Items That Will Disappear After A Disaster

35 Comments

1. Your list is quite thorough. I would add small personal water filters like the Sawyer Mini or the Lifestraw in case of evacuations. A big filter like the Berkley is not very portable. We have Sawyer Minis for each of us plus spares. They are relatively inexpensive, about $20-22 each. The other item is extra buckets which have many uses.

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   1. Hi Liz, thanks for the reminder. I get to typing and sometimes I forget some ideas. Thank you so much! Adding them now. Linda

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   2. We give individual straw filters as gifts to our children/grandchildren along with handcranked/batteri/solar flashlight/radios that also have plug in for phone chargers. For the older grandchildren this has encouraged them to start thinking about their own preparedness needs.

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      1. Hi Donna, those are great gifts! Great comment! Linda

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      2. Hi Donna,
         They are excellent gifts. I have gifted Sawyer minis, but the radio is a great idea.

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2. Water purification is so important. I just printed off your list. I am going to be working on stocking medical supplies this month after I inventory what I already have.

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   1. Hi Liz, you are so right! We can do this, we will be prepared for the unexpected! Linda

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3. My husband was recently put on a nebulizer. He was able to purchase online a battery operated backup that he carries with him when he goes to town or on longer jaunts. ( our area is undergoing extensive road construction, so it ups travel time significantly…. up to an hour to get to church now.) In a pinch he could use essential oils as a replacement for the treatment vials. We have been building a reserve of both his meds and quality essential oils that could help.

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   1. Hi BDN, those battery-operated backups are awesome! Wow, an hour to church!! I love essential oils, they can be used so many things. Linda

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4. Buckets, all types and sizes especially with lids. Wash clothes and towels. Laundry supplies (soap, plunger, tubs, clothesline, clothes pins). Microfiber cloth in lieu of toilet paper. Pool shock. Cardboard boxes. Canning jars and lids, non-electric pressure cooker. Open fire grates and rotisserie. Screen mesh (windows and dehydrator). All hand tools (saws, axes, drills, nails, screws, washers, hammer, screwdriver). Matches and lighters. Lanterns (candle, kerosene and propane). Portable toilet. Solar showers, in fact any thing solar power. Activated carbon and limestone. Sand and gravel. This is just a short list.

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   1. Hi Linda, great list!!! I will add to my post when I have time. THANK YOU, Linda

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5. Hi Linda,
   You have been very detailed and I thank you for that. I plan to take each section and compare it to what I have. Filling in the gaps will not seem overwhelming if you go step by step. Plus I can add on to the list. Great article. Marcia

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   1. Hi Marcia, this is why I decided to break it out in sections. All we have to do is stock up slowly. We can do this, I promise. Linda

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6. Hi Linda,
   As always your articles are very good and thorough, however I’m wondering in the event of a big
   disaster what do we do [especially people in apartments] with trash build up and human waste.

   Virginia

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   1. Hi Virginia, everyone will have this problem. I have a paragraph about this in my book. We will have to dig a hole 3 feet deep to bury it and several hundred feet away from any water source. We will have to burn our trash away from any building. Yes, we need to stock a lot of 33-gallon bags. LOTS of them. We can do this, Linda

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   2. Linda, what an excellent list. One thing I’ve thought of while watching news about natural disasters our nation seems to have (in increasing numbers) is that, many folks think, “I have most of these things already”, especially the medical supply list. What they don’t realize is that injuries/illnesses will Increase after a disaster. For example, I may have a big unopened tube of Neosporin now, which I haven’t had to use since I bought it a year ago…how long would that last if people around me had minor injuries? (Same for most of the things on your list.) Yet, having just one more tube could mean the difference, maybe even between life and death.
      I’ve always kept ‘extras’ but recently I went to my emergency pack of med supplies for allergy tablets (I was out, needed one badly): Gone! Checked other basics. Also Gone! My kids had been grabbing stuff from this supply, hadn’t told me that not only were things gone from the bathroom pantry but also the extras! Lol, I guess they were unknowingly rotating my supplies.

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      1. Hi Wendy, I love your comment, they have unknowingly rotated my supplies! I know what you mean when we only have one partially used tube of Neosporin. Oh, and the allergy tablets, off to the store we go. We really will go through a lot of supplies when a disaster hits. If everyone in the neighborhood would stock up we would be better off. My concern is for those who store nothing. Yikes! Linda

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7. Hi Linda,

   Ranch and feed stores are a great place to get a lot of medical supplies, and at much lower prices than at regular stores. The veterinary equivalents will work just fine. Coban (for people) is ridiculously expensive. Vet-Wrap is the same stuff for a lot less.

   Ranch and feed stores (at least in my area) often also carry fish antibiotics. Interestingly, they are in the same dosages as for people and manufactured at the same plant and look just the same. (You can read more about this in Dr. Joseph Alton’s book “Alton’s Antibiotics and Infectious Disease: The Layman’s Guide to Available Antibacterials in Austere Settings.”) While they are more expensive than getting from overseas pharmacies, you don’t have to worry about a “paper trail.”

   And there are a lot more antibiotics that prepared people should be storing. These really can’t be manufactured easily post-collapse, and there are some conditions they treat for which there is no known natural alternative treatment and which have a very high mortality rate without the antibiotic.

   Jennifer
   PrepSchoolDaily (dot blogspot dot com)

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   1. Hi Jennifer, great tip! I’m going to go check out our ranch ad feed stores. I still need to order Dr. Alton’s new book. Thanks for the reminder. Linda

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8. Wow Linda, you really put a lot of time and effort into this post, and it is awesome. I have been prepping as some people call it for a few years, but you have several items on this list i never thought of.
   Great work as usual, hope all is well…

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   1. Hi Hearl, life is so good, thank you, my friend! Thank you for your kind words, they mean so much to me. Linda

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9. Great list. If someone needs a little push, give them a copy of “Lights Out” by Ted Koppel.

