Your Emergency Kits Revisited

The new preparedness standard is 120-hours.  Initially 72-hour kits were the recommendation.  Then the last few years it became a more realistic 96-hours.  At present, professional responders strongly recommend each person/family needs to be prepared to meet their essential needs for a minimum of 5 days and 5 nights.  We are told not to expect outside help reaching our communities in a major disaster for 120-hours.  They know this from reviewing the aftermath of many national major disasters.

How to revamp 96-hour emergency kits?  Add an additional day of water, food and medications to your Emergency Kits for each member of your household.

Don’t Take Your Water Heater for Granted

Do you know anyone who has had to redo their basements because of flooding caused by a failed water heater?  I know two families in the midst of the painful steps of recovering from this household disaster.  Let’s learn from their experience.

Because most water heaters are often tucked away in the basement, garage or an outside closet, we forget about them as long as we have sufficient hot water at command.

When did you last inspect your water heater?  It should be done annually.  As time pushes against the suggested life of this appliance, inspect more frequently.  If you are beyond the common life span (usually 7 years), pay attention.

Consider having a trusted plumbing professional do that inspection --- not every vulnerability is visible to the untrained eye.  For example, a failing temperature or pressure relief valve (that helps prevent a water heater burst) could fail.