Emergency Preparedness

Growing up in California, it was engrained in me that you had to have emergency supplies on hand in event of a natural disaster, mainly earthquakes.  We did have a few wind storms that knocked out our power for days at a time growing up, but that was primarily due to power lines being down.  Somewhere in all of my moving, I have lost my need to stock up in event of emergency.  Seeing the events after the recent Japan earthquake and the rush to the store to get whatever was left, made me rethink the need to have at least some emergency supplies on hand.

Singapore is a relatively safe country with regards to natural disasters.  We were told that there are no typhoons, no earthquakes (although some people have felt them when they hit Indonesia), no tornados, the only thing that occurs with any real threat tends to be flooding due to the thunderstorms.  Because it is relatively free from natural disasters, living quarters are small, risk of bugs and vermin are high, many people do not store a large amount of food at home in case of emergencies.

There are always the essentials: flashlight/candles, batteries, radio, first aid kit, copies of important documents, etc that you need to have put in a safe place, but the food items may be a challenge for you to think about.  Here are some ideas of items to keep in your pantry for emergencies:

- Water - probably the most important edible item on the list, due to the climate here in Singapore.  Most recommendations that I found are 1 gallon (3.8 L) per person per day for at least 3 days, however taking the climate into consideration, I would recommend keeping 1.5-2 gallons/person/day, which may seem like a lot of water to keep in a corner somewhere, especially if you have a large family.  Remember, odds are if there is a disaster, there is a high chance we will not have electricity, which means no air conditioning = lots of sweating, especially if you are accustomed to sitting in a cool place.   
- Food - things that have a long shelf life and require little to no cooking are important to keep for emergencies, however try to avoid foods with a lot of salt.  Good foods can be: canned fruits and vegetables, canned fish (tuna or salmon, healthwise, packed in water is always better for you), and canned beans.  Also packaged products like crackers, however remember to rotate these out on a regular basis as they can go bad in this weather.  Nuts and dried fruit are also good snacks, but they also need to be rotated out on a regular basis. 

Food items are similar to what you may have had at home, however remember to rotate the food out on a regular basis as the humidity and heat will cause them to go bad.  Also, check the cans on a regular basis and make sure there are no dents in the cans - if there are dents, use the food up as quickly to the time that the dent occurred as possible as this may have compromised the integrity of the can seal which increases the chance of the food spoiling. 

Remember these foods should be able to be consumed without cooking, however limited cooking will still probably be available in most households as most have a gas tank hooked up to the stove. 

With the adjustments in the weather patterns, it is hard to tell what may come our way.  Hopefully we will never need our emergency supplies, but being prepared never hurts.