The Food to Keep in Your Earthquake Emergency Kits
Despite the above KTLA news anchor’s response, the 4.7 magnitude earthquake that shook—eh, tousled—southern California this morning wasn’t such a doozy. People made it through just fine:
We checked in with our own SoCal peeps in Yahoo’s Santa Monica offices—all made it to work safely—about what they keep in their emergency quake kits:
"Two Cliff bars and a bag of dog food. Clearly the dog will outlive me."
Hmm.
"Jug of water; 4 packs of Starfish tuna—not the canned ones but the vacuum-sealed (takes up less space); 2 Campbell’s tomato soups (but they’ve expired so I need to get new ones) with pull tab—who knows if I can find a can opener after earthquake; box of Nature Valley granola bars; bag of peanut M&Ms."
Better, but still…
Here’s what you should really should keep on hand, in case the next earthquake is bigger than a chuckle:
* The Red Cross says to have one gallon of water per person, per day stowed away. The site recommends a three-day supply for evacuation and two-week supply for home. Water purification tablets are also a good idea; we say keep some in your car as well as your home.
* Food should consist of non-perishable, easy-to-prepare items. Here’s our ideal box: Portuguese sardines, 18 Rabbits granola bars, Larabar’s roasted nut rolls, Justin’s peanut butter packets, chia seeds to mix into water, and your candy of choice, to keep up energy and spirits. Go through your kit once a year to ensure your food hasn’t passed its peak (ahem, Yahoo employee above).
* Tools: Utensils, if necessary, a can opener, if your food requires it, and moist towelettes, to clean yourself off if you don’t have extra utensils or if you just get dirty because you decided to eat the peanut butter straight from the packet.
* And, yes, Yahoo employee #1 was right: keep some extra food and water on hand for your beloved pooch or lizard or whatever.
Note that we’ve only addressed food items. You can check out the Red Cross website or Ready LA for more.
