I want to thank everyone for the great ideas! I am looking for a place, so I will check with some local realitors. Most apartments in my area are two stories over the garage, the type of construction that failed during the Northridge earthquake.

It will be awhile until I can afford a car, but I better realize a car is important for storage and important transportation to avoid the govt "vacation" plan in times of emergency. I will have to stay with the bus for now.

Thanks ironraven for the recipes. I will give them a try. They are the type of recipes I was hoping for: meals that can be prepared from foods that do not need to be refrigerated.

I will buy a cooler on wheels! A great idea for storing water and a little food. Since I am on foot at this time, it will allow me to move more in a disaster. I will also purchase at least one of the 7 gal water containers.

I was also thinking of buying some 5 gal buckets. One will get a toilet seat for waste problems, and the others can be used to collect water where I can find it (many apartments have a pool that will provide water for washing and cleaning, not drinking, and I might find other sources of water - they have run a recycled water line to a local park for lawn watering, and with purification, that might yield more drinking water.

Spud