Yes, I know that’s an eye-roller, but the chill in the air this week has me thinking about winter, stocking up, and prepping.
No, not the kind of prepping that will land me on a reality TV show, hoarding cheese and gold bars, but the kind of prepping that means being ready for the winter, and all the accompanying snow, ice, and power outages. And if a few zombies are thrown into the mix, all the better to be prepared, right?
Besides, if the CDC can use zombies as an introduction to preparedness, I think that’s good enough for the rest of us.
Honestly, though, zombies are pretty low on my list of concerns, just above alien invasions and just below Sasquatch sightings (I knew that wasn’t bear poo). Then again, we live in a pretty crazy world, and anything can happen, so let’s be ready, just in case.
The rule of thumb is generally to have enough food, water, and medication on hand to last for three days. The Red Cross suggests two weeks, which I think is a better idea. After all, this is Ohio, and one storm can quickly follow another.
Ready.gov suggests the following for an emergency kit:
- Water: one gallon of water per person per day
- Food: at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food
- Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both
- Flashlight and extra batteries
- First aid kit
- Whistle to signal for help
- Dust mask to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
- Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
- Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
- Manual can opener for food
- Local maps
- Cell phone with chargers, inverter or solar charger
I highly recommend that, in your preparation for a winter zombie attack, or snowstorm, you consider a heat source. A kerosene heater and fuel, a wood stove and several cords of firewood, or something along those lines. Trust me when I say that electric blanket won’t be much good during a power outage. And as for a fireplace, we learned during our first winter here that most of the heat will disappear up the chimney.
In fact, we have learned a few things about preparedness the hard way here at the farmstead.
We once lost three chest freezers of produce thanks to severe storms that resulted in a two-week power outage, in the middle of a heatwave. Since then, we dehydrate or can produce.
We learned that no power means no water when you have a well pump. We also learned that storing those gallon jugs of water isn’t a good idea; the plastic deteriorates and the water leaks out. Plastic bottles are best, and we keep a supply of bottled water on hand in case of emergencies.
As for melting snow to supply your water, you’d be surprised at how that doesn’t work out so well. The water content of snow varies greatly. Melting a large pot of snow will generally yield a disappointing amount of water.
The EPA has some great advice on water purification in case of emergencies.
You may think a generator would be an easy fix to any power outage. If you don’t already own one, you’d be hard pressed to purchase one in an emergency situation. And, as it turns out, when we don’t have power, neither does the nearest gas station – assuming we aren’t snowed or iced in and can get to said gas station.
Besides, generators are loud, and loud noises attract zombies.
The moral of the story is really this: once you can grow and store your own food, even the zombie apocalypse doesn’t seem quite so scary. The ability to grow your own food gives you a sense of power, and the knowledge that you will survive, no matter what. And that includes hordes of zombies.
