This article was written by Daisy Luther and originally published at TheOrganicPrepper.
Editor’s Comment: The possibility of being simply stranded on typically doesn’t receive the same focus as other prepping strategies, but it seems very realistic. The best laid plans of mice and men left at home, while you are caught by circumstance and natural disaster during a trip out in your car.
Extreme gridlock, accidents, downed power lines, bridge collapses and many other factors could make driving home impossible in the short term. What if your vehicle is damaged, wrecked, run off the road or just out of gas? Here’s some ideas on prepping to escape from your vehicle, and stash enough supplies to last a minimum of 72 hours.
Over a Thousand Motorists Stranded by the Flood: Are You Prepped for Something Like This?
by Daisy Luther
As the waters in Louisiana continue to rise, over a thousand motorists stranded by the flood have been stuck on Interstate 12 for more than 24 hours. Southeast Louisiana has been hard-hit before with flooding, and a decade after Hurricane Katrina, people are still trying to rebuild.
Some families were trying to evacuate, as flood waters crept closer to their homes, while others were going about their day-to-day business. The National Guard has dispatched helicopters to drop food, water, and supplies to the folks who are waiting in their cars for rescue.
Being stranded in your vehicle is not as rare as you might think. A few years back, a freak snowstorm in Georgia and Alabama resulted in a gridlock that left motorists heading home from work stranded in their cars overnight. And in an even more dramatic event, one family was stranded in the frigid wilderness for days after an accident, surviving on what they had with them in their Jeep.
There are several preparedness lessons to be learned from this disaster:
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Your car kit should see you through at least 48 hours. Do you have enough water and food that doesn’t require cooking to get your family through an event like this? Do you have a way to keep small children entertained? Go here to see what I keep in my car kit. Yes, it’s extensive, but in a situation like this one, we could last for days without waiting for a helicopter to drop supplies to us.
- Whenever possible, evacuate before things get this bad. Timing is everything when it comes to an evacuation. If you get out early, you won’t get stuck in traffic and are less likely to encounter insurmountable hazards. (This is an excellent guide to evacuations.) Of course, you can’t always make it out ahead of the crowd, especially in a situation with conditions that strike suddenly, like wildfire (check out the videos here to see how fast it can happen) or flash floods.
- Keep your gas tank above 3/4 full. If you get stranded, you may need to run your vehicle for warmth, to keep the cell phone battery charged, and to listen to news updates. You’ll be glad you kept the tank topped up.
If you were stranded in your car, would you have to wait for supplies to be dropped?
None of these steps take a whole lot of money or effort. Go to your pantry right now and choose some supplies to add to your vehicle. It can’t hurt, and it could possibly make a miserable experience a lot less unpleasant.
Hat tip to Ellen!
This article was written by Daisy Luther and originally published at TheOrganicPrepper.
Please feel free to share any information from this site in part or in full, leaving all links intact, giving credit to the author and including a link to this website and the following bio. Daisy Luther is a single mom who lives in a small village in the mountains of Northern California, where she homeschools her youngest daughter and raises veggies, chickens, and a motley assortment of dogs and cats. She is a best-selling author who has written several books, including The Organic Canner, The Pantry Primer: A Prepper’s Guide to Whole Food on a Half-Price Budget, and The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide: Harvest, Treat, and Store Your Most Vital Resource. Daisy is a prolific blogger who has been widely republished throughout alternative media. On her website, The Organic Prepper, Daisy uses her background in alternative journalism to provide a unique perspective on health, self-reliance, personal liberty, and preparedness. You can follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.
Always carry water,energy bars,blanket,extra ammo,don’t forget the TP.Hell sounds like my truck all the time,may have to dig through the hunting clothes to find it,that and the hidden jug I’ll be okay! Lol
Maniac –out
“LM”
Have you been in my truck?????
I just got a new one and when I took all the stuff out of my F150 I could have lived in it for weeks. What is nice about the Rebel it has more storage space. So YEP more stuff!!!!
Sgt.
Like what does this mean?
Editor’s Comment: The possibility of being simply stranded on typically doesn’t receive the same focus as other prepping strategies, but it seems very realistic.
HUH? Anybody proof read this prior to print?
~WWTI… Some of us here, actually reads these articles prior to commenting.
Proof read yourself. Should say ‘some of us here actually read these articles……’?
Keep a handful of plastic grocery bags in an old plastic bucket in the truck ‘case I get caught out and have to take the “Browns to the Super Bowl”. Just take the bucket, line it with a couple of the bags and take care of business. Of course the State Roads clean up crew ain’t gonna like what they find.