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   1. Hi Janet, I totally agree with you on that book! I love it!! Linda

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10. I love the list breakdown. That being said, there are a few things on the list that, while they will certainly disappear from the shelves, I am not going to worry about. For example, Milk, Chocolate milk, Hamburger buns, Hot dog buns, Tortillas, Dinner rolls, Biscuits, Frozen waffles, Frozen pancakes, Frozen foil dinners, Bread, Peanut butter (I store PB2). I can make all of these things from scratch and the PB2 only requires a bit of preparation for sandwiches. I still do need to work on some of the categories, though to be as thoroughly prepared as I can – living in an apartment!! I won’t be storing lumber and that sort of thing. I just don’t have the room. I also need to be cognizant of the ability to store more than the basics due to space but I will still do well on the preps I have and will store in the very near future.

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    1. Hi Leanne, You are so prepared already my friend. My point is letting people think about all the items that will be gone after a major disaster or a major grid down. Our country needs to be prepared for more than they are right now. Some of us get it, others do not. May God bless them, they will need it. Linda

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11. I have lived without many things in my 73 years but I’m making this statement right now: I will NOT be without coffee & toilet paper! Lol I am going to print your list & pass it on to grown grandchildren. It’s so had to get them to leave their normalcy bias behind. Thanks so much; love hearing from you.

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    1. Hi Linda, oh my gosh, I forgot to make a personal hygiene list. I just added it. LOL! Thanks for your wonderful comment! Linda

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12. Wһen I initially commented I seem to have clicked on the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now wһeneveг a comment is added I receive 4 emails with the same comment.
    Perhaps there is an easy method you arе ablе tⲟ remove me from thɑt service?

    Kudos!

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    1. Hi rephases, oh my gosh, I did that once on a blog. Please unsubscribe when you receive the next email from me. Then subscribe again. Please let me know if this works. That’s not fun getting all those emails. Linda

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13. This is a great list. One thing to note, on the tubes of Neosporin and the like. Check the crimped end of the tube or the box, usually the manufacturer puts an expiration date on the tube. That might give you an idea of how long you can store it as one or more of the ingredients may expire and hurt you. Tetracycline has a very short shelf life for example, both “human” and “animal” antibiotics. Some meds do have a 10 year life span if the research by the US Army is correct.I’m not sure if you still can find the info on the research they did as the Army was tired of tossing meds and running up their costs( IF you can believe that) but it may be helpful in determining what and how much to store and rotation dates

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    1. Hi Kathy, oh my gosh, great reminder. I just went through all my supplies and yes we must check the crimped bottoms of Neosporin and other creams. I’m going to add that to the list. Good to know about Tetracycline, I don’t store that one but my medical doctor told me the ones I stock will last 10-15 years. I stock Cipro, Keflex (Cephalexin), Amoxicillin, Zithromax (Z-packs), and Ivermectin to name a few. He has Dementia now, so I won’t be able to stock pile anymore. The FDA shut down the ability to purchase the Fish antibiotics without a prescription online now from a vet. Great comment, thank you, Linda

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14. Linda,
    One thing I might add to the fuel list for those of us that have portable generators is gasoline. Gasoline stabilized with Pri-G or StaBil is good for up to two years. While my portable generator will not power my whole house, it will power some lights and can keep our freezer operating long enough to use up the expensive meats and other things contained in it. Also, we can keep a small amount of ice in it for some cold water to drink on our 100° days.

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    1. Hi Harry, great idea, I will go add that along with the gasoline stabilizers you mentioned. Light is really important so having a small generator or a large one either way we will need gasoline. Keeping the freezer safe for a few days/weeks will be critical. Great comments as always, my friend. Adding it right now, thank you! Linda

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15. Hi Linda, I was revisiting some of your older posts and came across this one from April 2024. I wanted to make a comment about communities outside disaster areas. I live in Western NC, just west of the Hurricane Helene devastation. We were actually supposed to get hit, so many in the community starting stocking up on gas, water and basics. We were very lucky to have been spared. But then a wonderful thing happened: before the rains stopped, people were buying supplies to send to the devastated areas (this went on for weeks, but also decimated out local supply). Unfortunately, our grocery store’s headquarters and main warehouse were heavily damaged. What little was on the shelves in our store was gone quickly, plus the store could only accept cash. Between the people buying and donating and those affected by the storm who were heading west for gas and supplies, our stores were running out. We were all also heading south into Georgia for supplies. What I am suggesting is that when a major storm event is predicted, stock up on things that you eat daily or may need for at least 30-60 days: cash, gas, toilet paper, water, bread, soups, snacks, pet food, medications (both prescription and OTC), baby food and diapers. These were the things not only being bought and donated, but were also needed by our community. Just because your community was spared does not mean you will be safe from shortages.

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    1. Hi Pam, oh my gosh, I LOVE LOVE LOVE comment. I had a friend in Florida that was affected by the storm, houses were flooded and a friend in SC that was not affected. They both stocked up beforehand, thank goodness. But my friend in Florida couldn’t get gas. She was going to fill up but had to wait until she got paid. THEN, the gas shortages started. No gas, she was on foot, literally getting groceries from nearly empty shelves. My friend in SC, her husband and a few men drove with trucks and equipment to help in Georgia as I remember. Your comment you shared helps all of us. We may not have been directly affected by the storm, but in a sense you were because the other states needed supplies as well. This is a wake up call for all of us. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing. TRUTH: “stock up on things that you eat daily or may need for at least 30-60 days: cash, gas, toilet paper, water, bread, soups, snacks, pet food, medications (both prescription and OTC), baby food and diapers”, thank you, Linda

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