Disaster Preparedness for Dual-Income Families! How to Start Preparing Based on Lessons from Disaster Experience.

Thinking with your children. Disaster preparedness learned from disaster experience.

“I know I should get disaster supplies together. But I don't know where to start.”

I think many people let the days go by while thinking that.
I was the same way until I experienced a disaster.

When my child was a year and a half old, I was affected by an earthquake.
I had never experienced a disaster before that, and I had almost no disaster supplies prepared.
That was when I first realized how precious daily life is, and how much I lacked preparation.

In this article, I will share my experience of being affected by a disaster, aimed at dual-income families with children ranging from infants to elementary school age, and the
ways to prepare that you can continue without strain that I learned from it.You don't have to aim for full-scale disaster preparedness at all.
I would be happy if this could be the first step for you to look into what kind of disaster supplies are out there.

What happened on the day of the disaster?

When the earthquake happened, my child was still a year and a half old. Infants cannot communicate their intentions with words. With the uncertainty of when the next tremor might occur, I couldn't leave my child's side for even a moment, and I was constantly on edge.

Water service was restored in about a day, but the gas remained off for about a week.
Life without hot water was harder than I imagined, and since we had a gas stove, I relied on the microwave for cooking.
I also boiled water in an electric kettle to wipe my body with a towel, or mixed hot and cold water to wash my hair to get through the bath situation.
It was a relief that it wasn't mid-summer or mid-winter, but even so, just the fact that we couldn't take a bath was physically and mentally exhausting.

What made things even worse was the closure of the daycare center. Electricity was out, and it took a little less than two weeks to reopen. During that time, I had no choice but to take time off work, and I was doing one-parent childcare during the day. I tried to act as usual because I didn't want to show a worried face in front of my child, but honestly, those were very tough days.

“It would be one thing if only I were in trouble. But I'm also causing my child to suffer.”

It was then that I first felt the necessity of being prepared.

I don't know what to start gathering. What I actually did.

After the disaster, I first secured “water.” And since I didn't know what to start gathering, I initially bought a pre-packaged disaster kit. While looking at the contents, I customized it little by little to fit our lifestyle.

As preparation unique to families with children, emergency food that children can eat and diapers are also essential. The next thing I prepared was a portable toilet. The water outage was short-lived, but knowing that it could last longer, the peace of mind from having them prepared was significant.

Also, since my child became scared just by hearing the news about the earthquake or the sound of the emergency earthquake alert, I tried to show them anime using services like U-NEXT so that we could spend our time as normally as possible.
I felt that “delivering the usual sense of security, especially in times of emergency” is also a form of preparation.
I thought, I can keep up with the earthquake news on my smartphone. I'll let my child spend their time as usual.

Things I have prepared!

A disaster kit for the car, a disaster kit to take with us. I have also prepared a portable tent, a portable toilet set, and plenty of water.
I also prepared a gas stove, gas canisters, and a saucepan so we can use them when the gas is unavailable.
In addition to small items like paper plates, paper cups, and disposable chopsticks, as well as emergency food, I have an evacuation center map, a disaster pouch I can carry around daily, and a disaster kit for my child...
I have prepared so many detailed things that I can't even write them all down.

Some disaster supplies can be easily obtained at 100-yen shops. However, long-term preserved food is surprisingly expensive, and if you try to prepare in earnest, you will also need things like portable power stations, which adds to the cost. Furthermore, securing space to keep them in the house or car is also a quietly troublesome problem.
In our home, we keep the disaster kit and emergency food set in a corner of the living room.
Water and portable toilets are in the entryway. One disaster kit is in the car.
It takes up space, but I've accepted that it's unavoidable.

But if you think, “I have to get everything perfectly,” the hurdle becomes too high. But it's okay to do it little by little. Start with water, emergency food for your child, and diapers. It's fine to expand from there one by one.

Disaster awareness as a family is actually important to align!

In our home, I continue to prepare by gathering disaster supplies and checking evacuation maps, but my husband has a 'what will be, will be' stance. While I am grateful not to be told what to do, honestly, I have felt since that time that I wanted us to think about preparedness together.

Disaster preparedness is not always enough if only one person is working hard at it. If possible, please try discussing with your family once, 'What would we do if an earthquake happened right now?' Even just that will serve as mental preparation for when the time comes.

What I realized only after experiencing a disaster was the fact that 'if you are not prepared, you will cause trouble not only for yourself but also for your children.' Gathering disaster supplies is important, but there is no need to aim for perfection. Water, emergency food for children, and diapers, and portable toilets. Starting with these little by little is fine.

No one knows when a disaster will strike. That is precisely why I want you to prepare to handle things on your own, little by little, rather than 'relying on people who are prepared.'
And when I wondered what my family needed and how much, this is what I used as a reference.
This one.

Please try using this as well!!

If reading this article made you want to look into 'what kind of disaster supplies are there and how much do I need?' even a little bit, that is enough. It is fine for each person to have their own timing for whether or not to buy things.
Why don't we start together, beginning with 'knowing'?