Neither will property owners. I already had to scare the crap out of a state road worker for trying to sneak down from the road to take a leak in my little grove of trees on the property.
(in an emergency, go use the Weyerhaeuser property across the highway, dammit).
We told them to go across the road to your property.
(boyo)
LMAO! I use my outdoor bathroom (behind trees and shrubs)on my property cause I don’t feel like taking off my shoes to use any of the bathrooms in the house. Besides… it feels like…FREEDOM!!!!!!
MrnMrsWeyerhaeuser, I’d ‘ov shook my “package” at you.
Heh…funny stuff.
(Weyerheuser is a lumber/paper corporation. They have a logging lease across the road.)
I keep sufficient supplies in my truck as well as filters for the water (saves having to swap out water jugs, having the water go flat from being exposed to sunlight, or having them slosh and bounce around in the back). Besides, with water filters and flood prep, you already know that you’ll have plenty of water around to filter, so…
Overall though, a flood isn’t generally that hard to react to. If you live in/near a flood zone, you keep an eye on the weather, and on the thing that may cause the flood (usually a river). Once it gets to a certain point. you get out and off to higher ground… believe it or not, if you live in a rural area you actually have time to do a lot of stuff (not a lot of time, but quite a bit – time enough to toss extra stuff in the car, get animals, secure your livestock if you have a small enough operation, lock up the place, then get the hell out.)
Now in a flash-flood area (e.g. a desert region), you have very little time, but the flood zones are known and generally the floodwaters stay in specific areas, so you plan ahead (that is, don’t buy/build/rent a home in a flash-flood area. Reliable maps are generally available from local, county, state, and federal websites.)
Unlike most disasters, this one is generally kind of easy; I’ve lived through a few floods in the South, West, and Midwest, and they all followed the same pattern. News stories on other floods in the US also followed one of two patterns – general flooding (river bursting its banks due to massive rainfall/snowmelt), or flash floods.
There is flooding caused by tsunami, but honestly unless you live on a coast, or near it on ground less than 100′ ASL? Meh.
When I lived on the Oregon Coast…
1) I knew that a tsunami was caused by earthquakes
2) if I felt an earthquake (that is, a big one), I dropped everything and got my ass up to higher ground immediately. Supplemental warning was provided by a simple smartphone app of large earthquakes or tsunami warnings generated by quakes on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.
3) I learned in advance where the high ground was (at least 50′ above sea level), and made double-damned sure I could run there on foot with a backpack in less than 5 minutes if I had to.
4) the whole damned town (roughly 1100 permanent/year-round residents) drilled for this once a year in the spring.
TL;DR – learn about the stuff most likely to hit your home, prepare for it, and drill once in awhile.
Dont live in a costal state that is below sea level. Louisiana is litteraly a toilet bowl its just being flushed, ive known a few truckers that deliver to the area and they say they cant go into new orleans without being armed because of the hijackings that are common there. They deliver to chicago too but dont feel the need to be armed since blacks are to busy killing each other to rob them.
So are you sure you want that little Japanese car. If you get stuck it’s nice to be able to lay down in the back seat. Remember those station wagons. Never should have traded that one. Nice for drive ins. What ever became of drive ins??
___
The same thing happened to drive ins and the station wagons that is happening to everything else that made our country what it once was,,,
Im glad im getting old, i look around and feel like that old Indian in the litter commercial.
That “old Indian” was actually Italian. Even that was fake.
Drive-ins still exist. You just have to look for them. An example is the Starlite Drive-In in Durham, NC. They have new movies, wrestling events, digital projector, and you can listen to the sound through your car stereo at 90.3 FM.
ht tp://www.starlitedrivein.info/
The last movie I saw at the drive in was “closed for the season”.
The crappy station wagon became the Diesel 4WD Suburban or Excursion.
Why go to the drive-in and have to mess with the crowd and dirty bathrooms, when you have a 60 inch HDTV, surround sound, all the beer you can drink, fresh organic popcorn, and you can stop the movie in order to service the call of nature all in the safety of your home?
I’m old, but I have little longing for the good old days of old technologies.
From one relic to another, I do long for the good old days of technology when you could just plug something in and have it actually work without complicated hook ups. Last week we had to replace some electronics due to a lightning emp,no surge, just an emp from proximity. New TV, genie, modem, router, etc., good grief what a pain.
Make sure to use coconut oil on that popcorn, and enjoy the movie.
