Where to start if you don't have a food storage

I was looking at beprepared.com the other day and read their baby steps in starting a food storage.

First and foremost, they suggest starting with water, building your water storage.

I thought that was interesting, but it does make sense. You can survive something like 2 to 3 weeks without food, but you can't go more than 2 or 3 days without water.

My husband and I use three different ways to store water. Namely...

• Used juice bottles with PETE on the bottom
• 5 gallon jugs/collapsible containers purchased from an outdoors store
• Purchased water bottles, bought in bulk

Other families store those hug, blue water jugs that you see office break rooms or hallways.

If you already store water, what containers do you use? And where do you store it? We have some under the sink, in our sons' closet, and stacked in a corner.

It's recommended by numberless websites to have at least 14 gallons of water per person on hand. That's two weeks worth based on the 1-gallon-per-day rule of thumb.

After hurricane Ike swept through, Nate and I were fortunate not to loose our power, but the mayor had stated that the tab water wasn't safe to use. In that moment I was grateful for the water we had stored. We didn't have to boil water all the time before we used it. We had it already available in the juice bottles, water bottles, and jugs we had in store.

For more information on storing water see the Drinking Water post.

After you get the water taken care of or mostly taken care of, I suggest either building a 72 hour/hurricane kit(s) for your family or building a week or 2 week supply of food that you can prepare without electricity depending on what you feel prompted to do. I think both are important during the hurricane season.

Two summers ago, hurricane Ike left 19 out of 20 homes without power. In our ward, while some families just had a day without power, others went a full week or so without power.

Look here for a basic 72 hour checklist.

To see ideas for an example two week emergency supply of food, go to the Emergencykitchen.com post.

We have our 72 hour kits in backpacks and a travel bag. I've seen some people but theirs in travel carry-on size suitcases that roll.

What do you use for your 72 hour kits? What foods do you stock up on for hurricane season? I'd love to know.