For food concerns, and taking up space, many companies sell prepackaged, nitropacked emergency foods. They come as meals, in huge 5 gallon buckets. Get five of those stacked up in one column in your garage or basement and they only take up maybe a 18" x 18" square for a footprint. With food, it's about sustenance - there shouldn't be three meals per day for an adult (unless medically needed). Two meals. If you buy what you already use in recipes, just extra, you can easily stock three weeks' worth of non-perishable food. Then the nitro packed stuff can be used beyond that time period. For the car...MREs. Trail mix. Granola. Dried fruits. Each of our vehicles has emergency kits. MREs also work well in 72 hour bags. 3-5 per backpack. I think a lot of prepping is thinking of "what ifs". What if I couldn't flush my toilet? Where would we want our human waste to be located? If I had to evacuate my home in 30 minutes, what would I take? I know these answers and others already. Because I've mentally prepped them. We have lists written for what to grab by room to evacuate in 30 minutes, two hours, or a day. The longer time we have the more we can take out. I whole heartedly agree that people who are physically and even in small ways, financially, able to prep, release immense burden from first responders, charities, and governmental organizations that can serve the elderly in the homes, or the sick in the hospitals, etc.. There will be times we get whallooped by a situation like what happened to many in Texas. No we can't prepare for everything. But better to do something. My philosophy: better to have and not need, then need and not have. It's kind of a mindset. For example, I was in Michael's craft store the other day and saw two huge candles in their clearance section. They are ugly. But they were $.40 each. I bought them. They're in the basement now with my candle/light stash. I am always looking for things to use. If I don't, maybe a neighbor can.

Please be careful and aware when you lift things up or reach into barely visible holes. Texas has a lot of venomous snakes. Water snakes too. One of my Texan friends in Houston was bemoaning all the "nature" that is displaced too. Sun shelters? With netted sides? Wader boots? Hard hats? Wire cutters? Wet vac? What's the status of gas lines and electric lines? I would not enter the disaster zone until emergency people give an "all clear."

Exactly. So well stated.

All people should determine the most likely natural disaster in their region (even if they are several hundred miles from it) and prep for it. Prep for it little by little do it isn't a huge time or money drain. Prep for it while no one else is running to the stores. Prep for it by buying foods one uses already in recipes and buy many extras. Use a first in first out inventory method so no foods wait too long. Buy jugs of water and store them in cool, sunless places. 1 gallon per person per day. A 72 hour bag is essential. One for each able bodied person. Sure maybe those would have to be ditched or downsized as an emergency unfolds. I don't think that should be a reason not to do them. The point is grab and go! Another PP said it, for those who do prep it takes burdens off the federal and state resources to help others. It's a very easy and selfless thing to do. Also "there was not enough warning" or "people never thought" are exactly the reasons to properly prep. Never be caught with your pants down basically is what this amounts to. Don't rely on media or government to dictate to you what to do and when to do it. Be self sufficient. This is physical insurance. You likely have your stuff and life insured. These preps are insurance against hunger, discomfort, and they do provide a sense of well being and calm. There's always Murphy and so we can't prep for every contingency, but many contingencies can be planned for with minor forethought.

Another online 'friend' on another forum is in Houston, He's older. I jokingly refer to him as an Internet Dad. He's smart and gives good advice on topics relevant to many areas of life. He spent the better part of today donating portions of his own stock piles to evacuees at a local church. He watched them pour in. His remark was how many of them didn't even have foresight to grab a backpack before leaving home, wrap stuff in plastic, and get out. They came wide eyed with not a thing. Of course, lots of people got stranded in vehicles and might not have had that opportunity. But many came from homes nearby. But for years and years and years the US government has urged people to take basic preps especially in areas known for hurricanes. - make a 72 hour bag, have water and food on hand, plan for a disaster. Most don't. Also lots of people's brains kind of shut down in high stress situations. Not everyone thinks clearly or plans rationally. That's what my friend is seeing a lot of today. Yes, I know from personal experience that most people blow it off. IMHO waiting until a hurricane is on my doorstep isn't a time to run and grab groceries, water, and batteries. Those should be on hand already. A few years ago I did a disaster prep talk for a local moms group. It was more than a talk. The free resources I gave them were excellent ways to get started on basic family preps. Not a single one of 30+ women did anything about it. Not a single one. I feel very strongly about taking responsibility for my family and giving them what they need in a trial and disaster. Even my own parents blow it off.

As for projections, I just read this damage, according to one insurer, is on par with Katrina. As for water, you can use the water in your toilet tanks too (once boiled). And your hot water heater has water in it...you just have to access it. If it's still raining, you could collect falling rain water and boil that. Much of the country is coming together for you all!

We're rural but connected via state highways to bigger cities (35 miles from St Paul the state's capital). So aside from the farmers here, people work elsewhere. We pay taxes to our township, but they pay a local town for fire and ambulance services. Our county sheriff's department handles our law enforcement. We pay taxes in a local other town too for school district use. The town won't "die" out. As long as farmers farm or the land owners rent their farms to be farmed, there will be people here. Many towns here share stuff like fire, ambulance, LE, schools, road maintenance, snow removal.

