This morning I woke up, went to the bathroom, turned the tap on, and no water came out.
I went to the kitchen, but no water came out of that tap either.
I went to the fridge to see if the water jug we keep in the door had anything in it, but the jug wasn't in there. The kettle was empty too.
I discovered that the only water in the house was in the fish tank (yuck) and in the toilet cisterns (double yuck).
A quick walk out to the street showed that there was a burst water main a few houses away. A call to SA Water indicated that it might be two hours before the water supply would come back on.
Fortunately there was milk in the house, or everyone would have been very thirsty indeed!
The earthquakes in Christchurch and Japan and the Queensland floods have made me aware that I should keep a supply of bottled water in the house. I have mentioned this to several people. Yet I have done nothing about it. Part of me can't bear to spend money buying water when it's so easily accessible from the tap -- usually.
However, this event, while trivial overall, has reminded me that I should do more about disaster preparedness. A search of the internet revealed numerous websites that can help us to prepare an emergency plan, some of which I've listed below. If you google 'emergency preparation' or '72 hour kit' you will find more; the general consensus is that each household should have a 72-hour store of water and non-perishable foodstuffs, along with items such as candles and a first-aid kit.
- 72 Hours.org
- Ready.gov
- Go Bags
- LDS 72 Hour food kit
- http://www.emd.wa.gov/preparedness/documents/piy_72_hour.pdf
Have you done anything to prepare in case of a natural disaster or disruption of services? What have you done?
Can you recommend any other websites on disaster preparedness?
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