On top of the usual we all carry, for those of us prepared, I carry one of those hard foam body boards (med-small). The ones kids use at the beach. My reasoning was, if I needed to cross a river, I’d have something to help me stay afloat while swimming, to place my bob on, or for those (kids or non-swimmers) keep moving despite water. They’re cheap, take up little space and if pulled over won’t raise suspicion even if you live in snow country, it can be used as a small sled. Just my input.
Mail Guy, Just use those upper arm child blow up floaties. lol
Hey I carry several heavy duty Black plastic construction trash bags, which you could keep a lot of stuff dry in those. Camo Rain Poncho and Boonie Hat with my over the shoulder Get home Bag.
~WWTI…
Have crossed rivers by using a decent size piece of plastic. Put everything in it and tied it at the top. Being careful to keep the top in the up position. Works good. Hefty, hefty, hefty!
Prepping For The Flood,,,
Oh maaaaan.
When they let the Muslim enter the USA En Masse, which is gonna happen sooner or later, just like they’ve allowed it to happen over here, it’s all part of their New Age Project…
Y’all be ready to defend yourselves and kick their raghead ass quick fast before they get themselves established in the US, they bring nothing but misery and suffering.
Y’all still got your guns… Don’t ever let tptb disarm you, ever.
You’re SO gonna need ’em.
Always keep a go bag in the go machine. I hold the speed record for taking a dump on the side of the highway. Military training finally came in handy. Never wanted to get mortared with my pants around my ankles.
Cool… Once took a dump over the edge of a 300ft cliff… [[[[[SPLAT]]]]]
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA… 49 year old Anjem Choudary Britain’s most notorious Muslim hate preacher has been found guilty of supporting ISIS by our Crown Prosecution Service.
Looks like he’s gonna be spending something like 10 years behind bars…
Oh,,,only to have the good fortune of sharing a cell for a couple of minutes with this disgusting Muslim prick. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
I’m luvin’ your all round American guy… Mr Joe Biggs.
Would enjoy supping a beer or three with this dude.
USA, USA, USA, USA ;¬]
Y’all take care, God bless the dear USA. Peace xXx
Far more fun in North Dakota and Minnesota in the ‘vinter tyme’ when it’s -20 and Mother Nature is trying to kill you every time you step out the door. But other than staying warm and needing to melt your drinking water, ‘vinter tyme’ does keep the skeeters down!
Otherwise I do respect floodwaters more, as the sheer weight and mass of water cannot easily be moved – but can certainly move you, your car, your house, etc.
Just let this flood news be a reminder to check your car preps and your bug out bag. You never know when a thunderstorm will stop moving and dump a foot of rain.
B from CA… yeah definitely have to sleep sitting up in a Japanese car while traveling. I believe those Louisiana rains were the same system that sat off the Florida gulf coast for nearly a week bringing rain, then moving northwest to really dump rain up there.
A case of MRE’s a fiver of water and my go bag. I like mine modular. 🙂
I have been stranded a few times and luckily I carry a lot of stuff.
Bug out pack with fishing line and tackle, clothes, lighters, raingear, extra shoes, 2 way radio, am fm sw radio, batteries, flashlights, 9mm and box of boolits, binoculars, all kinds of stuff like tarp, paracord, hatchet, 8 canteens of water, water purifier, full case of 10- 3600 calorie food bars (can last a month). Ya being stranded again won’t fook me up too bad lol.
Heck we even have bugout gear in our 4 wheelers. Stranded, escaping, evading, etc. It’s just common sense. But then how many people have common sense these days?
Look at the shelf life of MRE’s and temperature, you will find they go to shit very fast in heat. Mainstay packs are cheaper and handle the worst heat and more nutritious and more calories than MRE’s. 5 year plus life and still good beyond that. More compact and require no cooking. MRE’s are flintstone shit man lol….
I’ve eaten MREs 15 years old and still tasty. The expiration date is on the box so that they can sell more MREs. MREs are the closest thing to eternal life that I have experienced. yummy!
wifes on the backcountry roads driving150-200 miles every weeknight on a medical route. the back of her Jeep looks like she’s fleeing the zombie hordes, and then some!
My truck gear is vehicle recovery gear, plus a git home bag and the usual’s.
Keep a bike in the trunk of your car. Along with a sleeping bag, a gallon of water, and a pound of trail mix. I’m seldom more than a hundred miles from home. I could get home in a day or two biking at 10 or 15 miles an hour even with breaks every hour.
