diamond geezer

The government is keen that we Be Ready.

They're not 100% definitive on what to be ready for, but it includes severe weather, national emergencies and prolonged periods without water and/or electricity and/or gas and/or internet. Flooding is one of the most serious weather-related events and you probably know if you might be susceptible to that, but the entire nation could be at risk from cyber-related power failure, the Russians cutting our undersea cables, a solar radiation event, a nuclear accident, water infrastructure failure, food supply contamination, another pandemic, AI overthrow, nearby war, mass rioting or whatever. You might not be top of the list for rescue, merely left to cope as best you can, so it pays to be prepared.

In particular they've come up with a Be Ready Checklist packed with things you might like to have ready just in case. They've said to build it up gradually, as and when, not to rush out and buy the lot now. They've said you should do this 'if you can', because not everyone has the spare money, the storage space or the stability to comply. And they've provided a handy printable checklist on which to tally things, which does kind of assume you have a printer but it's the individual items that are important, not the ticks.

Use the checklist below to review the steps you have already taken, and what you might still need to do.

Water
● Bottled water for 3 days. 3 litres per person per day for drinking. More would be needed for other tasks such as cooking and washing.

That's a lot of bottled water, or at least it is if you're a household that doesn't normally buy the stuff. I'm perfectly happy with what comes out of the tap but if that tap went dry for a prolonged period of time I'd be stuffed. I had one dry evening a few months ago and that was awkward enough (how do I brew a cuppa? how do I clean my teeth? how long do I leave this to flush?) so three days would be purgatory, not least because I couldn't expect Thames Water to turn up and dish out bottles from a street corner.

The guidance urges you to "set a reminder every six months to check expiry dates and swap out items that need replacing", which could be expensive and/or annoying with something like bottled water. I checked some bottles in the supermarket yesterday and the best before dates were anything from 8 months to two years away, suggesting a stash could need regular replacement (or consumption). Do I really want to keep buying water I won't drink in case it's needed, but how stupid would I feel if a true emergency came along and I hadn't bought any?

I do have a 2 litre bottle stashed away for just such circumstances but it wouldn't go far. However it's been there a long time, indeed I checked the best before date and it's March 2007, so is it safe to drink? You'd think not but I Googled and it said "sealed bottles kept cool and dark stay safe long past their printed date", "water itself does not expire: the best-before date on UK bottled water marks packaging quality, not safety." My 20 year-old water is thus likely full of microplastics and tastes bad, but in case of dire emergency shouldn't kill me. You can't search for this important information if the networks have gone down, so it's worth knowing in advance.

Food
● Non-perishable food for 3 days. Food with a long shelf life that doesn’t need refrigeration or cooking e.g. tinned meat, fish or vegetables, dried fruit and nuts. It’s best to buy food you’d usually eat.

This is about stocking up your food cupboards with packets, cartons and tins, indeed anything nutritious that'll last and doesn't need cooking. Forget boiling water for rice or wokking up a stirfry if the power goes down, unless you're fortunate enough to use gas and that still works. Everything you rely on in your fridge or freezer could be unsafe within days so it makes sense to have an alternative calorific supply to hand. You might still have leftovers from the early pandemic you never got round to eating, and almost by definition they should still be edible now, just maybe not enough.

I have an emergency can of corned beef, also tinned soup and baked beans and sweetcorn and peach slices and mandarin orange segments and really rather a lot of Christmas puddings, also a Fray Bentos pie in a tin that might or might not be OK without cooking. If I started by eating what was in my switched-off fridge I could make it to three days no trouble, perhaps a week, after which the country might be in such a parlous state that lack of food was the least of my problems.

Hygiene
● Hand sanitiser, wet wipes, hygiene and bathroom products.

The lack of water could be terrible for personal hygiene, especially if it's July rather than October. Hand sanitiser is much better-known since the pandemic so maybe you already have an industrial-sized bottle somewhere, and if not maybe you should because imagine Day Seven without water otherwise.

Light and warmth
● Torch (and spare batteries).
● Blankets, sleeping bags and warm clothing.

They're quite insistent on having a torch rather than candles, this because candles have the occasional tendency to set your home alight and because a raging inferno during a civilian shutdown could cause untold damage. I promise to watch over my IKEA tea lights like a hawk and not let that happen. I do have two torches but also insufficient batteries to maintain them over a long period, plus I couldn't just nip down to Stratford to buy more, so that's something I probably do need to stock up on.

Communication and information
● FM radio (battery/wind-up).
● Charged power bank.

So many of us have switched to digital that the absence of electricity, 4G or wi-fi could completely cut us off from the world. How are you supposed to know what's going on if your screen doesn't work and your phone doesn't connect, and more importantly how is the government going to advise us all what to do? Is this some localised outage or is the world barrelling towards Armageddon... you won't know unless you have old-school technology tuned to a frequency the BBC hasn't turned off yet. Thankfully I do have a wind-up radio, I am genuinely prepared, but I know from experience that keeping it powered for more than 10 minutes is difficult so even my smug state as one of the informed might be difficult to maintain.

Money and documents
● Cash (mix of coins and notes) and cards.
● Copies of IDs/documents
● Important phone numbers and information (e.g. regular medication and doses).

You may love swanning around town flashing your phone at things, paying as you go, but a mass power cut or cyber outage could suddenly leave you with zero access to your money and no chance of buying anything at all. Even a plastic card is useless in a world without connections. It could even happen tomorrow, you never know, so maybe dash down to the cashpoint soon just in case. Similarly if you were unable to fire up your phone or laptop how much critical information would be instantly lost, so maybe write down the important stuff while you can.

Medical and health
● First aid kit / first aid items.
● Essential medication and medical supplies.

I'm lucky in that if I stopped taking my prescribed tablets it wouldn't immediately damage my health, but you may not be so fortunate. Also what would you do if you received an injury that normally required a trip to A&E, might a first aid kit buy you extra time, and would you curse yourself if you didn't have one? Imagine some mildly terrifying scenario and how easily you could either mitigate it now or watch it spiral out of control later.

Baby products
Pet products

Not my problem, might be your problem.

The Be Ready website also reminds us that we are not alone, we have a community around us. Should the worst happen there is strength in numbers, so maybe create some local connections together now rather than asking later if they want to be your Disaster Friends. Also there may well be neighbours who'd be relying on you for help, so think about that now rather than only realising later when it's too late.

The worst may of course never happen and you'll have wasted time and money on resources you'll never use. My emergency can of corned beef may never be opened. But if disaster does entirely disrupt your life you'll wish you'd prepared for it, so either take the risk or Be Ready.