I live in a small township of only 280 residences in rural MN. We have bylaws against any development other than Ag or residential. And the residential can only be one home per a certain number of acres. We also permit schools or churches (or other religious buildings). But that's it. And we love it. I don't want mini malls, subdivisions, or anything obstructing our view of the rolling hills and corn fields across our dirt road. Other townships in the US have those same options too. Many Americans enjoy the non-city life.

The towns sprung up in the 1700s on the east coast and pressed westward through the 1800s. I think if we dug back into history and geography, people settled where there was water (mostly) as the US at one time was primarily an agricultural nation (it still very much is). People also settled and built towns wherever the US Army set up posts (forts) out west. They serviced the forts with business and were generally protected too. As for uninhabitable land in the US, our Rocky Mountains are very tough for large cities, which is why all the towns in them are tourist/ski towns. Some places are just arid desert. Other places are swamps or too low lying to build upon. But a sizeable portion of the US (which people on the coasts call 'fly over territory') is mostly agricultural (corn, soybeans, livestock, wheat, etc.). Our big cities have public transport. Plus things like Uber are hugely popular. Many big cities on the coasts are connected by passenger trains. There is a national rail line called Amtrak, but it's just honestly faster and easier to fly. The country being so big...planes make sense.

Just read a post on another forum I visit by one of my "Internet Dads" (an older guy whom I respect and trust for practical advice on certain matters). He's in the devastated area. Still has power, but he reported the US Coast Guard is operating...100 miles...inland. Sheesh.

Yes. True. We do see one another every two years or so.

Some do as part of engaging and enticing new employees...my experience says it's not many companies that do it (I could be wrong), that they are typically for higher wage earning white collar jobs, and the new employee MUST legally remain in the business for a set amount of time like multiple years. They get locked in.

What you can feel good about: 1. You saw a potential problem and acted quickly. 2. You've got an appointment on the books. There is absolutely nothing you can do right now. If it's not cancer, then you've wasted time and energy worrying. If it is cancer, then you tackle that if that's the case. I understand the feeling alone in the worry though. Many times I want to share something that's tough for me and just think it will burden my loved ones. Except maybe it won't...maybe don't tell DH, but telling one person close to you may actually help you emotionally. People have an uncanny ability to bear up with one another in pressuring times. PS: stay off the Internet. You've been proactive already.

My 7 and 5 year olds can. DS4 is asking for a snack within two hours of every meal. If we eat breakfast at 8 and lunch at 1130, he wants a snack around 10. Like clock work. If we eat lunch at 1130 and dinner at 530, he wants a snack around 200. Kids just burn more calories being so active. I find they get along better, pay better attention, and are good at obeying better when their tummies aren't grumbling. But I don't fix a whole meal...no way!

That's freaky. In college, two friends and I got filmed on a beach in VA just sun bathing. We noticed the men doing it were filming lots of women. We told the beach cops, but it's okay there bc it's public property. Some guys with another group of girls being filmed confronted the filmers and they left. It's definitely a violation. I wonder if this kid's home town police blotter has any reports of unsolved peeping toms. Our old REA had a peeping Tom. He got very, very bold and would stand outside her windows. Cops did very little.

A snack, IMO, is just a bridge between meals. Something to tie a person over until a meal. That would be: A string cheese. A handful of cereal or goldfish or popcorn or pretzels. A full piece of fruit (not just a few bits). A pack of healthy fruit snack things. With or without a drink. If with a drink, just water.

Long distance BFF? For me it's every 1-2 months. But I'm a bit hurt...her DH bought a fishing boat, she traded her car in for a minivan, and she ran a 5k and all of this I learned on FB... And I consider these things BIG news. These are big things for her. Kinda just emoting, I guess, that I heard about it on FB. 😕

A bank will want to verify your identity as the POA (papers and your ID) before they will add you to an account as POA. The person (and any other account signers) needing you as POA will need to sign to add you. Technically, if online info is shared with you, you "could" just use bill pay. But if there's ever a problem and you're not listed on the account as POA the bank legally cannot even talk to you. It is very, very helpful to be added to accounts as the POA.

Hope you're okay! Best of luck with the prepping. - Internet Stranger

If she's good with the planner, perhaps it also needs to be her daily tool for life tasks too. Maybe she could make a box off to the side for each day for "tasks" to get done. Or reminders to "follow up on." It's nice you're helping her. I suppose she'll have to figure out a plan that works since you won't be around all the time. She just can't say "I'll do it." She should say "I've written it down" maybe that will help her.

Ugh. So gross. I detest any indoor play structures. I'm not usually a germophobe but that does it for me. Also my DS peed in one by accident. If my kid did it...and I know about it...how many accidents go unknown? Eww.

DD5 does this. She likes to chew on rubber toy truck wheels (little ones). Yesterday she was sucking on a penny. She is very sensory (she peels off grape and peach skins with her mouth).

Why did the banana go to the doctor? Because he wasn't peeling well. (My DS4's favorite joke).

There is a large arm chair (seats two tightly) but it transforms into a twin bed. We have one of those. I think we paid $500 for it brand new. It's gotten lots of use.

I agree. Two naval ship collisions in only two/three months time? Nope not buying that this was an accident.