Emergency Toolkit for Home Preparedness

Home emergencies can come about without forewarning and in most circumstances a quick call to 911 will bring help quickly. When a widespread catastrophe impacts an entire region, emergency response crews will be overcome and you may possibly have to depend on yourself to deal with at least some of the problems that may come up.
With a proper plan of action, the appropriate tools, and advanced preparedness, your home emergency kit should have your back in a time of need.
Local supplies like lumber, food, and emergency equipment tend to dwindle rapidly when a big weather event happens like a hurricane due to public panic.

We do not recognize it until it is gone, but electricity powers our entire world. Supplying heat, retaining food at proper temperatures and keeps our utilities running such as pumps and lights. When an outage happens, your family will be secure inside your house with a standby or portable generator to keep the power online and keeping you relaxed until the power is restored.
A generator takes time install or put together, and connecting it properly to your home requires a transfer switch. Have an electrician install a manual transfer switch for a portable generator or an automatic transfer switch for a standby generator and you’ll be ready to withstand a power outage in comfort and security.
If you decide on a portable generator, don’t forget to store fuel in five-gallon storage containers, use a stabilizer to keep it fresh, and rotate it on a normal basis.

When you are in the middle of an emergency, time is usually of the essence making a tool bag a handy thing to have particularly if you need to depart your home and bring it with you. Keep an assortment of pliers, screwdrivers, wrenches and adjustable wrenches. Ratcheting screwdriver sets with interchangeable heads are light, sturdy, and don’t take up a lot of space. In an emergency some tools that are great to have and can really come in handy are Allen wrenches, a hammer, a hacksaw and a hatchet. Heavy-duty extension cords make it easy to connect generators to power tools.

Both Water and food are significant needs and must be considered early on. Make sure that you have water storage containers on hand for the future. During a widespread disaster, larger containers can be useful to store lots of water for prolonged times Though, gallon-size containers are easy to move and fill.
To turn a suspect water source into drinkable water, use a chlorine based water purification tablet which will kill bacteria, viruses and parasites to make water safe for drinking. Bringing along a small camp stove will ensure a warm meal and also permits you to boil your water to make it safe to drink. From your generator it might not be sensible to run your electric stove, although powering a hotplate, toaster oven, or microwave oven could easily be done.
Simple supplies such as duct tape, rope, bungee cords, and lumber should not be overlooked as they will most certainly come in handy. Make sure to keep these stocked at all times and at your reach and resupply your kit when your items inside start to get depleted. 

Battery powered lanterns, flashlights, and lights can get you through the night if you don’t have power or need to conserve generator power. Emitting a powerful bright light gasoline powered lanterns will also give out dangerous carbon monoxide gas so they are not the best choice.
To power some small items like chargers, an inverter can be connected to your cars battery and supply these items with power. Better models with higher wattage can power additional items. Although, trying to run larger motors with the power they supply such as refrigerators, freezers or pumps is not the best and cannot be relied upon.
To prevent your car’s engine battery from running low you must run it periodically though if it happens, utilize a battery charger to recharge it, or you can also use jumper cables to get a boost from another vehicle.
An emergency toolkit in your home isn’t all you require. Have a plan, be prepared to put the plan into use and know what dangers are typical where you live. Adjust your plan to fit those dangers and you’ll be well prepared when an emergency strikes.

For more info go to: www.NPSGenerac.com