BarnCat, Keep a pair of cross country skies or snow shoes in your trunk, in the winter, since you are up in Wisc. A jar of peanut butter and crackers goes a long way as well. I used to keep a week of food on my boat. Get out someplace and the motor quits, bobbing around for days out in the Gulf could get lonely. Of course I always had plenty of fishing poles and tackle on the boat as well for catching food. My 2-way VHF Marine radio worked well too, for calling USBoats or SeaTow. That’s well worth the price of annual Insurance, getting towed back to shore at a small deductable. Which I used several times.
~WWTI…
I know the areas that flood in heavy rains in my area, so I avoid them. I try to stay home if possible.
Because of the width of the river and its carrying capacity, we’ve never had a general flood, at least in 400 years of recorded history. Now further south, in the Greenville, NC area, there was flooding from Hurricane Floyd because the rivers are narrower there and can’t handle the extra load from a foot of rain.
I also stay home when it snows. We have all the supplies we need, so there’s no reason to get on the roads.
A neighbor keeps MREs in his truck toolbox. How many years can they stay there in the hot sun and still be edible?
Horse shit as long as theres a breath in me i’d move Stay in one place And Die bad Case of Stupid. What if Help NEVER COMES
You. I am not worried about a situation like this since I have my full bug out bag in the little hybrid car I use every day. I have water, a Sawyer mini water filter kit, short wave radio, food, toilet paper, a bright orange 4x sized tee shirt (for signaling, visibility while walking the roads at night and extra fabric), tarp for shelter, solar powered battery bank and extra USB cables, sewing kit, cooking kit, medical kit, tools and plenty of other stuff with me on a daily basis. I also drive a hybrid which lets me stretch scarce fuel supplies to the point that 10 gallons gets me 500+ miles of travel.
Also carry a Siphon shaker hose and an empty Gas Can to procure some gas from other abandoned vehicles if necessary. Everything helps when considering “What if?”
So hey Preppers, when was the last time you checked the Tire Pressure in your “SPARE TIRE??” Did you know tires can loose 5 to 10 Lbs a year, just sitting. I said this about a year ago as my Spare was down about 15 Lbs. I also carry in my vehicle a 12-Volt Tire pump to fill all my tires at the BOL. I also carry a few tire Quick Plug kits for a quick plug patch on tires without even having to remove the tire. You could get several flats if you run into a handful of roofing nails. Then what? I also carry an assortment of auto fuses, a spare serpentine Belt, extra wiper blades, taillight bulbs, a small bag of tools, and it is a great idea to take a hard copy photo printout of the Belt configuration of your Motor pully system, so you can replace the belt by following the diagram, Try doing that on a dark road one night. Everything you prepare for, eliminates being stranded sitting idle in frustration. You will also look like a hero to your Girl being prepared.
I had a lady that lived down the street from me in the city that told me, she ended up dumping the guy she was dating, because the Idiot did not even have a Car Jack for his car. I took one of mine down there to help the guy. Lots of clowns out there ride around with out a spare tire or a jack. Like WTF? Morons.
SO CHECK YOUR SPARE TIRE PRESSURE. THANK ME LATER. 🙂
Re:
Some (many?) recent 2000+ cars will not let your hose reach the fuel in the gas tank – there is some protective blocking mechanism.
To get the fuel out of a Japanese small car, I once had to pull out the car’s fuel line, insert it in an empty container, and then force the fuel pump on – by shorting a pair of terminals in the fuse box. The car’s battery was used to power it.
YouTube may have a good getting-fuel solution for a particular car. If only you could pack YT to go…
Don’t forget to bring a doo doo towel.
Thanks again Daisy for your input. I have a rather different problem. I live in Arizona so I don’t -worry too much about floods,then again,we have monsoons….! Because of my job I can’t have weapons in my car. I am concerned about first aid issues. I don’t know exactly what to have besides a few band aids and antibiotic cream,so I need help there. A change of clothes,socks,and footwear is in the trunk,is all I got
I learned a good lesson, be sure to keep extra air in your tires when you carry all your supplies. I just went by the recommended amount, wrong. I had a flat because there wasn’t enough air in the back tires for the added weight and one just couldn’t take it anymore. Two new tires and a lesson learned. Glad there was no crisis at the time.
Unless you are in bad health, you do not need any food for 48 hours. When I went through US Navy SERE school (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape), we went a week without food, and were taught that we could go for more than three weeks without. We were taught not to waste our time looking for food, but to spend that time on getting water, and getting to safety.