While it’s healthy to always hope for the best, it’s important to be prepared for the worst. For disaster preparation, keeping an emergency supply of food and water is essential.

To get started, keep a minimum three-day supply of food that doesn’t require refrigeration, cooking, or a lot of water to prepare. According to emergency professionals, storing enough supplies for seven days or more is even better.

If you have a kitchen with enough storage space, consider adding extra food to your usual non-perishable inventory. Gradually building up your emergency supplies will not put a strain on your food budget. Spend a few minutes making a plan for what and how many of each item you want to have in inventory. Then rotate the stock, so your goods maintain quality.

If you don’t have much storage space, consider setting aside a food supply specifically for disasters. Non-perishables may be stored in bins under beds or other available areas. Plan to consume and replenish these items within a year. Canned goods will remain safe to eat after then, but quality does diminish.

Here are some ideas for each meal to get you started.

Breakfast Ideas:

• Packaged fruit and juice
• Shelf-stable milk
• Tea bags, instant coffee. Ground coffee beans if you have a non-electric brewing system.
• Ready-to-eat cereals or breakfast bars
• Crackers with honey and nut butter
• Nuts and seeds

Lunch or Dinner Ideas:

• Shelf-stable meats, fish or poultry
• Meat jerky
• Canned beans
• Canned soup or other ready to eat shelf-stable meals
• Crackers with honey and nut butter
• Canned vegetables
• Packaged fruit

Snack Ideas:

Packaged fruit, ready-to-eat cereals, nuts and seeds, fruit leathers, crackers, cookies, breakfast bars, beef jerky, trail mix, packaged prepared pudding, chocolateIf the disaster allows you to have an alternative cooking source, such as a camping stove, propane grill or a wood burning stove, there are more meal options. Consider adding spaghetti sauce, pasta, macaroni and cheese, rice or flavored rice and hot cereal to your supply. Shelf-stable vegetables, like potatoes and winter squash may be prepared.

Water

An emergency water supply is the most important preparation, since it’s possible to survive on a small amount of food for weeks but we can’t go without water for more than a few days.

Store enough clean water to allow each person in the household to use 1 to 1.5 gallons per day. Increase the amount stored if there are children, sick people, and nursing mothers in the home. Store a quart to a gallon per pet per day, depending on its size.

Store a minimum 3-day supply of water. If you have the space for it, consider storing a two-week supply.

Water should be stored in thoroughly sanitized food-grade plastic or glass containers with tight-fitting lids. Food-grade plastic containers will not transfer harmful chemicals into the water or food they contain. Examples include containers previously used to store beverages, like 2-liter soda bottles, juice bottles or containers made specifically to hold drinking water. Avoid using milk containers because they can be hard to clean. If you are going to purchase a container to store water, make sure it is labeled food-grade or food-safe.

Sanitizing Containers

• First, wash the inside and outside of each container with soap and hot water.
• Next, sanitize containers with a solution of 1 teaspoon of non-scented household bleach per quart of water. Close the container tightly and shake well, making sure that the bleach solution touches all of the internal surfaces of the container. Let the container sit for 30 seconds and pour the solution out.
• Finally, rinse thoroughly with plain clean water.

If your drinking water comes from a public supply, no chemical disinfectant is needed. An exception is if an emergency "boil water" notice has been given, in which case you would need to disinfect the water before drinking or storing it. If the water you are storing comes from a private well, spring, or other untested source, purify it before storage to kill pathogens.

Purifying Water

• Coffee filters may be used to remove sediment before purifying water.

• Water boiled continuously for at least one minute can be stored in a suitable container at room temperature.

• You may also disinfect water with bleach. Use 16 drops from a medicine dropper or ¹⁄₄ teaspoon of chlorine bleach (5%–6% sodium hypochlorite) for each gallon of water. If the water is not clear even after filtering, double the amount of bleach.

Storage of Drinking Water

• After containers have been filled with clean water, label and date them.

• According to the CDC, your stored water should be replaced every 6 months. Observe expiration dates for store-bought water.

• Direct heat and light can slowly damage plastic containers, resulting in eventual leakage, so they should be stored in a dark, cool, and dry place.
• Container caps should be tightly secured.
• Store water away from gasoline, kerosene, pesticides, or similar substances because vapors from these materials can penetrate plastic.

Having an emergency supply of food and water is like life insurance. It brings peace of mind and you are happy to not need it!

Facts from N.C. Cooperative Extension and the CDC