Disaster Plans

So I've been reading a lot about all the natural disasters that have been occurring in the world recently. Hurricanes, earthquakes, and flooding all decimated islands and coastal states. Forest fires have forced people from their homes and vast acres of land and communities have been destroyed. People have had to make decisions about what to take when they left their homes. Others may not have evacuated but are now faced with the devastation of their homes and belongings severely damaged.

I began thinking of what I would do if I were faced with these possibilities for me, for my family. What would I grab if I needed to pack up in the middle of the night? What would I take? What would the kids want?

As a minimalist at heart, I sometimes wish I could start over, make more intentional decisions about the "stuff" we own and buy and bring into our home. I even wish we could go back and purchase a smaller home with less space to fill, less rooms to clean, less maintenance. But I would NEVER wish for a disaster to happen. The trauma and loss and upheaval that others are currently facing is life changing and so very difficult. I can't imagine how they must be feeling. I pray for comfort, peace, and endurance during these times.

What would I take? I think my list is small. My people are most important. But after them, I would only take some clothes (thanks to Project 333 I downsized my closet a couple years ago), my phone, my laptop, and my mother and father's wedding rings.

I would also need to take papers - birth certificates, wedding certificate, passports, IDs, etc. Part of me cringed at this thought because these items are not in safe place. A house fire could easily take these items. We have no fireproof safe or off site security box. This is something I should probably take care of.

We also don't have emergency bags packed and ready to go. I admit I am no prepper. We don't have emergency supplies in our car or our home in case we are stranded in either for any length of time. I struggle with the idea of putting together either because when no emergency comes, food and supplies just expire without being used. This is something I probably should give more thought to also.

Part of being a minimalist, I don't want to buy extra things that I may never need. Minimalism says
"don't hold onto to stuff 'just in case' - especially if you live somewhere that you can readily replaced said items quickly and inexpensively." So emergency planning vs. minimalism. I'm not sure which is best in light of recent events in our world. More thought on this is needed also.