What’s really important?

I’m still not totally sure “what’s really important” to take into a safe-room or shelter when faced with an emergency like the one I experienced last night. I will have to think about what is essential first. I live in Mississippi and at about 5pm New Year's Eve a line of severe storms with 100 mph straight line winds, probability of tornadoes, and flooding was headed in my direction. This escalated to a tornado warning by 6pm. I reasoned that I had about a half hour to prepare. The warning system of sirens and voice we have here was giving instructions to seek shelter. My Chihuahua was the most important thing on my mind…and her food. My husband was working at the local WalMart where he and the other employees and shoppers had gathered in the middle of the store. He kept calling me to give and get updates so my cell phone and spare batteries were the next most important items I thought of. Flashlights, battery powered radio, paper towels? I had already stored 6 gallons of water under the sink in our designated “safe room” which is our guest bathroom located “dead center” in our house. No windows and plenty of pipes, studs, iron tub, and custom cabinets for protection. I rounded up my medicine and then threw my husband’s medicine into a “clean” garbage bag along with additional gauze, bandages, peroxide, and alcohol. Then I gathered up all our laptops, storage devices, and 2010 tax info (I keep the tax stuff in a binder). Can’t forget that the IRS needs to be fed in about 3 months. My purse and our social security cards, a blanket, two really thick pillows, some crackers and a banana were the last things I thought of just before I turned the sound up on the local weather on our bedroom TV so I could hear what was going on up until either the electricity went out or until the emergency sirens signaled the crisis was over. Then my Chihuahua and I settled down to wait for the storm or for the storm to be over. So what did this practice run do for me? A lot! I know now that I need to store a 3-day supply of “real food” in pop-top cans so we can eat till the rescuers can to get to us. I need to assess the important items I will need during the emergency (and after) and have them centrally located so I can grab them all at one time. I might not have the luxury of 20 minutes to think about what I might need to survive. I need to have at least $200 so that afterwards I can buy the things I need at the super inflated prices vendors will be able to charge. Money talks and bullsh*t walks. I need to keep all my important papers that prove who I am and what I own and how it is insured in the “safe room”. Today I am going to make a list of all the things I need to buy, and all the papers I need to have and put them together where I can grab them in less than 5 minutes in case of another emergency. I will have to re-assess “what’s really important”!!!