The Importance of Having an Emergency Disaster Kit in Your Apartment

Apartment tenants in today's world should find themselves without a disaster kit close at hand. Whether you live in a flood zone, a hurricane prone area, an area prone to forest fires, or in other areas of the country where you may be caught in a disaster, you should keep one of these kits handy.

Disaster Preparedness Considerations

If your family or other loved ones are caught in one of the many types of disasters that can happen, you will need to know how to help them avoid and treat injuries. Although you may be close to rescue services, you may need to take action before rescue help arrives. First aid supplies are only a few of the supplies you might find yourself needing. There is also food, clothing, shelter, and water that you might need.

Survival Supply Storage

In keeping your survival kit and its supplies ready for use in case of an emergency, you should consider where you should store these supplies. Keep in mind that they could be damaged or destroyed by flood, water, or fire if they are left unprotected. In an emergency you might need to leave your apartment suddenly and have little time to collect your supplies and put them in a portable package you can easily take with you. One solution to these challenges might be to keep your survival supplies in a fireproof and waterproof container that is small and lightweight.

Survival Supply Items

There are certain commodities you should include in your emergency survival supplies. There may be some items you would need that may not be the same as those needed by others, but there a a few supplies that will be essential for everyone to keep on hand. Food and water are among these. You should keep enough food and water to last at least three days for each person. Foods stored should be non-perishable and should have a shelf life of five years. You may also want to keep water purification tablets in your kit, in case you will need to stay where there is no purified, potable water.

Electrical Power

It will be difficult for you to survive if you are forced to live in your apartment without electrical power. This will be especially true if live in colder regions. To keep yourself and your family warm, you may need to keep a hand-powered generator on hand, one that will supply power to a heater. There is also the matter of light. Without light at night you would be unable to operate your generator, your heater, or to find food or water. If you are unable to keep a generator in your emergency supply, you should at lease keep flashlights with fresh batteries that will fit your flashlights. 

Communication Items

Information from local authorities about tornado's, hurricanes, and other extreme weather conditions can be important. If possible, keep a battery-powered emergency radio on hand. Include fresh batteries that will supply power to it. Some radios will work with electricity supplied by solar panels or hand cranks.