As I am sitting here watching the coverage of the NOLA disaster I have been rethinking everything. I live in an ignorant neighborhood in which the residents feel that the government would be there to care for everyone in the event something like this were to happen here. Out of 100 persons living here 98 of them are going to look to the authorities for assistance during a disaster of any kind. I need to get to work right now on putting together a better food bank for my family and keep it very quiet. The people that I associate with around here all know that I am a preparedness kind of guy and wonder how I would do in a situation like that in NO. I always thought that I would be fine but seeing the aftermath of what happened I am sadly mistaken. I am going to ask for advice from everyone here on what they feel would be needed for a similar situation as NOLA. I think this would actually be a post for the LTS section when it opens up but more importantly it is about being equipped to survive in an emergency situation. I saw a report on FOX news channel about the mental devastation this is causing to the children in NOLA. That is my biggest priority in any situation. I have an 8 year old son and a 6 year old daughter that I would want to get through any situation with as little trauma as possible. I do not want to shelter them from life but I do want to keep them protected. Candy and I are ramping up our efforts to make a new, improved food pantry equipped to feed the four of us and possibly one more person if they happen to come along (such as my father or my childrens mother if they are in town). I am trying to decide if I want to make boxes with specific meals inside and label them as so, seal them and store them so that I can easily rotate them and also to make it easier to access during a disaster. I know it will take up more room but I feel that this way will be better for us to prevent being lazy and "just using something and put it back later". I am wondering about water as of right now. I want to get some cases of individual water bottles for drinking and I also thought about putting some of them in boxes with foods that would require them for cooking such as spaghetti or tuna casserole. My thinking for this is as follows: If the water is as bad as in NOLA we still need to eat. We need water to cook food in and I want to eat as much normal food as possible. I was thinking about putting the following in a box; package of spaghetti noodles, two cans of sauce, two small bottles of water to boil and a can of sterno with matches. I was possibly going to throw in a couple of packages of placticware from Dennys as I can get them for free from there. What it would end up being is a gourmet style meal for four people prepacked and ready for cooking. Does this sound okay? I am watching FOX and Sheperd Smith. He made a comment that has irked me so badly that I need to go email him. FYI, I support him fully, but I think he is so caught up in the moment he is not thinking.