11. No Home and No Place to Go
Well, it is a really bad scenario. You lost your home and there isn’t an immediate place to go.
The first thought is the first thought in every situation. Get the family together. If you are a single person with no family in the area you may have a church family or group of friends that have agreed to band together in a chaotic situation. You will need to get together with them as soon as possible.
Second thought is probably shelter. If you have a car – do you still have your car? Keep in mind that this is a temporary situation, but a car does provide shelter. If the heat isn’t too bad you can even lock the doors and have a safely enclosed area. If you have a family sleeping in the car is not possible except for sitting up. That is awful, but it is possible for a day or two. Hopefully it won’t come to that, but it if does don’t sleep under a tree in the rain when you could get in your car and shut the door. Do not run the engine while you plan to sleep. There is extreme danger of carbon monoxide poisoning if you do that.
There are some basic things you need to keep in your car even you keep the cleanest neatest car on the block.
Aside from a few basic mechanic tools you need to have some water and a blanket(s). That would allow you to stay hydrated and avoid freezing.
A small emergency pack for your car should include things like a first aid kit including band-aids, antibiotic slave, disinfectant wipes, and whatever you might personally use for minor first aid needs. You can make your own kit or buy a kit at a reasonable price.
MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) are good to have even if you don’t exactly like them. Unless you eat a lot there is probably more than you will eat in one meal package. We take them camping and on day picnics. It is just too easy. A good place to buy them in my area is at a gun and knife show. You can get a case of twelve for around $50. If you have gluten allergies they can still work if you share with others in the family. When we open a couple I get what is gluten free and the others the rest. If you are a celiac this will not work for you. MRE’s for celiacs are available but they are more expensive. If you have severe wheat/gluten allergies you already know that it is more expensive. My son puts together his own MRE’s for his nephew who has allergies. He even has refried beans. He puts all sorts of things together including bottled water and then uses his food saver to seal it up in a bag. We don’t have an easy heater for these, but they do provide something for our little one who has wheat allergies if everyone else is eating food out of a bag. If you put canned goods in your car be sure to put in a can opener. You can actually cut a can open with a pocket knife, but that is pretty dangerous. Check your safety kit before you actually try that. You may need to have a needle and thread in the kit in case you cut yourself so badly opening the can that you need stitches. Seriously, you have to be extra careful because medical help may not be readily available during times of disaster.
Speaking of a pocket knife you really need to have one in the car with your emergency kit. Things like nail clippers, a comb, a package of wet-wipes, travel tooth brush and tooth paste, liquid soap, and other things you normally use for personal hygiene. You can also put in a change of clothes for yourself and your family. For this I would use older clothes that aren’t normally worn, but still useful in a pinch. If you have growing children you would have to make an effort to keep something in the pack they could actually wear. This really does not have to be a large pack. But it does need to be there just in case you ever actually need it.
If you have absolutely no place to go in one area, then it is a good idea to leave that area if you possibly can and go to an area where you will have a place to stay. When Hurricane Katrina hit the coastal southern United States there were people who had absolutely no place to go to escape the storm, and no place to be for some time after the storm. The government even sent people to other areas of the country. It would be better to decide on your own to go somewhere that is at least familiar to you in some way. The government is a machine. It has lost its respect for the individual. By the way, if it looks like the area in which you live will be hit hard by something like a storm and broken levees then it would be a good idea to consider evacuating the area before you face the brunt of the storm or get trapped.
If you have a home that is structurally sound after something like a storm or earthquake it would probably be better to stay in the home at least long enough to think the situation over more carefully. Setting up a tent in your own yard is a possibility.