Random Musings: “If I were stranded at home during a natural disaster” food must-haves…
A week ago today, I was seeing people mention on Twitter that the Northeast was preparing for a hurricane. Having not paid much attention to the news recently, I assumed it was typical overreaction.
Spoiler alert: it wasn’t. It’s the first time I remember watching a natural disaster through the Twitter lens, seeing everyone’s reactions in real time. Most fascinating/horrifying for me is this one of the waters breaking into a New Jersey transit station—like the waters flooding through the rooms of the Titanic.
But I digress. It got me to thinking about the more fortunate of the hurricane victims, all the people who rode out the storms safely in their homes without any major damage, but now are kind of stranded until all the stores open up (and get more supplies in). If the Yankees were anything like Atlanta preparing for a storm, all the stores have been out of alcohol, milk, bread, water, and toilet paper for quite some time. A few years ago, the South was hit by a “Snowpocalypse”. Atlanta has like eight snow plows for the entire city, four of which are generally out of repair at any point in time. It also has insanely curvy and hilly roads. So any time there’s even the slightest hint of winter precipitation, the city just pre-emptively shuts down. Schools close before there’s even a snowflake, stores are emptied, everyone leaves work. And probably nine times out of ten, it ends up being a false alarm.
But the Snowpocalypse was for real. There was ice. There was snow. Inches of both. And I, being a dummy, assumed it was a false alarm, so I didn’t make any special preparations. So I was stuck at the top of my HOD (“Hill of Death”, for those in the know; my complex is at the top of an insane hill) from when the storm hit Friday night until I finally braved the still-icy bumper-car track known as the HOD on Wednesday afternoon. I ran out of wine and packaged ravioli Saturday night. I mostly lived on cereal and cocoa for the next few days, until I could grab a two-hour window to get down and back up the hill before it froze back over. I almost didn’t make it home, got stuck on an exit ramp.
Point of this very long story? Well, that wine is my non-negotiable if stuck at home during a storm. Duh. After that, it’s my delicious packaged ravioli, baking ingredients (so I can make cookies, of course), skim milk, and whole bean hazelnut coffee. I can pretty much survive on that.
What about you? If you were going to be stuck in your house for four or five days, what would your “must haves” be?
Also, if it’s in your ability, please think about donating to the Red Cross and other relief efforts that are helping get the Northeast back on its feet.
