Month and the perfect time to look at a few ways you can be prepared.   Preparing kids Autumn is a lovely time to go for a drive. This year, why not explore some possible Get out of Dodge (GOOD) evacuation routes for your family? You can give the kids maps to hone their map-reading skills at the same time, maybe even try using some topographical maps. When you get home, update your plans based …

A Four Seasons Emergency Plan: Autumn Survival Read More »

Wildfire Season: Harden your Home to Survive a Firestorm

May 28, 2020 / 3 Comments

Brutal Reality As I write this article, Washington State is experiencing the largest wildland fire (Carlton Complex) in the state’s history; California’s drought stands like a Grim Reaper, unleashing over 200 wildfires a week statewide; and Colorado recently observed the one year anniversary of a fire that slaughtered the majority of an elite firefighting crew. Wildfire (also called “wildland fire” or “wildland-urban interface fire”) is a natural process that periodically renews forest and semi-arid landscapes, and allows certain plant species …

Wildfire Season: Harden your Home to Survive a Firestorm Read More »

ways to help harvey victims

50+ Ways to Help the Victims of Harvey (and other disasters yet to come)

May 28, 2020 / 4 Comments

Around the world people are reaching out to my beloved Texas, wanting to help. In some cases, well-meaning help comes in the way of used clothing and items that are redundant and no longer needed. The fire station by my house begged, “Please! No more food!” I’m learning first hand that in situations like this, needs are very fluid. One shelter might be desperate for adult diapers on one day and bottled water and energy bars the very next. I’ve …

50+ Ways to Help the Victims of Harvey (and other disasters yet to come) Read More »

50 Survival Tips Harvey Has Taught Me

May 28, 2020 / 39 Comments

As you may know, my town was one of the hardest hit by Hurricane Harvey. Incredibly, my house wasn’t damaged by rain or the floodwaters, and for that, we are beyond grateful. However, preparing for the storm, hunkering down through its 5 days of destructive rainfall and flooding, and now, working to help rebuild what we’ve lost as a community has been educational, to say the least. Here are some of the most important Harvey survival tips I’ve learned, in …

50 Survival Tips Harvey Has Taught Me Read More »

3 questions to ask about your school’s safety plan

May 29, 2020 / 3 Comments

Disasters can happen anytime, including when your children are at school. Do you know exactly where they will be if it strikes? 1. Where is my child in the building? Ask your children or their teachers where the students will be during any type of drill – fire, tornado, earthquake and lockdown drills. Think through where the children would be when they are in different parts of the building, too, such as lunchtime and specials. Keep a copy of your …

3 questions to ask about your school’s safety plan Read More »

Preparedness Drills to Do with Your Kids

May 29, 2020 / 17 Comments

If your kids go to school, they have undoubtedly participated in a school fire drill. Most bus riders have gone through a bus evacuation drill out the back emergency door. Some schools are even conducting active shooter drills as preparedness drills. But have you had a fire drill in your own home? Have you talked about how and when to exit your car after an accident? Do they know what to do in case there is a shooter at the …

Preparedness Drills to Do with Your Kids Read More »