Fire
IFYOULIVEINACOLDCLIMATE, or disaster occurs during winter weather, you
may need a fire source to keep yourself warm and to cook. Making a fire
will not be an issue, since there should be firestarting materials on hand;
the trick comes in building and maintaining the fire in a safe place. The
only safe places to make a fire that will keep the inside of a house warm are
a wood stove or a fireplace. Fuelbased space heaters are also good back
ups. An electric stove can be used for heat, but you need to be extremely
careful, particularly if there are small children around. Don’t ever use your
gas stove to heat your home.
Shelter
MOST NATURAL DISASTERS LEAVE YOUR HOME INTACT, which is a good thing.
If that’s not the case, you need to look at your situation through a differ
ent lens and try to improvise shelter, perhaps by moving to your car or
setting up a tent. If you don’t have either of these on hand, you’re back to
finding or creating shelter the same way you would in a wilderness sur
vival situation. You need a shelter to keep warm and dry, and protected
from the elements.
Food
INMOSTCASESWHENDISASTERSTRIKES, you will have a refrigerator full of
food, all of which begins to spoil once the power goes out. Be sure to eat
the most perishable foods first. You can preserve meats by using the dry
ing methods described in “Food,” Chapter 8. You can also place fish such
as salmon in a dish or Ziploc bag and cover it with lemon juice (the process
used to make ceviche). The citric acid “cooks” the fish through a process
called naturation and preserves it for at least a few days.
When Disaster Strikes Close to Home (^) | 345