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6 | LIFE IN SOLERA | APRIL 2024 | Solera CERT Cadre Preparing for a disaster can be expensive. Emergency food, water storage systems and generators (gas and solar) have gone up in price. e following article will help you to prepare yourself when disaster strikes. By following some of the tips offered in this article, you can prepare your home and yourself on a budget and in turn become e Accidental Prepper. When disaster strikes, local emergency authorities may issue evacuation orders or shelter in place orders. Let's briefly go over some types of evacuation orders. EVACUATION ORDER — IMMEDIATE THREAT TO LIFE. is is a lawful order to leave now. e area is lawfully closed to public access. You only have a few minutes to grab a few things and leave your home. Have your "GO" pack ready. EVACUATION WARNING — POTENTIAL THREAT TO LIFE AND OR PROPERTY. ose who require additional time to evacuate and those with pets should leave now. SHELTER IN PLACE — GO INDOORS. Shut and lock doors and windows. Prepare to self-sustain until further notice from emergency authorities. Emergency preparedness used to mean having a three-day supply of food and water. is has now been updated to having a two-week supply of food and water and other emergency essentials. As stated before, you don't have to spend thousands of dollars on emergency preparedness. Take a quick look at the resources in your home and you'll be pleasantly surprised how easy and affordable emergency prepping can be. EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS. Solera is fortunate to have in place two information systems for residents to access. e Solera E-Blast system, in addition to serving as a community bulletin board, can also serve as a type of reverse 911 system. Vital information can be disseminated quickly and efficiently. Every Solera resident needs to be on the E-Blast system. It's easy to sign up and easy to use. Don't delay. e Solera Radio Club will disseminate timely information by use of its radio network already in place within the Solera community. In addition, the Radio Club also has several HAM radio operators that can communicate with emergency authorities and other disaster affected communities. e radios that the Solera Radio Club uses are affordable and available on Amazon. Please consider joining the Solera Radio Club and help in our community's emergency communications needs. e new Solera website is another source of emergency communication. Always keep your computer and cell phone batteries fully charged. We'll discuss battery back-up systems and generators in a future article. AM/FM/Weather Transistor Radios. Back to the basics here. Information will be disseminated by local radio news channels. Buy yourself a new updated and battery powered transistor radio with NOAA weather channel. ese sell for about $20 on Amazon. Buy two — one for your house and one for your "go bag." Stay informed. Evacuation statuses can change during a disaster. WATER STORAGE AND USE. Take the time now to increase your drinking water reserves. e next time you're at the grocery store, pick up a couple of cases of drinking water and add to that every time you shop. Water is vital to your health and very inexpensive. e rules for daily water consumption are one gallon of water per person per day. is is very inaccurate. Plan on two gallons of water per person per day for cooking and hygiene. When the orders are given to evacuate, place at least two cases of drinking water in your vehicle. If shelter in place orders are issued, start by filling up a bathtub water bladder with water. Bathtub water bladders hold about sixty gallons of water. ey come with a hand pump to pump water out into smaller containers and cost about $30. You can buy water tub bladders online at Emergency Essentials.com or Amazon. Another inexpensive way to store water at the time shelter in place orders are issued is to fill several five-gallon Igloo water jugs with water. ese sell for about $32 at Home Depot. You can also fill up several large cooking pots with water. Remember, you are aiming to store enough water for two people for two weeks, about 56 gallons of water. e more water you are able to store, the better. FOOD RESERVES. You will be surprised at how much food is in your house. First, check your refrigerator. ere are probably at least two or three meals in your refrigerator. Consume the food in your refrigerator before eating the food in your pantry. Your refrigerator needs to stay at forty degrees and under for proper food storage. Here's a simple trick I learned from my neighbor Richard Crowe. Keep several frozen water bottles in your freezer. When the electricity is shut off, place several frozen water bottles in the refrigerator. is will help maintain the optimum food storage temperature which is forty degrees Fahrenheit. Freezers will keep cold for up to 48 hours when the electricity is shut off. e trick is again to keep from constantly opening the freezer doors. A well-stocked freezer can hold a weeks' worth of THE ACCIDENTAL PREPPER - PART 1 For Seniors By Seniors: Take responsibility to protect your life! Prepare NOW for a sudden emergency

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